King Arthur Carrousel: Part 2 - Relocation & New Fantasyland Construction

This is Part 2 of my Disneyland's King Arthur Carrousel posts. For Part 1, Click Here.

Today, we will be looking at the relocation of King Arthur Carrousel as well as some "New Fantasyland" construction. These first three photos show the "holes" in the ground that were left after the removal of The Mad Tea Party and Dumbo's Flying Elephants attractions from their original locations in 1982. Note the Big Thunder Trail from Frontierland to Fantasyland in the distance. It was closed to guests at this time.



These photos were taken from the Skyway, which at the time, due to construction, was a "round trip" ride only. During this time, guests could only board the Skyway in Tomorrowland and were not allowed to disembark when they got to Fantasyland. Instead, as the vehicles arrived at the Fantasyland Skyway station, they were greeted by cast members that pushed them through the station and back onto the cable to be sent back over to Tomorrowland.



Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was temporarily closed during this preliminary construction period, but would later reopen for a short time before being shut down once again for it's New Fantasyland rehab. Peter Pan's Flight continued to operate at this time, but Snow White's Adventures had already closed for it's rehab and The Fantasyland Theater had closed permanently to be replaced by Pinocchio's Daring Journey.



From this angle we get a better view of Dumbo's former location which was eventually replaced in part by the Village Inn (later Village Haus) restaurant. King Arthur Carrousel can be seen beyond the construction wall in the distance. It was still operating in it's original location.



Now in this next shot, the Carrousel has been moved and the spot where it had originally sat has been paved over.



The Snow White attraction was gutted leaving only it's roof and two walls. The Fantasyland Theater was completely bulldozed. What we cannot see in this photo is that the Carrousel has been moved to the former location of the Mad Tea Party and is just out of frame on the right.  Note the camera mounted on the roof to record the construction progress in these next two photos.



The sign on the construction wall reads, "Wish Upon A Brighter Star - A New Fantasyland Coming True in 1983.  This version of the sign did not remain for very long.  It was replaced by a much more colorful and detailed sign which can be seen here over at Gorillas Don't Blog.



And here we see just a corner of the relocated Carrousel on the far left.  We can also see what looks like a basement for what will become Pinocchio's Daring Journey.



This view was taken from the upper deck of Captain Hook's Pirate Ship.



And this was taken through a peep hole in the construction wall surrounding the Carrousel.  The view is looking west towards what's left of the original Snow White attraction.



The Los Angeles Times ran this photo in early 1982.  There was no accompanying article, just the caption beneath it, which mentions a reopening date of April 1st.



Here, we see three Disneyland icons that would not coexist in this close proximity for very long....Captain Hook's Pirate Ship, Skull Rock, and the Carrousel.



I wish this next photo had turned out better. It's a view of the Carrousel as seen from the cove behind Captain Hook's Pirate Ship. At the bottom of the photo is one of the many barrel-shaped stools that could be found in the cove's dining area.



Here's one of the versions of the guidebook that was available during the time that Fantasyland was under consctruction.



The Fantasyland pages of the guidebooks would change throughout the year as the various attractions would shut down for remodeling. This version shows that the Carrousel had already been relocated and reopened.



By the time this photo had been taken, the Carrousel had been shut down again. The planter around it had already been added, and workers were just beginning to paint a new design and color scheme on the roof. Note also, that the new facade on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is nearing completion.



This last photo shows the Carrousel on the official opening day of the New Fantasyland. The "Sword In The Stone" ceremony is taking place in the foreground with Merlin being assisted by one of the "Make Believe Brass" band members. The band was also making their park debut that summer along with the New Fantasyland.



I hope everyone enjoyed this trip back in time, to the transitioning Fantasyland of 1982 and 1983!

The Magic Kingdom - New Fantasyland Construction

Once upon a time in Florida's Magic Kingdom, there was a "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" attraction. It was located in Fantasyland and opened just two weeks after the park's grand opening on October 1, 1971. The attraction existed for almost 23 years before closing in September of 1994 and even though it had closed, the abandoned lagoon remained in place for almost another 10 years. Unfortunately, there was not to be a "happy ending" like there would eventually be with Disneyland's Submarine lagoon. The decision was finally made to drain the water and demolish all remnants of the attraction. This photo was taken in 1975 during the attraction's glory days.



Flash forward to present day and this same area is the location of the Magic Kingdom's current Fantasyland expansion.



There is a very long construction wall that runs through Fantasyland and contains artwork and descriptions of the coming attractions. This first panel describes the "Be Our Guest Restaurant."




