WDW News Today » Cinderella Castle

Dirk Wallen’s 1/23/13 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

wdwntadmin — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:41:53 +0000

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Long Lost Friends Week was the first big hit from Limited Time Magic in Florida

Scrooge McDuck and Ludwig Von Drake

The Pinocchio gang

Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Prince John, and the Sheriff of Nottingham

Clarabelle & Horace

BIG BAD WOLF!

Instead of sining autographs, guests were given autograph cards

The Cinderella Castle Dreamlights are coming down

Crane up behind the castle

Another crane up and working on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

The queue was fixed up while the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was closed last week

Marie was out in Storybook Circus… this is not a normal occurrence

Sleepy Hollow Refreshments is open while the exterior is being refurbished

Columbia Harbor House is still behind tarps as well

Some strange work going on at the Tomorrowland Speedway

Work continues on The Villas at the Grand Floridian

Looking good!

An Aerial View of New Fantasyland Construction – July 2012

wdwntadmin — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:12:51 +0000

Scott Keating was once again nice enough to provide some aerial shots of the current New Fantasyland construction site after a few month absence, so let’s see all that has changed:

As you can see, everything but the Mine Train is nearing completion

If there was any doubts that the Skyway Station was going to become a Tangled meet-and-greet, the appearance of a tower frame has just about confirmed it…

The framework for Mine Train looks to be just about complete

The castle walls are taking shape

Just the three tent-like structures left to go in Storybook Circus, we expect these to open in the Fall/Winter

A look at Mine Train

As you can see, the beauty and the Beast realm is almost complete as paths and trees are already installed and all scaffolding is down. Trees are up in the Mermaid queue as well.

A closer look at the tents that will be Big Top Souvenirs, Pete’s Silly Sideshow, and a Humphrey the Bear-themed counter-service location

The concept art we say in 2009 is finally coming to life… Stay tuned…

Robert Ashburn’s 2/9/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

wdwntadmin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:47:32 +0000

WDWNT Reporter Robert Ashburn visited the Magic Kingdom yesterday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

Work continues on the Grand Floridian DVC wing

A banner has been hung for Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

It fits Main Street pretty well yet still sets the scene

This area in Fantasyland finally looks complete

It’s well lit at night

I know we showed this already this week, but here’s the screen menu boards at Cosmic Ray’s

Walls up inside the restaurant

The new Tomorrowland cart at night… we love this thing…

Take a close look for a Walt reference…

“Marty Called Wants Changes”

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CASTLE? CALL 911!

Oh, it’s just Dream Along with Mickey at night…

The romance segment in “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”

Apparently people like these gourmet hot dogs… not us…

Some recently released shirts

I like this new batch of generic logo merchandise not focusing on a year

“I know what we’re gonna do today!” Buy Phineas and Ferb merchandise

Mickey plush available in abundance after the great drought late last year where no Mickeys were available resort wide

Robert Ashburn’s 1/24/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

wdwntadmin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:50:53 +0000

WDWNT Reporter Robert Ashburn visited the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us, including Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom play-testing and Grand Floridian DVC wing construction, so let’s take a look:

Work continues on the Main Street Bakery facade

Is this crane for Fantasyland construction? No…

They are fixing a few small things on the Castle

Nice to see maintenance being done after such a short period of time

That is one tall crane

Work continues on the Main Street bridge

Renovations continue inside Plaza Ice Cream

Main Street characters out and about

The Chapeau and some of the Confectionary behind tarps

It is a strange look down Main Street these days

Package Pick-Up/Chamber of Commerce also behind tarps

Time to take a look at the progress on the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment

Almost every roof is being replaced

Painting the mountain

They sure are friendly!

