Meanwhile ground did break for a large construction project just beyond Fantasyland. So what were these projects? Why is there all of this construction going on if in fact all of the concept art we have seen is in fact fictional? Well the answer is that a Fantasyland expansion is actually in the works. I am proud to present to you this evening the real Walt Disney World Fantasyland Plans, the Fantasyland Village:
Stepping through the castle walls on the edge of Fantasyland Proper and out into the village square we come upon a charming little Bavarian Town nestled in the woods. Off to our right is the prestigious Toad Manor and a intriguing toy shop, straight ahead is a beautiful gazebo inviting us for a relaxing break from our day, beyond the gazebo lies both a Miniature cruise line to take us into the worlds of our favorite storybooks and a pristine wishing well inviting us to an “adorable” cottage belonging to seven dwarfs and one porcelain princess. Of to the side of the cottage signs beckon us into the woods to explore the awe inspiring world of nature along side Bambi.
Next to these woods we find a book store calling to us to come and spend our days enjoying all the treasure’s of the worlds great literary masterpieces. Nestled between the book store and the edge of the woods is a mysterious and enchanting cottage. Then rising above the woods is a striking mountain covered in thorns and cascading waterfalls topped off with a frightful tower and a serene castle. Then also just over the edge of trees we see a gorgeous theater that resembles the old renaissance theaters of days gone by. Let us begin our tour.
Village Park:
Right as you walk through the castle walls and out into Fantasy Village you are greeted with beautiful landscaping, on par with that of Disneyland Paris. Majestic firs and rich colorful flowers adorn small flowerbeds around the area and storybook land with it’s flawless scenery brings even more whimsy and fantasy to the area. The village surroundings themselves are filled with firs and pine trees to help enhance the northern European Forest feel. At the center of a small selection of flower beds is a beautiful razed gazebo that is almost be identical to the Sound of Music Gazebo seen here with the exception of the raised factor and a roof that more close matches the holiday picture:
The gazebo spends most of the year as just a relaxing seating area for the small variety of snack stands located around the village such as churros and turkey legs. However during the Holiday season it become Bell’s Enchanted Meet and greet area where Bell and the Beast both in their Holiday best perform meet and greets with the guests. The Gazebo also is decorated to take on a rather festive mood that matches the entire Holiday layover that the rest of the village undergoes during the Holiday Season.
During this time Giselle will take Bell’s place in the Cinderella’s Royal Table "meet and greet" princess line up, so as to prevent any guests in the castle from seeing two Bells at the same time.
Moving past the village park we head out towards Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.
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http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5033/toad1.jpg
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
As we are exploring the forests that cover the back part of Fantasyland we find Toad Hall, the grand estate owned by J. Thaddeus Toad himself which also houses one of the most unique attractions to ever be built in a Disney park. This ride combines both the classic Fantasyland dark ride with a tame version of test Track making the ride both fun for families and nostalgic for WDW regulars.
Ride System
The ride system of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is somewhat complicated. It basically uses the same system that Test Track has but is tweaked a bit to allow the cars to go backwards and even disconnect and reconnect with different track pieces. As with all rides using this ride system, the vehicles will be able to speed up or slow down depending on the pacing of the scene.
The ride vehicles, in classic Mr. Toad fashion, are themed as motorcars from the early 20th century. These cars look nearly identical to the vehicles from Mr. Toad’s other incarnations. The classic motorcars make their triumphant return to Walt Disney World with a few minor differences. First, the backs of the cars will be raised a bit to somewhat enclose the back row of seats. A big difference between the other ride vehicles is that the vehicles seat five guests at a time. Two in the front and three in the back. Guests will be held in the cars with seat belts. The actual car will look almost exactly the same as Toad’s car did in the Disney cartoon. The cars will be colored red, blue, green, white or black. The floors of each motorcar will be made to look like they’re made from wood while the seats will be cushioned with dark brown leather. The front left seat has a steering wheel so kids and even adults who ride the ride can feel like they’re driving their very own motorcar. As with the other Mr. Toad rides, the cars will have a small hood coming out of the front which houses the engine(which rumbles and makes sounds too) Of course, there will be a set of doors on the left side of motorcars for load and unload. Lastly, the motorcars have two sets of speakers in the seats of each car to keep the ride’s audio running smoothly.
Façade
As we walk through Fantasyland, we come upon a cobblestone pathway that leads towards the left side of the new expansion area. As we make our way down this pathway, we will quickly end up at Toad Hall as the sound of ‘Nowhere in Particular’ is heard throughout the area. Here is a somewhat large cul-de-sac covered in cobblestone that stands at the foot of Toad Hall. In the center of this area is a large marble fountain dedicated to the one and only J. Thaddeus Toad. The fountain is pretty simple: a round base with a pillar in the center which has Mr. Toad(who looks like the statue that hangs above the doorway in DLR’s ride does) with a few water jets that shoot in towards the pillar. Off to the side is a large motorcar that serves as a photo op and also a meet-n-greet where guests can meet Rat, Mole, MacBadger and of course Winky.
The Façade for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride just looks like a MUCH larger and more grandiose version of the façade in DLR. The very center part will look literally identical to its California Counterpart with the same entrance sign and everything. Instead of the statue of Mr. Toad above the ride’s sign, Toad’s shield hangs which looks exactly the same as it does in What make the two different are the other buildings that attach to either side of the main building. These expansions on the building reach out the width of the cul-de-sac and wrap around its sides a tiny bit. The left expansion holds the queue while the right expansion holds part of the ride.
Queue
As we pass through the main doors, we will be right inside the loading room. This room is brightly lit with large stained glass windows, showing some of Toad’s many adventures, on the walls. Hanging from the walls are large flags. Looking up, we see motorcars careening around the corner of the second floor and into an unseen room. As we exit this room, we enter a rather plain hallway. This hallway is also brightly lit with large windows that cover the walls of the long hallway. As we make our way down the hall, we see large paintings of all the Wind and the Willows characters with the largest being Mr. Toad. All the characters are shown including Rat, Mole, MacBadger and Cyril who is wearing a suit.
When we get to the end of the hallway, we enter what we can only assume is the library. In here, we see a large desk Angus MacBadger who continuously complains about having to pay Toad’s bills sits. He occasionally looks up and tells us to get a move on and stop wasting his time. On his desk are a large pile of bills that Mr. Toad has accumulated over the years. The large bookcases that cover the back wall seem to be completely overstuffed with books as some books are falling off the shelves and on to the floor. Even more piles of books cover the floor of the room with some stack almost touching the ceiling. As we exit this room, we reenter a hallway. A doorway that’s cracked open a bit reveals the shadow of Mr. Toad who is going crazy over the motorcar as Rat and Mole try to put him to bed. As we continue to walk down the hall, we eventually reenter the first room to get ready for boarding their very own motorcar.
