Fantasyland Expansion - Part 2

[Brian G.]

Is Enchanted Tales with Belle a popular thing still? I haven't really followed to see lately.

 

[pat_naughty05]

I think the area has a couple of standouts, but also feels like there were some missed opportunities. Visually, I found it very impressive. The Little Mermaid castle in particular is very well done, but the ride inside is underwhelming, in my opinion. I really enjoyed my one ride through on SDMT much more than I was expecting, but it ends up feeling very short. My favorite part of the whole thing is definitely Be Our Guest. While the scale of the ballroom is admittedly smaller than I expected, the overall experience is great.

 

[IzzyB]

Is Enchanted Tales with Belle a popular thing still? I haven't really followed to see lately.

About 15 to 30 minute wait. People go, but many people skip over it. It is in an odd spot too and I think some people walk right by. I have to say the paths in NFL drive me bonkers. Stuff is sometimes not as visible as it should be.

 

[rhino4evr]

my thoughts that overall it was a needed addition to the park.
Pros:
Mermaid is a good people eater, despite being a somewhat lackluster ride.
Dumbo has much improved wait times
It rarely feels "crowded" in the new areas, at least compared to regular FL.
Overall Theming is excellent throughout
You can now technically "drink" in Magic Kingdom...if you can get a table.
the Princess Meet and Greet serves a much more popular attraction than Snow White was, despite what the haters say.

Cons:
Mine Train is a big bunch of nothing. Lackluster and a 20 min or less attraction to me...and it often has lines that rival the Mountains. This could have been so much more IMO.
Big Top are still feels like its missing something. the "water" area doesn't seem all that popular (although I usually go in the winter).

 

[Thor]

After seeing the fully completed land in June and December of last year, I have the same feeling I had before, long on style short on substance. The area looks great. But the offerings lack a bit to me. Mermaid is a lackluster dark ride. No interest in a Belle meet and greet, not any princess meet and greet. I know there is an audience for them, and they are a necessary evil. Be Our Guest is a pretty decent restaurant, in my opinion anyway. I enjoy eating there and did so in June 2015, December 2015, and October 2013. Mine Train could have been so much more. So much more. They really missed out. Longer, more show scenes would have improved that ride.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I'm mixed. SDMT is a fun coaster but the lines are way too long and Fastpasses are hard to get. If you don't book a month out, you have to hope someone cancels their FP. The Little Mermaid is a mediocre ride and I haven't been on it since softs back in 2012. Be Our Guest is a nice option to eat at in the parks but from what I gather it's now virtually impossible to get into. At least all of this has added capacity to the park.

 

[Cole]

I think it's an decent addition, I just wish they did more with it. After going to DL, I wish they took a page and just filled that huge plot to the brim with dark rides. But judging it on how it is now, I think mermaid is the best ride in FL as a whole, mine train is fun but overall forgettable, storybook circus is ok and I think the beauty and the beast stuff is lame (never went to be our guest so I'm judging everything else). whenever I go in NFL, I always get this feeling in my gut it was built strictly for children and that I don't belong here. I don't get this feeling with literally anywhere on Disney property besides obvious places like Disney jr and the playgrounds that were made for toddlers. my little siblings love it and I feel that's because it was made for them specifically. I don't get the "this area is built for the entire family" vibe here besides in seven dwarfs. That to me is my biggest issue but other than that, I'm ok with it

 

[Mad Dog]

