Our first ride was Peter Pan, which we walked straight on.
After that was Winnie the Pooh, which we had to stand in line for maybe 5 minutes for.
I don't really know why I try to get ride pictures anymore, but I do. I always, always try to get a picture of us in the mirror during the Heffalumps and Woozles dream sequence.
You can almost see us.
After that, we headed into the new section of Fantasyland. We stopped to peek in on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train construction site.
And then entered the Beauty and the Beast area.
It was an overcast morning, so I didn't take too many pictures. It was too gray for anything to look all that great, plus I knew we'd be back later in the week.
When we got to Journey of the Little Mermaid, there was only a 10 minute wait so we decided to ride.
We wound our way through the very long queue lines without stopping until the loading room.
It was only a few minutes before we boarded our clamshell and got our first look at the new ride.
My reaction? It was a very cute ride and I applaud WDW for finally adding a new dark ride that wasn't simply a CGI-based experience. Having said that, I do have some minor complaints. Other than Ursula, there was very little actual movement of any of the characters. They were just there or rocked back and forth in a very simple motion. Audio-animatronics this is not. Also, the fact that they had the clamshells circle each scene meant that you saw the other people in the other clamshells during that time. I've always enjoyed the feeling of having a solo experience on most of the other dark rides. Once you enter your doom buggy in the Haunted Mansion, you hardly ever see anyone else in their ride vehicle. With this ride, it was every friggin scene. But I'm not complaining. Much.
The sun was trying to break through the clouds as we left, so I took a quick picture of the entrance sign.
Then it was off to the new Dumbo.
The wait time was only 10 minutes here as well, so we got in line.
There is now an indoor playground in the line for Dumbo. When there is a longer than 20 minute wait, they issue pagers and let you wander in the play area until your time to ride comes up. Why didn't they do this when my kids were little? Since there was hardly any wait, we just bypassed the playground and enter the corral to wait for the next flight of Dumbo.
Now that there are two bigger Dumbo carousels to load guests onto and the playground area instead of a long waiting line, parents with little kiddos should find this ride a much more pleasant experience. Oh, and they won't let you waste time standing alongside your Dumbo snapping pictures of your little smoochie-poo. They have a stationary Dumbo at the exit specifically for that purpose.
Our next stop was supposed to be our first experience with FastPass+ using our Magic Bands. We had 10am to 11am FPs for Storytime with Belle (which is the other new thing in Fantasyland we've never done, so by golly we were doing it at least once). We got to the entrance and the Cast Member working the line told us that there was only a 10 minute wait and it would be the same whether we went in the Fast Pass or the Standby line, so he recommended changing our FP+ instead of wasting it. So, we got in the standby line and I pulled out my phone. Click, click, click on the MDE app and I changed our FP+ to Buzz Lightyear.
I liked the details inside Belle's house.
We did stand there for about 10 minutes and then we were ushered into the dungeon of Beast's Castle. A CM comes out and gives you a brief backstory and then... (Don't watch if you don't want a spoiler for the attraction, because it was a way cool surprise when I saw it!)
After that, you are lead into the wardrobe room where, duh, the talking Wardrobe helps to assign the parts for the upcoming "storytime" with Belle. I have a video of it, but Blogger refuses to let me upload it no matter how I trim it or reformat it. Anyway, Joshua was picked as a soldier in the story. We tried to get Daniel to volunteer as something, but he wasn't the least bit interested. Oh, well.
After all the characters are selected, you are lead into the fireplace room where the story takes place. Every time I thought I had seen the coolest thing, there was something even cooler. Lumiere on the mantle was unreal. Again, I have video, but Blogger won't let me share. I've even tried to add them to a new post, thinking maybe there was a one video per post rule. Still get the error message. Sigh.
They had a Photopass photographer taking pictures of each character with Belle. I snapped one too. They hand you a card (don't even offer to take your existing Photopass card) and you can order that picture completely separate from Photopass. I couldn't find a way to link that card to my Photopass account. Oh, well. I'll just stick with my quick snapshot then.
After the picture, Belle handed each participant a bookmark and a little bell-shaped card with a rose on it that said Happy Holidays and Limited Time Magic. This was our only experience with Limited Time Magic. I thought it was cute, but seriously? This is supposed to be a big deal? I'm underwhelmed. 
My reaction is that this is a completely adorable experience for those with small kids, but they have made it enjoyable for people of all ages. In the wardrobe room they give anyone that wants a part the opportunity to participate, so even if your kid (or you) doesn't get picked and they want to play along... speak up! They have plenty of props to go around. I think it is worth doing at least once, for the coolness factor alone. I don't know that I would do it every trip, but I am really glad we did it this time.
Our time for Buzz Lightyear FPs were approaching, so time to leave Fantasyland!
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