Ride
As we reenter the loading area, we are brought over to the track and directed to their very own motorcar. As the motorcars leave the station, the voice of Rat comes over the speakers giving the safety instructions for the ride. After those instructions, the motorcars speed up as the first notes of Nowhere in Particular are heard and they make a sharp turn around the corner. The cars turn once again after a quick run in with a suit of armor. After that second turn, the motorcars enter Mr. Toad’s trophy room. The walls are a dark green with dark wood flooring and a few ornate chandeliers hang from the ceiling. As the motorcars twist and turn their way through the dimly lit room, they encounter many pieces of furniture and other artifacts. As the motorcars first enter the room they will notice the many trophy heads that adorn the wall. The strange thing is that they seem to be staring and watching the motorcars. The motorcars quickly swerve to the left and almost hit a stuffed bear who suddenly comes to life and takes a swing at the passing motorcar. After turning away from the bear, the motorcars head straight towards a wall right below a stuffed moose head. As the motorcars approach the wall, the moose head’s eyes widen immensely and his mouth opens as to let out a scream. Wthink that as usual, the motorcar will move out of the way at the last moment but this is not the case. The cars literally crash right through the wall and enters the guests chambers. This room is a transition to the outside simply containing a bed. After entering the room, the motorcars take a sharp left right towards Rat and Mole who are trying to stop the motorcars. Right as they yell at us to stop or turn around, the motorcars smash through another wall and into a deep forest area.
As we exit out into the forest, you immediately notice that we have stumbled upon a village of gypsies. The motorcars wind their way around the gypsy wagons and giant piles of hay. Before leaving the village, the motorcars crash right through a pile of hay and out of the forest. As the motorcars leave the forest, they quickly stop for an encounter with Mr. Toad and Cyril who is attached to a yellow gypsy cart. After speaking to them, the motorcars speed up again and leave the forest to take a scenic trip through the English Countryside. This is a pretty mellow part of the ride. With ‘Nowhere in Particular’ still playing through the speakers, the motorcars twist their way through the hilly countryside and at one point, get over to the Storybookland Canal Boats taking a similar route as Casey Junior Trains in DLR. After reentering the countryside, the motorcars make their way through the dirt roads until they reach a small looking building with a sign over the door that reads “Winky’s Bar”
Before entering the bar, the motorcars slow down to a very slow speed. As we enter through the front doors, we notice that the bar is seemingly empty with the exception of a group of weasels who are grouped around a table with a dim light hanging above them. The motorcars slowly make their way towards the bar until suddenly, the lighting turns red as Winky appears from behind the bar holding the deed to Toad Hall as the weasels all turn around and stare down the motorcars. In the door to the back room, a set of weasels pop up to block the way back there. As soon as this happens, the motorcars speed up and crash right through the pair of weasels who block the way. The motorcars get into the back room which is themed to look like a storage room. The room is very dimly lit and has many barrels labeled ‘RUM’, ‘BEER’ or ‘WHISKEY’ scattered around the room. On some of these barrels stand weasels who shoot at the passing motorcars. As the motorcars twist through the room, they occasionally hit barrels, knocking the top open and squirting water at us. As the motorcars speed towards the side door which is blocked by a row of barrels, they are suddenly blocked by Winky and two Weasels who proceed to push the motorcars down a staircase and into the basement.
It seems that Winky and the Weasels have created an elaborate tunnel that runs straight from the bar to Toad Hall. As the motorcars fall backwards down the stairs, they will enter the wine cellar which holds the entrance to this secret cave. At the bottom of the stairs, the cars make a quick 180 and proceed to move forward once more. The cave is extremely dark and could be considered the scary part of the ride without much comedy to it. This passage doesn’t have much to it other than the cracks in the walls that reveal sets of eyes looking at and following the motorcars. As the motorcars round the corner, they are immediately greeted by a section that can only be described as hell. The little devils from the original ride make their return as they sit on the red rockwork laughing maniacally at the passing motorcars. The motorcars quickly speed up and go up a somewhat steep incline, crashing through the wall back into Toad Hall. As soon as we enter the mansion, it is noticed that the once beautiful mansion has been practically destroyed by Winky and his cohorts in crime. Statues and busts have been turned to rubble. The once beautiful paintings have been ripped to shreds or painted over with smiley faces and other things. The ornate tapestries have been ripped into many strips as they hang from the ceilings, practically destroyed. The main problem though is the weasels. They are literally EVERYWHERE. On the furniture, on the floor and hanging from the tapestries. All of them holding pistols, at the ready to shoot the motorcars. Looking straight up, we can see Rat, Mole and Toady hanging on to the very bottom of a very large and ornate chandelier. On the top part of the chandelier stands Winky, still holding the deed to Toad Hall, and two weasels who are trying to shoot the three heroes back down to the ground. The motorcars keep twisting their way through the room until they reach a double staircase which leads to the second floor.
The second floor is basically just a landing which follows the length of the room. Once on the second floor, the motorcars take a left and down the hallway. The motorcars then lead out to another landing which is right above the loading area. After taking a pretty sharp 180 turn back into the mansion, we enter a narrow hallway with doors on both sides. Every other door, the door will open a bit to reveal a weasel. The motorcars weave around the open doors quickly until they enter one of three rooms. Each room is themed to be a treasure room of sorts. Gold bars and other treasures pile from the floor to the ceiling with the motorcars stuck right in the middle of the room. As the doors behind them close, as the lights turn up to reveal the weasels who have surrounded the motorcar. On top of a large pile of gold is Winky who explains that now that he has Toad Hall, the only thing that needs to be done now is get rid of you. He then instructs the weasels to dispose of us. Two of them start to saw the floor with saws as guests see the shadow of Toad, Rat and Mole sneaking up behind Winky. Suddenly, the sounds of the saw stops as the motorcars begin to fall. As the motorcars fall down to the first floor, you can hear some struggling going on upstairs, ending with a scream from Winky. A set of doors open to reveal that everything has ended well as Winky and two weasels are tied up with Rat, Mole and Toad standing behind them. Toad stands in the center, holding the deed to Toad Hall in his hand as he thanks guests for helping him get Toad Hall back. The motorcars then exit through the doors and back to the loading area where we leave our vehicle and exit back through the front doors.
A Special Experience
After riding the ride, we get lucky and meet the eccentric Mr. Toad and his trusty horse Cyril. This of course is the Magic Kingdom’s first attempt using living characters. Every once in a while, Toad, who is on a gypsy wagon, Cyril, who is steering the cart will come rushing towards guests singing ‘Nowhere in Particular’ They then stop and chat with us for a bit before going back on their journeys. This effect is somewhat complicated. The main machines that has Mr. Toad and Cyril talking and walking are hidden inside the cart with the CMs who do the voices hidden at a different location away from the AAs.