I was there in October 2015 for the first time since it was fully opened. Previously I was there when only the first part of the Circus area opened. I think the area is very well themed. Actually the land is quite beautiful. I had two breakfasts at Beauty & the Beast and thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance of the castle & the meals/service. Mermaids queue was one of the best queues Disney has. The ride itself was better than I expected, primarily because there was so much hate in the postings I read on various sites, so it exceeded my expectations. I thought Mermaid was entertaining and I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed 7 Dwarfs, especially the dark scene. And, it's cool to ride in the evening. But the attraction is way too short. It could have been great if it was two minutes longer and had three dark scenes instead of one. Great landscaping. Bottom line, though, its only an average D ticket at best. If I would have experienced NFL before Hogsmeade & Diagon, I would have rated the area higher, but it really pales in comparison to those two HP lands. NFL is not even in the same ballpark. Where it really fails, is that short of the two rides, there's really nothing else to see or do in the area. It's kind of just like a walk through, and I didn't feel immersed like I do at Diagon/Hogsmeade. It's pretty but there's little substance. It lacks live entertainment also. Short of going on the rides, I spent very little time in the area. Yes, the word "underwhelming", just jumps out as a one word description. I also think it needs more lighting in the evening. It's so dark, Knockturn Alley dark without the HP ambiance or mood, it's kind of like a dreary back alley in the night. And, what really amazed me, is that it didn't seem to get much foot traffic. The old area of Fantasyland was shoulder to shoulder, but there was only a smattering of people on the NFL walkways. And, in the evening, it was almost deserted. We spent 7 days in the Magic Kingdom, of our 2 week vacation, so we did get a pretty representative sample. So I'll leave you with a rating. Diagon gets a 10+, Hogsmeade gets a 10. I'd give NFL a 5 or 6. Not really close at all.

 

[Cheezbat]

While visually attractive, this area is very low on substance. If it were up to me, the tents would be demoed for a Pinocchio dark ride,(relocate the fab five to Main Street in Tinkerbells place) bring in the new Beauty and the Beast dark ride going into Tokyo Disneyland, and redo the facades of old Fantasyland.

Heck, just demo the Speedway and get cracking on New Fantasyland 2.0!

 

[yankees13]

Headed to Disney for the first time in a long time this summer. I'm actually very excited. Just did Universal the past 7 years so it's been a long time.

With that said, should I hit New Fantasyland as soon as the park opens? Last time I was there it was still just Toontown. This probably wasn't even announced yet. I imagine that it's probably the most crowded part of the park and from what I've heard, the Mine Train has one of the longest waits in the park. The less I have to see and hear screaming and crying kids will be for the better.

Or should I go to other parts of the park while they're not so busy and go to Fantasyland later in the day? MK is open until 12 the day I go so I suspect I'll be in the park all day

 

[Mad Dog]

Once Fantasyland gets crowded, it stays crowded. Best to hit it at rope drop. You can knock off a bunch of the rides back there in the first hour and a half of park opening. You really need to get a fastpass for 7 Dwarfs though. The masses hit that first. Mermaid doesn't have long lines anymore. But Peter Pan does.

 

[yankees13]

Once Fantasyland gets crowded, it stays crowded. Best to hit it at rope drop. You can knock off a bunch of the rides back there in the first hour and a half of park opening. You really need to get a fastpass for 7 Dwarfs though. The masses hit that first. Mermaid doesn't have long lines anymore. But Peter Pan does.

Yeah Peter Pan always seems to have long lines for some reason. I never understood that one. Pooh and the old Snow White dark ride always seemed to have no wait. Gonna have to do an advanced Fastpass for 7 dwarves, even though it sounds like it's just the Hippogriff with a show scene. Hoping it's a little more thrilling than that

 

[IzzyB]

Yep, fast pass Mine Train, Peter Pan, and Space Mountain. Book them all in a row first thing in the morning. Then after you use your last try for Pirates, Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain. If you can do those with fast passes you will be golden. Watch the second parade to avoid crowds and ride rides during the first parade and between fireworks and the second parade. After 8 little mermaid, haunted mansion, buzz, and several other rides become wall ons. Pooh goes to 20 minutes, thunder, barnstormer, dumbo, and many others become low to no waita. But Peter Pan and mine train will continue to have high waits even in the late hours.

 

[misterID]

I think the Beauty and the Beast sections are really, thematically, perfect and an upgrade to the land visually. The traffic flow is still terrible. I really like the SDMT, I was expecting a kiddie ride so my expectations were low.

The circus area is pure trash. I mean, if there was an area that was void of that Disney feeling, it's that eyesore around the water train abomination where you can takes bets on how many of the running, screaming kids gets hurt. And those bathrooms *shudders* to the big top tent... Which, itself is kind of cool, but really, is just a well themed McDonalds playground area where the betting on how many screaming, running kids gets hurt continues. This area should be used as an expansion plot. Soon. I put it next to Dinoland on Disney failures.

 

[UNIrd]

So I guess I'll go out on a limb here and say it was a success? It absolutely did what it set out to do which was add much-needed capacity to the park, making a ride on Dumbo not seem like an impossible feat for most families. It's also changed how I personally visit MK. I like a night-ride on SDMT, barring the wait time being too high. I can always get on Mermaid with a minimal wait. A nice cup of LeFou's Brew always goes down nice.

