3/6 Via Napoli Pizza Window, Fantasyland Artwork at Toontown Station, Haunted Mansion Queue

Hi everyone!

We spent a couple of days last week taking photos and video of the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, you can find my photos from Future World here and World Showcase here!  On Saturday, we went back to Epcot briefly – our visit included a stop at the Via Napoli pizza window, which was again in soft opening for what is being called a “test” through May 28th.  We then headed to the Magic Kingdom and ended our day at the Animal Kingdom Expedition Everest 5th Anniversary Passholder Event.

The sand sculpture based on the upcoming film African Cats was getting closed to finished:

 

A penguin from the film Mary Poppins was greeting guests:

 

Via Napoli is again testing their pizza window, now through May 28.  It was in soft-opening on Saturday, but not yet open when we arrived:

I’d not seen the outdoor area of Via Napoli since it was closed in for year-round seating (it can still be opened up during nice weather):

The pizza window opened a few minutes later – the setup looks a little different, less temporary than during it’s test in December.  I was hoping that the pizza would be the tasty Via Napoli pizza this time, but it isn’t.  The pepperoni slice we received was just passable (I thought it was better in December), the crust was underdone and the sauce overpowering.  If your family wants pizza, I’d highly recommend going inside the restaurant. Hopefully guests don’t think that the quality they are getting outside represents what is inside Via Napoli (I’ve dined there twice, and enjoyed it very much both times).

 

We then headed over to the Magic Kingdom, first riding the Walt Disney World Railroad to see the progress of Mickey’s Toontown Fair.  You can see a little of the Fantasyland construction, as well as a vehicle that was parked close to the Native American section:

The Tomorrowland Speedway:

Some of the scrim is down from Exposition Hall, the name hasn’t yet been changed. We could hear a lot of work being done inside the building, just beyond the wall:

A friend of ours mentioned that there was a new Tortuga Tavern sign (formerly El Pirata Y El Perico).  I was also just told that the flag to the far left above the sign for Tortuga Tavern is Captain Jack Sparrow’s, and the second from the right is Blackbeard’s.

We rode the Liberty Belle to see if we could see any changes in the Haunted Mansion queue construction – and there was some, but the rumors are that the queue is going to be open very soon (we were given a date that is just about a week away), and any changes we saw from the boat were fairly minor compared with our last update.  We were going to ride the Haunted Mansion as well, but you can see that the queue wrapped down to the former Keel Boat dock!

 

Disney filed permits to remove the Fantasyland Skyway station.  That area is supposed to become restrooms while the Peter Pan queue is expanded:

We didn’t have time to ride Dumbo, but here are some photos of the Fantasyland construction:

Work on the Tomorowland Speedway continues as it prepares for the Fantasyland expansion.  Trees have been removed from Toontown, you can see the tracks of Goofy’s Barnstormer:

 

The Animal Kingdom Expedition Everest 5th Anniversary Passholder event was a lot of fun – nothing was done except to have a few rides open after hours (and a DJ), but we had a large group of friends and I love the park after dark.  Oh – and Mickey and Goofy were there in their explorer outfits!

Remember to check out my Epcot Flower and Garden Festival photos!  I have nearly 500 so far.
We plan to head to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for photos and video tomorrow, and I still have to put up pictures from the one day we spent at ESPN the Weekend!