You asked for it...
Won't be seeing the newest parts for a while, so mostly based on many, many photos & vids:
-Extended Pooh Queue: A
-Castle Walls: A An inspired concept that helps link Cindy Castle to the back of the land, visually holds back the 'forest', frames the Carousel, Mine Train and Mermaid and forms an interior court for the older-style FL architecture.
-Storybook Circus General: A- I appreciate WDI moving the American/20th Century-set Dumbo away from older, European-based Fantasyland Proper and into a unique sub-land (feels like its own land). Deduct a few points because the tents looks plastic-y, rather than old-fashioned, natural canvas.
-Train Station: A
-Pete's Sideshow: A
-Great Goofini: B+ Dome deductions for reducing theme-ing (loss of barn and chickens), but the new queue features make up some ground.
-Souvernir shop: A
-Dueling Dumbos: B+ Deductions for visible showbuilding, but positives include some nice finishes and a great lighting package.
-Casey Jr: A
-ETwB Area Exterior: A+
-ETwB Cottage Interior & Workshop: A
-ETwB Wardrobe Interior & Library Interior: D While I think the Wardrobe & Lumiere are fantastic AAs and have I no problems with the cutouts or the kid-oriented show, I remain struck by how wrong the interior castle rooms look (like dressed-up convention center rooms). I can forgive the visible show lighting and required-by-law exit signs/fire lights (could be better framed), but the electrical plug outlets on the wall (put a cover over those, at least), the modern door closers and push-lock releases, the heavy enamel (plastic) paint on super clean & smooth walls & shelves, low ceiling, rectangular doors, etc... it all works to make one, kid or adult, feel in the furthest place from a fairytale or castle (the individual, actual books are nice improvement over the painted ones in DCA - that's the kind of attention to detail I expect from the whole set). In light of the outstanding achievement of the Mermaid/Cottage/Gaston interiors, it's baffling that these rooms ended up this way.
-ETwB Show: B- Had parts 2 & 3 taken place in interior show-spaces on par with the Mermaid queue, it would grade an easy A.
-BoG Exterior: A Waterfall, rockwork, sculptures, trees, castle all look terrific (one visible roof railing, notwithstanding)
-BoG Interior: B+ Haven't seen it all, but it looks to do many things right (arched doorways, relief walls, heavy wooden beams) that were missed in the ETwB "Castle" interiors. The Ballroom doesn't really soar in my eyes, but I am very impressed by the night mountain vista and the snow effect. Looks to be a lot of bright recessed lighting in some areas, which is a little problematic in selling a centuries-old castle...
Belle's Village: A Brilliantly-designed & -executed "fantasyland" architecture & finishes. Small deduction for the visible Mermaid queue building from the bathroom courtyard.
Gastons: A- Interior looks very good, but I think full-sized animal heads instead of the shrunken ones would have worked a little better.
Mermaid Exterior: A
Mermaid Queue: A+ The crab game surprised me. Finishes are up there with the best of the best.
Mermaid the Ride: B+ Points for putting a number of top-quality AAs in FL Darkride. Deductions for totally static, plastic fish (you can buy moving, singing wall-mounted fish for $45 at Cabellas), in-your-eyes show-lighting, slow-moving book-report ride without a real climax. Hard to fairly grade having never ridden it. The Ride itself benefits significantly from the queue - the adventure begins once you move into the caverns (or even under the castle) and culminates in the ride portion (similar to Indiana Jones Adventure in that respect, although the pay-off ride is in a different league). It's not a must-see, get-off-and-get-in-line-again masterpiece that one wishes it could have been, but it is a positive addition. Certain demographics may love it, but I'm not in that demo.
Overall: A It has its flaws or not-quite-fulfilled potential, but as a whole it is a big win: Instead of watering down of theme, as we have grown accustomed to, FLE does the opposite: It strengthens the park's and the land's theme by moving Dumbo to an American circus, by bringing classic Disney fairytales from different eras together in a beautifully-rendered setting. It is much better - theme-wise - than 20K was in that site. When/if the plantings grow in, it could add the beauty of mature shade trees to Fantasyland. I am no fan of toonification of the parks, but they work naturally in this setting.
2013 should be exciting as the Dwarf coaster and Tangled area (followed by Pan queue) will keep this one area of WDW moving in the right direction.
Whew... that was a lot.
I hope they update the facades for the other fantasyland rides..
