Howdy! Today was a beautiful steamy day in the Magic Kingdom. There was a lot of construction in the park today, I found some teeny boxes that I can only imagine are for baby teeth, and more discoveries.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort Lobby Refurbishment
I started my morning by walking from the Transportation and Ticket Center to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. I enjoy the morning walks around the Magic Kingdom resorts. It’s especially a good excuse with the Grand Floridian’s lobby under refurbishment. There hasn’t been much progress since my last visit, but they are certainly working in all of the walled-off areas.
I even spotted a few Imagineers going over blueprints near the staircase. I wonder if we will see the staircase get refurbished as well.
Good Morning from Magic Kingdom
Good morning from an already steamy and busy Magic Kingdom. The weather lately has been painful. If you are not used to the humidity in central Florida, you are unprepared.
We are currently in the middle of a drought, and you can feel the weather almost begging to rain, but doesn’t. It’s just that hot humidity feeling that usually happens right before it rains. Hopefully later this afternoon we will see some showers.
Crystal Arts … What is this for???
I may be an absolute weirdo, but when I saw these my brain immediately thought, baby teeth box. In hindsight, it’s probably better suited for small jewelry pieces or pills, but can’t you just see a historian pulling this out on the History Channel and it has hair or something equally unusual inside?
Let me know what you would use this tiny box for in the comments below.
Adventureland Rock Painting Update
Adventureland in Magic Kingdom has been making some serious land upgrades and refurbishments. The rock work in this area just before the treehouse has been in the process of being painted a darker color gray. This gives the rocks more of a lava rock look and differentiates the rocks from the grey concrete. I like it.
Swiss Family Treehouse Almost There
Good news from the Swiss Family Treehouse. Half of the scaffolding and scrims have been removed from the treehouse. Hopefully, this is a good sign that even more scrims and scaffolding are coming down soon.
Pirates of the Caribbean Torre del Cielo Update
The Torre del Cielo window has been revealed after living under a box for a few weeks. I hope this isn’t the finished product. There are still three holes at the top of what used to be a mosaic in the cut-out with props on the ground at either side.
Who knows? With the new pirate’s tavern coming soon to Magic Kingdom, I feel like this whole area is up in the air for now.
The Hall of Presidents Friend
There is literally no update to be found at The Hall of Presidents. The Liberty Square Doll hasn’t even budged in weeks.
However, there was one sneaky friend that I finally got a picture of. I have been trying to get a picture of this lizard for two weeks. I think he lives in the small scrim piece on the left side of The Hall of Presidents. I have seen the lizard peek out a few times, but the little stealthy lizard always disappears before I get a picture.
Haunted Mansion Exit Queue is in a Scary State
The Haunted Mansion exit queue truly is in a scary state. A lot of the cobblestone has been covered with black painted boards. There are stanchions at the exit gate causing a bottleneck. There is prepped concrete with wooden splints at the exit gate as well.
The trash can is trying to hide the scrim and the literal duct tape on the column, but it’s rough and now falling off. I’m not sure what is going on here, and maybe they are waiting to take care of this once other attractions are out of refurbishment, but something needs to be done.
Princess Fairytale Hall Rant
Speaking of something needing to be done. Many moons ago you could meet four guaranteed princesses in Fairytale Hall. Now, you are lucky to have Princess Tiana and Princess Cinderella there with a mystery princess. Today, Tiana must have been busy trying to get her ride to open this morning, so the only guaranteed princess in the hall today was Cinderella.
King Triton Needs Hand Sanitizer
King Triton… If you are new here welcome to my soap box. For whatever reason I have fixated on this statue, and every imperfection screams at me. The nail on his pointer finger has already been picked and chipped. Perhaps most upsetting is the black sticky mess on his left hand. He’s a merman, just hose him down. Please.
Storybook Circus – Big Top Souvenirs
Big Top Souvenirs in Storybook Circus got new banners since my last visit. You can still see the creases from where the banners were folded for transport. I missed these brightly colored old-style circus banners. Lately they have been a bit bleached-out by the sun. It can get brutal out here in Florida. Any deep colors don’t last very long, it seems.
Tomorrowland Launch Depot – Star Wars Merchandise
In Launch Depot the new Star Wars collection from Ashley Eckstein and the new Hoth collection are now available in Magic Kingdom. Previously, I had only seen these in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I think I still have a case for a King Triton “Daddy” shirt if Vader gets to have one. At least Triton didn’t try to kill Ariel.
Astro Orbiter Crane Returns to Magic Kingdom
The Astro Orbiter crane has returned to resume the planned refurbishment. There still hasn’t been any movement since the crane arrived, but it does make for a great excuse to ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. I don’t know if it’s the low stakes of the PeopleMover, but it has always been a favorite in my family.
Fantasyland Wall Returns
Bah, Humbug! The walls are back up in Fantasyland. This time the walls are on the Tomorrowland side of the street and block the handicap ramp on this side of Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. You can even see that crew members have put frosted decals in the windows of the restaurant to shield guests from seeing the ongoing work.
I have to imagine this is more of the same construction that we saw previously. As always, stay tuned to our website for more details.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Updates
Before I left Magic Kingdom, I wanted to check on the progress at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I started with a ride on the Liberty Belle riverboat and saw a small yellow vehicle on the track, likely for testing as they continue to build the track. There is even a new track piece that you can see the end of. I am fairly certain this is the last of the track left, but who can say with certainty when there’s so much not visible? I even saw a small turtle passing the boat.
After my boat ride, I hopped onto the train. I saw that the saloon and the other buildings had been refreshed with new paint. So far, I like what I have seen from this project. As far as I can tell, it’s also ahead of schedule.
See Ya Real Soon!
I took the Express Monorail back to the Transporation and Ticket Center. The construction in the parking lot continues. Honestly, they are just pushing dirt to make the area flatter for now. I haven’t heard of anything exciting making its way here yet.
Before I got to my car, I noticed that there was either a horrible accident or an act of total rebellion. There is a wheelchair in the lagoon ahead of the Peter Pan lot at the TTC. You never know what you’ll see at Disney World.
I hope you enjoyed our morning in the Magic Kingdom. I was most taken aback by the small boxes. I understand they are more likely for jewelry or pills, but it looks like some antebellum box for hair or teeth.
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