Two Saturdays in September with TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It's time to get this thing moving along.

We began our Saturday with a late morning visit to the Lodge.

Now, it was time to head over to the MK.

And that's what we did.

A boat was loading just as we walked up.

They were using one of the smaller boats that normally do the resort route. Even it had a lot of empty seats on it. We loaded up, and the captain did his usual slow routine of untying the ropes and casting off. He was in no hurry. Sure enough, just as we began to slowly pull away from the dock, a mom with a giant stroller came wheeling up on the dock. Her kid was still in the stroller, with all kinds of bags and other crap hanging from the handle. Her poor husband trailed behind. When she saw that the boat was pulling away, she walked faster down the dock, and called out to the captain to ask him to come back and get her.

Really?

All of us are supposed to be inconvenienced by having the boat go back to the dock, tie up, wait for the lady to unload and fold her stroller and get on the boat, and then cast off again?

Really?

The boat captain pretended not to hear her.

Even though I know he did.

And off we went.

Respect points to the boat captain.

But this whole scene made me sad. Similar versions of it play out all the time in WDW. The selfishness of people these days is truly astounding. I don't know how or when it happened, but the common attitude of people these days seems to be "it's all about me." People think nothing of cutting in line. Or stopping right in the middle of walkways. Or taking flash photos when they are told not to. Or stopping in the middle of a row in a theater at one of the shows and refusing to move down the row, despite being asked nicely by castmembers to do so. Or holding up a giant tablet to record something when there are people trying to see from behind them. And on and on. It wasn't like this just a few years ago. But it sure is bad now. What happened?

I guess that can be a subject for another day.

For now, we are on our way to the Magic Kingdom.

It wasn't too busy when we got there.

That was good.

Our first stop was to get me a birthday button. It was my actual birthday, and I needed one. There was a long line at the button stand. Do you know they have a button stand? This button thing has gotten so out of hand, that they now have a button stand outside of City Hall. People line up for the free buttons. There is no way it was all these people's birthday. But, word has gotten out that if you wear a birthday button, you might get something for free, so now people have birthdays every time they visit.

The next order of business was to get some Sorcerer of the Magic Kingdom cards next door at the Fire Station. But word has gotten out about these too, and the line was way out the door. We decided to try the location by the Christmas Shop later, and move on.

The next order of business was to get some Fastpasses for something. The girls said they wanted to meet some Princesses, so we decided I would get some Fastpasses for the Princess Meet and Greet. I headed over there, and the girls went into the Emporium to do some pin trading. I got the Princess Fastpasses- they had a 2:15- 3:15 return time, and I also got bonus Dumbo Fastpasses. I hadn't heard about this. But, at least on this morning, they were issuing a bonus Dumbo Fastpass with the meet and greet Fastpasses. The Dumbo return time was 1:15 to 2:15. It was a little after noon now. So, we decided to take the train back to Fantasyland and check out some things, and then ride Dumbo.

So, we headed to the train station. We could see a train was there, so we tried to hurry. We got blocked by the slow family. Have you met them? They have just enough people in the family to block a path or staircase. And they take up the whole thing and walk slow. If you try to pass them, they spread out. And walk slower. Had it not been for them, we would have made the train. But, they succeeded with their evil plan and forced us to wait for the next train. Boo!

Since it was just us and the slow family at the train station, and we had to wait for the next train, we headed out to take a look down Main Steet.

Here's the view:

There are a few interesting things in that photo. First, you can see that all of the fall decorations are in place. Even though it is still summer. Second, do you see that guy holding up the kid there in the center of the photo? I didn't notice that when I took the photo, but something weird is going on there. Third, from up here, Main Street looks kind of short. We heard on our Disney Cruise this summer that the Disney Dream is longer than Main Street USA. When I first heard that, I was doubtful. But, from up here, it looks like that is true. I wish there was a way they could put the Dream on a trailer and bring it here. I would like to see it on display in WDW. That way, I could see for sure if it is longer than Main Street.

The next train was still not coming, so I had to take some more photos.

Here's a look to the left. You can see the Car Barn and more fall/Halloween decorations:

And here's a look to the right, where you can see a pumpkin patch and more fall decor:

I didn't get a photo of them, but there are tables and chairs up here on the platform. Which gave me a great idea. How sweet would it be to bring a Giddyap and Go from the Fort over to here and have a picnic up here one night? I wonder if you can bring a GAG through the bag check? I think you could.

Something caught my eye on the castle, near the top, just to the right of center:

Do you see it?

Something yellow?

How about now? :

Those guys in the hardhats are in a bucket from the crane. They are hanging the Dream Lights on the Castle for Christmas.

