Major Changes Coming to the Central Hub of the Magic Kingdom

Hello, and welcome to Dateline Disney World! This week, we’re talking about some major changes coming to the Hub at the Magic Kingdom, as well as the typical round of news. Let’s go!

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!

Sidewalk work is still happening on Main Street, as well as exterior work near the Confectionary.

Casey’s Corner is open again, but some bad news came along with it.

Disney expanded the seating options for the restaurant, but it was at the expense of the awesome baseball themed bleachers as well as the screen that used to play old baseball themed cartoons.

There are two large hooks on that big wall, so hopefully a new screen will go up. If not, it is a big loss of one of the charming little details in the park.

Next up, there have been some confirmed huge changes coming to the central Hub of the park (the circular park in front of the castle which plays host to the Walt and Mickey (Partners) statue. There will now be two central ‘rings’ to the Hub, which will make for better guest flow, and to allow Disney to get FP+ viewing locations for parades and fireworks out of the way of normal traffic. Some of this work has started already with the clearing of some trees and handrails over near the Crystal Palace.

I’m really glad this fountain is still there, though.

The new Hub will also have lots of ways to get in and out, and will apparently include some nice topiaries, sculpted plants, and water features, very similar to that of Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.

They have drained out the moat already, and many ‘boxes’ are scattered through the Hub in preparation for this project, which Disney says will be completed by 2015.

Judging by the concept art video and the ideas behind this, I am cautiously optimistic. It will be quite nice to get rid of the crazy bottlenecking in this area, and I feel like the new landscaping will probably be very well done, especially considering this is the central focal point of the park.

Work still continues near Liberty Square.

Lots of trees have been in bloom lately, it’s a lovely time to be in the park.

Walls up at Village Haus.

Old FastPass signage still covered by black tarps. I’d love to see these just get modified or taken down already.

Lots of artificial grass and flowers are being installed on the top of the Mine Train right now. It really makes a big difference in the landscape.

The track has had some scuffing and scratching from the trains. There are already some sections of track which have been (or are being) repainted.

King Triton has popped up near the Mermaid DVC kiosk this week.

Lots of mulch.

The crane behind Cinderella Castle has been around for weeks now.

Lots of Main Street Vehicles were running this week, which I love to see.

That does it for this week! What do you all think of the changes coming to the Hub? Like the way the Mine Train is starting to look? Let us know in the comments!!