When I was a kid I liked Fantasy Land. The dark rides were great for a kid who didn't like intense rides. As I got older I found myself going to Fantasy Land less and Less. The dark rides were still fun but the rest really started to fall flat. Dumbo was just a glorified carnival ride. The Teacups were about the same. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was shut down and replaced with a meet and greet. Then they ripped out Mr. Toad and replaced it with a barely passable Pooh ride. The only thing that still drew me was Peter Pan and sometimes Snow White.
Now Disney has announced a massive overhaul / expansion. I'll start by saying the whole princess thing has been over done but if it makes money Disney is going to do it. Sadly it looks like a big part expansion is going to be princess meet and greets. However, the planned Beast's Castle includes a restaurant. That sounds good. Only one problem. Rumor has it that it will be a quick service during lunch and a sit down during dinner. I really think it needs to be one or the other. If you do a hybrid it'll typically end up being a low volume (comparably) quick service or a low quality sit down. The two types of dining have completely different needs as far as logistics go.
I still won't be riding it but the update to Dumbo will be good. Dumbo is Disney classic even if it's cheap carnival ride. Expanding the ride is a good idea. The line might look small but that is one of the slowest loading rides in operation. The fact that they are placing it in a circus tent is great. It'll really help it's overall story.
The new Little Mermaid dark ride will get me to go over to Fantasy Land even if I just ride it once. I've never ridden the one out in California but I've heard good things about it. From the concept art it looks like it's going to be huge too. This has to be the best part about this expansion.
Another great thing about this expansion is the removal of Toon Town. I've never spent more than two minutes in Toon Town. It was an area so geared at one demographic that anyone without kids had no reason to venture there unless they were a character hunter. It looks like Pooh's Playful spot it going to eat bullet too. I'm not upset about that. It always seemed like an after thought to me.
It looks like the Goofy roller coaster is sticking around. Rumor has it that it is going to be converted into a Dumbo roller coaster. That's ok but I think it would be nicer if it went in another direction. Why not take the opportunity to add another movie that doesn't have a representative in the parks already? Why not 101 Dalmatians, Bambi, or Rambo ride (yes the last one is a joke).
I'm glad Disney is doing something with this area. Seems like a number of places in Disney World have fallen apart recently. This really seems like it'll polish up a crumbling area of the Magic Kingdom.
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