Hidden Area
As we explore Toad Hall, we find a small dirt pathway that leads to one of the parks few hidden, quiet areas. As we go down the pathway, we come across Rat and Moles houses in Storybook land and get to enjoy a quite break area over looking the Storybookland attraction. This is mainly just a small area for people who want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the park.
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The Storybookland Canal Boats
As we make our way towards the Bambi attraction we discover the charming canals of Storybookland. The ride doesn’t really have a façade per se mainly because about 95% of the ride takes place outside. The area is really open with light colored cobblestone walkways with a open area right in front of the ride. Looking right at the ride, we see the boats which are cycling in and out of load and unload, guided by a tour guide who sits in the back. Behind the loading area is a large grassy hill that spans the length of the loading area. In bright colored flowers, we can see the title “Storybookland” which stretches out almost as far as the hill. On top of the hill is a large hedge which spans the length of the hill. As a matter of fact, the whole area of the ride is bordered by a large hedge. They even border the track for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for the most part. The most striking set piece of the load area is a large full tree which the boats seem to be entering. This will be Magic Kingdom’s response to Disneyland’s Monstro. We pass under the Winnie the Pooh’s Honey Hunt style books and eventually reach the loading dock.
The actual boats are basically the same as their Disneyland counterparts and are named after the various princesses that have made appearances in many different Disney movies. These names include Tiana, Jasmine, Ariel, Cinderella and Belle. Once aboard one of these boats, we join our tour guide on a trip down the rabbit hole and into a world full of Fantasy and Magic. All in miniature form. Visit the Mad Hatter's tea party or the Queen of Heart's castle while venturing through the rivers of Wonderland. See the beauty and Grandeur of the Snow Queen's castle which appears to be made completely of ice and snow. Continue down and see the beasts castle looking down at us from the top of a hill as we pass by. We float past skull island and Captain Hook's ship as he tries to sink the passing boats that are almost three times his boat's size. Then we enter a dark looking cave which serves holds many of the villain's homes and places of mischief. Exit the cave and be greeted by Tiana's palace. Continue down the rivers to see Rapunzel's tower which stands alone in the thick forests. Finally, before exiting, see the wonder that is Pixie Hallow, a curious place inhabited by the mythical fairies. Then, we return to the loading area to “reenter” Fantasyland.
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Simply Snow White’s
Tucked away over the river and inside the woods is Simply Snow White’s a charming restaurant that takes place in the dwarfs’ cottage.
We walk over the bridge that goes through Storybookland and touch down right in front of the Bambi attraction, but suddenly the smell of great food reaches you and your stomach decides that Bambi can wait for just a little while. Turning we head down a short path marked by a Wishing Well with a sign on it reading “Simply Snow White’s” and pointing down a pathway. Soon the clearing opens to a clearing in the woods and a charming cottage amidst a small stream graces your view:
You walk inside the cottage and a lovely young hostess asks you’re your name and party size, she then hands you a sparkling red apple and informs you to sit down on one of the beautiful and very intricately carved benches that adorn what appears to be a small “Mud Room” with the dwarves dirty clothes hanging on racks along the wall. The faint sound of “Whistle While you Work” can be heard and the wonderful smells of the food are making your mouth water.
Soon your apple begins to buzz the tune of “Some Day My Prince Will Come” and glow indicating that your table is ready. You return your apple to the front desk and another hostess guides you to your table which happens to be in the living room.
At first you pass through the kitchen where it appears that small AA animals are doing some last minute cleaning before the dwarves get home. Squirrels are cleaning up cobwebs, etc. Next you pass through the dining room where the larger tables for parties of 7+ are sitting. Enjoying their meal here a crackling fire gives off real heat but is actually an electronic screen where the flames form shapes and faint music can be heard occasionally that match the shapes seen.
As seen here but with Disney Princess Music instead of Christmas Music:
YouTube - Disney's Magical Fireplace
Also like what is seen here at 1:19:
YouTube - Disneyland Dream Suite
The fire would also be much bigger than seen in these because, well, the fireplaces in Snow White’s day were the only real way to heat up a house and cook food so they had to be bigger!
Next we arrive in The Living Room, this room has stairs up to a “Cast Members Only” area that is supposed to be the dwarfs’ bedroom. The Living room is also decorated with the fun organ from the movie as well as enchanted pictures of the dwarfs in some of their adventures that were never shown in the movie, as well as portraits. The enchanted portraits are just of the dwarfs’ faces and thus sometimes these will wink at the you or Sneezy will sneeze or sleepy fall asleep and start snoring only to suddenly wake up and return to his normal state of smiling in the portrait. Meanwhile pictures of such activities as the infamous soup scene come to life from time to time with the faint sound of the dwarfs talking and moving around in the scene as though it were a movie occurring.
Meanwhile the organ plays more fun and sillier versions of Snow White and other Disney Fairytale songs on its own much like those “Magic Pianos.” The Living room also has a few windows looking out to the “outside” eating area, which is actually just an extended show building that is a lot like the Blue Bayou. The few differences are with a more starry ceiling, the sound of a small stream running by instead of the bayou, various AA Snow White style animals frolicking about in the woods playing peek-a-boo with the guests instead of fireflies, and a more German forest landscaping than Louisiana Bayou. One can also see the dwarfs’ mine off in the distance sparkling with all its stunning glory.
Finally seated, at your nice sturdy wooden table you begin to thumb through the menu:
Appetizers:
- Bashful’s Mozzarella Sticks
- Sausage Platter
- Bavarian Salads
- Spaetzle
- Baked Potatoes Platter
Entrées:
- Sleepy’s Sauerbraten
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Roasted Pork
- Corn-Crusted Rings Served with Spicy Tomato Sauce Minestrone
- Hearty Vegetable Soup of Fagiolini, Zucchini, Tomato, Cannellini Beans & Basil
- Snow White’s Soup: A seasonally changing soup, always cooked to perfection.
