It’s the first Dateline Disney World of 2020, and I’ve got a special treat for you. Today, we’re headed to the Magic Kingdom to take a look at what’s been happening now that the holidays have come to an end, plus updates on the upcoming Tron Lightcycle Run coaster. Let’s get started!
Magic Kingdom Entrance
There is still a lot of work happening at the entrance to the park. As soon as you exit the monorail/ferry area, you’re greeted with an expansive set of construction walls.
They’ve put a big ad for the Tron coaster against one of the sets of walls. They’re really ramping up the excitement for it.
Main Street, U.S.A. Plaza
Although the holidays are officially over, you can still find a lot of Christmas inside the parks. Main Street USA still looked like Christmas when I visited on Tuesday. But don’t expect them to stay up for much longer; decorations disappear quickly.
With all lingering holiday visitors, Magic Kingdom was especially busy this week. The eateries struggled to provide food for hungry guests.
Cinderella Castle and the Hub
The holidays have fled the far end of Main Street. I feel a sigh of relief.
Tomorrowland
There are a couple of refurbishment projects happening in Tomorrowland.
The retheming of Tomorrowland continues. Just beyond the new Tomorrowland arch, there are scrims up along the exterior of the old Stitch’s Great Escape building.
Attractions in the land were very busy. Buzz Lightyear had a standby wait of 110 minutes, and a massive extended Fastpass+ queue. Is Buzz the sort of attraction worthy of a nearly 2 hour wait? These guests seemed to think so.
There was a minor incident at the Peoplemover last Thursday. The fire department was called for a potential fire on the speedramp to the popular attraction. Due to the potential threat, both the Peoplemover and the Astro Orbiter above it were temporarily closed, but reopened that same evening. The threat couldn’t have been too serious as the fire department spent less than 15 minutes at the attraction after they arrived.
TRON Lightcycle Run Coaster!
There is a new photo op near Space Mountain which allows you to sit in one of the vehicles for the upcoming Tron roller coaster.
It seems a bit premature, but they’ve already got boarding instructions for when the coaster opens.
You can see a lot of the Tron Lightcycle Run construction from most of Tomorrowland and parts of Fantasyland now. Although it’s fitting for Tomorrowland, I hope it won’t be too jarring to see it from Fantasyland, though I think it’s unavoidable at this point.
The Imagineers are referring to this as the Gravity Box portion of the iron attraction.
This is a LARGE show building and is very visible from Storybook Circus. Maybe they will paint it Sky Blue on that side so it won’t be as noticeable.
Fantasyland
The Walt Disney World Railroad is still closed due to Tron construction. Do you miss it as much as I do?
I spy some Christmas decor that’s still up in the Beauty and the Beast village.
To help with the crowds, a Guest Experience Team was stationed by the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel. The team used bright blue pop-up canopies (like golf tents). Surely there are nicer temporary shade structures or umbrellas that they could use.
Frontierland
There was another Guest Experience Team tent set up in Frontierland. I’m sure that many guests found it helpful, but to me, it stuck out like a sore thumb.
The crowds were abundant in Frontierland. Big Thunder Mountain had the longest lines in the wilderness.
To accommodate the crowds, Disney’s infamous tape queues were used in full force.
The high temperature for the day was 62 degrees (for Florida, that’s cold!) and there’s still an 80-minute wait for Splash Mountain? The park was definitely having a busy day!
Even Br’er Fox couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the wait for Splash Mountain.
Adventureland
Pirates was also busy at a 75 minute wait. But we blame most of this on FastPass+ stacking. This is a high capacity attraction that does not need Fastpass. All guests would get through much more quickly and with shorter lines if the system was removed from high capacity rides. What do you think?
The jingle is gone from the jungle! Jungle Cruise is back to normal operation now that the holidays are over.
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Let’s Hear From You
So there you have it! Lots of people, lots of construction all pointing towards a busy 2020 at Walt Disney World.
Are you excited for Tron? Ready for the holiday crowds to go away? Let us know in the comments below.
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