Magic Kingdom Update: Higher Crowds, New Tomorrowland, Human PhotoPass Returns!
For our October 2019 update, we return to Magic Kingdom in the heart of Halloween season for another Walt Disney World progress report. We’ll cover the roller coaster crowds, new Tomorrowland sign, and the return of human PhotoPass photographers at Mickey Mouse’s meet & greet.
Images for this update were captured over a few recent visits to Magic Kingdom, including while attending our first sold out Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party of the year. It’s been a while since our last post about MNSSHP, so we’ll probably do another recap later this week–it was an interesting evening.
In the meantime, our 2019 Guide to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is the best resource if you’re planning on attending MNSSHP in the near future. Also check out our Review & Photos: 2019 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Fall Snack & Food Guide to Walt Disney World posts…
For this Magic Kingdom update, let’s start with crowds. I’ll keep this brief because it’s probably worthy of a stand-alone post as we’re now in the heart of October, a time when Walt Disney World gets noticeably busier than the off-season lull of September. By and large, that has been our experience thus far this month.
However, Magic Kingdom crowds have not been as consistently heavier as we would’ve expected. Weekends and most non-event nights have seen a visible uptick, but before around 5 pm on Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party evenings remain a solid time to visit. We’ve noticed other, more sporadic windows of low crowds, too.
Of course, first thing in the morning remains the optimal time to visit. Our Empty Magic Kingdom Morning: Extra, Extra Magic Hours Report & Tips from last month remains entirely applicable, even as daytime crowds have picked up.
Ditto our recent Why You Should Visit Disney World RIGHT NOW! post. I doubt we’ll ever see anything like Extra, Extra Magic Hours again–at least, not anytime soon.
A few weeks ago, we posted about the New Automated Cameras at Mickey & Minnie Meet in Magic Kingdom, which replaced human PhotoPass photographers. This story garnered a lot of attention and resulted in a lot of outrage among Walt Disney World fans.
Well, in a plot twist worthy of the next Terminator reboot (hey, it can’t be any worse than the current script–have you seen that trailer?!), we have the Rise of the Humans. More specifically, the return of human PhotoPass photographers to the Mickey Mouse meet & greet in Town Square.
Before you all go taking a victory lap, I don’t know if this is permanent. As noted in that post, our pictures taken by the robot didn’t immediately show up in our account. (They eventually did, nearly a week later…and were predictably awful.) This could be a matter of humans being an interim solution until the robots are better trained. We’ll continue monitoring the situation.
Now let’s move along to “things Walt Disney World fans could not save.”
Sadly, the Muppets Present Great Moments in American History took its final bow over the weekend. We were there for the second to last performance, which drew a huge crowd.
Hopefully new entertainment is announced soon, because all these cuts are not a good look…unless Walt Disney World is also on the precipice of announcing a huge price cut, which I somehow doubt.
Now we’ll turn to this update’s other most upbeat topic: the new Tomorrowland sign. The response I’ve seen to this is almost universally positive. Likewise, we both really like the new Tomorrowland sign.
The Googie look with its clean, swooping lines is eye-catching and imbued with a sense of retro-futuristic optimism. It’s a nice nod to the original Tomorrowland’s Space Age style, which (ironically enough) would now look more appropriate for Tomorrowland than any subsequent incarnations of the land.
Mid-century modern is hot right now (and has been since at least the peak of Mad Men), and the Space Age style that’s still at the core of Tomorrowland is a novel and engaging look that I’d love to see Walt Disney World re-embrace.
We discussed this at great length in our The Trouble with Tomorrowland post earlier this year, so I won’t rehash all of that here.
If this sign is any indication, that’s the direction Imagineering is going with Tomorrowland. (It probably doesn’t hurt that California-centric WDI has great examples of Googie and Space Age design all over their own backyard.)
Renewing that aesthetic, along with a restored Carousel of Progress finale, would be pretty much the perfect 50th Anniversary ‘gift’ for Tomorrowland.
However, there are a couple of impediments to this happening. First, we’ve already seen a lot of paint applied throughout Tomorrowland. It’s one thing when walls are repainted–it’s another thing when ornamentation like the fins overhead the main walkway are simply painted white.
That’s not an actual solution. While I grew up with and loved it, all of the Tomorrowland ’94 adornments need to be removed if the next incarnation of Tomorrowland is going to be anything other than a visual hodgepodge. A crisp, modern style only works if Walt Disney World goes all-in on it. Otherwise, the new paint only amplifies the imperfections of the aesthetic–it’s like watching a VHS tape on an OLED television.
The second problem is that we already know TRON Lightcycle Run will not embrace this retro-futuristic style, instead having a very different organic design and biomimicry features. On the plus side, at least it’s somewhat isolated from the rest of Tomorrowland and wouldn’t be terribly jarring if some design cues are used in both styles.
My fear remains that this Tomorrowland placemaking project will be a half-measure, and the end result will be one that never goes all-in on a singular architectural vision.
Tomorrowland ’94 was due for an overhaul, but that needs to actually happen before we start lauding the current, ongoing incremental changes. A mess of visual styles is far worse than one that is largely consistent but dated.