If you look, they look like giants. That's because the Castle is smaller than it looks. You know, forced perspective?

Also, in that first castle photo, check out how many American flags there are on display in the MK.

There are a lot.

A wonder how many there are?

I wasn't quite in the middle of the platform when I took those photos. So, I moved over just a bit for this last one:

It sure was a pretty day. And there were a lot of people enjoying it in the MK.

Lucky for you, the train came now. Or we would be looking at Main Street photos all day. Here comes the train:

We rode around to Fantasyland.

And hopped off there.

The first thing we noticed is that all of the construction walls near the train station were down.

We could now see right into the area where they have the three new tents. We knew that one of those tents is going to be a souvenir shop, and another a meet and greet location, but Disney has been tight-lipped about what the third tent, the yellow one, will be.

We solved that mystery today.

You can see right into the yellow tent now:

It was kind of dark inside the tent, so you can't see the inside too good in those photos, but what they have inside the yellow tent are two Fastpass distribution machines- one for Dumbo and one for The Goofy Rollercoaster. There are also some picnic tables and benches under the tent, and you can see that there are all kinds of tables and chairs distributed in the area around the tent. It turns out, this is just a place for folks to sit and chill. I say well done, Disney. Very nice.

With the walls down, we could also get a good look at the entrance to Pete's Silly Sideshow, which is what they are calling this meet and greet area. You can see that there will be two queues, one to meet Donald and Goofy and one to meet Daisy and Minnie:

There are details upon details to take in back here. Just look at the light fixtures, for example:

Here's another look at some of the seating and the entrance to Pete's:

You can see that there are replicas of circus train cars set up in the area. These are going to be used to sell food. You can see the word pretzels on one of the cars in this photo, and I believe the other one will sell hot dogs. You can also see the side entrance to the Big Top Souvenir tent:

This is the hot dog cart:

There are a bunch of castmembers in costume walking through the area in this photo- it looks like they were being trained and shown around:

This is just a look at all the open space around the yellow tent. Again, I say this is a good idea:

The sign on the Big Top tells us that they are going to be selling gift items as well as "treats" in there:

Here's a look at the sign on Pete's tent:

Even the trash cans are themed:

There are all kinds of interesting signs posted in this area- they kind of serve as dividers and create some privacy around the tables and chairs. You can also see here that they only thing keeping us out of the area are the planters on wheels. It would have been very easy for me to accidentally bump one of those out of the way and walk right on in. But, as you know, I always follow the rules, and I stayed on the area open to guests:

After taking this all in, we walked toward the front entrance of the big top. Here is a look back at the splash area, which is always busy when we have visited:

Here's a look over at the train station and restrooms:

When we were here just two weeks ago, the sign at the entrance to Storbook Circus just had the center panel in place. They have since added side panels:

Here we are at the main entrance to the Big Top Souvenirs tent. There is a castmember on duty here. It seems like they are getting ready to open this at any minute. We also learned from the sign that two of the treats to be found inside will be candy apples and cotton candy:

It turns out that we were right to suspect that the store was about to open. I have sinced learned that the store was offiically opened to guests the next day, September 30th. So we just missed seeing the inside by one day.

As we headed out of Storybook Circus, I stopped to take this photo looking back. Look how wide and open this area is. You can see the train station way in the back, and that is the Goofy rollercoaster to the right of the train station. This is a huge improvement over the narrow and congested area that there used to be in front of the Toontown train station:

This is look at the Dumbo entrance:

You get a pretty neat view of the back of the castle from here, the construction that you see going on to the right is for the new Snow White minecar ride:

At some point in time, they are going to build a mountain around that minecar ride. So, I'm not sure if you will even be able to see the castle from here once that gets done.

Here's a look back at the entrance to Storybook Circus:

Even though this area is part of what they have been calling the new Fantasyland, it is clear that they have given this area its own distinct identity. I think it wil still be considered to be a part of Fantasyland, but it has its own name and signage.

Even after this tour, we still had a good 45 minutes until we could use the bonus Dumbo Fastpasses.

We decided to walk over to where they had built the new walls for Fantasyland and see if anything had changed in that area since our visit two weeks ago.

So, we headed there next.

And we ran into a huge pile of Pixie Dust.

Which I will tell you all about in the next update.

Because we are at our photo limit for this post.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I can't wait to see all this in person. Your pictures are starting to get me excited about my own visit. Can't wait to see what the pixie dust is about....

[Southern Blessings 4]

All the RR stuff looks really cool! Can't wait to see what pixie dust you find!

