Progress City, U.S.A.

So, you’re watching C-SPAN, getting a taste of the NASA Information Technology Summit, and naturally there’s a presentation by Walt Disney Imagineering about the new Fantasyland project in Florida.

Naturally.

Jack Blitch, Vice President and General Manager of Walt Disney Imagineering – Florida, made an appearance at the NASA conference to discuss the use of technology in planning new attractions. Not to be snarky, but I think the old WED model shop in the 60s and 70s could have probably figured out when there was a stray girder poking out of the structure, but I digress.

Blitch’s demo is actually a pretty interesting look at how WDI operates in the modern age; since most of what we know of Imagineering comes from Walt’s days, via his televised walkthroughs of their workshops, it’s interesting to see how computers have changed the process. Around 1:10:00, Blitch shows some of the models of the new Little Mermaid attraction in Fantasyland (including that elusive fifth dimension of space/time – money!) and there’s even a brief VR walkthrough of the queue and part of the attraction. It’s an amazing little peek at what we have in store for the future.

Note that Blitch only mentions Mermaid, the “Be Our Guest” restaurant, and the dueling Dumbos as part of the expansion. This is indicative of a number of changes underway with the expansion plans, which we’ll discuss soon. Also note the irony that this Summit is taking place in National Harbor, Maryland – the site of Disney’s announced but currently MIA resort project.

Not to go too avant garde here, but isn’t this the sort of thing that maybe we could stand to see a little more of? Heaven knows that instead of soft-selling us the gauzy-lensed propaganda videos featuring heaps of magic, dreams, wishes, and princesses, Disney could regularly give us a look at the real magic like this. It might appeal to some fans, don’t you think?

(Photo: MousePlanet)

Might there be a reason that construction has not begun in earnest on the new Fantasyland? Perhaps…

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 from the revised rendering of the Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of the new Little Mermaid attraction, Ariel’s Adventure, in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of the “Part of Your World” scene from the Little Mermaid attraction

Rendering of “Kiss the Girl” scene from The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Adventure

Rendering of Ursula from The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Adventure

Belle’s Village

Closeup of Belle’s Village and the Beast’s Castle from the original rendering of the Fantasyland expansion

Closeup of Belle’s Village and the Beast’s Castle from the revised rendering of the Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of Belle’s Village

Gaston’s Tavern

Rendering of the interior of Gaston’s Tavern

Be Our Guest Restaurant

Rendering of the ballroom in the Be Our Guest restaurant

Belle’s Cottage

Rendering of Belle’s Cottage and the Beast’s Castle from the Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of the meet-and-greet in Beast’s Castle from the new Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of meet-and-greet in Beast’s Castle

Cinderella’s Chateau

Closeup of Cinderella’s Chateau from the original rendering of the Fantasyland expansion

Closeup of Cinderella’s Chateau from the revised rendering of the Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of the new Cinderella meet-and-greet

Rendering of Cinderella transforming for the ball at her new meet-and-greet

Rendering of the new Cinderella meet-and-greet in the Fantasyland expansion

Aurora’s Cottage

Closeup of Aurora’s Cottage from the rendering of Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of Aurora meet-and-greet in the new Fantasyland expansion

Rendering of the new Aurora meet-and-greet

Rendering of the new Aurora birthday party meet-and-greet

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Closeup on the new Dumbo area in the Fantasyland expansion rendering

Rendering of the new Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction; note the Casey Jr. Circus Train to the right

Rendering of the new, expanded Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction

Pixie Hollow

Closeup of Pixie Hollow from the Fantasyland expansion rendering

Rendering of Pixie Hollow

Other Attractions

Rendering of possible new canopy over the Mad Tea Party in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland

Closeup of the new Winnie-the-Pooh forest from the Fantasyland expansion rendering

Newly released concept art for Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland expansion

In an unexpected turn, Disney Imagineers have released this second version of their concept art for Walt Disney World’s upcoming Fantasyland expansion. There are no massive changes from the last version, which was released at the D23 Expo in September. The new painting appears to take place later in the day, as the shadows are longer and the general palette darker. There are a few other small changes, though. See if you can spot the differences with the original image, which is shown below.

