Welcome to the Magic Kingdom! It’s a lovely Florida winter day, with a slight chill and a bit of a breeze, yet sunny and pleasant overall. We’re here bright and early to see if the PeopleMover may make an early return, and later we’ll be heading over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to see what’s new in the animal kingdom. Let’s head in and see what’s going on.

It’s a wonderfully clear day, perfect for pictures in and around Cinderella Castle at the end of Main Street.

Inside the Emporium, a sweet stock of new donut Minnie ears has arrived after their initial debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Also found inside Magic Kingdom’s largest shop, this Haunted Mansion “Welcome Foolish Mortals” door hanger is now available. Normally we wouldn’t make a big deal about a door hanger, but considering a version with an egregious misspelling debuted yesterday, we found this corrected version a bit notable.

At the far end of the Emporium, this Casey’s Corner dining area which previously housed some merchandise racks has been cleared out and closed off to shoppers. Whether this indicates a return of Casey’s Corner remains to be seen, though.

Moving on to Tomorrowland, we were eager to see if perhaps the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover would open early, in advance of its scheduled January 31st return.

Very disappointingly, not only did the PeopleMover not open today, its refurbishment was yet again extended this morning. Refurbishments and repairs take time, but waiting until mere days before an attraction’s scheduled return to service to once again push back the date does a disservice to guests, and generally shows a lack of respect for their time and planning efforts.

Other entries into the “showing signs of progress with no intention to open in a timely manner” file include TRON Lightcycle / Run, the Tomorrowland attraction with a lot of flash but no substance as the illuminated canopy is constantly worked on but with no intention of opening the ride on time.

Perhaps the biggest offense of a delayed TRON is that it appears to be holding up the return of the Walt Disney World Railroad. New track has be laid in Fantasyland, but that progress stopped short due to TRON construction which blocks the way.

Further into Fantasyland, the refurbishment of Bonjour! Village Gifts has shifted slightly, with the move of rolling planters from the east side of the building to now blocking the front of the structure. Workers were actively working on painting and resurfacing of the small shop today.

Continuing with the myriad construction and refurbishment projects, more ground work is occurring as this section in Frontierland is covered with a temporary surface while the new concrete underneath sets.

The Rivers of America have been refilled as we progress through the refurbishment of the riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island. Though given the constant delays lately, who knows if the work will be extended yet again days before its scheduled completion next month.

One of the few things that did run on time today were the character cavalcades, with the Mickey and Friends Cavalcade making its way through Frontierland and beyond. The performers could be seen wearing their cold weather costumes in the chilly weather.

A positive effect of the cooler weather can be low wait times for certain attractions. Case in point: a five minute wait for Splash Mountain in the late morning.

As we made our way to the exit, Main Street Station held a full lineup of princesses on the upper level of the train stop which has been under refurbishment lately.

At our second kingdom of the day, we were welcomed by the Tree of Life.

Earlier in the day, this Italy-themed Dooney & Bourke collection was found at the Italy Pavilion in EPCOT. The next most logical place to sell a line of bags reflecting a European nation? Discovery Trading Company at Animal Kingdom, of course.

In otter news…

Moving on to Pandora – The World of Avatar, as usual we are in awe of the floating mountains within the land.

Back on the ground, some areas were barricaded off and smelled as though fresh paint had been applied, possibly to the ground as part of the nighttime glowing effect of the land.

“Avatar Flight of Passage” had a reasonable 25 minute wait this afternoon — pretty standard for an off-season weekday during these times.

With the “celebration” of “Festival of the Lion King” announced, we’re hoping to see activity around the Harambe Theatre sooner rather than later. However, with a vague “summer” return timeframe, it will be months before we can even begin to expect to see the act return, assuming this timeline is one of the rare ones which Disney actually upholds.

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail remains in a modified state while construction takes place within the attraction.

Within the Asia section of the park, we appreciated some of the small details surrounding the classic attraction Expedition Everest.

Further along our trek of the park, Theater in the Wild remains unchanged since the park’s reopening. Unlike “Festival of the Lion King”, “Finding Nemo The Musical” has had no mention of a return this summer — or ever.

Much like us, Mickey and Friends also hopped over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom today for a flotilla. What luck that we picked the park where these signature characters showed up at!

Finishing up our visit at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we noticed the now-extinct Primeval Whirl was missing a section of track. While there’s certainly no expectation of the ride maintaining its current form forever, it was a bit surprising to see a piece missing today.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our adventure around the kingdoms of Walt Disney World. Make sure to check in regularly with WDWNT.com for all of the latest news from the Disney parks around the world!

Kevin Lake