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By Michael - June 14th, 2011
If you looked closely, you'd see tiny, angular carnies
The official Disney blog has released new artwork for Florida’s Fantasyland remodel, and it shows a new and revised perspective on the Storybook Circus area which will be based on the film Dumbo.
This “mini-land”, which occupies the space formerly belonging to Mickey’s Toontown [...]
By Michael - February 8th, 2011

“Maybe we ought to open up on those things instead of playing down to our medium or our public. That’s the very thing we like to have, a challenge.”
– Walt Disney
This single quote speaks volumes to explain the devout admiration and fascination so many hold for the works of Walt Disney. It also explains my great love of Fantasia, his studio’s 1940 masterpiece. My interest stems not only from the film itself, but from the underlying concept of the entire project; Fantasia was not meant to be a film unto itself, but rather a constantly renewing experiment in animation and music that would blur the lines between art forms and between what was considered “high” and “low” art. To prepare for this, the Disney studio was planning a stream of exciting new animation to be added to the Fantasia repertoire.
Continue reading Future Fantasias, 1940
By Michael - January 28th, 2011
 Now officially known as New Fantasyland, the expansion has seen many changes
Ending months of online speculation, Disney took the opportunity of a recent Parks and Resorts press event to reveal a number of changes to the previously-announced expansion of the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland area. Prompted by criticism of the earlier plan’s heavy focus on character “meet-and-greets”, the so-called “New Fantasyland” unveiled last week will incorporate a new attraction that hearkens back to Imagineering proposals predating the expansion’s announcement in September of 2009.
Continue reading Fantasyland 2.5
By Michael - January 17th, 2010
The most recent Fantasyland expansion art from Walt Disney World, October 2009 Original concept art for the Fantasyland expansion from the D23 Expo, September 2009 The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Adventure Closeup of the Little Mermaid show building from the original rendering of the Fantasyland expansion Closeup of the Little Mermaid show building [...]
By Michael - July 16th, 2009
There have been many intense rumors lately that the Magic Kingdom’s desperately needed Fantasyland facelift was coming, once more, perilously close to a greenlight. We’ve heard that before, and the Fantasyland rumors now go back several years. But today, things got a little more interesting:
Today, the D-Report’s Soft-Opening site posted the above [...]
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Four Decades of Magic

Essays about the first forty years of Walt Disney World, including two pieces by yours truly. Available in print and for Kindle.
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