Magic Kingdom Report: Jabots & Swag!

After taking a break from Walt Disney World during the peak of spring break, we’re back with another update on Magic Kingdom construction, crowds, and changes. In this park report, we’ll take a look at the current projects around the park, plus preparations for the World’s Most Magical Celebration.

This report actually encompasses two visits on consecutive days. The first being an impromptu afternoon arrival to check out Disney’s Test of Facial Recognition Technology for Entering Magic Kingdom and a relatively short stroll around the park to get a feel for crowds.

The second was a longer visit yesterday (March 25, 2021) for more photos and to check out what had changed in the last couple weeks. As Walt Disney World gears up for the 50th Anniversary, there are updates on a near-daily basis, so we have a decent amount of ground to cover…

We’re now a little over 6 months away from the start of the World’s Most Magical Celebration on October 1, and a number of projects are underway to make Magic Kingdom shine. Most of these are smaller scaler and unobtrusive, so don’t fret if you’re visiting this spring or summer. Magic Kingdom is nothing like EPCOT in terms of walls or construction.

Anyway, let’s take a stroll around the park and see what’s happening…

For the last couple of weeks, Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney World teams have been installing the first décor pieces on Cinderella Castle in honor of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.

The concept art for how the finished product will look and other details is covered in Dates, Details & Decor for “The World’s Most Magical Celebration.”

Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur, a senior project manager at Walt Disney World, gave an interview to the Orlando Sentinel, providing added details and context about the decorations. (It’s worth a read–she’s interesting and insightful without speaking the language of marketing fluff.)

She coordinates the fabrication and installation of 113 pieces of decorations that will be attached to the castle during the next few weeks. Each finished element is 5-8 pieces, so the entire wall below is presumably 25 pieces.

These are known as jabots and swag, which are held together with broaches and gold pins. A jabot is one of the long, hanging pieces of faux drapery; swag is a horizontal bunting piece. Those are objectively awesome names, and we will be using them regularly.

One finished element of jabots & swag can be installed overnight. The new pieces were designed to ensure that they can withstand any hurricane.

Walt Disney Imagineering developed new colors, gold detailing, and vibrant hues for the Cinderella Castle royal makeover, claiming to have drawn inspiration from Disney Legend Mary Blair’s vision of Cinderella.

I personally don’t see the connection to Blair’s style, but I also don’t really care that much. I just think Imagineering is getting a little carried away in evoking past legends and over-explaining simple things.

With that said, I’m excited to see the finished product. As cool as jabots & swag might be, there’s not a lot to the decor right now. The turret spires will also have gold swirls and the the large “50” medallion above the castle’s balcony should really help complete the look.

The World’s Most Magical Celebration decorations look regal and relatively tasteful; I’m on board with them and looking forward to seeing more!

Continuing behind Cinderella Castle in Fantasyland, the scope of the work on the queue and facade of Peter Pan’s Flight continues to grow. The latest development is that the dimensional marquee has been removed and replaced with a temporary banner. Our guess is that the sign is receiving TLC and will be restored once finished.

The queue walls (now with themed scrim) still push the exterior line out into the narrow walkway in front of the Tangled toilets and into Columbia Harbour House making for some congestion issues there.

In other construction news, the TRON Lightcycle Run canopy installation is almost entirely finished. You can’t see any progress from within the park at this point, but driving around the park or at the Contemporary, a bit of work is still visible.

For more details and updates on Tomorrowland’s upcoming coaster, see TRON Lightcycle Run Info: Opening, Construction Photos & Concept Art.

Other work continues in Tomorrowland, with the Peoplemover still closed for refurbishment.

There has been Cast Member testing (and training?) on the attraction for a couple of months now, so we’re not really sure what’s up here. We still think it’s possible Disney waits until October to reopen this, but Magic Kingdom could use the added capacity much sooner.

Next, we have a game of musical chairs with Magic Kingdom retail.

Art of Disney has moved to the recently-refurbished Bonjour Village Gifts, which is Belle’s shop in New Fantasyland. Following, the Main Street Cinema closed to be transformed into a sweets shop. That’s happening because the Confectionery next door is closing for an extensive refurbishment next week. The Chapeau is also closing, with its hats and Mickey Mouse ears relocated to Box Office Gifts at the Town Square Theater. (Hope you got all of that–there will be a test at the end of the post!)

Here’s a look at the new-to-us Orange Bird mural that debuted earlier this month on the side of Sunshine Tree Terrace and adjacent to the entrance of Skipper Canteen.

This mural was designed in Florida by Senior Concept Designer Chris Gardner and painted by Artist Abdul Delgado.

I’m a big fan of this, and not just because I’m a “basic” Walt Disney World fan who’s a sucker for all things Orange Bird. Although that does undoubtedly play a role.

I’m also a sucker for public art installations, and enjoy who they can further enhance and give life to an area. This could be a mural of Mater (not in this location) and I’d feel the same way.

Obviously, this will be a popular photo op for people with Citrus Swirls or Orange Bird merchandise. That’s great! The mural being able to serve dual purposes–selfie spot and pretty art–means it offers something for everyone.

It certainly offers more universal appeal than something like the Purple Wall, which, for the record, I don’t dislike. Guests finding creative ways to give random areas of the park secondary meaning is fascinating, especially random walls no one previously thought twice about. (Disney hijacking that organic ‘movement’ with merchandise is another story.) Anyway, I’d love to see more murals like this, especially at Disney Springs.

We’re not going to fixate on crowds too much as another dedicated post on the topic is coming soon.

With that said, afternoon congestion has not been too bad in Magic Kingdom. Still some pinch-points, but it has looked nothing like crowds around Thanksgiving and leading up to Christmas. Those remain the peak “feels like” crowds we’ve experienced since reopening at Walt Disney World.

This is probably attributable in large part to Disney loading more guests onto each ride vehicle. We know this is happening on many outdoor attractions–like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, for example–because we’ve seen it. What’s less clear to us is whether the same is happening on Pirates of the Caribbean or other indoor attractions.

Again, I’m happy to see this happening and it doesn’t bother me in the least. Duration is relatively short, guest orientation is correct, and air circulation is good (exceptional on roller coasters!) since rides constantly move. It’s far lower risk than indoor dining, which has been happening since reopening.

A look at Main Street at dusk.

This is about as busy as we saw Main Street, and even this photo is deceptive. For most of the afternoon, it was relatively sparse. That’s pretty typical–fewer people are arriving or leaving in the afternoon, whereas they are in the morning and evening.

We wrap up our day in Magic Kingdom just before park closing time, when Mickey and friends appear to wave “see ya real soon” to guests exiting the park. It’s a nice little touch–the kind of thing we hope sticks around even after things go back to normal.

Walt Disney World still has a lot to do to get Magic Kingdom ready for the start of the World’s Most Magical Celebration in October, and we’re planning on spending many days (or nights, especially as the weather gets hotter) in the park to monitor progress. We’ll keep you posted as we learn of subsequent developments and changes ahead of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary!

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YOUR THOUGHTS

Thoughts on anything covered in this Magic Kingdom park report? Excited to see Cinderella Castle (further) transform ahead of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary? What do you think of the jabots & swag? What about the Orange Bird mural? Thoughts on the retail musical chairs? If you’ve visited Magic Kingdom recently, what has been your experience with crowds and wait times? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!