I made it to the opening ceremony for New Fantasyland. It was very crowded and glad I got there 20 minutes before it started. Have a feeling that people were standing there for hours. The first person to come out was Jennifer Goodwin. She received the biggest applause and to be honest I had no idea who she was. I asked someone in the crowd and she told me that Jennifer plays Snow White on the TV series Once Upon A Time. She was very pretty and you could tell she was happy to be there. I heard many people mention that Jennifer goes to Disneyland almost every week and is a huge Disney fan. The next person to come out was Jordin Sparks who was the winner of American Idol. Like Jennifer, she seemed very down to Earth and happy to be there. The biggest surprise to most people was an appearance of Dumbo. I have never seen him in the parks and he was out for about 10 seconds and then gone. J Finally Tom Skaggs came out with Mickey Mouse, who was wearing Fantasyland attire, and they officially opened New Fantasyland.
You can now see Rapunzel’s tower and it looks great. They haven’t really said what they are going to do with that area but it seems that the best move they can do is make that a permanent meet and greet for Rapunzel. They also have put up an area around the construction of The Seven Dwarves Mine Train a spot where you can peak and see how the ride is progressing. It’s definitely progressing but still looks like a mess. I will say New Fantasyland went up really fast so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was finished ahead of schedule and hopefully opens in 2013 and not 2014.
When the ceremony was over, I went with the crowds to New Fantasyland. There were members of the press all over New Fantasyland conducting interviews and asking people for their opinions. I took allot of photos of Jenifer Goodwin. She really was very pretty and it seemed like the women were more impressed with her than the men. The one thing I kept hearing over and over from people in the crowd is “I can’t believe how beautiful she looks in person.” I also met Jodi Benson, who was the voice of Ariel, The Little Mermaid. She was really nice and she still sounds just like Ariel. I took some photos of her as well. Page O’Hara, who voiced Belle and Joann Worley, who voiced the Wardrobe in Beauty and the Beast were also there but didn’t see them.