Fantasyland Expansion

I'm not sure how I feel about their being two Dumbos. I understand the benefits, but it seems kind of weird to have the same ride twice.

CAN NOT WAIT to eat at the Be Our Guest restaurant! It sounds so amazing! I also really want to ride that Little Mermaid thing -- very cool. I wonder if Disneyland's will be similar...

I can take or leave the whole "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty" sections, unfortunately. Wish they were cool castle walk-throughs or something...instead they're just meet-and-greets.

I agree with Bella in that it's about time that characters from Beauty and the Beast had a more significant presence at WDW, and where better than in Fantasyland at WDW?

I saw some of the designs and plans for TLM attraction at DLR. It looks like it's going to be excellent. It's going to use an Omnimover type system, and it'll feature, I think, some of the latest technologically advanced AAs. I think WDW's version will be very similar.

Yeah, from what I've seen TLM is going to be really neat.

Sounds very techy with all of those acronyms!!

Seriously, though, I think a more "grown up" Little Mermaid ride -- or at least one that grownups can appreciate as much as kids -- will be great. I'm looking forward to most of the expansion, but hope that the attractions are something I want to do more than once.

I agree Bali, but I'm more excited about the all around general themeing of the new Fantasyland than I am about the attractions and restaurants. A lot of it will be meet n greet, which is fine, as long as the meet n greet areas are well themed , and you don't feel like you're lining up at a cafeteria.

This is a good point. I'm pretty excited just to see an update of lots of the old favorites. Have you heard any details?

I wish they were bringing back Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - that was my favorite ride in the entire park when I was a kid!

I never got to ride it and heard mixed reviews. What did you like about it?

This is so exciting!! I loves me some princesses!

Granted, this is when I was a kid, but I loved it because it was scary without being REALLY scary. I was very easily scared as a kid - the witch in Snow White kept me out of that, coasters even like Space Mt. scared me. Mr. Toad was scary but not intimidatingly so. It kept looking like you were going to crash into something and always JUST missed it. You'd enter into some rooms and it looked like there was no exit -- and the wall would open just as you'd get to it.

I remember at the end there was a really cool effect where you went into the dark and you'd hear the sound of an oncoming train. As you moved through the dark you'd see a light coming at you. You'd crash into the train with a loud noise, and you'd end up in a cartoon version of hell.

I guess I was a twisted kid, because I found this hilarious - and even then, pretty clever.

But I would have thrown a tantrum if I had to face that old witch in Snow White!

It's still alive and well at Disneyland. It was one of the highlights of my 2007 DL trip, in part because it brought back memories of riding it as a kid at WDW.

As long as the sandwiches are good, I'm in!

It seems wrong to not allow beer at the Gaston tavern...

That DOES seem wrong. Good point. It's like the virgin mint juleps at Disneyland. What's up with that?

Also, regarding Mr. Toad, there's something about that ride that makes me feel like some sort of narcotic was involved in its imagineering...don't you think?

Thinking back on it now - I'd be surprised if there wasn't!

I'm pretty sure hallucinogens played their role in a bunch of Disney rides and animation.

Case in point, that pink elephant scene from Dumbo.

We drink sarsaparilla!

Mmm...Sarsaparilla...uuuuurrrgh...

That's what they need in FL (or Gaston's)! Lots of different Root Beers (and Sarsaparilla, et al) on tap!

I had NO idea that that's how you spelled sarsaparilla. I would have been off by about 3 letters. But I do love root beer!