Disney Makes New Plans for Fantasyland Expansion
Posted by Ashley McChesney on Fri, Aug 13, 2010 @ 08:45 AM
Disney has started construction on the upcoming Fantasyland expansion they announced last year, but that hasn't stopped Disney planners from altering the original plans for the expansion.
Disney is trying to make the expansion project more appealing to both boys and girls. The previous plans were geared mostly to young girls, including a fairy land, three new areas dedicated to some of the most popular Disney Princesses, as well as a whole new ride all about the Little Mermaid.
Much has changed in the Florida theme park world since the Fantasyland expansion was first unveiled. Many Disney big shots were shuffled around and some let go completely. Tom Staggs, the former chief financial officer for Disney, is now the new head of Walt Disney Parks and Resort. He replace Jay Rasulo, who made the expansion announcement and the D23 expo in September of 2009. Maybe even more of a deciding factor, Universal Studios opened Harry Potter in it's Islands of Adventure theme park giving Universal it's first boost in park attendance in 2 years - though Tom Staggs has denied that the Harry Potter addition to Islands of Adventure had anything to do with the decision to change the Fantasyland expansion plans.
Not many details on the changes that were made to the original expansion plans have been released. All that is known now is there are revisions being made to the three interactive Disney Princess areas - Dance with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty's 16th birthday party, and role play with Beauty and the Beast. Another key idea in these changes is to make the expansion appeal to all age groups with attention being placed on incorporating mild thrill rides. The changes are not expected to dramatically alter the projects completion date (staggered opening in 2012 and 2013) or increase the budget.
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