Magic Kingdom Update: September 2019
Magic Kingdom is first up for our September 2019 Walt Disney World photo reports. Here, it’s been Halloween since last month, and we have several posts reporting on that, including our Review & Photos: 2019 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Fall Snack & Food Guide to Walt Disney World posts. In this update, we’ll look at the completed Cinderella Castle walkway expansion, Tomorrowland progress, Liberty Square Market, and more.
For this update, we visited Magic Kingdom the day of the early closure due to Hurricane Dorian and were actually surprised that the crowd level wasn’t significantly lower. This might fly in the face of the photos and reports on social media, which presented the park as a ghost town.
Magic Kingdom was hardly busy, to be sure. However, we took photos for this Magic Kingdom update almost a year to the day before our most recent one; on a normal day in early September last year, the park was less busy than on its 3 pm closing day…
That’s simply the reality of September at Walt Disney World. Even as January, February, October, early December, and other windows of time that used to be off-season have seemingly vanished, September has ‘held strong’ as the reliable off-season time to visit Walt Disney World.
Suffice to say, we ended up leaving after a little over an hour because the park was significantly busier than expected, but it was still pretty quiet. Let’s start out with some photos from around Magic Kingdom showcasing the low crowds and other random stuff…
Heading over to Tomorrowland, Astro Orbiter is still scheduled to reopen in late September. However, there’s no sign of anything happening here, and it wouldn’t surprise us to see this extended again. Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn into an indefinite closure, with Astro Orbiter making way for the Observatron or something like that.
In addition to Astro Orbiter and Primeval Whirl, we cover the last-minute additions, extensions, and other changes to the 2019-2020 Refurbishment Calendar for Walt Disney World.
Sorry I didn’t report this breaking news earlier, but Tomorrowland Terrace received new seating a couple weeks ago.
Personally, I wish this were open more. It’s not Disney’s most brilliant themed design, but the views of Cinderella Castle are nice, as is the airy seating area.
Not really much new to report on the color scheme changes front, but it’s safe to assume this project will trudge along until TRON Lightcycle Power Run is ready to debut.
Speaking of which, no updates on that ride’s construction here. We have a ton of new photos, but also some stuff I forgot to post about it from the D23 Expo, so I’ll just throw together a standalone post for that all.
Moving to Fantasyland, wait times have been low for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train since the start of September.
Magic Kingdom’s most popular attraction is consistently posting waits under 60 minutes. (Even at 10 am–after the park has been operating for 3 hours–it’s still only a 30 minute wait!)
Moving on to Liberty Square Market, where you can now see that this seating area has been totally demolished thanks to the scrims being lowered for the storm.
Also in Liberty Square, let’s take a look at the reopened Cinderella Castle walkway widening:
I won’t say this is finished, as clearly seating needs to be installed outside of Sleepy Hollow, and there’s still work that needs to be done in the moat.
However, the walls are down and guests can now walk the path. That’s good news, especially as we approach October and the busier holiday season.
A few thoughts here.
First and most simply, the finished project looks nice, with details above and below the path to make it fit the area and look as if it’s always been here.
Next, I’m not convinced this will do anything to alleviate congestion.
Our very first time walking it, we encountered the exact same slow-moving traffic as before, except with strollers pushed side by side instead of in a single file line. I don’t think super-narrow walkways are the “answer” but I do believe that guests will take up as much space as you give them.
Finally, I hope a lot more trees are planted outside the wall, along the water before the moat is refilled.
Before Happily Ever After, this was a tranquil, secluded, and shaded path thanks to it being lined by mature trees.
Prior to that show’s debut, most of the trees were removed, and not much was replanted.
It looked bare on the castle side, but at least it was secluded. Now, there’s more concrete and fewer trees.
It seems like Walt Disney World is learning its lesson with shade/trees/heat in EPCOT, only to make precisely the same mistakes throughout the rest of the resort.
I really hope this trend is reversed soon, as trees are increasingly vital to putting the ‘park’ in theme parks.
In case you don’t remember or never saw what this path used to look like, above is a photo I shot in 2011.
I loved this area because you could catch glimpses of Cinderella Castle while walking back here. In some spots, it truly felt like you were seeing a castle nestled away in a forest. It was a charming path–the kind of thing Magic Kingdom could use more, not less, of.
Moving along, here’s a look at the backside of Cinderella Castle at night, with some fast-moving clouds overhead. I shot this during the most recent Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, which was a beautiful evening with low crowds. We’ll have another ‘party report’ tomorrow.
Outside the park, ground is still being torn up as part of the controversial removal of the Walk Around the World bricks has begun. Not much progress on this since our last update.
On the other hand, work is moving quickly on the walkway between Magic Kingdom and Grand Floridian. The swing bridge is sitting out in this area, staged and ready for installation. The pivot point piping has also been placed into the edge of the canal.
Even with the brisk pace, this is probably still a couple of months away from being finished. (It doesn’t help that everything has basically paused for a week due to the hurricane.) Hopefully it’s done right in time for the holidays, when it’s actually pleasant to walk from the Grand Floridian or Poly to Magic Kingdom!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the finished walkway between Liberty Square and Fantasyland? Like the wider look, or prefer the more intimate, tree-lined path? 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!