- Wood Grilled Salmon
- Charred Sirloin Steak
Desserts:
- Gooseberry Pie
- Apple Dumplings
- Plum Pudding
- Apple Crisp
- Caramel Apples
- Happy’s Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake
- Dopey’s Ice Cream Sundae
You quickly decide on a meal and then wait for the food while enjoy all of the fun little hidden extra’s of the restaurant such as the moving pictures. Suddenly the organ stops playing and the pictures stop moving and Heigh-Ho as a song begins playing throughout the entire restaurant, and not just an instrumental as had previously been occurring. Those outside see the silhouette of the dwarfs leaving the mine, and soon those in the living room see the dwarfs shadow behind the fireplace, as seen in the film, the music gets progressively louder until suddenly in perfect order the Dwarfs come through a small clearing into the outside section and therefore right into the restaurant. Meanwhile in the living room Snow White hears them coming and has come down from the upstairs to greet her little friends. The groups then divide themselves up with two dwarves per eating area where they go around and much like the other character dining experiences greet the guests and take pictures rotating around until every table has had their time with every group of the dwarfs + Snow White.
As Snow White Comes around to your table she gives each child, or child at heart upon request, a glittering Diamond from the Dwarfs’ Mine. Each Diamond is a little bit different but a few of them have an apple engraved in them. Those who happen to get an engraved diamond be rewarded with their very own exclusive Snow White autograph book that resembles the book used in the movie opening, as well as their very own sparkling wishing apple and an exclusive gold autograph book pen. The autograph book and pen are exclusive to winning but the “Wishing Apple” can be purchased at the restaurant as an addition to the bill very much like the exclusive Blue Bayou Gift Card Tins at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland.
But in Gold…
After every table has had their turn, Snow White sends the dwarfs up to bed for the night and bids adieu to the guests. You finish up your meal and take the left over food in special boxes shaped like the Queen’s Heart Box. On your way out the door you notice that your diamond has the special apple mark on it so you gladly get your reward as one of the few people that will ever receive the exclusive gift package and we head on out, over to the Bambi Attraction.
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Season’s of Love: Bambi’s Story
As we reach the edge of the forest we head down yet another pathway and at some point, although we can not detect exactly when, we enter into a giant show building with the forest still seemingly surrounding us. As we make our way through the woods woodland creature AA’s make their animal noises and discuss in hushed tones about us, using a preselected track with general statements that can be over ridden at the will of ride operators who notice specific facts about our fellow riders.
We eventually approach an Omni mover ride track with seemingly wooden ride cars and head into the woods. Scenes then progress through the scenes as follows, beginning with spring:
-Exploring the forest community (Spring) here we meet all of the main characters from the movie just as we are introduced to Bambi
-The Meadow (Summer) here relationships are established and Bambi’s love interest is introduced.
-Autumn winds (Fall) here the leaves seem to blow across the sky through peppers ghosts, projections, and the instrument effects from the haunted mansion’s séance scene. These advanced Omni movers also have the capability to tilt slightly and as the winds hit the ride car we feel these tilts.
-Ice skating, (Winter) here we find our ride car spinning slightly across the ice as we watch Bambi and his friends ice skating.
-"Little April Showers" (Spring) in a rather Winnie the pooh esq. moment we witness the forest mid rain storm.
-The fight with the dogs, (summer) (a rather tamed version of the infamous scene provides action for the riders as well as establishes Bambi’s love interest as his spouse)
-Forrest Fire (Fall) another action scene this one is a more child friendly version of the infamous Mr. Toad’s Hell Scene at Disneyland except with a forest and far less frightening feel)
- Next we see the burnt trees begin to get powdered with snow thanks to Peppers ghosts and projections and then head out into a full spring glory scene that matches the end of the film, with the new prince of the forest being born and Bambi watching triumphantly from a rock.
YouTube - Bambi - The final scene (English)
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Pip’s Book Emporium:
As we get off Bambi we are ushered into Pip’s Book Emporium as we are exiting into the bookstore we look behind us and notice that the doorway we used to get into the store and off of the ride was actually a giant Bambi Storybook a nod to Bambi’s novel origins.
The store itself is a rather average book store with some Bavarian touches. This book store also provides the exit for Enchanted. The store sells a collection of Disney Storybooks intended for children as well as the more adult and collector books, guides, and novels. The store also carries a selection of music and DVD’s that are exclusive to the park, in essence it is very much like Disneyland’s Music Store with a much stronger book and DVD presence, obviously considering it is primarily a book store. We each pick up a signed copy of a new book that is about the Fantasyland Expansion, signed by all of the members of Team Walt, and is sure to be a collectors item very soon.
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Moving out of the store and excited by all of the guests that are raving about the Enchanted Ride and reenacting scenes from it as they get off we decide to take a visit:
Located between Bambi’s Woodland Forrest and the edge of the woods before one heads over towards Thorn Mountain is a small cottage just down a small pathway with a sign on it that reads “Giselle’s Dream” The Cottage itself looks very much like this:
Queue: As we enter the cottage, we can hear Giselle singing "True Love Kiss" upstairs, and as we walk through her kitchen and fireplace... place, we can see little models for multiple places like a castle that we all know and love, and a big (I'm going to hate myself for this) golf ball. A small plaque near them says that Giselle has been seing these things on her dreams (or outside her window). Pictures on a table show Giselle with what appears to be the Father from Carousel of Progress on a place called "Forest Fair 64", and another picture of Giselle and her forest friends sits near the fireplace. A banjo lies near her favorite chair (a plaque says "from Henry") and we continue onto Giselle's room, where the pre-show lies. A medley of instrumental versions of "True Love Kiss" and "Happy Working Song" can be heard on this queue- together with a pig trying to teach some squirrels how to create something that Giselle saw in her dream- Autonomatic Automatronics.
Pre-Show
The pre-show is not a "sit down and watch" pre-show, but more of a repeating one. As guests aproach the loading area, disguised as her garden, they pass through Giselle's room, where through the same process utilized in the Toontown Trolley Tours (advanced projections on glass and objects that move to pass the idea that both are interacting with each other), we see the animated version of Giselle singing and painting, while Pip is hearing her sing on her bed. The pre-show repeats itself:
GISELLE: Oh, Pip! I just had the most wonderful dream last night!
PIP: Let me guess, a prince comes and rescues you from the tower?
GISELLE: What? No!
PIP: Oh, thank Heavens... How was it?
GISELLE: Oh, there- there were people, LOTS of people, and, and they were forming a line and walking towards my house.
PIP: * looks at the guests *
GISELLE: There were also all of these wonderful places around it with talking deer, a mountain of thorns, a cruise ship that visited all these islands of tiny buildings, a crazy driving toad, a beautiful theater, oh and Snow White was there too at the Dwarfs house but for some reason she never said anything about Prince Charming! So then I decided I would go see why all of these people were coming to my house.
PIP: Uh, Giselle? * points at the guests *
GISELLE: I could see that there was dancing, music, models, and people were having fun, and, oh, Pip, it looked so wonderful!
PIP: I see.