[Mecha Geek 1]

2 thumbs up for the boat captain! 2 thumbs down for boat mom, slow family, Ipad photo people, and cranes too! You dont know how much I totally agree with your mini rant.

The way you describe everything in the photos makes your great shots even better. I think you could have a future in being a WDW tour guide.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I thought I was the only one who got stuck behind the "slow" family! Ugh!!

Loved the tour of the New Fantasyland!! Now I can't wait to hear about the pixidust!!

[Disneyzombie-Brenda 10]

"Pete's Dragon" is one of my favorites and you should see it if you consider yourself a fan of Disney. It had an Oscar nominated original song and I feel it was a bright spot from Disney during a decade of less than rememberable turds films.

Yep..."Candle on the Water" lost to "You light up My Life". Not sure why I know this stuff.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I thought I was the only one who got stuck behind the "slow" family! Ugh!!

Nope. It happens to us too.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I can't wait to see all this in person. Your pictures are starting to get me excited about my own visit. Can't wait to see what the pixie dust is about....

You are right to be excited. I am quick to jump on Disney when they do something wrong (which they have done a lot of lately), but in this case, I like what I have seen so far.

This is a very nice addition to the Magic Kingdom, and it has a very nice feel to it already.

As opposed to Dinoland USA, for example.

All the RR stuff looks really cool! Can't wait to see what pixie dust you find!

You will find out about the pixie dust in the next post, which I hope to have up in just a bit.

2 thumbs up for the boat captain! 2 thumbs down for boat mom, slow family, Ipad photo people, and cranes too! You dont know how much I totally agree with your mini rant.

The way you describe everything in the photos makes your great shots even better. I think you could have a future in being a WDW tour guide.

Thanks. I have thought about conducting unauthorized tours of the Fort. But, that whole always follow the rules thing gets in the way.

I thought I was the only one who got stuck behind the "slow" family! Ugh!!

Loved the tour of the New Fantasyland!! Now I can't wait to hear about the pixidust!!

Really? You get stuck behind them too? As slow as they are, they sure do get around.

We run into them everywhere.

Yep..."Candle on the Water" lost to "You light up My Life". Not sure why I know this stuff.

You should not know that stuff.

I am afraid there may be something wrong with you.

You had better get yourself checked.

Nope. It happens to us too.

No way!

How do those slow people get in front of so many people?

Must be a really big family, I guess.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Another two thumbs up for the boat captain!

Your Fantasyland expansion photos are great. Can't wait to see it in a few weeks.

Looking forward to your next update.

[stefa70 205]

I like cotton candy.

The Fantasy expansion looks great. I especially like the open areas. Toontown always seemed so cram packed, you could hardly move.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Toontown always seemed so cram packed, you could hardly move.

on my three visits to MK, I always came away with the impression that Toontown was wasted space. A bunch of area used for not alot, if that makes sense.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Another two thumbs up for the boat captain!

Your Fantasyland expansion photos are great. Can't wait to see it in a few weeks.

Looking forward to your next update.

You will be able to walk in the Big Top shop and other tents when you go, because I hear they are open now.

The next update is on its way.

I like cotton candy.

The Fantasy expansion looks great. I especially like the open areas. Toontown always seemed so cram packed, you could hardly move.

It seems like they really put a lot of thought into the layout here.

That area by the yellow tent is going to be a great place to chill.

on my three visits to MK, I always came away with the impression that Toontown was wasted space. A bunch of area used for not alot, if that makes sense.

Toontown was kind of an afterthought to jam some stuff into a space that wasn't being used.

This is different. They planned this all out, and I think they did a good job with the layout.

Time will tell once it's all done and guests begin to use it.

TCD

[dvccamper 32]

Here's the view:

There are a few interesting things in that photo. First, you can see that all of the fall decorations are in place. Even though it is still summer. Second, do you see that guy holding up the kid there in the center of the photo? I didn't notice that when I took the photo, but something weird is going on there.

I think that either a) the man is sniffing her butt to see if she has a package in there or b] he is putting her up on his shoulders. Hopefully it's not both.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I think that either a) the man is sniffing her butt to see if she has a package in there or b] he is putting her up on his shoulders. Hopefully it's not both.

LOL!

I also thought maybe he was holding the kid up for everyone to see like Rafiki did with Simba.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I think that either a) the man is sniffing her butt to see if she has a package in there or b] he is putting her up on his shoulders. Hopefully it's not both.

or maybe he was about to put her on his shoulder when he caught a whiff of her butt

[shoreline99 137]

or maybe he was about to put her on his shoulder when he caught a whiff of her butt

Yeah, one time I caught the whiff too late... :banghead:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Yeah, one time I caught the whiff too late... :banghead:

never, ever a good thing

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

or maybe he was about to put her on his shoulder when he caught a whiff of her butt

Yeah, one time I caught the whiff too late... :banghead:

never, ever a good thing

I shared previously how some parent had a kid with a load in his diaper up on his shoulders at the Hyperspace Hoopla during Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood Studios this year.

