Travel

Peek into Disney’s New Fantasyland

In 1994, Captain Nemo sailed his last voyage for the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction at Orlando’s Walt Disney World. And since then, any glance at Google Earth has shown this part of the Magic Kingdom as a largely barren patch of land.

What was once home to the giant octopus-infested seas humbly played house to the Fantasyland Character Festival, a spot for fans to shake hands with Mickey and Tigger.

But on Dec. 6, the shutters were thrown open on 10 transformed acres that now once again ooze true Disney magic.

The addition of New Fantasyland is the largest expansion of the Magic Kingdom in its 41-year history, doubling Fantasyland’s size to 21 acres of pre-K wonderment — a shrewd move for a company whose mantra just might be “Get ’em young, and you’ve got them for life.”

Surrounded by gloriously imagined countryscapes of mountains, grottos and waterfalls, kids are immersed in pure fairy-tale wonder. In the shadow of Beauty and the Beast’s Castle, they can toddle to Maurice’s Cottage, where they can then role-play with Belle in person, thanks to a mind-bendingly cool magic-mirror portal. It’s a marvel of technology, light and animation.

Other new attractions include Under the Sea, a Little Mermaid ride on a clam shell. It culminates in an interaction with Ariel in the flesh that little girls will love. (The teenage boys I traveled with enjoyed it, too.) This will soon be joined by Princess Fairytale Hall, a palace featuring meet-and-greets with Disney royalty.

Disney has rewarded parents, too, with a new concept for the previously teetotal Magic Kingdom — fine dining, complete with wines and specialty beers at the Be Our Guest restaurant. Comprised of three artfully lit dining spaces, it faithfully replicates the “Beauty and the Beast” movie in bustling style. By day, the same space is a casual dining restaurant (sans liquor).

In another nod to the wisdom of keeping those who pay for tickets happy, the newly refurbished Dumbo ride takes waiting in line to the next level. Kids are steered into an airy circus-tent holding pen with climbing ropes and play areas, eliminating the parental frustration of keeping impatient children entertained. A paging device tells you when your elephant is ready to board.

Surrounding Dumbo, kids also have plenty of areas to let off steam in the Storybook Circus, a tribute to the 1940s, with clowns from Ringling Bros. along with the requisite Disney characters.

If there is an elephant in the room (Dumbo aside), it’s the un-Disney-like centerpiece of looming cranes and continuing construction — the future home of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train kiddie roller coaster. However, its complicated, patent-pending, bucket-swinging technology should make waiting ‘til 2014 worth it.

The high point of the opening event was the appearance of a firework-spitting flying dragon swooping high over Beast’s Castle. Tagged as a launch one-off, rumor has it that pleadings for more might make him a nightly occurrence. At any rate, the dragon serves as a top-rate technological teaser for the arrival of Avatar Land in 2015.

In the meantime, over in Epcot is the newly imagined Test Track, where guests are launched around a racetrack in a series of curves and straightaways in a “Tron”-inspired neon landscape. Pimp your ride via giant computers while waiting in line.

But for a real grown-up night out, head to Downtown Disney and groove to the DJ while imbibing from the three bars at Splitsville Luxury Lanes, featuring bowling, billiards and dining, plus a second-floor veranda where you can watch the crowds swarm the plaza below.

Don’t know who decided that sushi and bowling was a good idea — but like so much of the new Disney World, it works.

One-day passes are $89 for ages 10-above, $83 for ages 3-9, free for under 3. findingfantasyland.com