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I’ve come to a conclusion: the Disney parks are almost like a living organism. They’re constantly changing and evolving. Maybe equating them to something that’s alive is a bit of a stretch, but the idea that they never stay the same, that there’s always something different or new happening or in the process of doing so: that’s definitely accurate. When the famous founder of your illustrious company was known for his innovation, you don’t have much choice but to constantly do the same if you want to uphold his legacy.
The latest update announced for Disneyland, not long after the new Cars Land debut and while California Adventure’s renovation is still in progress, is a new Fantasy Faire. For those not in the know, the Fantasy Faire is not quite like a little Disney-themed Renaissance Faire found within the grounds of the park (I know, I was disappointed too).
Princess Fantasy Faire is the area where guests can do meet-and-greets with the Disney Princess characters. The area was a pretty themed walkway, with a site design that made it look like it came right out of a Disney film. That part, at least, is similar to Renaissance Faires. Princess Fantasy Faire has now closed so Imagineers can begin working on its renovation, but the princesses can still be found for meet and greets for the next year along the path leading to “It’s A Small World.”
Of course at the moment, given that it’s just been announced, details are slim on the new Fantasy Faire. The official Disney Parks blog post on the topic has a few pictures of the Imagineers’ model for the new area. I have to say that it doesn’t look that different than other areas in Fantasyland in either domestic Disney park, but I’m sure it’ll be beautiful and a bit different at its debut.
We can only speculate on the rest of what the new area will be like based on the scant details we’re given. When announcing that it will open in summer 2013, the Parks blog calls it “this amazing new show.” This tells us that there will be at least some pageantry aspect to the Fantasy Faire – but again, that’s nothing new for Disneyland or its character meet and greets.
The only other tidbit I can guess at is the name change: the name of the area is the same, aside from the drop of the word “princess.” Despite Disney’s merchandising love of its Princess brand, it sounds to me like with the Fantasy Faire at least, the Park is stepping back a little bit from exclusively pushing its princesses.
I’m guessing that this means the future Fantasy Faire will include more Disney characters, though probably still those that appear in fantasy/historical settings. That’s a good thing. The Parks blog assures us that the Disney Princess will be at the new Fantasy Faire when it opens, so all this means is that we’ll get even more characters, and the focus won’t be as much just on the princesses.
While we wait for more details I’ll content myself imagining a Disney-style Renaissance Faire. It wouldn’t be that different from a current Disney park, only with fewer rides, more shows and (affordable) interesting food, and of course, anyone’s allowed to dress up.
Related Articles:
Fantasyland Expansion Opening Dates
Rapunzel Inducted into the Disney Princess Royal Court
Disney Parks Raising Ticket Prices
How Disney Chooses Park Attractions
*(This image by HarshLight is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
