Robert Niles
Editor
Robert Niles

Disney World confirms opening dates for new Fantasyland attractions (sort of)

April 27, 2012, 7:27 AM · Walt Disney World this morning confirmed (sort of) some opening dates for the remaining new attractions in its ongoing Fantasyland refurbishment.

The second carousel on the new Dumbo (the one relocated from its old site), and the Casey Jr. sprayground will open this July.

The new Dumbo
The new carousel of the "Dueling Dumbos," now open in The Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland in Florida

The Little Mermaid ride and Be Our Guest restaurant will open this "holiday season," presumably sometime between mid-November and mid-December.

The Beast's Castle
The Beast's Castle, home to the Be Our Guest restaurant, under construction in Fantasyland

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster will not open until 2014.

In addition, Disney confirmed that the track and physical ride will not change on the revamped Test Track, which will open on an unspecified date later this year. All of the ride's show scenes will change, however, and some of the new scenes will be digital, in addition to traditional, physical show scenes.

Replies (13)

brynmelyndavid
David Brown
April 27, 2012 at 9:30 AM · Hugely disappointed as we'll be in Orlando from October 31st to November 14th and I was getting reasonably confident the Little Mermaid ride was going to be open. Now it seems as if both test Track and the Mermaid/Be My Guest will open later than that. Not happy!
anonymous
82.40.178.122
April 27, 2012 at 9:56 AM · 2014? I was going to leave my next visit until it opened, but that seems a little far away.
buckzilla
Mark Hollamon
April 27, 2012 at 9:59 AM · Is the old Snow White ride going to stay running until 2014 now?
elerico
Eric Malone
April 27, 2012 at 10:00 AM · Not that I was planning to visit any of these attractions, but by the time I'm interested in it I'll probably have kids of my own. :P
Anonymous878
Anon Mouse
April 27, 2012 at 10:31 AM · "The Beast's Castle" Where have I seen something similar to that?
anonymous
71.55.233.160
April 27, 2012 at 11:40 AM · David, there's a decent chance the attractions will be in soft opening during your visit.
orlando24
Writer
Daniel Etcheberry
April 27, 2012 at 12:37 PM · 2014? I hope that was a typo. Otherwise, why would Disney close Snow White two years in advance? I thought it was going to open next year.
CentralFloridian99
Dominick D
April 27, 2012 at 1:49 PM · I'm pretty sure the mine train will be late 2013. There's no way they would close Snow White 2 years before the SDMT opens.
Stephbe
Stevo B
April 27, 2012 at 5:15 PM · Just my opinion, but knowing those crafty disney marketeers like I do I'm guessing they are pushing the opening of the Snow White Coaster into 2014 on purpose. I surely would.
anonymous
166.248.111.209
April 27, 2012 at 7:22 PM · I'm glad ariel and beasts castle are opening this year but out of all of those seven dwarfs I'm looking forward to the most so disappointed I'll wait another year . While we're on fantasyland , do any of you guys think Disney is pushing the princess thing too far? My sister is a big fan of snow white scary adventures and i haven't had the heart to tell her yet it's closing for a meet and greet . I think disney needs to focus on making attractions geared towards 10-13 year old boys because in that age they start to lean away from Disney thinking its too kiddie and towards universal . Robert, Domenik can either one of you guys do an article or open a discussion on this? Seriously,several of my friends are only going to disney for star wars weekends and thats only in dhws. Really appreciate it if you guys brought this subject up to everyone else .
RandallPeek
Randall Peek
April 28, 2012 at 1:18 AM · I'll admit that I'm surprised that the Seven Dwarves Mine Train is going to take that long to complete, but it probably has to do with the amount of set decoration that the ride will entail. The stonework that Disney does is nothing short of amazing, and this ride looks to have quite a lot of it. I'm expecting decoration of the order of Splash Mountain, even if the figures are far less sophisticated. I fully expect any figures to be only one or two steps up from the existing ride, but with the rest of the decor considerably plussed.
Also it may take that long since it is an unproven technology for the trains. I expect that it will take a while to get the amount of 'swing' just right for the cars, which I expect will be a case of tightening or loosening the pivot points at the front and rear of each car. All in all, it should be a fun and fairly tame family coaster with some great scenery.
SC121
Sylvain Comeau
April 28, 2012 at 11:49 AM · If they make us wait until 2014 for the mine train ride, it better not be a disappointment.
anonymous
75.89.233.250
April 28, 2012 at 10:25 PM · The mine train not opening until 2014 is not new news. That has pretty much been what they have been saying all along. I just hope it is early in 2014!

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