Tokyo Disneyland : Experience the World of Beauty and the Beast with the Grand Opening of “New Fantasyland” on April 15, 2020 - The Happy Ride with Baymax and Minnie’s Style Studio also opening !

Experience the World of Beauty and the Beast with the Grand Opening of “New Fantasyland” on April 15, 2020 - The Happy Ride with Baymax and Minnie’s Style Studio also opening:

Oriental Land Co., Ltd. has announced that a new area, “New Fantasyland,” will open in Tokyo Disneyland® Park on April 15, 2020 as part of the large-scale development in Fantasyland. This area will feature many exciting new elements including the Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast attraction and an indoor theater Fantasyland Forest Theatre. At the same time, Tomorrowland and Toontown will also see brand-new additions as part of the continual growth of Tokyo Disneyland.

“New Fantasyland” includes an area themed to the popular Disney film Beauty and the Beast. From Maurice’s Cottage (Disney FASTPASS® Ticketing) at the entrance, to Gaston’s fountain, and the village restaurants and shops, Guests can immerse themselves in the world of the film as they enjoy the ambience of Belle’s village. Towering above the forest is Beauty and the Beast Castle which houses Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, an attraction where Guests follow Belle and Beast on a romantic musical adventure in vehicles that dance in rhythm to the animated film’s well-known music. Leaving the area themed to Beauty and the Beast and plunging deeper into the forest, Guests will find Fantasyland Forest Theatre, the first full-scale indoor theater at Tokyo Disneyland with live entertainment featuring the Disney Friends.



The Happy Ride with Baymax, where Guests can join their own personal healthcare companion for an exciting ride that swings them unpredictably round and round, will open in Tomorrowland along with a shop specializing in popcorn. In Toontown, Guests can meet Minnie Mouse in person at the new Disney Character greeting facility, Minnie’s Style Studio.



With over three years of construction and a total investment of about 75 billion Japanese yen, the largest redevelopment in the history of Tokyo Disneyland promises to further enchant Guests with an array of brand-new experiences. April 15, 2020 marks the beginning of a new era for Tokyo Disneyland.

Pictures: copyright Disney, Oriental Land

More Details About Tokyo Disneyland New Fantasyland ! Frozen Land Definitely Not Coming at TDL , More Probably at TDS !

All-right, i've found the Tokyo Disneyland rendering in a better definition and even enlarged this new file so now we can see clearly what are the changes and additions coming at Tokyo Disneyland Fantasyland!

First, as i've said in yesterday's article Tomorrowland Grand Circuit Raceway and Star Jets will be removed but a big part of TDL Tomorrowland Terrace will disappear, too. However, as you'll see on the enlarged version below the entire Toon Town will stay, including the Gadget Go Coaster.

Now, the building on the left of Space Mountain is for sure It's a Small World which will be relocated from where it was previously - near the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall - to where the Grand Circuit Raceway currently is, and this is probably a premiere in a Disney park that such a big attraction will be relocated.

And what will come on its former location, you ask? Well, it'll be an Alice in Wonderland mini land, just like the one envisioned for WDW Magic Kingdom before being cancelled, what you can see on the artworks below, shown in a Disneyland exhibit called the "Realms of Fantasy" and posted December 2012 in a previous D&M article.

Above, the future Alice area at TDL, Below the artwork for WDW New Fantasyland.

The Dumbo ride will also be relocated and placed behind the castle, not far from the Winnie the Pooh ride, and reimagined to look like the one at WDW New Fantasyland. And, yes, it is indeed Beast Castle that we see on the right, with Belle village,  and most probably a Be our Guest restaurant.

What is still more mysterious is the area which will be built where TDL Tomorrowland Terrace currently is. We can see plenty of different buildings,  vegetation, rocks, water and waterfalls but surprisingly we can't see any entrance, so i suppose we'll have to wait a bit to learn more about this part. One thing is sure, though, contrary to what i thought yesterday it will NOT be a Frozen land...

...and, as nothing looking like a Frozen set can be seen on this new artwork, it means that if there is for real a Frozen land - as it has not been confirmed yet by TDL - that the new "port" at Tokyo Disney Sea will BE a Frozen land. And it doesn't sounds specially like a good news to me. Don't get me wrong, i have no doubts that WDI Imagineers can build a Frozen port that will look great but i think that a Frozen land should be located in TDL Magic Kingdom rather than in the more realistic Tokyo Disney Sea. A Mystic Point land with Mystic Manor would be much much better, specially close to Lost River Delta and the Indy pyramid instead of a Frozen Arendelle. And i'm pretty sure that you'll agree with me on this.

As for what will be the buildings in the picture above some like WDWNews Today think that the original Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty meet and greets - that were removed from early plans for Florida’s New Fantasyland - will be included in Tokyo Disneyland’s Fantasyland - i.e what you can see in the center of the rendering below - but i can't confirm this for now.

Anyway, we've learned a bit more about TDL New Fantasyland, and for the rest, we'll probably have to wait until a 2015 TDL announcement. One more thing: as we know TDL has to face a bigger competition of Universal Studios Japan with the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - and probably soon a Diagon Alley. Although TDL and USJ are not close together as WDW and USF are in Orlando, there is something fun to see that the TDL counterattack is somewhat the same, i.e a New Fantasyland.

All artwork: copyright Disney, Oriental Land

WDW Magic Kingdom New Fantasyland and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train From Above !

Disney released a video showing WDW Magic Kingdom New Fantasyland and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train From Above. The video was shot from a helicopter and i embedded it in the article below but i repost it here for those of you who missed it.




