Exit to your left, Please. Please exit to the left....

I've said before that i'm not a fan of Disney making big changes. Usually, I get fairly sad when I see a ride get taken out. I was beyond angered at the removal of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea from Fantasyland. I won't lie, the first time I walked into that area of the park and saw the lagoon completely filled in, I cried. The thought that nothing resembling that original ride would ever be there again absolutely broke my heart. Even walking through the park recently and realizing the fantasyland skyway tower had been demolished broke my heart.

I'm not a big fan of changes either. I think the only complete refurb on an attraction that i've ever been 100% happy with is Space Mountain. (Though I do miss Mario Lopez's brief appearance in the queue!) HOWEVER, I think I was young enough not to get worked up over the changes on Snow White's Scary Adventures. I fully admit that I was a huge chicken growing up, everything scared me. I didn't get on a coaster until I was in my twenties. I was terrified of haunted houses until I faced my fear and ended up working in an amazing one. (I suppose nothing is going to get you over your fears like standing in the middle of Eastern State Penitentiary alone in the middle of the night will.) The Snow White scared the ever loving crap out of me as a child. It took me YEARS to get back on it without practically having to be forced into one of the mine carts. So most of my encounters with one of the fiercest of Disney villains occured with my eyes closed while clutching my father for dear life.

No, Snow White isn't the most exciting of rides. No, it's not the best ride in the park. It is (or was), in my humble opinion however, a very iconic part of Fantasyland. I get what Disney's doing. I get that they're appealing to bigger crowds and trying to grow. I get that they're putting this big focus on all of the princesses. The thing is, you're taking away the ride that centers around THE ORIGINAL Disney princess. The one that really did start it all. Yes, it's not the original and I know that. They ruined that for a lot of people what? Twenty years ago? But now it's gone all together. And for what? Another meet and greet? That upsets me. Taking down an opening day attraction, a ride that has been there for 41 years to make way for another meet and greet area, that upsets me even more. The princesses are all over the damn park, there's plenty of room elsewhere.  Maybe if they were making way for something bigger, better, newer, more exciting...then I might not be as upset. But this? I just don't like it.

I don't like that Fantasyland has become this vague, twisted version of the one I treasured in my childhood. The one thing I liked about this big expansion for the "New Fantasyland" was that they were adding on. I had it in my head that Fantasyland, the way I remembered and treasured it as a child, would still be there. Little by little, it's all disappearing. First 20k, then Toad, now Snow White. Even my little corner with It's a Small World and and my beloved Peter Pan has been torn up and pretty soon i'm sure that will be beyond recognition too. Ugh.

I'll end this on a positive note and tell you the one thing I do like about the changes so far. And this is going to tag me as a really big Disney nerd. I like that they moved Dumbo. The flying elephant attraction is present at almost every Disney park and all of them, with the exception of ours, has been built over a water fixture. Disney World's was the only one that was unable to be built around/over a fountain because of the ulilidors. Birthdayland/Starland/Toontown fair was added on long after the park was added and built without utilidors, so with the moving of Dumbo to the new Storybook Circus area, we finally got our water fixture. Well, I guess it's fixtureS since we're going to have double dumbo hubs. And it really does look beautiful. I won't take that away from everything. I'm sure the new fantasyland is going to be gorgeous. And yes, i'll be there asap to check it out once my blackout dates are over and everything starts opening up. It's just sad to see everything getting moved, changed, and torn apart. Disney's killing off my childhood piece by piece, so thank goodness for memories.

Maybe this is why EPCOT took over as my favorite park. Well, this and the margaritas. And French Kevin. We can't forget him.