Fantasyland to get extreme makeover at Disney World by 2013

By 2013, Disney World will transform Fantasyland into a magical fairy tale forest with new and upgraded rides, character meet-and-greet areas and a themed restaurant, Disney announced today.

The centerpiece of the expansion, the largest in Magic Kingdom history, will be a new Little Mermaid dark ride that will take visitors on a musical journey under the sea with Ariel and her friends. Disney’s California Adventure in California will get an identical version of the ride in 2011.

Located behind Cinderella’s castle, the new Fantasyland will also include:

– A new circus tent theme for the existing Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride with interactive elements.
– Themed meet and greet areas for Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Tinker Bell.
– A Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant inside the Beast’s castle.

Alleged blueprints of the Fantasyland project were leaked online in July, leading some Internet pundits to suggest Disney was launching a preemptive marketing offensive in anticipation of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which opens at Universal Studios Orlando’s Islands of Adventure theme park in 2010.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland. Follow Funland on Twitter and Facebook.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Image credits: Disney

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 12:05 pm by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Business Travel, California, Deals, Disney's California Adventure, Family & Kids, Florida, Magic Kingdom, Orange County, Southern States, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.