The food at dinner at Be Our Guest was mediocre but it did add another highly necessary table service, and the Belle thing where you watch tourists hold up cardboard props... like.. who asked for that? But overall, while it only scratches the surface of what they're capable of doing, they did SOMETHING.

 

[Nick]

So I guess I'll go out on a limb here and say it was a success? It absolutely did what it set out to do which was add much-needed capacity to the park, making a ride on Dumbo not seem like an impossible feat for most families. It's also changed how I personally visit MK. I like a night-ride on SDMT, barring the wait time being too high. I can always get on Mermaid with a minimal wait. A nice cup of LeFou's Brew always goes down nice.

The food at dinner at Be Our Guest was mediocre but it did add another highly necessary table service, and the Belle thing where you watch tourists hold up cardboard props... like.. who asked for that? But overall, while it only scratches the surface of what they're capable of doing, they did SOMETHING.

It was a success, but could've (should've?) been more. The BATB ride that Tokyo is getting, we were supposed to get. Also, the SDMT track length got slashed.

It's a grouping of nice additions, but when you know the full story, it seems slightly underwhelming.

 

[twebber55]

So I guess I'll go out on a limb here and say it was a success? It absolutely did what it set out to do which was add much-needed capacity to the park, making a ride on Dumbo not seem like an impossible feat for most families. It's also changed how I personally visit MK. I like a night-ride on SDMT, barring the wait time being too high. I can always get on Mermaid with a minimal wait. A nice cup of LeFou's Brew always goes down nice.

The food at dinner at Be Our Guest was mediocre but it did add another highly necessary table service, and the Belle thing where you watch tourists hold up cardboard props... like.. who asked for that? But overall, while it only scratches the surface of what they're capable of doing, they did SOMETHING.

i dont think its going out on a limb
you cant get a reservation at Be Our Guest, Mine Train has a two hour wait quickly in the morning, attendance grew 6%
now the big knock is obviously how short the mine train is but other than that its a success
here's another one of those what the general public thinks is different than what message board folks think

 

[IzzyB]

i dont think its going out on a limb
you cant get a reservation at Be Our Guest, Mine Train has a two hour wait quickly in the morning, attendance grew 6%
now the big knock is obviously how short the mine train is but other than that its a success
here's another one of those what the general public thinks is different than what message board folks think

Agreed. Like some on here say people don't care about Belle, but my friends did it twice because their son loves to be the beast and their daughter loves to meet Belle. I also heard someone say the Circus area is awful. But for families with kids that love to get wet in the hot summer heat it is a perfect splash area. Makes the Dumbo wait actually really nice with the indoor play area (again out of the hot sun) and with Mine Train the waits at Barnstormer are actually pretty decent and kids eat up that coaster. Their 8 year old loves to ride it 4 or 5 times in a row late at night when it is a walk on. So even that area to the GP seems to be a success. I agree, what we think and what the GP think are two different things.

 

[UNIrd]

Agreed. Like some on here say people don't care about Belle, but my friends did it twice because their son loves to be the beast and their daughter loves to meet Belle. I also heard someone say the Circus area is awful. But for families with kids that love to get wet in the hot summer heat it is a perfect splash area. Makes the Dumbo wait actually really nice with the indoor play area (again out of the hot sun) and with Mine Train the waits at Barnstormer are actually pretty decent and kids eat up that coaster. Their 8 year old loves to ride it 4 or 5 times in a row late at night when it is a walk on. So even that area to the GP seems to be a success. I agree, what we think and what the GP think are two different things.

I think the Circus area looks great. You only meet Belle in the attraction if you're one of the chosen few to participate, right? Or did that change?

 

[IzzyB]

I think the Circus area looks great. You only meet Belle in the attraction if you're one of the chosen few to participate, right? Or did that change?

As far as I know that was never the case. Any child that wants a part can have a part and even those children that don't want a part can still get their picture with Belle. The few times we have done it over the years they have always gone around and asked the kids that did not participate if they wanted pictures, even the babies. They have generic roles like silverware and things like that for the "extra" roles. But no kid is turned down if they want a role in the play.