Today, Disney have released more concept art showing off the Storybook Circus area of the new expansion. There has been a huge amount of details released recently about the Fantasyland Forest expansion with several behind the scenes post by the Disney Parks Blog but little progress has been reported since we heard demolition of the area was well underway and the Toontown Station closed.
If we were to compare the old concept art to the new, we can see there has already been some change. The Casey Jr train seems to have moved towards what looks like an overhauled train station. The Barnstormer will stay in the same place with its new theme and the duelling Dumbos look very much the same, you may notice that the elaborate looking fountain seems to be no more. In original drawings there was call for several smaller circus tents to be used for food and merchandise. It seems that this has also been replaced with one, big blue tent although several smaller ones look like they may lead off from it. The new art shows a presence of much more foliage that the original, maybe helping to transition from the forest to the circus theme. The Disney Parks Blog reports:
“Storybook Circus will be based on our animated film, “Dumbo.” Here, Casey Jr., the famous locomotive from the movie, has rolled into town and brought the grand Storybook Circus with him. The area will be filled with colorful circus tents and nods to the famous film. For example, guests – especially little ones – are welcome to cool down with Casey Jr., who can be found near the train station, getting splashed by playful circus animals.
Just past Casey Jr., guests will encounter big-top circus tents that lead to a “double” version of Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Also, in the tradition of classic air shows, Barnstormer will take on a new look and theme, becoming a spiraling stunt plane built by The Great Goofini.”