The main difference between the two renderings is in the depiction and clarity of the Little Mermaid and Cinderella show buildings. The rockwork around the Mermaid area is darker and better defined in the newly released artwork, and they’ve added the queue and entry area to the castle out front. Landscaping throughout the painting is better defined, especially in the area surrounding Belle’s village. Note that a circular planter in the original image is missing in the revised version.

Cinderella’s chateau is also more detailed in the new rendering, and you can actually make out the details of the show building behind it. It appears that the building will be fairly large, and will extend through several themed areas. There’s also a windmill on the reverse side of the building that can be better seen in the new image.

So, nothing earth-shattering but it’s the first glimpe we have of the project’s progress.

Oh lordy.

I managed to make it back to the motor lodge, but I’m not sure I can keep my eyes open long enough to say anything intelligible. For those of you planning on coming to D23 next year, I recommend an extensive training regimen and sleep deprivation training. It’s hard core.

Anyway, if you don’t know what happened today I doubt you’ve been paying attention. Parks head Jay Rasulo confirmed that Walt Disney World will indeed be getting its new Fantasyland, and it’s spectacular. I won’t get the images up until I get home, but you can easily find them around and about. Most remarkable is the fact that the plans pretty much mirror those that were leaked a few months ago; who would have guessed that they would have survived the budgeting axe?

The princess attractions we had so many questions about are not rides, but they’re not plain meet-and-greets either. They sound like interactive experiences with a storyline and special effects, and should keep the kiddies entertained. For those of us less princess-inclined, we’ll have a lushly landscaped Fantasyland to look at, with lots of moving water and new buildings.

The “Be Our Guest Restaurant” will feature a lot of interactive elements, but is a completely different project than the original Beauty and the Beast show concept from Paris. More intriguing is the fact that it will operate as a quick-service venue for lunch, and convert to a table service restaurant for dinner. It makes a lot of sense, really, and fills a couple of underserved niches nicely.

We’ll get the “dueling” Dumbo spinners, in an entirely new area themed to that film. Since its construction will necessitate the demolition of Mickey’s Toontown Fair (yay!), that area’s train station will be rethemed to become the Fantasyland Station. The Barnstormer coaster, another Toontown property, will receive circus theming as well. I noted that one of the renderings featured a Casey Jr. Circus Train, and the Imagineers confirmed that it’s something that’s being considered for the area’s second phase. They say that it might not take the exact same form as the matching attraction at Disneyland, but it will hopefully be incorporated in some way.

The new ride based on The Little Mermaid will be built in part on the old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea foundations. It will feature a facade designed specifically for Florida, but the actual ride will mirror that being planned for California Adventure in 2011.

These major additions are planned for completion by 2012. The Pixie Hollow area is now intended for a phase two opening in 2013. Design on that area is not complete, so there’s a lot to be figured out, but the Imagineers hinted that the final plan might include more attractions.

The other big reveal was the long, long overdue Star Tours 2. Disney is working with Lucasfilm now on updating the attraction, which will debut in 2011. The ride film will be in digital 3-D; they showed a teaser at the presentation that set the ride in a podracing sequence from the prequel trilogy.

Other tidbits include that Imagineers have several ideas for where to relocate Mickey once his Toontown home is bulldozed, and also that plans are underway to update and refresh the One Man’s Dream exhibit at the Hollywood Studios.

The day actually began before the Parks and Resorts presentation, with an early presentation by animation producer Don Hahn. Hahn, who wrote the recent The Alchemy of Animation, had a great lecture about the animation process with plenty of good art. Most notably, he included a slide of concept art from The Snow Queen, a new film now under development at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Hahn is also the producer of Tim Burton’s new stop-motion project Frankenweenie; he confirmed that puppet construction is already underway for the film.

There’s lots more to talk about, and plenty of pictures and art to show, but sleep must come now. After all, D23 waits for no man…