GISELLE: So I decided I would sneak in through the back window but there were people that were walking behind a track, and they were fixing things and touching on controls that were-
PIP: AH NAH NAH DEAR! We don't want to spoil the magic, do we? * jumps on Giselle and holds her lips *
GISELLE: No?
PIP: Good. Now what else there was on your dream?
GISELLE: Oh, well I heard someone say there was... uhm... no eating and drinking during the ride... and people were remaining with their hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times... OH!
PIP: And no flash photography?
GISELLE: And no flash photography! How do you know that, Pip?
PIP: Just a wild guess! * reading a book called " Your Guide to The New Fantasyland Expansion!"
GISELLE: Oh, it would be so wonderful if I could dream about it again tonight? Oh well maybe….* goes back to singing True Love Kiss *
LOADING AREA
As you approach your ride car, you can hear animals singing "The Work Song" from Cinderella with the lyrics changed, to show that they are creating the ride that Giselle envisioned in the pre-show, this song is also mixed with “Happy Working Song” also with some lyrical changes to note the absence of Giselle. The loading area is Giselle's garden, and the ride cars are disguised as flowers (like, they are really decorated with flowers). A big badly made sign on top of the loading area says "An Enchanted Ride", and as we board our car we can hear Pip delivering the loading speech:
PIP: Alright guys, listen up! You're going to be the "gaests", whatever that means, and you guys have to follow some rules before going into this dream! Number one: its a dream, so keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle- you don't want to step outside it! Number two: no smoking, eating or drinking! Again, its a dream, so it's not going to be good for Giselle. Number three: no flash photographies! It hurts Giselle's brain. And, oh, please, keep quiet- she's dreaming all of this, y'know!
The scenes then progress as follows:
Giselle's song: We begin by visiting Giselle in her Bedroom where she is sitting on her bed combing her hair singing a medley of Disney Fairytale tunes about finding her prince charming. Guests will find humor in the fact that with the exception of Giselle and her Bed everything in the room is quite obviously fake and only 2D
Next we find ourselves on a hunting trail where a prince and his band of followers are chasing a troll. Some members of the hunting party are carrying giant banners that bear the title “Prince What's-His-Face” informing guests of the princess’s humorous name.
As we round the corner we hear Giselle saying, oh and then he saves me from the wicked troll and we decide to get married. As we turn the corner we see prince standing on top of the troll and holding Giselle in his arms, they’re singing the duet.
As we make our way to the next scene Giselle can be overheard saying “Unfortunately this Prince’s Step Mother is nothing like the nice and wonderful Queen Narissa and she wanted to get rid of me!”
Thus we enter into a dungeon esq. scene where an evil queen transforms into an evil hag to go after Giselle in a similar effect to the Snow White ride, but is blinded by the light and the fog used to hide the fact that she's changing, resulting in her coughing and cursing the special effects people for their over use of the light and fog.
Next we find Giselle with her animal friends, Prince Whats-His-Face has just brought Giselle to the castle, and she is on her new room. This set is however not even finished you can see the refurbishment team still painting the other side of the room, and the Prince apologizes, they’re moving so fast generally the prince lives in a kingdom far far away but since they were so close they hadn’t gotten this far in the ride yet.
Then suddenly the evil Queen as an old hag captures Prince Whats His Face and brings him to the "next scene" challenging Giselle to follow him.
Giselle can be heard voicing over as we transition to the next room “ Oh no! What’s happening? My dream is becoming a nightmare, the prince is supposed to save me not the other way around! Oh well a soon to be princess gotta do what a soon to be princess gotta do!”
As we enter the next scene we find Giselle going after “Whats-his-face” However she’s quite lost and we find her in a room parodying the Haunted Mansion staircase scene, opening doors to other Disney attractions- at one point, she opens the door to the Tiki Room show, to which Jose screams "Eh, close the door, we're dreaming here!... Newbies."
Eventually we reach the scene before what should be the grand finale, as the Ride cars crash through a fog dog and we find Giselle confronting the Evil Queen. Just then the queen uses the ride control system to switch the car’s track so we can't get to the next scene, where she loses.
This new track sends riders into what in a normal ride would be the holding area backstage for the unused ride vehicles there frantic AA and video projection cast members are freaking out as we go spinning through the station. Eventually Pip’s voice comes over the speakers “Sorry folks looks like Giselle is having a nightmare, let’s get this dream back on track, one second!”
Suddenly we crash through another wall and into the grand finale scene. Here we can see the queen as a giant rather awkward looking, but still fear imposing, dragon holding prince “What’s-his-face” and Giselle saying “Well you might think you’re so powerful, but um, this is my dream!” (Tribute to Fantasmic) and holding a giant paint brush identical to one we saw backstage, so we know that it is a refurbishment team piece, she sends beams of light destroying the evil Queen. Pip can be heard on the way to the next scene saying “Now that’s more like it”
We then go past a giant diorama parodying the final scene in Snow white. We soon reach the unload station, and on our way of the attraction we pass by another scene of Giselle waking up and telling Pip all about her dream and asking him if he had anything to do with it switching from a nightmare to a fairytale ending. Exiting out back into the book store, we decide to head on over towards the Thorn Mountain part of the village.
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As we pass down the forest and past the teacups we soon arrive at the base of Thorn Mountain where the final three of our expansion attractions are.
Our first stop is the Wishing Star Theater currently showing “Disney’s Three Mousketers” a parody on the infamous novel.
Guests enter the lobby of the theater and are treated to other Fab Five Staring parody movies similar to the ones found in the lobbies of It’s Tough to Be a Bug and Muppets 3-D. The idea of the show is that Disney characters are all playing the roles in a new production of The Three Musketeers following a storyline very similar to this one: Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia rather than the traditional storyline. Some of the Disney characters change roles from time to time, outlined in the chart below, thus leaving guests with a slightly different show if they come and watch during different visits to the parks. With that in mind, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Clarabelle will always play themselves. All characters will also utilize the new talking Mickey technology.
Troubador..............Tigger, Jiminy Cricket, Gepetto
Pete......................Himself, Gaston, Dr. Facilier
Beagle Boys............Themselves, Grumpy/Doc/Sneezy, Iago/Archimedes/Scuttle
Musketeers.............Grumpy/Doc/Sneezy, Iago/Archimedes/Scuttle
A cast board, royal blue with yellow lettering, will stand in the lobby. The names of all possible players will be listed. An understudy board stands nearby. Near the top will be At This Performance while the main bulk will be the character under THE ROLE OF and the player under WILL BE PLAYED BY. An announcement will be made at the beginning of the show signifying such.
