Mickey and the Disney Princesses will soon move into WDW’s Town Square Theater

Jim Hill

14 years ago

So when Mickey's Toontown Fair closes for
good this Friday night to make way for the next phase of the New Fantasyland construction
project, what happens to all of the characters that used to greet WDW visitors inside of the Judge's
Tent & the Toontown Hall of Fame? Well, they'll be on the move for the next few weeks.

Starting on Saturday, Mickey & Minnie will temporarily
be meeting-and-greeting Guests in Tomorrowland. The Disney Princesses (with the
exception of Rapunzel. Who will continue to play-and-greet WDW visitors in Cinderella
Castle's Fairytale Garden at least through the Fall of 2011) will be holding
court out on the Adventureland Veranda. Tinker Bell will be shifting over to Disney's
Hollywood Studios for the rest of February. Though starting on March 2^nd
(with the kick-off of this year's International Flower & Garden Festival)
Tink & her Disney Fairies friends will begin calling EPCOT home.

But all that changes come Spring. Where — after a lengthy rehab (which will involved the creation of some pretty elaborate backdrops and props. Not to
mention state-of-the-art lighting packages. Which means that any pictures that you may take here of the characters and/or any images that you order through Disney
PhotoPass will look better than ever) — Mickey and the Disney Princess will move into the Town Square
Exhibition Hall. Which — by then — will a brand-new sign out front which reads "Town Square Theater."

"And what will the Town Square Theater meet-n-greet area be like?," you ask. Well, do you remember how the Toontown Hall of Fame had those two feeder lines for its queue area? Where you could then
choose whether you wanted to get on line to see the Disney Princesses or
the Disney Fairies ?

Well, picture something similar in what used to be the exit area of
"The Walt Disney Story" theatre / the Magic Kingdom's old preview
center. Guests will now walk through the entrance of
what-used-to-be-known as the Town Square Exhibition Hall and then
find themselves inside the lobby of the Town Square Theater. Once they
move past the entrance of Tony's Town Square Restaurant, these theme
parks visitors will then have to decide which queue they'd like to
enter. Do they get on line to see Mickey & Minnie OR the Disney
Princesses?

Post meet-n-greet, these Guests will now move through the old lobby / pre-show area of "The Walt Disney Story
" theatre / the Magic Kingdom's old preview center before they'll then
be directed to enter what-used-to-be-known-as the Town Square Exhibition
Hall's gift shop. Mind you, this area in the Magic Kingdom will still be used as retail
space. But as part of the Exhibition Hall's retheming, this gift shop
will now be redressed as the Town Square Theater's wardrobe department.

Now keep in mind that the Disney Princesses won't be
staying. They're just biding their time at Disney Main Street Animation Studio
until Disney Princess Fairytale Hall opens. And then they'll decamp for their
new digs.

But work on Disney Princess Fairytale Hall can't really begin
until Snow White's Scary Adventures closes. And because WDW officials still
remember what a PR nightmare the September 1998 closing of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
was … Well, they're being pretty close-mouthed (right now, anyway) in regards
as to when Snow's officially slated to close.

That said, I have heard unofficially that – due to capacity issues
/ Guest satisfaction concerns – that Snow White's Scary Adventures isn't expected
to close until WDW's version of "Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid" is
ready to open in 2012. More to the point, I've also been told that D23 – The Official
Disney Fan Club – would like to be able to give its members the opportunity to
get in one last ride on this Fantasyland favorite before this WDW dark ride
then goes dark for good. So expect more details on all that be released in the
coming months.

But what do you folks think? Is retheming a portion of the
Town Square Exhibition Hall as a temporary character meet-and-greet area a smart way to go? Or are you more looking forward to the NextGen digs that
Disney will allegedly be unveiling for its Magic Kingdom characters in 2012 &
beyond?

Your thoughts?

The article was updated / corrected on February 19, 2011 to fold in additional information