Since early this year the wide walkways functioning as parade route to the right of Central Plaza a undergoing a roling full replacement rehab. As a result half of the parade route is blocked and the parade has been shortened allowing it to run from Town Square up to Central Plaza, then wind around Central Plaza and head back to Town Square. However, this is “old” news in the meantime. But then, when the construction walls for this repaving project was moved once again some surprise showed up at the Castle Stage…
The theater hasn’s seen a ful-fledged show since ”Winnie, the Pooh … and friends, too” was re-imagined and moved into the Fantasy Festival Stage, instead functioning as an oversized photo location for the Disney Princesses. This also meant that the large auditorium with its stone benches is sitting unused excepts for the first view rows and the benches on the far sides which guests make use of during the parades as these pass through the open air theater. This could explain that the majority of the benches suddenly have disappeared in the left half of the auditorium, with only every second row still remaining standing in the rear section of the left half – as seen on the photos taken on Friday.
Should the benches not return any hopes of fans - that the Castle Stage may be returned to its original glory as theater once the Disney Princesses will receive their own indoor location in Fantasyland – will take a severe hit.
I wonder what they are up to. Maybe they have removed the benches to make it easier for people using that way to get to Fantasyland, it was tricky for people with strollers and probably just about impossible if you were using a wheelchair. It was a nuisance that you couldn’t walk to Fantasyland that way and there was no chance of the handy short cut from Fantasyland to Discoveryland that sometimes is available when the big gates are open, either. It took a bit longer to get round that side of the park, so let’s hope the new paving will last and they don’t take away the open air theatre.