New Fantasyland Expansion overview
 

Here's the latest image about the Fantasyland Expansion. Looks pretty cool!

http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney-...s-fantasyland/

And this site takes a detailed look at the model, along with earlier blueprints & drawings

http://gdpinvestigation.blogspot.com...ntasyland.html

Thanks for posting those! So cool to see the models. I can't wait!

Thanks for the links Heather! It's great to get a better idea of what they are planning! When do they begin work? Or has it started already? Any word on what will happen to Mickey and Minnie's houses and meet and greet areas?

Dawn-I don't believe it's started yet, but I'll let you know when I go in a little over a month how things look! Last I heard, Mickey & Minnie's home won't be moved anywhere, but who knows what they'll end up doing. They are doing some work on the Expo on Main Street for a new Mickey & Minnie greeting area.

It looks like the work has started, construction walls are starting to go up:
http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions/...ion-begins.htm

I'll let you know in about 24 days. :)

Hey Heather, when you were there last, did you already see construction starting?! Just curious!

No, I didn't. Where they broke ground is backstage. The only construction I saw was the typical refurbs of the outside of stores and such that they always do around this time of year. I did hear that Ariel's Grotto is closing on April 12th. Ariel is going to be with Eric at the Adventureland Veranda, starting sometime in early May. Also, Pooh and Tigger are moving from their spot near the Pooh playground spot. Both of these have to do with the expansion, since both areas will be taken away. I think the area in the back of the Expo is already closed (wasn't when I was there since I took pics with the cutouts!) for them to work on converting it to Mickey & Minnie's meet and greet.

Melissa is going later this month, so maybe she'll have more updates.

Good thing we finally toured Mickey and Minnie's houses this last trip in Dec; we'd missed them our previous two trips.

Thanks Heather! I'm hoping this is a good change! I'm one of those people who doesn't exactly like change! I hope they don't get rid of the original characters all together and just focus on the princesses! Ya know!?

Here's pics of the construction walls & updates on the expansion
http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/04/...-magic-kingdom

Dawn-I'm sure they won't be getting rid of Mickey, Minnie, etc. That's what they are building in Expo Hall, a meet & greet area for those characters.

Since you guys are much better at gathering this info, than I am.....any new news? How are things coming? Any changes? Any advances?

Not sure if these are "new", but here's some a friend told me about:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busin...8.photogallery

(ok, this one goes to the DIS site...but they are GOOD photos. Carol, if you feel the need to delete this one, than so be it) http://www.disboards.com/showthread....2#post36980822

New aerial view of the entire Fantasyland construction site

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions/...ction-site.htm

Here is a detailed list of what everything is:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ing-111510.jpg

Casting call - I'm looking for an official 'team' to bring us updates, if you are interested. Info here: http://www.mousescrappers.com/forums...ead.php?t=6551

For those of you who haven't heard, they're doing a soft opening of Storybook Circus. Oh how I wish I was there!

I was following it all day on twitter the day it opened :) it looks SO pretty at night!

We're at WDW right now. We walked through the area yesterday and briefly saw Dumbo and Barnstormers. But DS wasn't feeling well so we quickly headed to the new train station and left the area. We're heading back to MK tomorrow so hopefully will spend some time checking out the "new" attractions.

Here are some photos from of the Fantasyland Expasion. You can see Beast's Castle off in the distance. (I told kids that they have to finish the road to get there. Didn't want to spoil the Magic by telling them that it was just built.)
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/933803cf.jpg http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/1d4a9f16.jpg

The new Dumbo ride is very classy in all red, blue and gold - though the elephants still have bright colored hats and ruffles. And they fly in the opposite (clockwise) direction. You can see the area under construction for the second Dumbo ride. DH thinks the original is being refurbished and will still rotate counterclockwise. (Don't know if there's any write-up about it since I haven't kept up with any of the expansion news in a while.)
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/a2179b1d.jpg http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/cf9729f8.jpg http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/04e8f99a.jpg http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/0695108a.jpg http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/af5aced9.jpg

Right next to Dumbo is Barnstormer, Goofy as the Great Goofini. We never rode the original Barnstormer, nor did we ride today because DS was ready to get some dinner. It looks like a cute - but VERY short - rollercoaster.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/c5d22a35.jpg http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/10a20d2e.jpg http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...b/650f7527.jpg

And just beyond Barnstormer is the train station, and a "secret" path to Tomorrowland.

Thanks for the pics! Did you catch it at night, the pics I've seen are beautiful!! And from what I understand (though it could change), the other Dumbo is supposed to go counterclockwise, so the 2 Dumbos will go in opposite directions.

Really cute telling the kids the road isn't finished. ;)

Too cute! Thanks so much for the pictures. I really need to get us down there soon to see all of the changes. :)