Photo Finds: Detailed theme park updates for the week of November 14, 2011

By Kevin Yee

We have a lot of updates to get to this week:

• Holiday decorations up at Magic Kingdom
• Posters down at Toontown train station; new structure visible
• Cheshire Café replaces Enchanted Grove; keeps menu
• Fantasyland Construction pics: themed bridge visible outside Under the Sea; trees now clumped to prevent view of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train from Pinocchio Village Haus
• Haunted Mansion extended queue got several new directional signs
• New Sorcerer’s location (with dual cameras) near re-opened Frontierland Shooting Arcade
• Sleepy Hollow Refreshments has new waffle sandwiches ($7); the sweet and spicy chicken was divine (and filling)!
• Holiday interlude in the castle projections include decorations as: wrapping paper, Christmas lights, candy canes, the cake castle from 1996, and gingerbread house.
• RFID entrance tested at Epcot; you get a sticker on your existing pass or ticket and swipe it; there is no actual turnstile anymore.
• New (new-ish?) pig family decorations at Great Piggybank Adventure; most are animated cutouts
• Canopy of lights at San Francisco Street in Osborne is the big innovation this year; programmed and bright, it looks and acts like the Fremont St Experience in downtown Las Vegas.
• Two tributes to the recently-departed Jennings Osborne: one blue angel in the sky is now white; and a razorback pig (he was a big football supporter) outlined in lights.
• Festival of the Masters was this weekend at Downtown Disney
• New World of Disney bathrooms; now not accessible from inside the store, and only from the side of the building
• Earl of Sandwich has holiday sandwiches again; the ‘toy ornament’ tree outside has no toys this year
• Blink by Wet Seal now open; replaces Magnetron in DtD
• Sunglass Icon store in DtD renovated and open; has a station where you can photograph yourself and tweet/upload the pic immediately
• Something Silver now open; replaces Magic Masters in DtD
• Roar and Soar annual event (boats, cars, bikes, and of course planes): report from Fantasy of Flight, where they have a new ropes challenge and zipline.
• Visit to Character Warehouse at outlets; Disney’s overstock store