As it is probably forbidden for anyone except Disney to fly with a helicopter right above the Magic Kingdom no need to say that we won't see another video as good as this one anytime soon. So, i did screen captures of the best shots and as the contrast was a bit poor on the video i enhanced the pictures contrast, colors and sharpness and here they are. Click on each to download them in large size!

Next, some great aerial shots of Cinderella Castle...

More aerial pics of New Fantasyland and Magic Kingdom...

And here is a greats series of night shots...

Imagineer Dave Minichiello Reveal More About WDW Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster

The Live Chat about Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with Imagineer Dave Minichiello just ended and here is what Dave said about the ride: "Pretty much every day is a milestone and some major ones that I’d like to mention are the Dwarfs Cottage, which is going quickly and looking amazing. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train being a part of the forest - we’re starting to see it as a part of the forest with the tree planting... We’re finally starting to see it all come together.

The top of the mountain is being planted with trees, the final rockwork is being completed as well as thematic painting of the rockwork. Ride testing continues daily. Now what’s really nice is the propping the attraction both inside and outside.

Asked about "why a ride about the Seven Dwarfs" Dave answered: "we were looking at New Fantasyland and trying to create a mix of attractions that would offer a broad variety of experiences for our guests, we were looking for a family coaster type of experience. That led us to Snow White and a Mine Train type of vehicle. As a centerpiece of the New Fantasyland expansion, we also thought that this type of experience would create kinetic energy throughout the land. The Dwarfs are really fun and lovable characters and I think that after seeing the classic film of Snow White, how many of our guests wouldn’t want to go into the film? This attraction gave us an opportunity to go in depth with other story lines in the movie".

To the question : "Will all major characters make an appearance in the ride? The Prince, Evil Queen, Snow White, etc.?" Dave Minichiello answered "You’ll be able to experience many of your favorite characters from the film."

To the question : "how it will compare - speed and dropwise - to other coasters such as Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain’?" Dave answered "It’s a family coaster and it’s a unique experience unlike anything else in our parks. This attraction is more innovative in its ride system and vehicle. It is for the entire family. It gives the guests a new sensation they’ve never had before. And we felt that uniqueness was the best way to tell our story. Also, what’s special about Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the journey. You travel through the forest and explore the mine where the dwarfs are working, but we’re seeing the mine in a grander scale in a way we’ve never told the story before."

About the video you will discover below Dave Minichiello said: "What’s interesting about the video is that there’s a CGI model, which was the first concept model that we developed for this show. What’s amazing is seeing how accurate it was to our initial concept and vision. What’s amazing is how accurate the sight lines are, the staging, the scaling, the variable speeds. We’re fortunate to use innovative technologies during the development of our attraction". 

Above and below: the reality and the CGI rendering of the scene.

"It's an attraction that has as many amazing views on board as off. From the very beginning, we wanted to showcase those sightlines and see Storybook Circus, a little bit of Mermaid, then we head inside the mine to see the Dwarfs, you come out and see Prince Eric’s Castle, and an amazing view of Cinderella Castle. At our highest lift, you see Prince Eric’s Castle, Beast Castle and Cinderella Castle, so the views are spectacular."

Dave added: "Based on the type of vehicle we wanted to use to tell the story, we started looking at a mine vehicle and thought that it would be a fun guest experience to sit in a mine car". And about the new ride train system: "It has proven to be pretty amazing and a very smooth attraction. It’s a completely new experience - not only having the sensation of pivoting back and forth and it varies throughout the attraction. You feel differences in the various terrain around the mountain.

"Each mine train is very unique and we wanted to make them look like they were used in different times. When you see the vehicles themselves, there’s a lot of layering to them. While you go to the mine and there’s a lot of rustic wood and wood graining throughout the attraction, some of the wood carving is something you seen in the film and we’ve picked that up. The scale and the character of everything around you starts to go into the dwarfs’ world".

To the question: "the train seems to slow when it hits that “dark ride” point - anything specific we should look for in there?" Dave answered "The reason the train slows is to allow the guests to enjoy the details of the scene. We wanted to let our guests discover their favorite dwarf. All seven are hard at work in the mine scene - and we do have some hidden stuff in there."

Dave also revealed that "The queue has a surprise song in it that was originally written for the film called ‘Music In Your Soup,’ which we’ve recorded in instrumental version and added to our queue area. All of the music in the queue area is all instrumental, and we wanted to give it a feel that it was played by the Seven Dwarfs".

Asked about interactive queue elements, dave answered : "Yes, we do have some interactive elements in the queue. Part of the “scene one” in the queue area helps us start to tell the story. We have an area where guests can sort and wash jewels, and for the first time, we’re taking guests into the vault as seen in the classic film ‘Snow White.' The ride height restriction is 38 inches and Imagineers are on schedule for an opening on Spring!

Pictures, Text and videos: copyright Disney
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New Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride Imagineering Video !

Walt Disney Imagineering released on the Disney Parks Blog a new behind the scenes video that will show you a more about the awaited Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction. And this time Imagineers Ben VanBeusekon and Mary Mac Eachin explain the train cars theming and aging process. As usual the cars are part of the story of the attraction, but in this case as they are supposed to be mine cars the theming had to be more accurate than ever.

You'll find the video below but we're gonna "stop the time" a bit with these screen captures of interesting shots, starting by a series of renderings of the train cars.

The video will also show you the train cars being painted and aged at different steps by WDI Imagineers...

Also include again some shots of the virtual ride which was presented before like the scene with the dwarfs inside the mine that WDW guests will discover later this year when the ride will open...

...but this is to better introduce the next shot showing for the first time the REAL decor of the inside of the mine!

There is more shots in the video of the real train running at night so go ahead, have a look at this great WDI video!




Pictures and video: copyright Disney