Disney World unveils its more boy-friendly plans for the Fantasyland expansion project

Jim Hill

14 years ago

There's this story which dates back to the Fall of 1984. About how Michael Eisner – right after he'd been installed as the new head of Walt Disney Productions – brought his son, Breck along when Eisner did his very first walk-through of WED. And based on this then-14-year-old boy's enthusiastic reaction to a model that the Imagineers had built for a proposed attraction that – back then — was called Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah River Run … Well, that's why Splash Mountain was first built at Disneyland Park in the late 1980s and then went on to become one of the more popular attractions at Disney Parks worldwide.

I bring up that story now because … Well, I genuinely have to wonder what role Tom Staggs' three young sons played in the revamping of Jay Rasulo's plans to radically expand Fantasyland at WDW's Magic Kingdom.

Jay Rasulo onstage in the Arena at the Anaheim Convention Center presenting
Fantasyland concept art. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

You may recall – back when the then-Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts officially confirmed that this project was in the works back in September of 2009 at the inaugural D23 EXPO – that this expansion of that theme park had lots of little girl appeal. With more than 2/3rds of the budget being set aside for rides, shows and attractions which celebrated the Disney Princess & the Disney Fairies franchises.

But then came November of 2009. When – in a move that surprised many in the business community – Disney President & CEO Bob Iger announced that Rasulo and Staggs would be swapping jobs at the Company. With Tom – who had previously been the Mouse House's Chief Financial Officer – replacing Jay as Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. While Rasulo then moved into Staggs' old office in the Michael Eisner building on the Disney lot in Burbank.

(L to R) Thomas Staggs, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts,
and Jay Rasulo, Chief Financial Officer of The Walt Disney Company.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

And almost from the moment that Staggs came on board at Parks and Resorts, there were rumblings that Tom supposedly had some serious concerns about this $300 million expansion of the Magic Kingdom. That because so much of this project was focused on creating interactive experiences that would primarily appeal to young females …

Concept art for the now-canceled Pixie Hollow portion of the Magic Kingdom's expansion
project. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

… that Fantasyland's expansion was almost deliberately turning its back on an equally important demographic. Which was young boys.

As Staggs told Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel in an August 2010 interview:

"We took a hard look at it amongst a number of us and said, 'Can we make the appeal broader? Can we make it even better?' "

So that giant show building which used to occupy the very center on the Magic Kingdom's new fairy tale forest section …

… which was to have featured elaborate, hands-on meet-and-greet experiences with Briar Rose …

… and Cinderella?

They're officially gone now. Replaced by a more family-inclusive attraction, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train …

… which will occupy approximately the same footprint …

… as the old Cinderella
/ Sleeping Beauty
show building.

Now as for those highly detailed "play and greet" experiences that WDW Guests were supposed to have when they visited Briar Rose at the Woodcutter's cottage …

… or dropped in on Cinderella at Lady Tremaine's chateau …

… Sadly, those experiences are NOT going to be replicated inside of the Princess Fairytale Hall …

… Because … Well, given that this recently announced addition to the Fantasyland expansion project will have to accommodate more Disney Princesses (among them the more recently crowned additions to this super-popular & profitable franchise, Tiana from "The Princess and The Frog" and Rapunzel from "Tangled"), the meet-and-greet areas that are to be carved out of Fantasyland's soon-to-be-closing "Snow White's Scary Adventures" ride have to be somewhat generic. So that they can then accommodate multiple Disney Princesses.

Which is kind of a shame. Given that some of the illusions that the Imagineers had created for the Briar Rose "play and greet" (where – as Guests worked on creating birthday cards for Princess Aurora — the Good Fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather would have wielded their wands and created havoc inside of that woodcutter's cottage) …

.. and the Cinderella interactive experience (where WDW visitors would have actually witnessed with their very own eyes that magical moment when the Fairy Godmother conjured up Cindy's beautiful blue ball gown) …

… were absolutely stunning.

Hopefully at tonight's media event at the Magic Kingdom, the PR folks for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts will be a little more forthcoming about what these revised plans mean for the "Storybook Circus" section of the Fantasyland expansion project.

In particular, where Mickey's Toonfair Fair's massive Cornelius Coot's County Bounty retail operation as well as the planned retheming of the Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farms coaster fit into all this …

But after all these months of whispers and rumors about how the Tom Staggs version of WDW's Magic Kingdom expansion project would compare to Jay Rasulo's original vision, what do you folks think? Will this version – as Staggs hopes – now have far broader appeal to boys once construction is complete in 2013? Or is this $300 million project still too heavily skewed toward girls?

Your thoughts?