Any thoughts on when room only discounts will be available for January 2020? It feels like the time should be getting close!!!!!
I have a question about the Star Wars Galaxy Edge. Are there any type of attractions that aren’t fast moving? We hope so.
Thanks, Phyllis G
Din’t Know if this weekend would still be effected by Dorian related cancellations, but as of a minute ago, according to the app, the longest wait time at WDW is 55 minutes for Frozen Ever After. Every ride, even the “blockbusters, are under an hour!!!
As a heads up – Some character buffet prices are going up on 10/1/19. I just called about Crystal Palace and the rep asked whether we were coming before or after October 1st. The increase is slightly less than 10%. I realize that this isn’t the best place to post this, but I thought you’d like to know.
Awesome
I love your posts. I just wish the date you post each article would show up at the top, or somewhere, it would really help.
Yes, I agree with you Cowellj. It would be most helpful to have the date of the blog posted at the top.
Yes please
Yes!!!
The photo of the castle that you mention is the backside is actually the front of the castle
Hi, Philip! The angle of the camera makes it look like it could be the front, but it’s definitely the backside. You can see the windows for Cinderella’s Royal Table, plus the front of the castle only has one opening while the back has several as pictured above.
I have thought the same thing – date stamping each article would be fantastic. Thanks!
do the photos suggest the moat is finally being refilled??? we didn’t care much about the walkway but the moat makes for nicer photos!
Thanks for the views. Looks like a nice day, even though a terrible storm was churning nearby. Glad it wasn’t as bad for mainland. I would love to be down there this week with 30-40 minute wait times on the best rides including Smugglers Run. That’s insane how short the waits were yesterday and today. seems like you can actually ride everything rather than spend most of your time waiting. Feel free to send me a guest pass and a plane ticket for the day after the next hurricane and I’ll join ya! haha
Beautiful pictures! Beautiful day. Can’t “see” the heat from the pics. Looks like an awesome day. Agree that cutting trees down is a bad idea. I’m sure its costly to prune all the time versus just remove but trees are important for the park ambiance and cooling/shade. At least there are dark rides to cool off with. I find DAK to be oppressively hot because I think not only the vastness to walk but also so few air conditioned attractions.
I’ve never seen the muppets patriot thing. Is that listed on the guide map in the park? What are the times?
Thanks for any info.
Muppets are at 11:05am, 12:05, 12:40, 1:10, 3:15, 3:50, 4:25 & 5:15pm. I think it’s on the times guide, but I’m not sure.
Thank you
GREAT photos,i wish mine were as good as yours.
I have a couple of comments about our late August visit just a week ago. First of all Disney banks on saying the Halloween party will have less crowds therefore getting to go on the rides “all you want”. I went years ago and it was true- we went from ride to ride and it was great! Now it is just as crowded as when you go normally . We waited almost 20-25 minutes just for “Winnie the Pooh”!! The Haunted Mansion – well you can just imagine. We hit that first because we figured that it would be most popular. As far as lines for candy, the one at Mickey’s Philharmonic was a huge line that took probably 20 minutes to get through just for a couple of candy’s. I thought the treats were free also (the specialty treats) but they are not and the lines for them aren’t worth it either so although there were several we wanted, we didn’t get any. I have to say we will not do it again as Disney – it seems- is now allowing as many people as want to go to attend and because of that, it is just as crazy and busy as a normal day at the park which is what “we paid for” to avoid. So, we sort of paid twice (first for our regular ticket) then for the Halloween party. I don’t know if you can purchase “just the halloween party” so I don’t want to be giving misinformation as we did go to a park in the morning and used our regular ticket. We went to the show at the front of the castle but that was swamped with people also and people put their kids on their shoulders so being 5’2″ I saw nothing but people so I just looked down at the ground and tried to “imagine” what was going on as I was getting frustrated. All in all we paid for what we thought would be less crowds and it was not the case. We will no attend that again. The rest of the time the crowds were pretty good in the park – better than the Halloween party for sure. We also attended the Halloween Party on a TUESDAY evening- AFTER Florida schools were back in session!! We also noticed that at Toy Story Land, there is hardly any shade and the only place we could get out of the heat for a minute was the bathroom and the door was open. The few sitting places were full and the few umbrellas we also full of people so we decided we would not go again in the summer as we just hurried through with our fast pass and got out of there. We noticed the same at most of Animal Kingdom. There are a few more places to cool off but as with the theme most of the shopping is outdoor places so again, very few places to try to cool off. The new walkway was ok. We did the parks in the am and again evening. If we went after 6 it wasn’t too bad but morning was the best due to the heat. I’ll be waiting to see what your review of the Halloween Party is…………………..
You of course can purchase “Just the Halloween party” ticket. In fact, most Disney bloggers/vloggers would say to NOT use a regular park day ticket on the day you attend the party. With the party ticket you are allowed to enter the park two hours before the party start time. It seems like the Halloween Parties are hit and miss with crowds…bummer that you got one of the busier ones. If you want to go to a Disney park where kids on shoulders is not allowed…go to Tokyo…you will find that guest behavior there is a lot more considerate…reminiscent of the way America used to be in the 50s.