Two "new" Fantasylands, thirty years apart!

[mharrington]

This picks up from where a previous thread left off: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...13-and-dls-fantasyland-overhaul-of-83.831034/.

Now that the "new" Fantasyland of WDW's Magic Kingdom has "officially" opened, I thought it would be nice to see how it compares to the "new" Fantasyland of Disneyland from 1983, just about thirty years ago! Let's discuss!

 

[Californian Elitist]

I would say they were different. MK's Fantasyland got two new attractions, new restaurant, a new meet and greet, an attraction was taken out, an extra Dumbo. DL's Fantasyland was pretty much completely rearranged. One new attraction, the Teacups were moved, along with Dumbo (I think). I think Village Haus debuted that year, not sure. Some things were taken out, Alice was changed, new attraction facades. Now Disneyland's Fantasyland is expanding a bit, with the new Princess Fantasy Faire.

 

[mharrington]

I would say they were different. MK's Fantasyland got two new attractions, new restaurant, a new meet and greet, an attraction was taken out, an extra Dumbo. DL's Fantasyland was pretty much completely rearranged. One new attraction, the Teacups were moved, along with Dumbo (I think). I think Village Haus debuted that year, not sure. Some things were taken out, Alice was changed, new attraction facades. Now Disneyland's Fantasyland is expanding a bit, with the new Princess Fantasy Faire.

Dumbo was moved from one location to another as part of both Fantasylands' overhauls. That's one thing they both have in common. In Disneyland, it was moved to where Captain Hook's Pirate Ship and Skull Rock once were, while Florida's Dumbo has been relocated to the new Storybook Circus. And yes, they created a second set of flying elephants.

All of the dark rides in DL's Fantasyland, not just Alice, were overhauled.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Disneyland Fantasyland construction photos:

(Snow White)

Source: http://dlandephemera.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-fantasyland-construction-1983.html

Old (and ugly) Peter Pan facade:

Updated Peter Pan facade (MUCH better):

 

[mharrington]

I saw that all on this thread here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/fantasyland-construction-update-dl-82.560319/.

One question, though: what is that far left image supposed to be? It's too dark to tell. Here's the picture:

It's the one on the far left. Does anyone know what it is?

 

[Californian Elitist]

One question, though: what is that far left image supposed to be? It's too dark to tell. Here's the picture:

It's the one on the far left. Does anyone know what it is?

That's Peter Pan and Hook.

 

[TP2000]

Disneyland added one new dark ride for New Fantasyland 1983: Pinocchio's Daring Journey. The same ride also showed up on opening day in 1983 at Tokyo Disneyland, so it was a clone (but Anaheim's opened about four months prior to Tokyo's). That gave Disneyland's Fantasyland a total of five dark rides; Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Snow White, Alice In Wonderland, and Pinocchio.

Although there are only three dark rides in WDW's New Fantasyland, the new one is an Omnimover (Mermaid). And an Omnimover can get 2,000 riders per hour, roughly three times the number who can ride a traditional busbar dark ride like Snow White or Mr. Toad who only get 600 or so an hour. So while WDW's New Fantasyland is still missing quite a few rides compared to Disneyland, the overall capacity of riders is fairly close because Mermaid carries the equivalent of Pinocchio, Mr. Toad and Alice In Wonderland at Disneyland.

 

[mharrington]

That's Peter Pan and Hook.

No, I meant in the shadow, to the left of Peter Pan and Capt. Hook.

 

[afar28]

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Old (and ugly) Peter Pan facade:

Updated Peter Pan facade (MUCH better):

That's a huge improvement. Poohs facade in WDW got a nice facade improve, but I wish It's a small World and Peter Pans Flight got facade improvements in WDW

 

[Californian Elitist]

No, I meant in the shadow, to the left of Peter Pan and Capt. Hook.

It's probably Toad or Alice.

 

[Californian Elitist]

That's a huge improvement. Poohs facade in WDW got a nice facade improve, but I wish It's a small World and Peter Pans Flight got facade improvements in WDW

Yes, I agree. When I first saw MK's small word facade, I was shocked. It's very underwhelming. I'm not a fan of Pan's facade either, but it looks better than Disneyland's old facade.

 

[afar28]

Yes, I agree. When I first saw MK's small word facade, I was shocked. It's very underwhelming. I'm not a fan of Pan's facade either, but it looks better than Disneyland's old facade.

Yeah the facade at DL for Its a small world is amazing.
At WDW, not so much

 

[Californian Elitist]

Yeah the facade at DL for Its a small world is amazing.
At WDW, not so much

MK's is more exciting once you enter.

 

[afar28]

MK's is more exciting once you enter.

I agree

 

[Californian Elitist]

I hope somewhere down the line, they'll decide to change the facades.

 

[mharrington]

Another similarity between the two new Fantasylands' openings is something coincidental: the Olympics! The 1984 Olympics occurred about a year after Disneyland's Fantasyland opened. And the 2012 Olympics occurred just before WDW's Fantasyland. The host cities for the 1984 and 2012 Olympics also had them there before. The '84 Olympics were held in Los Angeles, for the second time (the first time was in 1932). The '12 Olympics were held in London for the third time (the first two times were in 1908 and 1948).

This is all just an observation. It just happened to be coincidence, but just something that I thought would be interesting to point out.

 

[HMF]

The fact that it took WDW 30 years to receive a New Fantasyland after Disneyland is a pretty sad statement , Not to mention that the So-Called "New" Fantasyland at Walt Disney World did not include refreshing the original Dark Rides and facades like Disneylands did. I truly hope for a complete "New Fantasyland" at some future date.

 

[englanddg]

The fact that it took WDW 30 years to receive a New Fantasyland after Disneyland is a pretty sad statement , Not to mention that the So-Called "New" Fantasyland at Walt Disney World did not include refreshing the original Dark Rides and facades like Disneylands did. I truly hope for a complete "New Fantasyland" at some future date.

Small World just had a major refurb, Winnie the Pooh isn't all that old, but it got a new queue and facade update...snow white got closed down and is being totally transformed into a princess meet and greet, Dumbo got moved entirely...and something is going down around Peter Pan...

So... Sure, they didn't update the dark rides, there are not many of them left from the original group, but a lot has been done with the "older" part of Fantasyland at MK...so, Im not really sure I understand your gripe?

 

[HMF]

Small World just had a major refurb, Winnie the Pooh isn't all that old, but it got a new queue and facade update...snow white got closed down and is being totally transformed into a princess meet and greet, Dumbo got moved entirely...and something is going down around Peter Pan...

So... Sure, they didn't update the dark rides, there are not many of them left from the original group, but a lot has been done with the "older" part of Fantasyland at MK...so, Im not really sure I understand your gripe?

I will let the Pictures speak for themselves.
MK

Disneyland

Not to mention that the Peter Pan ride itself is still nearly identical to how it was in 1971 wheras Disneyland's recived a complete refresh in 1983

 

[englanddg]

Ok, so your gripe is the terrible look and queue of Peter Pan?

The other end of Te older Fantasyland doesn't look like that, and it is in keeping (though ugly) with the decor Philharmagic and Small World.

As far as German style buildings, they have those at Pinnochios Village Haus.

Is it perfect? No. Could it be better? Yep! But, I am pleased with what they have done, and I expect that have more coming, especially when it comes to Peter Pan, where they have to get those bathrooms out of the way, which is what I hope is going in across the street as well as the Rapunzel meet and greet.

(Shrug, to each their own...)