Comparing Fantasylands Around the World

I am beginning a new series that will compare the different lands found in the six Magic Kingdom style parks around the world. What I mean by the Magic Kingdom style parks are the parks that are based off of the original Disneyland and all have a central castle with their lands radiating from that hub. The six parks are: Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland. I will look into some of the history and ideas behind each land and compare which attractions can be found there.

Fantasyland is the only land that can be found in all six parks with the exact same theme and name. Other lands, such as Tomorrowland, have the same theme throughout each park but the name might vary. Fantasyland could be found on opening day at each park and all were themed around Disney’s classic fairy tale films. Each Fantasyland can be found in roughly the same location, back behind the central castle.

Disneyland: When Disneyland first opened in 1955, Walt wanted Fantasyland to resemble a fairy tale village. However, due to lack of budget, Walt had to go with plan B and designed Fantasyland to look like a medieval fair. Renaissance looking tents, banners, and flags were used to decorate the magical land. Many of the opening day attractions in Fantasyland are still around today such as Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and King Arthur Carrousel. Fantasyland underwent a major refurbishment in 1983 and Walt’s original vision finally came to a reality when it reopened looking like a fairy tale village. The theming is reminiscent of a Bavarian style to complement Pinocchio’s Daring Journey which opened as part of the refurbishment. However, the building that houses the Mr. Toad attraction now looked like Toad Hall from the film. Toad Hall is from the English countryside but the two different styles were made to look seamless. The Mad Tea Party was also moved in 1983 to be near the Alice in Wonderland dark ride. In 2013, another major expansion was opened in the form of Fantasy Faire. Fantasy Faire again has a medieval theming to it, but with more of a regal look than a circus look. Disneyland’s Fantasyland showcases the Sleeping Beauty Castle which has a real working drawbridge. The drawbridge has been lowered twice in Disneyland history, once on opening day in 1955 and again for the 1983 refurbishment.

Magic Kingdom: When Walt Disney World opened in 1971, Fantasyland was again built with a medieval fair theme but the biggest difference from Disneyland was Cinderella Castle, which was built over twice as tall as Sleeping Beauty Castle. Magic Kingdom‘s Fantasyland has undergone some major refurbishment over the years and can be divided up into three different sections: Castle Courtyard, Enchanted Forest, and Storybook Circus. The Castle Courtyard is the area which was the original portion of Fantasyland, right behind the castle, and contains opening day attractions such as Peter Pan’s Flight and it’s a small world. The New Fantasyland sections opened in phases form 2012 to 2014. The Enchanted Forest section was built just Northeast of the original Fantasyland and features stories from beloved films such as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Storybook Circus was built just East of the Enchanted Forest and is themed around the film Dumbo. 

Tokyo Disneyland: Tokyo Disneyland was built with an almost exact copy of Cinderella Castle from the Magic Kingdom and Fantasyland opened with the brightly coloured medieval theming. All of the opening day attractions were almost exact copies of rides that could be found at Disneyland’s or Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland with the except of the Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion could be found in both of the other parks, but this was the first, and only to date, time that this spooky attraction was built in Fantasyland. Since then the only other unique to Tokyo attraction to be built was Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, the first ever trackless ride. Beginning in 2014, announcements were made about a major Fantasyland refurbishment and expansion. An Alice in Wonderland themed area was originally announced but no longer seems to be in the works. A Beauty and the Beast themed area seems to be the main focus with an attraction, restaurant, theatre, and shops. Ground-breaking took place in April of 2017 with hopes of completion for 2020.

Disneyland Paris: Fantasyland in Disneyland Paris opened with the theming of a European village, very similar to the Disneyland 1983 refurbishment. The theming complimented the magnificent Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty Castle) by making Fantasyland seem like the guests are stepping into a grand fairy tale world. Disneyland Paris opened with many walkthrough attractions and has since added many more since walkthroughs are much more cost efficient than ride through attractions. Fantasyland is home to three walkthroughs: La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant, La Tanière du Dragon, and Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. Fantasyland is also very spread out but very beautiful.

Hong Kong Disneyland: In contrast, Hong Kong Disneyland‘s Fantasyland is quite small and showcases both the fairy tale village and the medieval fair theming. It was built with only two indoor attractions that needed show buildings. Mickey’s PhilharMagic is housed in a fairy tale village themed building and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is housed in a medieval fair themed building. The first major expansion for Fantasyland happened in 2008 with the opening of it’s a small world. For Hong Kong Disneyland’s 10th anniversary in 2015, the Fairy Tale Forest was opened which could best be described as a walkthrough Storybook Land. Fantasyland is home to Sleeping Beauty Castle but announcements were made in 2016 that a complete redesign of the castle will be happening in the next few years.