Some scrims are up to block some of the view

Still plenty to see though

Tumbleweed is practically being rebuilt, as are the lift hills

Another roof being replaced

Workers still up on the Castle

No, it can’t be…

EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom windows on Main Street have all been installed

Sorcerers play-tests every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday currently

A window under the Train Station

I warned you that more and more Disney Store merchandise is invading the parks…

Many windows now have a permanant floor marking

A look at Robert’s cards

Now let’s take a quick look at the construiction progress on the Grand Floridian Disney Vacation Club wing

Nothing to see here yet…

Adam Roth’s 11/11/11 WDW Photo Report

wdwntadmin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:21:35 +0000

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Downtown Disney on Friday and has a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Some of the turnstiles at Epcot are behind walls

The Epcot Christmas tree is up!

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy closing out Eat to the Beat 2011

Christmas all around Epcot

Tree at the American Adventure

The small Christmas village is already being set up

Christmas merchandise is everywhere

Everyone is scrambling for the last taste of the Food & Wine Festival

Holiday merchandise in abundance at MouseGear

The store is decorated

The gift of Vinylmation

New gift with purchase bags and watches available

A strange looking castle hybrid on some merchandise

The latest in the 40th anniversary pin of the month series

The Christmas Party sold out

Ummm, they’re sold out…

Disney Universe ad at the TTC

We start our trip to the Magic Kingdom with a look at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The Toontown tents are still bare

The Dumbo building in Storybook Circus is coming along nicely

The train station and Casey Jr. Roundhouse have really taken shape

More Mermaid construction

The Enchanted Grove is out from behind tarps and is now the Cheshire Cafe

Nice sign

Menu is the same

It now fits the Mad Tea Party theme

Mermaid

Dumbo

A wide shot of construction

Looks like a large tree has arrived on-site

The Beauty and the Beast mountain range is almost done

Another look at the tree

We’re starting to see the finished detail on Be Our Guest restaurant

A wide shot

A wide shot of Mermaid

The cottage for Enchanted Tales with Belle now has some details

The chimneys are decorated!

Still no progress on the Castle Wall

Planters still being eliminated

The Skyway station still being eliminated

Another Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom window in Liberty Square

Hidden speaker

Another game window

Another new game station

The Shootin’ Arcade is back and looks great!

Work continues on the Pecos Bill’s facade

That Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment couldn’t come sooner, the train tracks have looked like plain coaster tracks for too long

Golden Oak is back, but now only has hot dogs, drinks and desserts….

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The endless refurbishment continues on the Adventureland/Frontierland passage

The covering is no longer on the Sorcerers window near Pirates of the Caribbean

Exterior refurbishment on Sunshine Tree Terrace continues

Another finished Sorcerers window

Work continues on the Swiss Family Treehouse

Apparently this window is finished

Space Mountain gets into the spirit of the Christmas Party

Rocketower Plaza Stage decorated

The sign now has the stage name

Beautiful

Muppetvision 3-D decorated as we move over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Posters for The Muppets are now up

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is back!

They have completely replaced this canopy with new lights that can be individually programmed to dance with the music

A billboard for Once Upon a Time

The windows tested last year are back with some cool functions

Prep and Landing characters now appear

Zach Larson’s 11/10/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

wdwntadmin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:52:01 +0000

WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Magic Kingdom last night to see the first public performance of “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” with the added holiday sequence and took plenty of newsworthy photos to share with us:

If you look closely, you can see the construction wall surrounding the future site of the Grand Floridian DVC wing

Soon a building will stand here…

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom

Work continues on the Center Street facades

Christmas decorations are up

The robot newspaper dispenser is still missing in Tomorrowland

Work continues on the planter in front of the Peoplemover entrance

Partners…

Getting ready for Cinderella’s Holiday Wish

Time to make another WDWNT: The Flipbook…

TA-DA!

Cinderella Castle Dreamlights = AWESOME

The top of Big Ben in the Main Street Electrical Parade is gone for the seasons since it can’t fit under the garland

The lights on the Fantasyland Skyway station were on outside of the party

Sleepy Hollow refreshments has a new menu, including waffle sandwiches!

