Photo tour of Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland

Join us as we look at portions of the New Fantasyland expansion, as seen on its first dress rehearsal days.

---

First is the heavily wooded Beauty and the Beast area.

The queue to Enchanted Tales winds through the forest.

The Beast’s castle towers above the forest.

Eventually you reach Maurice’s cottage (Belle’s father).

Inside is a portrait of Belle and her mother.

The house has many details of a French country home.

The Beast gave Maurice a magic mirror/dorrway so he could visit Belle at the castle any time. Today, we are walking through this door.

The wardrobe welcomes us to the castle, and invites us to play act the night that Belle danced with the Beast in the Ballroom.

We then go to the library and begin to play act what happened that night.

Lumiere begins and guides the story.

Belle herself joins the play. She is so breathtakingly beautiful that the audience gasps at her entrance.

As the play acting concludes, guests can pose for photos.

---

Our tour continues on, and this broken archway gets your attention.

Just past the archway is the entrance to the Be Our Guest restaurant, which was not yet open. (It later opened for viewing. Check the photo gallery below.)

Just ahead is the village, and Gaston’s tavern.

Gaston’s pub, as you remember, uses antlers in all of its decorating.

The featured items on the menu.

A stein of LeFou’s brew.

Gaston can be seen outside the pub, and enjoys meeting ladies with books.

The village also has a shop.

---

Just outside the woods is Prince Eric’s castle.

Fastpass entrance into the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

The standby queue meanders near ocean pools and waterfalls, entering a cave.

Reverse view from the standby queue. At left will be the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride. To the right is Cinderella Castle.

The tide has receded, revealing some of the whats-its and gizmos o’plenty that Ariel has collected in this particular cave.

Sometimes you can spot blue crabs rearranging the collection. Point at the item that doesn’t match the others and he’ll take it away.

Further inside is the seashell boarding area.

The story of The Little Mermaid is told in the ride. Here are some scenes from Under The Sea.

Ursula takes Ariel’s voice, and the story continues …
(Click Here for a video ride-through.)

---

And the tour reaches the other side of the construction wall of Storybook Circus. The yellow tent is the queue for Dumbo, with Tomorrowland and Space Mountain in the distance.

Reverse view of same fenced area, from Storybook Circus.

---

If you have sharp eyes you can sometimes spot the Contemporary Resort in the distance.

These glimpses of the Contemporary are probably short-lived. A forest is planned at the base of the Seven Dwarfs mountain, and the views of the Contemporary seen here will probably be blocked by trees.

---

Looking back at the Beast’s castle.

Easily overlooked is that this brown stone wall probably leads to the Seven Dwarfs cottage.

Current extent of visible mine ride track.

Welders at work. The ride is supposed to open in 2014.

---

Back at the new Fantasyland entrance, some mobile hedges are at the base of one of the new castle walls.

The mobile hedges divide an entrance and exit into the new area.

At about sunset, the dress rehearsal ended on the first day.

---

Character lighting — as it is called — began to bathe new castles.

The welders continued to build magic.

---

After nightfall, the Magic Kingdom had some new views, from all angles.

The Magic Kingdom is always full of surprises!

---

Click here for our New Fantasyland Video Playlist

---

Additional New Fantasyland Photo Gallery