WOW! Fantasyland Renovation

[Faldred]

Regardless of whether or not the "Fairies" franchise will be successful, I think Tink herself has always been wildly popular, so a Pixie Hollow makes sense long-term regardless.

If they're going to completely pull out Toontown, I really like the idea of moving and re-doing it over at DHS. Get rid of the backlot tour (which is no longer a backlot at all!) and/or eliminate/move Streets of America, and create a real "Toontown" (ala Roger Rabbit) that celebrates classic animation and bridges the area between Pixar Place (and connects to it, rather than leaving PP as a dead end) through where Commissary Lane and Luigi's Garage currently are.

They'd probably would want to move Luigi's Garage and Pizza Planet. LG could actually be the "bridge" between Toontown and Pixar Place, where Roger Rabbit-style taxi cabs are worked on alongside cars from Radiator Springs. Muppets 3-D is fine where it is... while not quite "toons", they'll fit in nicely in the area anyway.

 

[MJMcBride]

for a rumor, this is certainly getting a lot of steam. it was on the main AOL news page

 

[CanadianGuy]

From what I've read, this will be a 5 year project. I think that different sections may open at different times. Also, did anyone else notice when the blueprint is over the satellite image, that it appears that they have used up all available space? It doesn't look like they have much room for future expansion, except maybe the bit of land behind Dumbo.

I posted this in another thread.. there's LOTs of room near MK for expansion.. some of it may involve a pedestrian bridge over the railway or perhaps even over water off to the west.. but there's lots of room for expansion.. Yes, some service roads might need to be well landscaped to hide them .. or in some cases moved.. but there's room to do stuff if they want.

One could even imagine a 'pier like' area down around the Magic Kingdom Lake on the lower right (behind Carousel of Progress) ... But the wooded area behind the castle maybe problematic since fireworks are set off from that area .. I could imagine moving AutoTopia (or whatever it's called this year) over to the maroon colored space adjacent Space Mountain and setting it all of with a "Cars Theme" and recycling the current track land into other attractions... (for example)

I see little reason they couldn't extend the park all the way to the edge of Floridian Way and World Drive which ring the park. Would it be cheap?

Heck no.

But if there was will and the necessary dollars, they have the space.

 

[tkitty]

Ok I think I figured it out....

Thanks for this. Makes it much clearer. I love the ideas. Now hurry up with them, before my DGD is too old to care! Well, I'm still not too old, so I guess there's a chance for my granddaughter!

 

[Michael623]

Hey mitros,
We get it already, you dislike the crowds. How many time do you need to post the same thing? In fact, when was the last time you posted that didn't involve a complaint about crowds? Maybe you should move to Hong Kong.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Thanks for this. Makes it much clearer. I love the ideas. Now hurry up with them, before my DGD is too old to care! Well, I'm still not too old, so I guess there's a chance for my granddaughter!

You're welcome.

I just want to add for those who think that whoever created this blueprint did it from Google Maps - I had to do a fair bit of custom image sizing to get the two to line up. They did so naturally but there was no Google Maps setting that lined up perfectly.

I had to shrink the blue print a few times and slightly enlarge the Google Maps image a few times (with proportional constrainment) to match up to the Blueprint image ..

I didn't alter the proportions of either image .. just the overall size of each..

Thanks,

Knox

 

[skier_pete]

I continue to argue that this is NOT a fan-made image...though I also don't beleive we are guaranteed to see this.

My newest evidence (to me) is when looking at Knox's post above. Would a fan-made image really bother with showing the internal track layout of the Pooh and Snow White dark rides? From the looks of it, the track layout is extremely accurate.

A Disney-made layout is more likely to have that...they would probably have all the rides already laid out in their computer system.

Again, all I'm saying is I really think this is a Disney-made drawing. I am not 100% convinced that it will be installed until they announce something.

SkierPete

 

[Condorman]

This is legit. It's from Disney. A forum on micechat.com has a lot more information than just what appears in this schematic. However, as with anything from Disney it may be old, new, an idea, what the imagineers were asked to do but will never come to fruition, etc. But it is from Disney, no question.

Look at the square at the very top of TLM and you will see a backwards "C" with little dots. I believe that to be the interior room where you would see this http://z.about.com/d/themeparks/1/0/3/n/DCAPre4.jpg. It seems logical to me, but maybe I'm reaching.

Also, if you look at the Barnstormer, you will see what it is turning into -- it's hard to read but it will become a "Cheshire Coaster". Because the Barnstormer is one of the few existing attractions, they kept the name on the blueprint as an easier frame of reference. Look just above and to the right of "Barnstormer" for "Cheshire".

All in all, I'm pretty impressed, especially the landscaping akin to Paris' DL. The streams, bridges and castle walls will make all the difference. I'm not crazy about them doubling up on Dumbo; a Bambi maze would have been a better choice in addition to relocating one Dumbo. As I have said, this is real, but it may get changed. We'll see.

