New Fantasyland Rising – Stories from a Walk Through the Park (Ep. 1)

The Disney Dish with Jim Hill

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Leisure

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2011

⏱️ 111 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this very first episode of Disney Dish, Jim Hill and Len Testa take listeners on a recorded walk through the Magic Kingdom in late May 2011, blending in-park ambiance with behind-the-scenes insight. As they move from Main Street U.S.A. to Fantasyland and Liberty Square, the conversation turns to expansion plans, attraction overhauls, queue experiments, and the ever-evolving balance between nostalgia and innovation. It is a snapshot of Walt Disney World at a pivotal moment, just as the New Fantasyland project begins reshaping the park. Original Air Date: July 24, 2011Original Title: Episode 1 - A Live Walk Through the Magic Kingdom NEWS Early details on the New Fantasyland expansion, including the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the ambitious scale of the “Fantasyland Forest” project Plans for an interactive queue at Peter Pan’s Flight, including removal of the former Skyway station and expanded themed environments Discussion of relocating or updating Carousel of Progress and ongoing debates about preserving Walt-era attractions Behind-the-scenes challenges with The Enchanted Tiki Room and the role nostalgia played in its 40th anniversary refresh Rumblings of a Haunted Mansion retail “exit-through-the-crypt” experience featuring video capture technology FastPass strategy shifts and early conversations about tiered access and advance ride reservations The impact of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando and how it influenced long-term planning inside the Magic Kingdom A land-by-land walking tour from Town Square Theater to Haunted Mansion, filled with stories about abandoned in-park hotel concepts and the history of Main Street design A deep dive into the original Fantasyland ride concepts that never happened, including a Headless Horseman attraction and alternate Sleeping Beauty and Mary Poppins ride ideas How queue interactivity was being tested and refined in attractions like Haunted Mansion and what that meant for guest flow The internal tug-of-war between creative ambition, sponsorship realities, park operations, and budget priorities View transcript here. HOSTS • Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia | X: @JimHillMedia | Website: JimHillMedia.com • Len Testa - Bluesky: @lentesta.bsky.social | Instagram: @len.testa | Website: touringplans.com FOLLOW • Facebook: JimHillMediaNews • Instagram: JimHillMedia • TikTok: JimHillMedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Len Testa with the unofficial guide to Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney World
0:06.4	today podcast. You know, we update the unofficial guide twice every year so that you always get the most
0:11.6	accurate content possible. And the thing I enjoy most about doing those updates is to talk with
0:16.7	Jim Hill about behind the scenes activities, what's rumored to be happening, and all the other can't-be-verified stuff in Walt Disney World. It's a couple of hours of Jim telling stories and me laughing my head off. Jim and I thought it would be fun to capture the spirit of those talks for you all to hear, and it just so happened that we were both in the Magic Kingdom at the same time one weekend earlier this year. What you're about to hear was recorded in late May 2011.
0:38.8	You'll recognize where we are in the park by some of the distinctive background music too.
0:43.4	Jim and I hope you enjoy this little tour of rumors and probably completely unverifiable innuendo.
0:48.4	We hope you take a moment to review it on iTunes too.
0:51.0	And send us an email, please, if you have any suggestions for future episodes.
0:54.6	Enjoy the show.
0:58.2	So we're on here on Main Street. We're over in front of the new Town Square Theater,
1:01.9	which used to be the Expositional, but the problem is Americans can't spell exposition.
1:06.9	But I do give them the credit because it's theater spelled the correct way with the ER instead of R, which is the aitre.
1:12.1	There you go.
1:12.9	There you go.
1:14.4	Actually, the interesting piece about this building, and back in the day, I mean, this was the Gulf Hospitality House.
1:20.9	But if all had gone according to plan in 6970 or their boats, this would have been Disney's first in theme park hotel.
1:29.8	Really?
1:30.6	Yeah, Dorothea Redmond, actually, you know, there's this amazing set of plans.
1:35.3	In fact, if you pick up a copy of the Art of Walt Disney World, they actually have, you know,
1:39.9	a second-tier hotel, and it was going to be amazing.
1:43.4	But more to the point, it was going to be amazing but more to the point it was going to be
1:45.2	tall enough that I mean that's one of the things is kind of interesting about why this building
	...

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