And I was the lucky guest standing behind them.

Oy.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I can't leave you all hanging, so let's get to that pile of pixie dust.

Do you remember how on the first Saturday we walked by the area where they were letting guests in to see the new Belle meet and greet?

And we got denied?

Well, I have this saying that I made up.

It goes- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

It's kind of catchy.

You can use it if you like.

So, we headed over to the secret door.

We had talked about this on the way to WDW today. We all agreed that we had probably missed our chance. They had done their trials, and proably weren't doing it any more until the official previews began.

But, there was a castmember guarding the secret door.

It was closed, though, and nobody was going in or out.

I said I'm going to go and ask her if we can go in.

Twin #1 said she would go with me.

Twin #2 said I was stupid and was wasting my time (not those exact words, but it's what she meant).

Twin #1 and I headed over.

The CM wished me a happy birthday (I had my button on, remember).

I said thanks.

We chatted.

Small talk.

Then I made the ask.

I asked her if there was any chance we could get in to the Belle meet and greet today.

I got ready for the rejection.

Instead the CM asked how many were in my party.

I said three.

She said, go on in, and happy birthday.

Just like that, we were in.

I called over to Twin #2. She couldn't believe it.

I think we surprised the CM by how excited we were.

And we were excited.

How cool is it to see something before anyone else gets a chance?

Very cool.

And in the secret door we went.

This is where I have to say something . . .

SPOILER ALERT!

Let me make that as clear as I can . . .

SPOILER ALERT! ! !

If you are one of those people who like to be surprised, you may not want to look at the rest of this post.

Or the next couple of posts, for that matter.

Because I took photos of everything I could back there behind that wall.

And I'm going to show them all to you.

And I even have a video of the coolest thing back there.

But, it will take a couple of posts before we get to that.

So, if you want to be surprised, stop reading.

Go read The Troll's trip report.

Or Stef's.

Or Genia's.

Or Metal Dad's.

Or Misty's.

Hey, there are a lot of good trip reports going on here!

That is sweet!

OK, you've been warned.

We are going behind the wall.

And seeing things we have never seen before.

Like this:

Big deal, right?

But, that is a wall behind the wall.

And the closest I have been to Beast's castle since they built it.

Plus, I could peek around that wall.

And see the walkway behind it. The sign you see on the left of this photo says Stroller Parking. This is where guests will park their strollers before they walk through that broken arch in the back, and across the bridge to the new Be Our Guest restaurant:

Looking all the way around this interior wall, we can see that they have parked a lift here. If you look through the lift, you can see a building there in the background- that is either the new gift shop or Gaston's Tavern- I'm not sure which, but either way, it's cool:

Looking to the right again, we can see the roof of Gaston's Tavern and Prince Eric's castle in the back:

Looking ahead now, still peeking around the wall, we can clearly see the bridge/walkway that leads to the Be Our Guest restaurant. Notice how they built this to look like there was once a big arch here, but it has crumbled. The thing that looks like a shield to the right says Be Our Guest. Also notice that there are gargoyles at the base of the light posts lining the bridge. You can see the top of Beast's castle on the left, and the roof of the gift shop or tavern on the right:

I could have stayed there longer and stood and stared.

But, the twins wanted to get moving and in to Maurice's cottage.

So, I had to move on.

Here was our first look at the cottage from the winding path that led us there:

Just look at that!

Like it's been there forever.

I haven't seen the movie in a while, so I don't know this for sure, but I'll bet it looks just like Belle's house did in the movie.

The official name of this attraction is Enchanted Tales With Belle.

But, as far as I could see, there were no signs posted with the name of the attraction. I guess those are yet to come.

From here on the path, we could see the entrance to the Be Our Guest restaurant. This is what we were looking at by peeking around the wall. I guess I could have saved myself the trouble by just taking the path:

This is a look back at where we came from. The door you see there is the secret door that we entered. I think these walls will all be coming down soon. You can also see that they are having people park strollers here and not take them in to the cottage. Also note the themed trash cans. You will see a lot of them in the next few photos- they have a faux wood finish:

This is the sign where they will post wait times. You can also see that there will be a Fastpass line and a Stand-By line:

I posted this photo on the Where In the World thread, and of course, it was hard for anyone to guess it. That's because very few people have seen it. It's kind of neat to me how this is different from other signage you see around the MK, but at the same time it clearly looks like something from the MK:

It is interesting to note how many different types of light fixtures are in use back here.