To put it more succinctly: don’t be distracted/satisfied with the ‘shiny new object’ of an entrance sign. It’s a nice first step, but it’s just that–a first step of many more than needed to be taken with the visual identity of Tomorrowland.
Sticking with Tomorrowland, here’s a look at construction on TRON Lightcycle Run. Progress continues at a brisk pace on this.
Not much else to say here, as aside from that, there are few visible differences since our recent TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom: New Concept Art & Construction Photos update.
Contrary to last year’s rumors, I guess this area is not going to house any dinosaurs.
At least the landscaping looks nice.
Continuing outside the park, here’s a look at the Magic Kingdom entrance redesign.
More ground has been torn up since the last time we checked in on this, but I’m not sure how much progress has been made.
Continuing around on Walt Disney World’s Highway in the Sky, work continues on the walkway between Magic Kingdom and Grand Floridian.
The swing bridge is sitting out in this area, staged and ready for installation!
As you can see on the right side of the photo above, the pivot point has also been placed into the edge of the canal.
Hopefully this is finished in time for the holidays, when it’s actually pleasant to walk from the Grand Floridian or Poly to Magic Kingdom!
Speaking of which, a lot of the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights are now installed.
It may seem like Halloween season just started and Christmas is still in the distant future, but in terms of Walt Disney World seasonal events, Halloween is winding down and Christmas is only a few weeks away.
The crane is still behind Cinderella Castle, installing more of the lights after hours each night.
Every time I express my excitement for the coming holiday season, Sarah reminds me that I shouldn’t “wish my life away.” I’m actually just ready to wish away the humidity and heat, which is actually starting to happen. It’s downright pleasant at night right now!
We’ve bounced around a lot in this update, but we started with a Haunted Mansion photo, and we’ll end with another. All in all, it’s a beautiful time to be at Magic Kingdom. Even though the daytime and evening crowds can be significantly higher than in September, the weather is also significantly nicer.
Personally, we’ll take better weather and higher crowds–especially when the latter is still easily avoidable via Extra, Extra Magic Hours. In any event, that’s it for this Walt Disney World update. We’ll see you soon for another Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party update and, soon, for our first Christmas photo report!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the new Tomorrowland sign? Satisfied with just this, or do you agree that a more significant aesthetic overhaul of the land is necessary? Excited that PhotoPass has returned to Mickey’s meet, and optimistic about the ‘Rise of the Humans’? Thoughts or insights about any other current construction projects in Magic Kingdom? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts here? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
A couple of things I’ve noticed – both small but both negative:
– The new Star Traders sign has a lot of really bad residue from the old Mickey’s Star Traders sign. It feels like Disney decided against doing the full repaint this store front needed when they fitted the new signage.
– The new (well, about a year old…) foaming soap dispensers are really poorly installed. They’ve done it as cheaply as possible by using the existing fittings, which means that in many restrooms (eg those at the entrance to Tomorrowland), they are way too close to the taps. And that’s before we even get to the fact that the plastic fittings look much worse than metal ones, and that I suspect cost cutting was the reason for switching to foaming soap in the first place.
What does EEMH mean ? Some abbreviations are easy others are not ?
When we were at Magic Kingdom on 9/29, I was pleasantly surprised to see a human photographer at the Mickey & Minnie meet & greet. After squeeing in delight, I actually said to him, “Thank you for being here! I’m sure know what what I mean!” LOL! They took some *amazing* close-ups of my 2-year-old laughing at Mickey (who was teasing him).
Then we went straight into the Tinker Bell line where there were still automatic cameras. We got several dozen photos from that meet & greet, but none of them even came close to capturing what the photographer did next door. I sure hope the automatic cameras are gone from there now!
Side note… I was surprised you never mentioned in the other post that perhaps part of the reasoning for the automatic photographers was to make it impossible for people to ask photographers to take photos with personal cameras… thus forcing them to buy the PhotoPass photos.
HI Tom,
We just got back a week ago from a fantastic trip. Just girls trip with my niece and daughter. All adults! No children! We had a such a wonderful time at MNSSHP. I listened to your advice on where to watch Hocus-Pocus, the parade, and fireworks. It was perfect. We could see and enjoy everything. We got there about 45 minute prior to the beginning. By far, the fireworks and show on the castle was our favorite. The crowds were really high. I noticed our night was sold out. I also used your advice on several topics including when to do Toy Story land, Avator, and Star Wars rides/lands. You were right on. After 2 days my two companions would ask, ” okay, what does your blog guy say about this?” You were a hit! We had been planning our trip for 9 months. Your blog was a real help. Thank you for all the information. On a side note. We are from California and did the Halloween party at Disneyland 2 years ago. I have to say, Disneyland does a far better job with the decorations than Magic Kingdom. They also had quite a bit more decorations throughout both parks. That was the only thing we were disappointed with at Magic Kingdom.