The Beast's castle can be seen above the top of the construction wall.



This angle shows construction of the new "Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid" attraction in the background.



A close-up showing Eric's castle.....



Here's the artwork along with a description of that attraction. I wonder if the interior will be a carbon copy of the attraction that opened earlier this year in Anaheim?





Over near the Dumbo attraction was artwork depicting the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train rollercoaster. There was an area specifically designated for stroller parking near Dumbo, but of course there are going to be rebels that have to park elsewhere and block my perfect shot of the Snow White artwork. Don't they know there are people out there that want an uncluttered view of this stuff?



I was tempted to move the strollers over to the nearby parking area before taking my photo, but I decided instead to use them to climb on for a better look at the construction. With one foot on each of the strollers, I almost had a perfect view of the construction.....



....that is, until the strollers began to roll out from under me. Hey, don't those things come with brakes?



Let's take a closer look at the description and artwork for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride.






Further down, near Pinocchio's Village Haus Restaurant was a description of the "Enchanted Tales With Belle" attraction.




Here's an overview of the New Fantasyland. In the upper right corner, we can see the Storybook Circus section of the area. This was the previous location of Mickey's Toontown Fair, formerly Mickey's Starland....and formerly Mickey's Birthdayland which opened in 1988 to celebrate Mickey's 60th birthday and was intended to be "temporary," but remained for over 20 years. Originally this area was going to be used for a "Pixie Hollow" section in the New Fantasyland, but the plans were eventually revised and will now include a "double" Dumbo's Flying Elephants attraction with an interactive queue.



This construction wall and artwork can be viewed while riding the train around the park. A child's hand can be seen pointing at the artwork. I believe I overheard the child saying, "Well, a Storybook Circus section wouldn't be my first choice for the New Fantasyland but at least it's better than something totally lame like Pixie Hollow."






And last up we have a couple shots of the Storybook Circus construction. The first one shows what I believe was part of Goofy's Barnstormer junior coaster, which is going to be re-purposed into the "Great Goofini" coaster.




Oh, and no strollers were harmed in the taking of these photographs. I never even touched the two strollers that were parked in front of that construction wall. And don't get me wrong, I don't dislike children.....I just think they should be forced to walk around the park and when they get tired of walking, then it's time to go home. (Please don't leave me hate mail in the comment section! Thank you!)

Happy Veteran's Day, everyone....and happy 11-11-11!

King Arthur Carrousel: Part 1 - 2013 Construction/Refurbishment

"Carrousel of Fun - Disneyland's colorful "King Arthur Carrousel" is one of the largest of it's kind in the world. Today's bold knights may ride on any of the Fantasyland attraction's 72 beautiful hand-carved steeds for an imaginary journey back to the days of King Arthur."



That was the description that came with a photo I received from Disneyland's publicity department back in 1983.



I don't recall exactly why I had written to them, but as a kid, I wrote to them often. I would always get a reply back and it would often include press information, or the latest issue of Disney News Magazine. A couple times, they even sent me a copy of the current Disneyland Pictorial Souvenir that was being sold in the park. Incidentally, the postmark on this mailing was May 19, 1983. That was just 6 days before the "New Fantasyland" would have it's grand opening.



King Arthur Carrousel recently underwent a refurbishment that put it underneath tarps and behind construction walls. The following photos were taken just a few weeks ago.





Lately, Disney has been doing a pretty nice job of posting some history on the park's construction walls.



These signs on the walls around the Carrousel provide information about the attraction's origins as well as it's history over the last 58 years.













Here's a close-up of one of the photos on that last sign. The part about the Carrousel being relocated in 1983 isn't really accurate. Yes, it was moved as a part of the "New Fantasyland" remodeling which was completed in 1983, but the Carousel itself was actually relocated in 1982 and it also reopened that same year. This was prior to the completion of the Fantasyland remodel in 1983. Of course due to surrounding construction, it did close again at some point in it's new location and did not reopen again until the "New Fantasyland" opened in May of 1983.



I have some photos that I took back in 1982 that show some of the stages of the Carrousel's relocation, including a shot showing it operating in it's new spot right next door to Captain Hook's Pirate Ship and Skull Rock before they were both demolished. I will post those pictures in Part 2 of this post, so stay tuned!

****POST UPDATE! Here is part two of my King Arthur Carrousel/New Fantasyland Construction posts: King Arthur Carrousel & New Fantasyland - Part 2