The song list for the show shall be as follows:
1. "All For One (The Galop from "Orpheus in the Underworld")" - Troubadour and the Musketeers
2. "Love So Lovely ("Dance of the Reed Flutes" from The Nutcracker, and "Romeo and Juliet Overture")" - Troubadour
3. "Petey's King of France ("Cop Song" from Urinetown)" - Pete
4. "Sweet Wings of Love ("Blue Danube") - Troubadour
5. "Clarabelle ("Maria" from West Side Story)" - Goofy and Clarabelle Cow
6. "Battle à l'Opéra ("Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music interspersed with excerpts from "The Pirates Of Penzance")" - Ensemble
7. "All For One (reprise)" - The Musketeers (with Mickey,Donald and Goofy)
At the end of each production those of us who wish to simply leave are allowed to do so while those who wish to say, presumably most of the guests including ourselves will be invited to meet the “stars” backstage in their dressing rooms. We are then guided through a series of dressing rooms where different actors than in the show but regardless the same characters will meet and greet with us and others guests very similar to the judges tent in the now defunct Mickey’s Toontown Fair.
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Thorn Mountain Pond
Located in the center of the small village formed between the train station, the theater, and the wrapping “Thorn Mountain” is a small pond complete with in pond fountain. The pond is the result of a stream that comes down from the various waterfalls on Thorn Mountain that help counteract the thorns in terms of atmosphere.
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Fantasyland Station
With Mickey’s Toontown now out of the picture the need for a new Railroad station became quite apparent. Located in between the edge of Thorn Mountain where it begins to descend into the forest and the Wishing Star Theater the station maintains the expansion’s Barvarian feel, we don’t really need to leave the area yet seeing how we still have to attractions left to visit, but we decide we’ll take it back to the gates once we’re done.
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Thorn Mountain Caverns and Play Area
As Thorn Mountain begins to descend into the mountains on the western side one might notice strange cave like entrances as well as see strange formations in the rocks. It looks like, no, but it is, it’s a playground!
For little ones not ready to face the mighty dragon just yet, this playground has all they need to be entertained! Similar to the current 'Laughin' Place' play area, only much grander in size the playground features old dry waterfall slides, small hidden tunnels like those on TSI, and more! Kids can climb up the rocks, avoid the mighty thorns and just have fun but what makes this area truly different is this: it's both a dry and wet playground! Kids can play in Maleficent’s lava pits! These 'lava pits' are nothing more than water fountains, similar to the ones found at Epcot. Rocks, glowing green and with water streaming down them (meant to simulate Maleficent’s Dragon Fire) encompass the back, with the “lava” cascading into the pits. We decide to venture into an opening in the wall of falling lava. Inside, we find even more play space, themed to the dungeon. Skulls and bones are used* to climb up to lookout post. Stairs for parents and anyone else who wants to get up there, if necessary, are located next to the playground. From the top of this look out post, we can see nearly all of Fantasyland not just the old but the new as well, but then again with their seemless flow and timeless feel it’s hard to tell one ever existed with out the other.
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We have now finally reached the big daddy of the expansion. Thorn Mountain:
Exterior
Thorn Mountain will be scaled down a bit as to not dwarf the nearby Space Mountain and Cinderella Castle. The mountain itself will be made up of black rock that almost takes on a surreal sort of coal like appearance. Throughout the entire mountain however, are long, twisting thorn covered vines that work their way throughout the entirety of the mountain. At the top of the mountain, there's basically two levels. The west top side rises a little higher, and features Malificent's tower looming over the rest of Fantasyland. This is also the section that includes the ride's signature roller coaster segment, but more on that later. The upper east side of the mountain is home to the castle of King Stephen, rising majestically over Fantasyland, nestled into the mountain. Boats do travel on the outside and around the castle in this area, but there's no drops or roller coaster sections on the east side of the mountain. The castle and the tower should give off a nice juxtaposition of light and dark and set the stage for what's to come. Oh yeah, and one other important element. Smack dab in the middle of the mountain, seemingly ripping a tear in the thorns, is the ride's big drop. It twists at the bottom in a fashion similar to the drop on Expedition Everest. As I said, more on the thrilling stuff later.
Outside Queue
At the base of the mountain are a series of black, charcoal colored rocks in the same sort of surreal style that makes up the rest of the mountain. It is here where the modest lettering for "Thorn Mountain" can be seen, carved into one of the rocks. There will also be another carving in the rocks that takes on the form of a dragon. Foreshadowing will play a major role in this attraction, and the carving of the dragon is just the start. As we wind our way through the rock labyrinth set against a dense forest, we look up at the top of the mountain and notice the boats careening in and out of the caverns. This build up is very intentional in the design of Thorn Mountain. As I have already said, foreshadowing and playing with guests' expectations will be a MAJOR running theme for this project. At the end of the outside queue, guests come upon a hole in the side of the mountain, a large cave like opening, and proceed to venture forth into the inner bowls of the mountain. The transition I have in mind here is similar to one of the most under-rated queues I can think of, which is that of the Batman ride at Magic Mountain, which begins at Gotham Park before transitioning into the bat-cave via a sewer tunnel. Here, we transition into Malificent's lair via a hole in the mountain.
Inside Queue
The inside queue will wind its way through the inner-bowls of Malificent's chamber and dungeons. Now, this might be a bit confusing seeing as though her tower is located on the top of the mountain, but the way I see it that tower is where she goes to call upon her evil forces, and this secret lair is where she does most of her planning. At least that's how it is in the ride, okay? Just go with it, haha. Anyway, there's not really a proper pre-show in the queue because I figured most mountains don't really have one anyway, so that would continue to keep in tradition. We can hear Malificent's disembodied voice chanting off evil spells and stuff as we approach the loading dock, which is located in a forest which we happen upon after coming out of the caves again. This time, of course, the forest is indoors. It is early in the morning at the time we start our journey, so for that reason the lighting should reflect that. It's worth noting that the entire attraction is supposed to take place over a 24 hour period of time with lighting transitions along the way. This, along with our Bambi attraction, is one of the few ways that we wanted to play with telling a story within a set time frame in a theme park environment. The boats themselves look fairly modest. They are basically like the Pirate boats we have at Disneyland, with the fake wood and everything, except a little more elaborate. There are 14 boats total, themed to seven characters. There will be two identical boats for each of the seven characters. The seven characters are Aurora, Malificent, Prince Phillip, the three good fairies, and King Stephen. In addition to this, the ride system is identical to the one dreamed up by the starting cast of Season Seven during project one, which they designed an attraction based on the Odyssey. The basic idea is the attraction starts out as a flume ride, but has the ability to switch to roller coaster track Journey to Atlantis style. In addition, the boat can also perform EMV like functions. Anyway, we get loaded onto our boats (standard three rows of four seating with pull down lap bars) and head off into the forest in the early morning, in search of adventure.
