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PHOTOS - Town Square Theater soft opening including Mickey meet and greet
Mar 30, 2011
This morning saw the first soft opening of the new Town Square Theater, the new permanent home of the Mickey Mouse meet and greet, and the very first to receive FASTPASS. The attraction opens officially on Friday April 1 2011, but we got a sneak peek at the new theater and the Mickey Mouse meet and greet a few days early.
The main entrance is comprised of two distinct sides, to the left Disney's Storybook Princesses, and to the right Backstage Magic with Mickey Mouse. (For a look at the other parts of the lobby, including the entrance to Tony's Restaurant see our update from earlier this week here.) The Princesses at this location are Cinderella, Aurora and Belle, and at Backstage Magic with Mickey Mouse, you should see both Mickey and Minnie on most days. Within each of the sides, there is a standby line and a FASTPASS line. Once you enter your chosen line the space opens up into a huge indoor queue, beautifully decorated with posters on all the walls. Look at the posters long enough and you'll see them spring to life, as Mickey Mouse performs a magic trick or two. You can see a video of one of the posters on our video page here.
Working through the queue you head into the Theater Offices, a much smaller space where the line is split into groups. From there you move into the actual dressing room of Master Magician Mickey Mouse for a backstage meet and greet before he heads on stage. The room is wonderfully detailed and decorated with all kinds of props and details to take in. There are references to Disney parks from around the world, including a reference to Club 33. The photo opportunity looks wonderful, full of rich colors and textures, guests should get some great Photopass photos here. Hardwood floors and detailed ceilings complete the scene.
Exiting the meet and greet you move into an all new shop, Curtain Call Collectibles. It features all kinds of character merchandise, and again is very well decorated.
This new meet and greet experience is a big leap forward over the old Judges Tent, both visually and functionally. FASTPASS is not yet running, but once it officially opens on Friday it should make a huge difference for guests wanting to meet Mickey. Imagineering have once again done a great job refurbishing an area into a great new addition for the Magic Kingdom.
Head to the photos below for a complete walk through of the new area and shop, along with some pictures Mickey and Minnie. As always. click the thumbnails for a larger version.
Click here for a video of the animated posters, and let us know what you think about the new attarction on our forums here.
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Photos by WDWMAGIC
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The main entrance with separate wait time clocks for both the Princesses and Mickey meet and greets
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The Princess wait time clock
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Backstage Magic with Mickey Mouse wait time clock
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The lobby area, Princesses to the left and Mickey Mouse to the right
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The Princesses currently appearing are indicated on the signage
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The huge indoor queue area
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Mickey Mouse magic posters in the queue
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The posters come to life
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Another shot of the same poster as above
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A look back at the queue towards the entrance
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More of the animated posters
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Heading into the Theater Offices to be sorted into groups prior to going backstage
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The final part of the queue in the Theater Offices
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Inside Mickey's dressing room backstage at the theater
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The bunny ears are animated and move
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Notice the hardwood floors and lush details
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Sorcery Mickey robe and hat on standby
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Mouse makeup
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A closeup of the rabbit in the hat
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More of the detailed set pieces inside the dressing room
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The photo location, with Mickey and Minnie Mouse
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Photopass are on hand to take your photo
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Street signage letting guests know where to go to meet the master illusionist
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The character gift shop Curtain Call Collectibles
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Inside Curtain Call Collectibles
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Related news articles
Town Square Theater
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Photos (87 images) |
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