We were at WDW from November 9-18, and were able to experience the New Fantasyland on three separate occasions, while being "shut out" once.
This is a cut and paste from a previous post:
We have been here for 6 days, and were able to enter the New Fantasyland 3 of the 4 times we tried, PLUS we were able to book reservations for dinner at BOG 2 nights ago, and would have grabbed lunch there today had we not just overstuffed ourselves at Cinderella's Royal Table.
Storytime With Belle - Did it once. Loved it, but my 9 year old niece was being a bit of a pill that night, so she didn't play her role to its fullest. Waited about 30 minutes.
Little Mermaid Ride - Have done it 3 times. Nice little people-eater. The storyline seems truncated, like it needs an additional 2 scenes or so. Waited 10 minutes the first time; walked on the next two.
Ariel's Grotto - Have done it twice. Waited 15-20 minutes each time.
Gaston's Pub (or whatever it's called) - Been there twice for LeFou's Brew. Pork shank looked and smelled delish.
BOG- Did the "tour" the first time, which meant taking about 6 steps in. Was impressed. The second time, we were dining there in the grand ballroom. Dinner was fine. Not outstanding; but quite good. Desserts were a bust all around for our party of 4. And the seating arrangements were very university cafeteria hall-ish, if you know what I mean. Could have snagged lunch there today, but we were still too full.
ABSOLUTE HIGHLIGHT- Photo Op w/Gaston. We did this twice. It was a different guy each time, and they were both amazing! Just the right mix of machismo/ego and mockery. Loved him to bits, as did the rest of my party.
We have been home for a week now, and I have had the opportunity to reflect on what we experienced. I was so thrilled and surprised to enter the New Fantasyland the first time that I viewed it totally through rose coloured glasses. In retrospect, it stands up as a nice new area. Nice, not great. The construction of the mine train totally bisects the two finished areas, so the lack of cohesion is startling, at best.
Storybook Circus was a giant let down. We used the standby entrance for Dumbo on our first night, and finally returned our pager, without riding, after a 30 minute wait. We were absolutely exhausted from a lack of sleep (36 hours at that point) and while my 9 year old niece loved running around, the interminable wait in that cold, loud tent was the final nail in the coffin for the 3 adults. The next time we did Dumbo was by way of Fastpass. Having never been on Dumbo before, it was pretty much what I expected. Better than the Flying Carpets, but not as good as Astro Orbiter. We also did Barnstormer (which I have ridden before) and despite it being a walk on, my niece had no desire to do it a second time. It was too cold to do much more than walk quickly past Casey's water play-thingie. Donald and Goofy M & G was great. Fabulous character interaction. The girls were duds - Daisy especially.
My niece loved the LeFou's brew. I had really wanted to try the pork shank. It smelled delicious, but we had either just eaten, or were on our way to BOG the two times we were at Gaston's.
The new washrooms were lovely - well themed and clean. This is my first trip in more than 10 years that I found fault with the general cleanliness of the bathrooms throughout the 4 parks. If this is a result of cleaning staff cutbacks, then I am not impressed.
My opinion of BOG has not since changed. I would never do this outside of DDP; but then, I feel that way about most TS locations at Disney. The meal was fine. The desserts were meh. At $150 for 4 entrees, 4 sodas and 4 desserts, I want something more exciting than a small mediocre cupcake. I want some out-of-this-world creme brulee or cheesecake. Heck, I could get a way better cupcake back at POP Century for the same price.
I still think they closed Snow White way too early. With the mine train stil being a full year (or more) away from opening, I think they should have kept the ride running into next year some time; if only to gobble up some people. The old Fantasyland was still so much busier than I was expecting. I can't imagine what it's going to be like over the holidays.
And again, I loved (loved, loved) Gaston. We spent 15 minutes or more just watching him interact with the guests. As I stepped up to him, I told him to behave, I was married. After my picture was taken, and I was walking away, he shouted out: NO, I WILL NOT MAKE OUT WITH YOU LATER, LADY. Absolutely hysterical.
Now, if they would just get rid of the Speedway, and use the area to augment Fantasyland with a true E ticket, and add something to Tomorrowland, and get rid of Stitch, and clean up my beloved COP. Oh wait, I digress. But this is WDWMagic, so that happens a lot here.
Cheers.