The Forest
The first important thing to note about the forest scene, besides the rather obvious fact that it sets a "light" tone early on to be counter-pointed by the obvious dark tone this ride is inevitably going to take (again, that build up to the dark stuff is a pivotal part of the whole idea...) is that this scene is one big, open space. There's just a lot of trees, a lake in the middle, and off in the distance, you can see a force-perspective version of Thorn Mountain itself, with the castle shinning off from afar. As you make your way through the forest towards the castle, you start to hear music. That's right, in case you couldn't guess, Once Upon a Dream will be the main musical accompaniment for this portion of the ride. Gee, big surprise there, right? Sarcasm aside, the slowly building music reaches a fever pitch as the boats hit the middle of the forest, which as I said was a small lake. On the opposite side of the lake are Aurora and Prince Phillip doing their iconic dance like in the movie. This will be the first and only time you will see these two until the end of the attraction. In traditional Disney thinking, basically the majority of Thorn Mountain will be you stepping into Prince Phillip's shoes to rescue Aurora, but more on that later. As you make your way closer to the forced-perspective castle on the hill, you notice that the scene has changed since we got into the forest from morning to noon. Now, as we get nearer and nearer, it seems that the sun is at a peak point in the day. (Obviously, when the boats go in and out of the mountain into the real-time day or night, that has the potential to throw off this whole 24 hours thing, but that really can't be avoided so just don't think about it...)
Going up...
As we reach the base of the fake mountain, we enter a cave and climb a lift hill into the castle. It is here that we transition from the fake mountain up into the bowels of the actual mountain. We emerge outside on the upper east side of the mountain, with the castle towering above us. We make a turn around the castle and enter another cave. From there, we hear through disembodied voices that Aurora has been cursed and is asleep. We then exit the cave briefly and pass by a castle window to see a shadow of Aurora sleeping and Prince Phillip rushing off. It is very apparent at this point that the hunt for Malificent is on. As we approach the next cave, we hear rushing water. That can never be good. Indeed, as we enter back into the caves, we are hit with a MASSIVE double drop sequence. This really is probably one of the more intense drops on any Disney flume ride, just because it's expected, but it's not really expected how powerful the drop is going to be.
Malificent's Trials
The next room is filled with Malificent's ogre-like, spear wielding trolls and goblins as they attempt to stop you. Afterward, we are hit with a sort of projection effect as we enter a long chamber and arrows start flying at us. The Good Faries, who are following us throughout the ride and are represented by simple red, green, and blue beams of light that show up every so often, wave their wands and turn the arrows into roses, which physically drop into the room on each side. We then come upon the only AA of Malificent in the ride. She is in a panic. "So, you think you can defeat ME!" she screams as we round a corner and see that we are about to climb up a rather large lift hill. "Me, the mistress of all EVIL" she continues as we begin to climb. Before long, we hear her go on about "all the powers of hell" and before we know it we can see a dragon rise out of the darkness from the top of the lifthill. The dragon starts breathing fire and attacking everything in its path. It's also worth noting that in this whole room, we are SURROUNDED by thorns, which should basically be a common design motif barely worth mentioning at this point anyway. The one thing that is probably going through guests' heads as they get closer and closer up to this fire breathing dragon is "are we actually going UP this hill?" a valid question, considering the dragon is breathing fire in all directions and it seems that if we climb much further, we'll be burnt to a crisp. Suddenly, the dragon launches a huge flame fairly close to where we are, and the lifthill starts to burn. We are trapped now, with a wall of thorns between us and the dragon. The lift seems to go right up to the very base of the dragon and guests begin heading up to the top when suddenly the ground before them seems to give way as a rock-slide caused by Maleficent has broken the track! An extremely sharp turn and drop sends guests through the epic roller coaster portion of the attraction. The water spills off in a waterfall fashion revealing the roller coaster track below. The ride then turns into a full on roller coaster somewhere in intensity between Big Thunder and Rock n' Roller Coaster. This portion of the ride has the rocky landscapes of Big Thunder, as well as a slight Matterhorn vibe as we careen in and out of the caves, but also contains several drops from multiple stories and some pretty intense hairpin turns. There is even a very SMALL loop hidden away from view that guests hit as they enter one of the last caves. It REALLY takes them by surprise and careens them off course. This whole time, the idea is that you're trying to get AWAY from the dragon, obviously. The only problem is, that loop is supposed to simulate a fireball hitting your boat, and you have been blown off of the path to freedom and directly into the belly of the beast...if you will. The roller coaster part is really just a roller coaster with the inverts and so forth like a traditional coaster, it just has a very thematic experience here being as the roller coaster part is the part where the guests are trying to reach the top of the dragon which is inside the massive dragon show room. As guests enter the dragon's lair that they have been unwillingly blasted into, they can of course hear the sounds of the dragon and smell the bitter sulfur smell of fire. Heat radiates as we get closer to the largest Disney AA ever created...
Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire...
Now inside of the massive show room where the actual six story Dragon AA is guests are sent speeding, turning, and diving around rock-slides, through trees, up the cliff side towards the dragon. Meanwhile the dragon herself is seen spewing fire like the Fantasmic Dragon into various pre-set locations which the guests are speeding around. Similar to Indiana Jones at Disneyland the riders can feel the heat of the flames as they zoom past. The roller coaster cars themselves also have some EMV and Trackless ride system components to them as when the flames hit, which they do in a random never twice the same pattern. The ride cars tilt away from the flames, and when rock-slides occur in the show room the rid cars bump the bottom of the riders seats similar to the It’s Tough to Be a Bug seats. Eventually after zooming around trying to reach this dragon guests reach the top of the show room where a giant flash of light occurs simulating Maleficent being hit by the Princes’ Sword and Maleficent can be heard screaming ( both of which are effects only occurring to the ride car at the top). At this point the ride car has slid down and rejoined with a flume esq. track and while the previous is happening the car “falls” off the top of the mountain into the “flaming thorns below” an affect achieved through both fog projections for the ride track and through an effect called video mapping. At the very end of the drop the guests experience an inverted turn, made possible thanks to the rollercoaster track located under the flume. The ride cars then readjust to the normal straight position and head into the final scene passing by Maleficent’s tail sticking out of the thorns to highlight her defeat on their way. Also this scene would occur with another castle background such as the one scene in the finale, except just a black silhouette in this one, because this battle is supposed to take place between the tower and the castle.
Every Fairy Tale Needs a Happy Ending.