 

[skier_pete]

An intentional leak makes perfect sense...I think I even called it that a few posts back...there's no way that a drawing like that gets slipped to the public...if they didn't want it out, wouldn't they be calling to get it pulled from the net?

As far as Chesire Coaster goes, I did zoom in, and it looks like is says "Cheese Coaster", which honestly makes no sense, so maybe Condorman is right - but why they would theme it to Alice - other than that it is near the tea cups - doesn't make a lot of sense to me either.

SkierPete

 

[CanadianGuy]

Cheese Coaster = Ratatouille? hahah..

 

[MrToad_at_BLT]

An intentional leak makes perfect sense...I think I even called it that a few posts back...there's no way that a drawing like that gets slipped to the public...if they didn't want it out, wouldn't they be calling to get it pulled from the net?

As far as Chesire Coaster goes, I did zoom in, and it looks like is says "Cheese Coaster", which honestly makes no sense, so maybe Condorman is right - but why they would theme it to Alice - other than that it is near the tea cups - doesn't make a lot of sense to me either.

SkierPete

Disney is probably expecting next year's Alice in Wonderland movie to be as big of a hit as 'Pirates' was

 

[crocko]

Disney is probably expecting next year's Alice in Wonderland movie to be as big of a hit as 'Pirates' was

If they are realistic....then, no.

a) would be surprised to see this turned into a franchise.
b) if the expected huge things, it wouldn't be coming out in the Spring.

Personally....if it can make $100 million in the U.S. it will have done a good job.

 

[tjkraz]

I don't think the leak was intentional, but that's just my opinion. If this plan is approved or on a short list, it's been viewed by dozens of people within Imagineering and the Parks & Resorts division (execs and their assistants & staff, accountants, people in operations, etc.) A leak could have occurred anywhere along that chain.

I just don't see the benefit to a leak. If the project has been approved, why not just announce it and release concept artwork (which is produced during the design process.) If it hasn't been approved and this is just a "blue sky" concept, Disney could spend the next decade fighting the perception that they did it "on the cheap" by going forward with a lesser upgrade to Fantasyland.

As for Alice in Wonderland, I've heard rumors of Barnstormer's retheming, too. And frankly I don't think the live action picture has any real bearing on that. At least not any more so than a live action film starring Cinderella, Bell or Aurora....none of which exist. Alice has nearly as big a presence in the parks/character meals as those others. She's certainly not out-of-place in Fantasyland.

If they hit a jackpot with the live action film, so much the better. If not, the animated film is still a classic. But with the forthcoming film, "Alice" certainly does seem to have greater potential upside than the likes of Mulan or Pocahontas.

 

[rdearth]

Could have been leaked by a somewhat disgruntled imagineer (or ex-imagineer) because it has been shot down by the economic times.

What makes me think that is the dedicated space to the fairies. I just don't think, aside from Tink, that they have the staying power and appeal they were hoping for, but they obviously thought it was going to be something big a year or so ago.

I would be interested in what their research tells them about Toontown from visitors. Sure, people defend the place on a website for nostalgic and sentimental reasons, but what are they hearing directly from visitors in the park. I have to think it ranks pretty low overall. Possibly even the lowest of all.

 

[Condorman]

It was not an intentional leak. Disney doesn't do that. It was done by an employee or a 3rd-party contractor for whatever reason and they will be reprimanded dearly. The rumor is that Disney wants to begin construction by October and have it done in two years for the 40th Anniversary, though that seems a tad optimistic. However, considering a large portion is on unused land, it's not entirely impossible.

A few more things I've noticed:

You can see the regular queue and the Fastpass line for TLM, the two squiggly lines on the upper-left of the ride. Also, beside those lines, is something that looks to say "The Hellgate Food Cart" though I know this can't be right. I'm sure somebody has better eyes than I do.

You can see the Utilidor (the faint, dotted line) that goes beneath the word "Belle" and zig-zags to the Cinderella Attraction. The Utilidor meets a stairwell on the upper-left and connects that long hallway with dressing rooms, I suppose so Cindy and Aurora won't be seen coming and going to this 'floating' structure.

I'm still a little puzzled as to why the area with the dueling Dumbos is labeled "Dumbo", but then separated in theme from the train station area which is also labeled "Dumbo". Seems like a wasted opportunity to have another character represented, perhaps, as I've said before, Bambi or Pocahontas?

One more thing, beside the "Cheshire Coaster" is a small structure labeled "Merch". Obviously it's a souvenir shop, but how much do you want to bet, knowing how Disney names everything as a pun or a play on words, that they name this store "March-Hare'n-dise"? I know it's silly, but it's something Disney would do, and if they didn't think of it before, and they read these boards, they just got the idea now.