Here's one:

Looking over here to the side, over that green wall, they are at work on the Snow White Mine Train ride. Notice how they have light fixtures mounted on the wall. I think this wall will stay once they open the new part of Fantasyland, and work will continue on the other side of the wall for another year or so as they finish the Mine Train:

And this is where I will mention one big criticism of how they did things here. It is too bad that there is going to be a construction wall and ongoing construction next to all the new stuff. It shatters the illusion that you are in a provincial French village pretty quick when you see cranes and guys in hard hats. So Disney blew it by having the mine train ride so far behind the rest of this. This will only be a problem for maybe a year, but still, they could have done this part of it better.

Here's another light fixture we came across on our way along the path. It's a broken wheel. Again, this might be right out of the movie. I guess I should watch it again some time, because I don't remember:

Here's a closer look at Maurice's cottage. We are getting closer and closer. Take a minute and enjoy all the details- the well, the two chimneys, the stone work. All really neat. As we approach this cottage, we see that there are some of those zig zag things that Disney likes to use in its queues to the left of the building, and then the entrance to the building is on the right:

Here's another wagon wheel. This one is just mounted along a wall in the queue:

Check this out for coolness. There's the Beast's castle looming over this little village:

It really does look high up there, doesn't it. That 's forced perspective again. The actual building is very small, and it isn't nearly as high as the surroundings make it look.

This is the spot to take a photo.

They even had a photopass guy right there taking photos. Here is the one taken by him:

And here's a photo of Beast's castle without any people in it:

There's the mine train ride under construction over there. Again, bad show Disney- it destroys the whole illusion of being somewhere else when you can see a construction project going on at the same time. You can see the hill and track in this photo:

Here we are even closer to the cottage. Look at all the detail just on the roof-line alone:

Here's the well. I was too close to it to get the whole thing into one shot:

Here's another look at the well. You see that building way in the background, behind the well? That is Pinnochio's Village Haus. Isn't it cool how they designed all of this to make it fit in perfectly with the existing park? :

Here's another look at the cottage roof line. Look how there is different rock work on the two chimneys. I wonder why? I'm sure there's a reason. Also, speaking of rock work, don't miss the rock wall in the previous photo:

And now we come to another different type of light fixture. Do you remember that Maurice was an eccentric inventor in the movie? Check out how this light has a gear and pulley on it. There is also wire there. I wonder if these lights are going to move or something? :

Here we are looking out of this area, back toward Cinderella Castle. Look how everything seems to fit. They did a tremendous job designing all of this:

When we are right up to the cottage, we can still look up and see the Beast's castle looking down on us. I guess this is how it would have been for Belle and her father (if any of this was real) :

So how do you like this so far?

We are already up near our photo limit, and we haven't even entered the cottage yet.

To make things work out right, we will need to stop this post here, and start a new one.

We will have some more of the queue to go through, and more details, and we will then finally enter the cottage.

Where we saw something really, really cool.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I like!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Great pictures on your birthday score, it will be great when it's all done and tied together,a job well done on all the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

TCD YOU ARE THE BOMB! YOU ROCK! YOUR ARE A ROCKSTAR! Did I mention you are about the luckiest guy I've ever not met yet?

[stefa70 205]

Very cool!!

I love the photo with Cinderella's castle in it. I probably won't make it back to the Fort til the beginning of December, it will be neat to see the decorations in the open parts of Fantasyland.

[Mecha Geek 1]

Happy birthday!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I like!

Just wait, we are just getting started!

Great pictures on your birthday score, it will be great when it's all done and tied together,a job well done on all the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I think this will really be neat once it's all done.

They clearly put a lot of thought into this.

The detail is amazing, even for Disney.

TCD YOU ARE THE BOMB! YOU ROCK! YOUR ARE A ROCKSTAR! Did I mention you are about the luckiest guy I've ever not met yet?

Ho hum.

Tell me something I don't know.

I do get my share of pixie dust.

Very cool!!

I love the photo with Cinderella's castle in it. I probably won't make it back to the Fort til the beginning of December, it will be neat to see the decorations in the open parts of Fantasyland.

I didn't think about that.

The first look most people have of the new stuff is going to be when all of the Christmas decorations are up.

Happy birthday!

Thanks.

It was a good one.

There is still more pixie dust coming!

And, I even got a special gift from a certain princess who resides in that cottage.

TCD