Back to the Castle

“Look Mickey, none of these people know there is another show before the fireworks…”

“The Magic, The Memories, and You!” is mostly unchanged

The short holiday portion begins with a snowfall

Ice Castle

Snow turns to green and red lights

The Castle is then wrapped like a present

Christmas lights are then strung on the Castle

The Castle does some quick flashes at this point, including a brief moment where the 25th anniversary Castle Cake returns!

The new segment is short, but a welcome addition

We end with a strange sight: a wedding on the monorail platform… this is either the nerdiest or coolest thing ever… we can’t decide…

More Info On “The Magic, The Memories, & You!” Holiday Show

wdwntadmin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:11:41 +0000

Disneyland already has put out a press release about the changes to “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” projection show:

Those holiday memories might even appear in the nightly “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” show on the façade of “it’s a small world” in Disneyland park. A new segment of the show, specially added for the season, features a musical score filled with favorite holiday tunes and images of resort guests celebrating their holiday visits. As the presentation unfolds, the façade of “it’s a small world” Holiday is frozen in ice, decorated with wreaths and candy canes, wrapped in Christmas paper, and even turned into a giant snow globe. This new segment appears in “The Magic, The Memories and You!” beginning Friday, Nov. 18.

While the release is for the Disneyland Resort version, it finally gives us more information on the show. It is not an entirely new show, but rather just a segment, probably somewhere in the middle of the existing show. We expect the current opening and finale segments will remain, but that is still unclear. The effects described in this release should be the same for the Cinderella Castle version as the existing show is almost identical at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.

The Walt Disney World version of the show debuts at the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on November 8th.

11/2/11 UPDATE: Walt Disney World has released information on their version of the show today:

The Magic, The Memories and You! – The nightly light show on Cinderella Castle gets in “the spirit” throughout the holidays with a special segment that wraps the Magic Kingdom landmark in colorful bows and boughs, gift paper and ribbons, ornaments, candy stripes and multi-colored strands of lights … and gingerbread.

Zach Larson’s 10/25/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

wdwntadmin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:54:06 +0000

WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us (including a ton of New Fantasyland progress), so let’s take a look:

Caste Dreamlight installations looks just about finished

Looking at New Fantasyland from the TTA, the tent cover over County Bounty/Big Top souvenirs has been removed

One of the awning leading up to the Dumbo carousels was also covered recently

The last stretch of rock-work on Under the Sea is almost finished

Work on the dumbo building is picking up as they race towards a February opening

Another look at the Castle

Work continues on the bases of the pylons in Tomorrowland

A shorter construction wall now in front of the Peoplemover entrance

They seem to be stripping Big Top Souvenirs down to the basic structure

The Fantasyland Station is really taking shape

Dumbo queue and Fantasyland Station

Prince Eric’s castle still looks the same, but the lower level rock-work on Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid is starting to take shape

The Enchanted Grove is still under tarps

Back to Dumbo and Storybook Circus

“Snow” has been painted on the top of the peaks of the Beauty and the Beast realm

A big crane out in the construction zone

A closer look at the snow

The chimneys on Maurice’s cottage have taken shape

The lower-level rock-work on Under the Sea

Work on the roof of Pinocchio’s Village Haus

More Under the Sea rock-work construction

The Friar’s Nook was open, serving Teriyaki Chicken Nuggets and those awesome freshly made potato chips

Some stroller parking outside of “it’s a small world”

Looks like there will be no more stroller parking at the Skyway station

The Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade is still closed

Work continues on the Pecos Bill’s facade

Flaps have been added to the pouches for loose articles on Big Thunder Mountain

Expect to see more little improvements like this before the major refurbishment begins in January

Could use a fresh coat of paint

Could also use some wood planks to make that coaster track look like train tracks again…

Let’s take a ride on the Railroad

A closer look at Storybook Circus construction: The Fantasyland Station is coming along quickly

