Hearing walls had come down around Princess Fairytale Hall in New Fantasyland, WDWNT reporter Joe Hogarty decided to visit the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday this week and he has a number fo newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:
A beautiful day
work on the curb by the emporium is finished, so work has now moved across the street to the Confectionery
Walls came down around Princess Fairytale Hall, giving us a look at the gorgeous facade
A closer look at the 11 Princess shields on the facade
The exterior queue
Let’s move over to the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train
Plenty of workers up on the mountain
An Imagineer checking out some details
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Prince Eric’s Village Market is now open
This wall was recently completed on the back of the mountain
I wonder what the story is with these areas that look like someone broke through them
Another mine opening is now visible
Scary…
For the first time we can see an awning where we assume the entrance to the queue will be
The Jungle Cruise is closed for refurbishment, mostly queue modifications being made
Over at Pirates of the Caribbean…
A few weeks ago, these new boats arrived
They are very nice, but there are a few issues
First off, they are going down the flume awkwardly and taking on a lot of water
Secondly, the ruber on the front and back of the boats make an awful noise when they touch another boat… hopefully all of this will be resolved
Facade work still taking place on the Adventureland Veranda
It looks like when I was at Princess Fairytale Hall they messed up the positioning of the shields for Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty. The marque is covering both of them and their views are obstructed. Really think they need to fix that at some point.
Beautiful photos.
Joe, you do a beautiful job with this photography. If you don't mind sharing, I'd be curious how you're getting the high-contrast "dramatic sky" look in shots like the first one on main street USA. I'm guessing there's some curve adjustment in photoshop or lightroom involved?
Photos look amazing when you use Digital Photo Professional don't they?
Great pictures, wonder if you could do an update photo tour of the Palms Golf Course restoration?
Thanks Jason. I really appreciate the compliments. I shot at Shutter Priority with a speed of 1/200. Aperture ended up being 16. It was a very bright day and didnt need much light at all. I also had the camera's Picture Style set to Landscape, which actually enhances blues and greens. I took exposure down to -2/3rds. ISO was 100. I edit my photos mostly through Canon's software that came with the camera called Digital Photo Professional. When I post edited the photo, I only increased the contrast by 2 points. I did go a little crazy with saturation, but it's Disney. I only used curves for a slight adjustment. But I really think it was the shutter speed that helped the most allot of the shots of the castle were shot at 1/4000 ss.
Great pics. Will you get over to AK anytime soon? Have they started anything there? Thanks for posting.
I'm hoping to get over to AK soon. Miss taking photos of the animals.
Great photo's, Joe!
I think the princesses meet and greet entrance is a mess. First of all it's not elegant and misses everything that makes the castle great. The huge stone walls under the big sign are to big for the poles it's supporting and makes it less elegant. The stripy fake tent structures clash with the already ornate tiara and the supporting studs to keep the grotesque thing up break the illusion. I always thought the castle was a Disney interpretation of Schloss Schwanstein made by the mad king Ludwig II. The original is a fantasy castle and not a gothic castle like a lot of them are but here Disney Imagineering is slamming fantasy and gothic elements together and it's a bad mix. The end result is not the impressive entrance you would expect visiting princesses.
It's nice to see finally some photos online with people actually working on the mine train. Maybe the wall with the strange holes in them will have water coming out of them to mirror the other side of the walkway. That would be a nice effect.
Kind of strange the boats at Pirates are not up to spec. You would think they'll test them before changing them all and remove any hiccups before proceeding. How was the lighting of the scene's, Joe. I read at some sites they lighting was really bright and you even could see the ceilings at some places.
It's unfortunate Disney is still working on the Adventureland Veranda. Are they building a new ride there because it's taking them forever…
@Mark — I think if you plan on critiquing Disney on architecture that you need to establish your own bona fides by getting the name of King Ludwig's castle correct: it was Schloss Neuschwanstein, not "Schwanstein" as you called it. I discounted everything you said in reference to Disney's mistakes after you made such a glaring mistake of your own.
I am definitely more curious about the inside. I am sure that will look really nice. I was thinking the same thing about the Mine Train and possibly some water effects. I'm not sure about what you mean about the lighting. Didn't notice any changes.
Nice to have a up date, Thanks
I agree JOE about the two princess shields of Jasmine and Aurora being awkwardly obstructed by the marque at the new Princess Fairytale Hall. I'm not an Imagineers but I hope they fix this. I suggest to move the obstructed shields to the ends and place big jewels in the old spots.
Great vivid pictures. I can't wait to be at WDW in 11 days, 6 hours, and 30 minutes – but who's counting :-) I will be taking tons of pictures at the MNSSHP on the 27th along with videos of the parades.
I spoke to a cast member and he told me that the obstructed shields on PFH have been reported. Who knows if they will do something though. Hope you have a great time!
Thanks everyone for the compliments! Really makes me feel good.
Agree, great photos with that are sharp. No need to increase the saturation so much. Although the sky is more blue, the oranges are turning red with the saturation increase. The photos that are not saturated look more natural as they should.