We are very disappointed that the Muppets performances will be no more. 🙁 Rumour has it that at least ONE of the higher ups at Disney does not care for the muppets. I truly wish they would do something more with them, because they could continue to bring such joy and laughter to many people. First Illuminations, and then this! Uggggghhhh!!!
VERY bummed about the Muppets, my husband and I loved catching those performances. We also are super disappointed we aren’t able to take advantage of these EEMH as they are something we would love to do!!! Oh well, such as life!
I have always thought the atomic Googie style would be perfect for Tomorrowland. But as you noted, it must be throughout. It would be timeless and fun.
So the few pictures I’ve seen of the sign at light are so underwhelming!! Please tell me it’s better in person. The old sign at night gives me the warm and fuzzies…this one seems so sterile and bland 🙁
One the bridge from GF to MK, not only the GF and Poly guests will benefit, but also the military guests will also be able to walk from Shades of Green over to MK. We often would walk to Poly anyway and GF isn’t much further.
Tomorrowland sign looks like a huge engagement ring. Just needs the stone
When did this sign go up? We were there last week and I noticed it on our last day and had to do a double take wondering whether I’d seen it before or not.
Do you expect crowds to still be high the first week in November? We have a toddler with a super rare disease that always is at risk for deathly low blood sugars so I’m hoping since he’s been a little more manageable that this won’t be a complete disaster. Do you have any tips on doing Disney with a toddler with this disability? We probably wouldn’t have taken a 2 year old normally but when our almost 2 years daughter passed unexpectedly from the same disease we don’t want to waste time waiting around for it to be the “right time” to enjoy things with our son
So sorry! I read your post and just want to send you hugs. We’ve been in November and it can be pretty crowded, but not Christmas crowded. When we went, it was similar to May before school let out. So going before Thanksgiving yet after Halloween, my guess would be medium crowds. I will be praying that you and your family are able to enjoy your time. I am an advocate for more rare disease research and fast treatments, especially for pediatric patients. ((Hugs))
As someone else mentioned, what is the end goal of the MK front entrance construction? Updates? Better traffic flow?
Better flow essentially. They are drastically expanding it in anticipation of future crowds and to make it a more efficient and enjoyable experience – something that I’m really looking forward to at Epcot because that was anything but enjoyable just to get in back in Dec. 2018. MK specifically will see the ferry dock moved a bit, the walkway to the GF and Poly opened finally which can help take people off the monorail, much more bag check stations and I believe even more turnstiles but I’m not sure on that part. Bus loops were reconfigured a bit recently and on top of that they are making pathways a bit wider and more logical to help guide the flow of people. TTC got some improvements recently as well with it’s tram drop off and ferrys. If you want an idea of what to expect look at Hollywood Studios new design and then imagine adding ferrys and the new walkway to it.
We were at Disney last week, and based on your earlier post about EEMH, we did them! AMAZING!!!
We visited chewie this weekend at Hollywood studios in the launch bay. He has an automated camera. The pictures showed up quite quickly and weren’t awful. The experience was strange since you’re just standing there looking at a box…then it’s outside the area beyond the exit to scan your magic band to attach the pics. I wouldn’t say I dislike or like it…just different. Have to adjust looking at a box instead of a human.
We didn’t hate the photopass box with Chewie, but DID hate it with Darth Vader. I think the real miss is that there is no zoom, therefore missing some of the wonderful organic moments. It seemed to have a lot to do with the cast member portraying the character. Chewie seemed to have a better shtick that translated a little more successfully with the photo boxes. Either way, blech. Bring back humans!
Sounds like we were there the same time 🙂 We missed the last performances of the Muppets unfortunately. Thanks to your map of where to see the fireworks we had a prime view of the new Halloween party fireworks and parade. You were very right that the Halloween parade is fantastic and so were the fireworks. 🙂 Despite the crowds we had a great time and now see the draw of Disney World and are already starting to think about when we will go back lol. What are your recommendations for weeks to be there for the Christmas party in 2020 or 2021?
I wondered the same thing . . . “how did the new sign cast a shadow that looks like a gear?” It took a few seconds to realize it was the paving design.
I read your recommended Galaxy’s Edge strategy a few weeks ago (waiting until late in the evening instead of visiting it during EEMH), and am curious to hear whether you think that will still be the best strategy next week, with fall break families descending upon HS.
Our picture with Mickey and Minnie at the photo booth was one of our best picture taken during our 11 days vacation. Maybe we were lucky
you were. i’ve seen umpteen examples online of awful, awful photos from those stupid boxes. nothing beats the human photographers.
I had to do a double-take on your Tomorrowland sign photo, as I was wondering how the sign created such a cool shadow beneath it…and then realized that was the circular pattern embedded into the ground. Thought there was some magic goin’ on there (or maybe some Tom Trickery).
I still cannot believe they tour up all those bricks (with names) on them in the entrance. What was wrong with the entrance? Or is this a security thing?
My family was very fortunate to be able to get a brick pretty close to the entrance and we always made it a point to take a picture next to our small part of MK each time we’d come to visit. It certainly will be disappointing to not see our brick on our next trip but I guess all good things must come to an end.
Love the Bob Ross Photo