Disneyland’s new Fantasy Faire doesn’t open until March 12, but details are starting to emerge about what the attraction will entail. It draws some inspiration from Disney World’s Fantasyland expansion; the Faire as a whole will take the form of a medieval village. That reminds me a lot of Belle’s village at the new Fantasyland.
That shouldn’t be too surprising, because the Fantasy Faire is an expansion of Disneyland’s Fantasyland. It’s not as large or ambitious as the one at Disney World, but it’s still going to be similar. Unlike the one in Orlando, however, the one in Anaheim won’t contain sections dedicated to individual princesses (like Belle or Ariel).
Instead, guests will get the chance to meet all of the Disney Princesses in the same location. That location is the Royal Hall. It’ll be at the center of the Fantasy Faire, and you can think of it as a huge castle that all the princesses share. When guests first enter, they’ll pass through a garden into the gothic Reception Hall, a beautiful space complete with chandeliers, wood detailing, and more.
The princesses won’t necessarily all be in the same room of the Royal Hall. One might be found in the Reception Hall, another in the Grand Hall. Basically, there’s going to be a lot of halls, and the princesses will be spread out between them. The Fantasy Faire will also include a Royal Theatre. There, Renaissance Storytellers Mr. Jones and Mr. Smythe will retell “Beauty and the Beast” and “Tangled” in their own unique style.
The Fantasy Faire sounds like a great way to make use of the more limited space that Disneyland has. Once it’s complete, I wonder how much design similarity it might share with its counterpart in Orlando. But given that most people don’t have an opportunity to visit both Disney Parks, I think it’s good that they can share many similarities. I’m sure that as time passes, we’ll get more and more details about the new Fantasy Faire before it opens.
Now to change gears just a little: no matter how hard they try, neither Disneyland nor Disney World is very good at transforming into winter wonderlands. They can drape the parks in as much tinsel, greenery, and fake snow as they like, but it’s hard to disguise the fact that most of the time, it’s just too warm for wintery weather at the parks. As such, we don’t get many magical winter pictures from the Disney Parks.
We’re in for a real treat, then, as the official Disney Parks blog has some gorgeous pictures of Tokyo Disneyland draped in snow. Most of the pictures are from iconic spots around the park, ones shared with Disneyland and Disney World: the Cinderella Castle, the statue of Walt holding Mickey’s hand. To see them, go to this post at the official Disney Parks blog.
*(The above image by Eccentric Scholar is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)