Fantasyland

Fantasyland in Disneyland

**Fantasyland** is one of the original, "lands" of the Disney Parks and is found in every Disney Park except Tokyo DisneySea.

## Description

Fantasyland is an anachronistic kingdom themed to fairy-tales and classic stories oriented towards youths. In Disneyland it is themed to being a sort of Bavarian village environment while in the Magic Kingdom it is divided into the general areas of the Enchanted Forest, Castle Courtyard and Storybook Circus. It also holds the castle at the centre of its respective park, Cinderella's castle in Disney World and Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland.

Fantasyland's crest is a blue and magenta shield in four segments decorated with Tinkerbell from Peter Pan and the letter, "F". The plaque to Fantasyland is decorated with a symbol of its castle and reads:

> "*Fantasyland; the Happiest Kingdom of them all. Here is the world of imagination, hopes and dreams. In the 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 young-at-heart- to those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.* -Walt Disney."
>
>

## Attractions

### Disneyland

#### Matterhorn Bobsleds

Matterhorn Bobsleds is an attraction which Fantasyland shares with Tomorrowland.

## Connections

### 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The attraction *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage* in the Magic Kingdom was located in an area of Fantasyland representing the isle of Vulcania. *Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid* in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom takes up some of the space which was previously occupied by *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage* and several tributes to the defunct attraction can be found nearby. This includes how a bottle of water taken from Submarine Lagoon was smashed over the entry-way to the ride on its opening day, reminiscent of the christening of a ship.

In the ride itself, Ned Land's song from the film, "A Whale of a Tale" is played within the queue as part of its audio-track.Additionally, rock-work around Prince Eric's castle is made in the likeness of the Nautilus (though it is dubious if in-world this is a natural formation or carving). The weathervane of the cartography shop across from Prince Eric's castle has a weather-vane in the likeness of the Giant Squid which sunk the Nautilus and which appeared in the ride as-well.

### Discovery Bay

The proposed attraction *Professor Marvel's Balloon Descent* was skyway-inspired attraction which would connect Discovery Bay to a proposed, "Dumbo's Circus" expansion of Fantasyland. Said Fantasyland expansion was realized with the Magic Kingdom's version of the land albeit without the balloon descent. The character of Prof. Marvel would go on to evolve into the Dreamfinder in *Journey Into Imagination*.

### Disney Springs

A gate-change poster in the market-place co-op mentions an airline connecting the Enchanted Forest to the town of Disney Springs, Florida along with the ID, "SB 2011" referring to Storybrooke and the 2011 release of the show *Once Upon a Time*. Given the show's continuity however, it is unlikely that this is referring to the forest from Once Upon a Time within lore.

Both Fantasyland in the Disney Parks and the Enchanted Forest of Once Upon a Time portray a similar, anachronistic, melting-pot hybrid of different fairy-tale settings. In the Magic Kingdom, the name, "The Enchanted Forest" is used to refer to a forested area of Fantasyland which combines the settings for:  *The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,* and *Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs* along with tributes and connections to *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea*.

### Expedition Everest

The Forbidden Mountain of the Himalayas and the Matterhorn are both Disney Parks mountains which are home to territorial yetis. Expedition Everest contains several subtle references/homages to Matterhorn Bobsleds as a result. Notably at the end of the ride, advertisements and promotional materials utilized white-furred, blue-skinned, fanged yetis as mascots for yeti-gimmicked paraphernalia. In particular is the, "Yeti Brand Tinned Meat" which has the quote, "Hygienic, Tasty and Compact" from mountaineer Klaus Wesselhoft, a mountaineer who scaled the Matterhorn in the film Third Man on the Mountain (1959).

The Yeti of the Matterhorn however looks considerably different from its Himalayan counterpart; it around 6' tall while the Everest yeti is is 25' tall, the Matterhorn Yeti has white fur not covering its face or hands revealing blue skin while the Himalayan yeti has brown fur completely covering its body with some pink flesh being visible, and the Matterhorn yeti having red eyes while the Himalayan yeti has yellow eyes.

#### Wilderness Explorers

The depictions of the yeti in the *Wilderness Explorers Guidebook* (belonging to the Wilderness Explorers group from Up) for its section dedicated to Anandapur are modelled after the Matterhorn's yeti from the Disney attraction *Matterhorn Bobsleds* rather than the Yeti of Expedition Everest.