 

Shanghai Disneyland: On June 16, 2016, Shanghai Disneyland opened its gates as home to the largest castle to ever be found in a Disney Park. The Enchanted Storybook Castle is themed to represent all Disney Princesses, a theme that is unique to Shanghai’s Fantasyland. Another unique feature of the Enchanted Storybook Castle is the Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, which is the first ride through attraction to journey through a Park’s central castle. Shanghai Disneyland also put their own twist on some of the classic Fantasyland attractions. Instead of having a Mad Tea Party themed attraction, Shanghai Disneyland has Hunny Pot Spin, which is themed to Winnie the Pooh. There is also a separate land called Gardens of Imagination which is home to Dumbo the Flying Elephant and a carrousel titled Fantasia Carousel, as these two attractions are not to be found in Fantasyland.

 

Though it seems like all of the Fantasylands around the world are home to the same attractions, there is actually not a single attraction that can be found in all six Fantasylands. The closest would be the Mad Tea Party, which is in five plus then reimagined to the Hunny Pot Spin in Shanghai. There are also only four attractions that can be found in five of the six parks: Dumbo the Flying Elephant, it’s a small world, Peter Pan’s Flight, and a carrousel. Confusing? Yep, it is. So below is a table to break everything down of which Fantasyland attraction can be found in which park. Some attractions are grouped together based on theme and some are grouped together based on ride system.

Disneyland	Magic Kingdom	Tokyo Disneyland	Disneyland Paris	Hong Kong Disneyland	Shanghai Disneyland
Mad Tea Party	Mad Tea Party	Alice’s Tea Party	Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups	Mad Hatter Tea Cups	Hunny Pot Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant	Dumbo the Flying Elephant	Dumbo the Flying Elephant	Dumbo the Flying Elephant	Dumbo the Flying Elephant
its’s a small world	it’s a small world	it’s a small world	it’s a small world	it’s a small world
King Arthur’s Carrousel	Prince Charming Regal Carrousel	Castle Carrousel	Le Carrousel de Lancelot	Cinderella Carousel
Peter Pan’s Flight	Peter Pan’s Flight	Peter Pan’s Flight	Peter Pan’s Flight		Peter Pan’s Flight
Royal Hall	Princess Fairytale Hall		Princess Pavilion	Fantasy Gardens
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough		Cinderella’s Fairy Tale Hall	La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant		Once Upon a Time adventure
Storybook Land Canal Boats			Le Pays des Contes de Fées	Fairy Tale Forest	Voyage to the Crystal Grotto
	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	Pooh’s Hunny Hunt		The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Alice in Wonderland			Alice’s Curious Labyrinth		Alice in Wonderland Maze
Casey Jr. Circus Train	Casey Jr. Splash N Soak Station		Casey Jr. – le Petit Train de Cirque
Pinocchio’s Daring Journey		Pinocchio’s Daring Journey	Les Voyages de Pinocchio
Snow White’s Scary Adventures		Snow White’s Adventures	Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains
	Mickey’s PhilharMagic	Mickey’s PhilharMagic		Mickey’s PhilharMagic
	Walt Disney World Railroad – Fantasyland		Disneyland Railroad – Fantasyland	Disneyland Railroad – Fantasyland
Mickey and the Magical Map				Mickey and the Wonderous Book
Storytelling at Royal Theatre	Enchanted Tale’s with Belle
	Seven Dwarfs Mine Train				Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
	Ariel’s Grotto
	The Barnstormer
	Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
		Anna and Elsa’s Winter Greeting
		Haunted Mansion
			La Tanière du Dragon
					Frozen: A Sing-Along Celebration

Fun Fact: Fantasyland was rumoured to be Walt’s favourite land. Here is his dedication for Fantasyland on opening day of Disneyland on July 17, 1955.

“Here is a world of imagination, hopes and dreams. In this timeless land of enchantment the age of chivalry, magic and make-believe are reborn and fairy tales come true. Fantasyland is dedicated to the young and the young at heart, to those who believe that when you wish upon a star your dreams do come true.”

 

 

Check out other Comparing Lands Around the World blog posts!

Tomorrowland

Adventureland

Frontierland

Main Street, U.S.A.