After this intense, harrowing experience, guests calmly float by multi colored thorns dipping into the lagoon in which they are currently floating along at the base of the mountain. Absolutely pumped by what they just experienced, they look up at the top of the mountain to see another boat full of guests careening through a cave. Everyone in the boat has one thing on their mind..."man, I need to do that again!" Guests then float into another hole in the mountain, and come upon an elaborate ballroom scene. Once Upon a Dream can be heard playing at full orchestral blast. Dancers surround the boat on each side as we look up to see the night sky projected above us. From there, we see that rising into the cloudy heavens of morning is Phillip and Aurora, dancing in the clouds. Aurora's dress of course is switching between pink and blue. We exit through a tunnel located directly below this scene in the clouds, as a final narration by the good fairies welcomes us back to the loading dock. We then exit the boat and proceed to another cave in which Malificent's raven offers us the looks on our faces as seen by the hidden camera at the drop. We then exit back out into the new Fantasyland and enjoy the rest of our day, thrilled by the close dragon encounters we just had.
And that's Thorn Mountain in a...rather large, crammed nutshell. Remember, the two MAIN themes of the ride are the transition from day to night, which comes together at the end by having the ball be the night and then Aurora and Phillip dancing in the clouds concluding everything full circle back to morning. The other MAIN theme is the anticipation of the dragon. I mean...come on, it's a Sleeping Beauty attraction. I don't think there's any guest on the planet who could possibly get on this ride NOT knowing they're in for a close encounter with a dragon. So having said that, the anticipation and build up is REALLY juiced for all its worth. Yes, I admit it, one of the inspirations behind this ride, besides the obvious one in Splash Mountain, is the similarly obvious Jurassic Park. Both rides basically start out as serene and then get dark midway through, climaxing with an inevitable encounter with a giant beast. I've got to admit, Jurassic Park is probably JUST below Splash in terms of what a PERFECT theme park experience should be, so we do draw from it a lot. The art pallet of the ride will use a lot of reds and purples, and of course the theme of the thorns will run consistently throughout the entire attraction. I mean...this IS Thorn Mountain, after all. There will also be green and blue of course, important colors because of the fairies and also Malificent. Overall, the attraction will be a VERY straight-forward experience. Not a lot of storytelling exposition will be needed, and it will use as little dialogue as possible. Setting, mood, and BUILD UP are all the pivotal points to be made here.
I hope you've enjoyed your trip to Thorn Mountain. Have a wonderful stay at Team Walt's New Fantasyland, or shall we say the true Fantasyland.
MEW's feedback:
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you're all thankful for...well...something! But anyways I'm not here to celebrate this overlooked holiday. I'm here to post the results, announce the eliminations, and move you all into the next round.
This is just a general statement, but your project was great! I really enjoyed reading this one. While it did lack that certain element that made me smile while reading, it was definitely a good piece of entertainment and creativity. Good work to all of you, no matter what your job was in making this project become a reality. I think I'm going to do this review piece-by-piece if possible. If I drop that format just bear with me here.
Fantasyland Village- I may have skipped over this somewhere, but did the Bavarian architecture overtake the old Fantasyland attractions (Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, etc.) too? I'm pretty sure that I red that but I might be hallucinating. Good work nonetheless. The overall look and feel of the revised land was very charming. Bringing this "storybook architecture" to the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland is a dream come true for both me and I'm guessing many, many others.
Village Park- To be quite honest this portion of the project kind of lagged to me. Sure it did fit in with the new architectural-style, but it may be a cause of traffic amongst guests concerning lines to meet the princess inside. The area was nice but it kind of stood out like a sore thumb to me (No offense to whoever made this). Again it was a well-written and creative idea it just didn't fit in your new Fantasyland in my opinion. Also this pretty much applies to the rest of the land, but would the northern European foliage be able to survive in the humid heat of Florida?
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride- Great way to reincorporate this long-missing classic into its original home. An AWESOME creation and a great modernization of the dang thing. Definitely a strong point of your project and an entertaining point at that. I also liked the little secret area overlooking Storybook Land. The one thing I didn't like however (Well I did like it to tell the truth) is the appearance by Toad and Cyril at the end. It didn't really make too much sense to me. You didn't really clarify whether they were outside or inside (I'm assuming that they are outside) or where they keep running off too. Do you see them running around in the distance? I don't know.
Storybook Land Canal Boats/Simply Snow White's/Pip's Book Emporium- Great work with this one guys. I wish you were able to include more areas (Halloween Town, Christmas Town, Giselle's Castle) for Storybook Land, but all-in-all it was a good read and a good attraction as was everything else listed at the beginning of this bullet point.
Seasons of Love: Bambi's Story- I CAN'T STAND BAMBI. But I will say this, you guys did a good job putting together an attraction based on him. I thought the name was cute and had just the nicest touch of creativity to it.
Giselle's Dream- Unfortunately an Enchanted attraction will never happen in real life (Disney would have to pay Amy Adams a certain amount of money if they wanted to franchise Giselle as a character/theme park object), you made it seem like it really will happen, and the results were epic. Giselle's Dream is probably some of this project's best work, I'm not going to lie. It was creative, clever, and just all-together awesome. From then on out (Until Thorn Mountain) everything was nice and went smoothly, so great work to all of you for pretty much everything found in this project.
Thorn Mountain- Here is my reaction and my review for this attraction: EPIC WIN.
And that about wraps it up! I liked your project, but it seemed a bit "rushed" to me. It had so much more potential and it was just kind of...well it could have been more is what I'm trying to say. Perhaps for future seasons we should give you at least two weeks to complete a project of this size rather than a week and a half. The quality and completion is my fault for giving you such a short amount of time, so don't even think for a second something bad about your work. Next time we give you a project like this (We are still considering it or at least something similar) please do more with it. The whole project you just did had an unfinished feel to it and a silent emotion that basically said "I COULD HAVE BEEN MORE!" Great work nonetheless.
Add everything I just wrote all-together and your project gets a B.
With that massive project out of the way, I say it's time we move onto the next round, but...oh wait, forgot about eliminations...
Not everyone voted, but I did the math and everyone who did vote overpowered the small amount of people who didn't vote. Coincidentally every person who did vote voted for the same person, which means that I am sorry OSUPhantom, but you have been eliminated from SYWTBAI (Wherever you are). Since we're getting closer to the end of the season I suppose I'll begin talking to both nominees. OSUPhantom we really kind of lost you this season which is a real shame. I remember how excited I was when you signed-up. A somewhat Wild Card yet brilliant All Star returning for this epic battle between "good and evil." This round you really were just lost which led up to your elimination. Hopefully we see you again in the future. Big Disney Fan the reason you were nominated is because you kind of come in and out from beneath the radar. You basically appear one day, say a few words, then disappear again before resurfacing a few days later. I really hope that come next round you can really get into it more and show your versatility as an Imagineer. I really want to see more of you in the game.
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