3/12 Storybook Circus in Fantasyland Soft Opens! Barnstormer, Dumbo, Train Station

Hi everyone!

We spent the morning into mid-afternoon inside Storybook Circus today, taking photos and video of the portion of this area that has soft opened (only one side of Dumbo is currently available to guests).

We do have videos up now – including Dumbo, the Barnstormer and the Fantasyland Train Station. We are planning to put up a narrative video today that shows an overview of the whole area. You can subscribe to our channel here, we have well over 7 million total views!

We were called by several friends this morning about Storybook Circus opening – we got ready pretty quickly and headed to the Magic Kingdom, arriving around 11am. It was very crowded in the Magic Kingdom, enough so that the monorail ran all day (it is supposed to be closed between 11:30am and 6pm in March).

I’d wanted to arrive into Storybook Circus via the train, I was overruled – but we did take the train later. There are walls on either side as guests enter, hiding the construction of the rest of the land (of course, you can see the construction via Dumbo or the Barnstormer!)

 

A Cast Member in a new circus costume poses with a sign:

Dumbo had many challenges today, stopping in mid-air to head back down (we were on it once when this happened). Dumbo is next to the Barnstormer Featuring the Great Goofini, so the photos here are mixed depending on which way I was pointing my camera.

The Train Station and bathrooms are also nearby. Storybook Circus currently can get very crowded, very quickly – that will alleviate once more of it is open. We rode Dumbo twice today, and the Barnstormer once. The Barnstormer line went from 30 to 60 minutes while we were in it!

There is artwork at the base of Dumbo (near where the ride vehicles are), featuring different scenes from the film. One of the nicer features of this Dumbo ride is the fountains.

Guests are ready to take a spin on Dumbo:

And this was our first ride on Dumbo:

 

 

The view is pretty terrific from up here! You can watch the Barnstormer on one side, and see Fantasyland as it’s being built on the other. We had an uneventful first ride from start to finish.

Exterior of Dumbo:

 

Storybook Circus trash cans:

 

Elephant foot prints in the pavement:

 

Peanut in the pavement:

Feather in the back of this sign:

 

Barnstormer signs from Dumbo:

We entered the Dumbo line for a second ride immediately, taking photos I’d not had the opportunity to before.

 

 

While waiting, I took some photos of the nearby construction:

I mentioned that our ride stopped mid-air. I don’t think I’ve ever been on Dumbo when that has happened, but it wasn’t really a big deal either. The ride slowly went back to the ground, and then started again a couple of minutes later for what seemed to be a full ride-through (not subtracting the rotations we’d already done).

Really, most of the photos look the same as the first ride – so here are just a few!

 

The Barnstormer featuring the Great Goofini is very much the same ride you are familiar with, but with different theming. It’s a fun little ride, but I’d not normally wait a half hour for it.

I like the different weather vanes at Walt Disney World. Some completely give away what’s underneath, but others are a little more obscure. This one isn’t so hard to figure out:

The queue is mostly out in the sun, so make sure to wear plenty of sunblock. I forgot to reapply (I’m generally pretty freakish about sunblock and my sun protective clothing) and ended up with a red face! Part of the queue looks like it’s shielding guests from the sun, but those shields aren’t very effective for that.

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff takes on the Wheel of Peril! The props around the queue were fun to look at, and this one in particular was a huge favorite.

 

Entering the building after about a 30 minute wait:

 

 

Riding the Barnstormer:

 

Our next stop was the Fantasyland Train Station! We’ve been taking photos of this – along with the rest of Fantasyland – since ground was broken. The train station is nicely detailed, and the bathrooms have a high-quality feel to them as well.

 

 

The Fantasyland Train Station has a tribute to the Carolwood Pacific (the clock says Carolwood Park).

 

 

Restrooms:

The footprints of a variety of circus animals are shown in the pavement:

 

Luggage is stacked, with stickers from a variety of places (including California):

This door is very large, it looks like an elephant door:

 

We went around the Fantasyland Train Station, and into the queue to ride the train. Cast Members were still working out the queue system when we got in line. There was no way to tell how many trains it would take until we were on board (it turned out to be 3, including the one that was already in the station). The trains, along with everything else in the park, were very full.

 

It was pretty cool to see guests lined up at the Fantasyland Train Station, we’ve passed it dozens of times when it was empty! Also, the path to Tomorrowland is now open again, signs for Mickey’s Toontown Fair were removed last week.

We arrive back to the Fantasyland Train Station:

And here are a few last photos as we leave Storybook Circus:

 

Walking through Fantasyland, there is now a wall where Tigger’s Bouncy Spot was to have been.

New Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum shirts:

The former Skyway Station:

A new Evil Queen sleep shirt:

And a new guidemap is out with the part of Storybook Circus that is now open! If you didn’t know when entering the park that you could ride Dumbo, the cover would give it away.

 

The first portion of Storybook Circus is looking really great, and I’ve seen a few night photos – it looks really beautiful in the evening! We’ll probably get there later this week for some nighttime photos and video.

If you are interested in Epcot Flower and Garden Festival photos and video, we have those here!