Magic Kingdom Fantasyland Update as Elena Arrives at Princess Fairytale Hall

We continue our jaunt around Magic Kingdom with a focus on Fantasyland, where there is admittedly little going on at the moment.

• Previously, we looked at Cosmic Ray’s updated menu and reviewed a couple newish items, including the Greek Salad with Chicken and Falafel Burger in this post.
• A broader Tomorrowland update that focuses on blue rocks and improved lighting in this post.
• This Liberty Square update included a look at the Muppets Present show and some new entrees at Columbia Harbour House, in addition to reviewing the return of the Sweet & Spicy Chicken Waffle Sandwich and Baked Potato from Sleepy Hollow Refreshments.
• Adventureland included some more items reviewed at Skipper Canteen along with the recently reopened Swiss Family Treehouse and the return of the Jingle Cruise overlay in this post.
• Holiday decorations all along Main Street are in this post.
• Frozen Holiday Wish strategy and a review of the Once Upon A Time projection show are contained in this post.
• We examine the holiday changes to the Cinderella Castle stage show and take a peek around Main Street here.

Princess Elena of Avalor has been meeting in the same room as Cinderella intermittently for several weeks now, but as of November 24th officially appears.

It’s a tough job….but somebody has to do it…I guess…

Because meet and greets are low capacity affairs, it makes sense to book either Cinderella/Elena and/or Rapunzel/Tiana in advance.

Since there are fewer experiences in the pool, they are in turn less likely to become available as a change/cancellation later in the day. I’m looking at availability two days in advance for just one person and Cinderella/Elena don’t have any times available until the very late evening when waits will be short otherwise. If you do need to meet them in standby, doing so as late in the evening as possible is always wise.

We’ll see what her arrival does to posted wait times. Here during Thanksgiving Week, wait times have peaked at 75+ minutes, but they also fall to fewer than 15 minutes after 10pm.

The exterior refurbishment on it’s a small world continues while the ride remains operating. A few pieces of merchandise with the updated look along with a couple older items:

Inside, the MyMagic+ StoryMaker technology seems to remain iffy as the screens ahead are turned off completely. Ideally(?), they would wish you a goodbye by first name.

I had previously covered the changes in lighting/color in the Polynesia room.

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A reminder of what it used to look like.

Crowds during the first week of November were predictably low with a 40-minute posted wait at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 2:30pm on November 2nd, which was a Wednesday with evening Extra Magic Hours attached.

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Blank spaces indicate about 15 minutes of downtime unless it’s first or last thing, in which case it’s probably due to the Park being closed.

Some of these dates are Halloween/Christmas Parties, which is typically why you see lower wait times after 7pm on those evenings.

But basically what we can glean is that wait times are still among the longest of any Walt Disney World attraction with peak waits that are almost always at least 90 minutes.

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Most of what had been fading signage in Storybook Circus has been replaced.

Meet and greet times at Pete’s Silly Sideshow, where you have the opportunity to meet Daisy/Minnie on one side and Goofy/Donald on the other, have normalized.

That means a daily 10am open, even during a busy holiday week like we’re currently experiencing.

With the early sunset and the time change, the sun has become more prevalent.

That does afford more opportunities to shoot the moon.

Above Dumbo.

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The holidays bring some themed treats like the Jack Skellington specialty apple and chocolate covered marshmallow dipped in peppermint.

Halloween is of course a bit more ghoulish. This is at Big Top Souvenirs in Storybook Circus. A similar selection is of course available at Main Street Confectionery.

There’s not much else going on in food news. The refillable popcorn bucket program continues now with a holiday theme.

It might be time to replace the housing unit on this Be Our Guest menu, which sees a couple somewhat recent changes. I might have to revisit the restaurant to try the Seared Shrimp and Scallops – a dish that used to be served in a puff pastry.

I still miss that pork shank.

And a reminder that if you’re after a basic sundae without the waits of Plaza Ice Cream, try Storybook Treats to the right of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. You’ll rarely see more than two or three people in any given line.

Over at Pinocchio Village Haus, they’ve removed the last remnants of the Great Alfredo Debacle of Summer 2016 and gone to an all-day menu that includes both the Chicken Parmesan Sandwich and Chicken Parmesan served with pasta.

While far from photogenic, I thought the sandwich version was a nice change of pace from the usual grilled chicken option.

The standby wait time sign was finally fixed at ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid:

For a relatively new ride, waits here remain low with an average that’s typically in the 20-minute range with peak waits of 25 to 35 minutes.

That’s what’s going on in Fantasyland

We’ll stop in to see what’s changed at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and visit a couple Frontierland attractions in the next update.