The Barnstormer has been stripped to the bare structure

The County Bounty sign is still up even thought the tent cover is gone

Another look at the Barnstormer

Work continues on the Adventureland/Frontierland breezeway

Day turns to night at the Magic Kingdom

The resort monorail service actually ends 30 minutes after the party is over, not one hour into the party as some have reported…

VIDEO: Walt Disney World’s 40th Anniversary Celebration

wdwntadmin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:50:29 +0000

The next best thing to attending the 40th Anniversary festivities at the Magic Kingdom on October 1st or attending WDWCelebrations Project XL has to be watching this Martin smith video. All of the day’s special activities are featured, so sit back and enjoy a look back at a very special day in Walt Disney World history:

Josh Siegel’s 9/21/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

wdwntadmin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:17:52 +0000

WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited the Magic Kingdom yesterday to see what was new at the park (and with the parking), so let’s take a look at the photos from his trip:

Welcome

The new Villains parking lot is ready to go!

That’s one way to re-label them

New signage for handicap parking

Some remnants remain

The old lot names are history

A tram stop just for Villains lot parking

The heroes side has not been labeled yet

Tram exit stop that was recently built

A look at the signs: Here’s evil Emperor Zurg

Jafar

The Sea Witch, Ursula

Try not to sing every time you park in the Cruella lot

Scar lot

Hook, not be confused with a movie of a similar name… no, there is no Rufio parking!

We head into the Magic Kingdom to check on Fantasyland construction. Progress on the Castle Walls has been made!

The tower frame is gone, so we took a step back as well

Pavement in front of Village Haus still being worked on

Crane is up behind Cinderella Castle for Dreamlights installation

Two cranes up in Fantasyland

Not much to see here

Always fun to watch this…

The windows on Maurice’s Cottage/Enchanted Tales with Belle were sealed up

The mountain in front of Beast’s Castle looks great

Not much new over at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The roofs are going on Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour Village Gifts

A look into Storybook Circus

A look into the Mermaid facade shows that the caverns guests will walk through are taking shape

A large hole has been ripped in one of the Circus tents

The Storybook Circus train station is coming along quickly

The steel frame you see should be the entrance for the station, the larger building is the connected Casey Jr. Roundhouse

The Dumbo queue with Goofini in the background

The County Bounty facade still has not been touched

Tigger’s Bounce Area is still closed…

The Enchanted Grove is still behind tarps

Dumbo queue

A look at the train station and Casey Jr. Roundhouse through the Dumbo queue

Work being done on the futuristic columns in Tomorrowland

That or someone should tell the Peoplemover that it stepped in something… What? Not funny? OK, how about… Nice shoes Tomorrowland Transit Authority! OK, let’s move on…

Despite the fact that it is supposed to be open by now, the Lunching Pad is still not open

Some work being done by the Peoplemover entrance

Is it just me, or is there a lot of work going on in Tomorrowland? More walls by Space Ranger Spin

A lot of the walls seem to be around planters…

The cast entrance next to the Plaza Restaurant is under refurbishment

Mickey Halloween popcorn buckets available

Casey’s Corner did re-open on time

Nothing new to report except that the wallpaper was replaced…

The Swiss Family Treehouse is closed for refurbishment

We usually do…

We will continue to stare at this Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom display until it works…

Anyone have a key?

Something covered…

Tinker Bell recently put on some fall attire at Pixie Hollow

More Treehouse work

Still open…

Another Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom area by Pirates

I see you camera…

Work continues on the Frontierland/Adventureland awning

Is this a new restrooms sign?

Looks new

Work continues on the Pecos Bill’s facade

The Shootin’ Arcade is still closed

Work continues on the facades in Frontierland

The Diamond Horseshoe is getting ready to become the 40th Anniversary shop on October 1st

A new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom window has popped up in Liberty Square

The speakers are very well hidden

The wiring is not so well hidden

Looks like the entire Skyway building is practically gone at this point

EVEN THE FASTPASS LINE IS LONG!

Thanks for the report Josh!