### Frontierland

Frontiersman Davy Crockett's iconic coonskin cap can be spotted adorning an antler chandelier within this tavern belonging to the villainous hunter Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. The Davy Crockett miniseries was the primary factor in the creation of Frontierland at the Disney Parks. During Frontierland's early days, it was heavily themed to Davy Crockett with Crockett being the namesake of many attractions. However unless this is pertaining to a **Fantasyland** counterpart to Crockett, it is unlikely that this is truly belonging to Davy Crockett given its 18th century French provincial setting.

### Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!

In the Collector's office collection within his fortress is the severed head from one of the dolls from the attraction *It's a Small World.* Additionally the original yeti animatronic from Matterhorn Bobsleds in in storage within the Tivan Group's collection. It is unknown what the nature of this appearance is I.E. if it is intended to be an a canonical audio-animatronic/robot, a taxidermy/petrified alien which incidentally resembles the yeti, or perhaps a taxidermy yeti taken from the Matterhorn or some other ecosystem with yetis. Another theory to rationalize this is that the original yeti and current yeti are actually separate members of the same species but the original was killed/captured and obtained by the Collector.

### Haunted Mansion

The Tokyo Disneyland version of the Haunted Mansion is located in Fantasyland and is modelled after the Sleepy Hollow influenced, upstate New York mansion from the Magic Kingdom's version of the attraction. Said mansion is featured in the Disney Kingdoms Haunted Mansion comics where it is shown by the Hatbox Ghost to be one of the haunted locations connected to the manor by its Ghostly Materials Gallery and endless staircase.

In the Magic Kingdom and several live-events, Mr. Toad from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride has been shown to be one of the estate's ghosts and buried in the mansion's pet cemetery. In the *Beauty and the Beast* themed gift-shop *Bonjour! Gifts* is a portrait depicting a man representing a fictionalized version of *Magic Kingdom* president Phil Holmes. In the man's possession is a roll of wallpaper from the Haunted Mansion. Additionally, both the Haunted Mansion and Snow White's Adventures (now Snow White's Enchanted Wish) were largely developed by one Claude Coats and contain multiple parallels between them.

### Phantom Manor

Griffins mounted in Ravenswood Manor within Madame Leota's chamber are taken from the Queen's dungeon lair from Snow White's Scary Adventure in this attraction.

### Skipper Canteen

There are several books in the *Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen* alluding to characters, attractions and features traditionally affiliated with Fantasyland. Amongst these are *The Mystery Castle* by Cindy Ella which is in-reference to Walt Disney World's iconic *Cinderella's Castle*, namely through the defunct Tokyo Disneyland attraction of the *Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour*. There is also *The Wildest Ride* by J.T. Toad. This is an allusion to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, an opening day attraction for Disneyland and Walt Disney World which themed around the adventures of Mr. J. Thaddeus Toad from *The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad* (1949).

Another book is *A Small World of Traditional Wardrobe* by A. Davis. This references the attraction *It's a Small World* as-well as imagineer Alice Davis who created the wardrobes for the animatronic figures of attractions, including Small World. Another book is *A View from Above* by S.W. Buckets which is a reference to the now defunct Sky-Way which once passed over Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. There is also *The 1871 Annual Review of Song* by M.M.R.,n allusion to the defunct *Mickey Mouse Revue* attraction which opened in 1971 with it revolving around Disney characters performing musical numbers.

### Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

The car keys of J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq. from *The Wind in the Willows,* *The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad* (1949), and the attraction *Mr. Toad's Wild Ride* are hung from the rafters of this Polynesian Village bar run by Trader Sam from the Jungle Cruise. This being a gag on Mr. Toad being an infamously horrible driver who would not be allowed to drive at all in Sam's establishment where he would be drinking.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/walt-disney-world-magic-kingdom-1929708562
2. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2017/10/gate-change.html
3. ↑ http://ultimateorlando.blogspot.com/2014/01/matterhorn-tribute-in-expedition.html
4. ↑ https://schmirfle.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-wilderness-explorers-handbook.html
5. ↑ https://www.mouseplanet.com/10145/Visiting\_Gastons\_Tavern
6. ↑ https://www.slashfilm.com/guardians-of-the-galaxy-mission-breakout-easter-eggs/3/
7. ↑ http://ultimateorlando.blogspot.com/2012/10/magic-kingdom-president-has-tribute-in.html