Fantasyland Expansion Re-opening Delayed?

[WDWFigment]

I posted this in another thread a while back, but after reading some threads here, it doesn't appear that anyone read the Disney Parks Blog post carefully.

I know everyone has the expectation, based on D23, that the first stage of Fantasyland's Expansion will open in 2012 with Pixie Hollow to follow in 2013, but check out this from the Parks Blog:

"Ariel will have a new grotto greeting location and ride-through attraction called Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid as part of the Fantasyland expansion scheduled for 2013."

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/04/update-fantasyland-expansion-at-magic-kingdom-park/

I think it's fairly obvious that the LM attraction has nothing to do with Pixie Hollow, so why the 2013 date? Might the project not be on course for a 2012 opening, or is Disney just playing it conservatively with opening dates?

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

Typo, maybe? :shrug:

 

[Disneyfanatic!!]

Well 2013 is when the Fantasyland expansion will be completed with phase two so that's when it is scheduled for I guess.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Well 2013 is when the Fantasyland expansion will be completed with phase two so that's when it is scheduled for I guess.

This is what I took it to mean. Not that TLM would be completed in 2013, but that the entire Fantasyland expansion would be.

 

[WDWFigment]

Well 2013 is when the Fantasyland expansion will be completed with phase two so that's when it is scheduled for I guess.

This is what I took it to mean. Not that TLM would be completed in 2013, but that the entire Fantasyland expansion would be.

I hope you guys are right, but for marketing purposes that's not normally how statements of this kind are written. The "scheduled date" is usually the earliest the first thing will be completed, not when the last thing will be completed. After all, you don't want people to postpone their patronage until the later date.

If it was just a typo or that's the final completion date, I wonder why Thomas Smith didn't respond to my question in the comments? I realize not every question can be answered, but it seems like that's the kind of ambiguity you'd really want to clarify...unless the answer is not one people will want to hear...

Like I said, though, I hope you guys are right. I really hope so!

 

[tirian]

If anything, it's slightly ahead of schedule. :wave:

 

[Grlwonder]

Sometimes I don't pay too much attention to the opening dates Disney says. There still is a lot of time until 2013, so I'm sure they are still wondering when would be the exact opening date. If they go ahead of schedule, they could open early, like how they had it for 2012. Who knows really. For me the important thing is that it's all going to be done 2013. Might as well get used to the construction walls now.

 

[Bork Bork]

If anything, it's slightly ahead of schedule. :wave:

Yes!! Yes!!

Any foundation work on Mermaid yet? At DCA the steel is almost done.

 

[Studios Fan]

If anything, it's slightly ahead of schedule. :wave:

That's good to hear.

 

[tirian]

Don't get too excited; there's still plenty of time for something to "suddenly go wrong," just in time for an Imagineer scriptwriter to take us on a thrill ride.

 

[tirian]

Sometimes I don't pay too much attention to the opening dates Disney says. There still is a lot of time until 2013, so I'm sure they are still wondering when would be the exact opening date. If they go ahead of schedule, they could open early, like how they had it for 2012. Who knows really. For me the important thing is that it's all going to be done 2013. Might as well get used to the construction walls now.

Pixie Hollow is still in the air. That might be why PR releases are carefully stressing 2013.

 

[BrerFrog]

Well 2013 is when the Fantasyland expansion will be completed with phase two so that's when it is scheduled for I guess.

That is exactly how I interpreted that particular sentence, but I think that was wishful thinking.