With Teevtee off galavanting through famed naturalist John Muir’s back yard, I figured I should probably get off my lazy butt and post something good here. But instead I went to Magic Kingdom.

It was a nice stroll through the park near sunset, which is probably my favorite time of day to visit (my second favorite time is at precisely 3:47 a.m., when the time portal opens and for a brief moment, you can see a shimmering vision of Horizons beyond the clouds).

Walking through Adventureland, I took note of several things: Walls still up around the Tiki Room. Tarps up over the gate to Frontierland. And a bit of strange newness right near the entrance to Pirates.

Nothing conspicuous here at all.

It stood out because it’s a bit of bad show. It’s nothing more than new a frame at the base of the Torro del Cielo (the big tower at the front of Pirates). This was until recently a grate-covered window, possibly an old ticket window from long ago. Today it is roughly (read: badly) outlined in grey primer, and two exposed speakers have been installed on either side. The stone edging along the bottom also appears to have been altered.

Clearly it’s a work in progress. There’s no way that’s the final paint job, unless they recently hired chimpanzees to work the night shift. And so help me, those speakers weren’t there before. I’m surprised there wasn’t a wall around it, since they’ve got more work to do.

I can only assume that this is preparation for that Adventureland Scavenger Hunt thing, which is sort of a Kim Possible clone from Epcot, but without the easily stolen cell phones. We’ll probably see a few more of these things popping up from time to time in the next few weeks.

Cleverly hidden speaker, just like in pirate times!

In other news, someone has suddenly decided to replace lightbulbs in Pirates. I think it’s the same chimps. There were at least three separate spots in the ride where things were suddenly a lot brighter. I noticed it in the Auction scene, where the Auctioneer and his cohort were suddenly blasted in yellow lighting, and also some background lighting in the flaming village scene.

It was grievously bad in the section of village directly behind the Hairy Leg pirate. The whole set was lit up with bright red lighting, illuminating the black painted walls and faux facades. The lighting quality looked different, more LED than anything. I think somebody needs to go back through and dial it down some.

The Fairies were also back in the Magic Kingdom, and working full time in their new location inside the Adventureland Veranda. I didn’t want to wait in the line to see their actual set, but I did step into the restaurant to explore the queue area. They’ve definitely put some work into this. Previous character areas were nothing more than backdrops, within the space of the old restaurant. This time, there’s a wall dissecting the middle of the area, and most of the interior has been repainted in a new blue color scheme.

It’s hard to tell in this grainy photo, but that center painting on the wall is actually a flat panel display of some sort. I presume it changes periodically, but I didn’t stay to watch. As an adult man, I tend to feel uncomfortable hanging out in the greeting area for pixies.

Also, with the rumor that the Main Street Firehouse (boarded up) is about to become a character greeting area, or possibly the starting place for the Scavenger Hunt, the cynic in me tells me we have seen the last of the Frontierland Shootin’ Gallery. In spite of the fact that they have a huge open space in Diamond Horseshoe, and another fairly recent spot for Davy Crockett Donald, I have a sneaking suspicion we’re about to get more greeting areas there. Just a hunch, but the Shootin’ Gallery feels like something the current management wouldn’t care about.

Finally, I leave you with a picture of the windmill on Tom Sawyer’s Island. I lucked into the dramatic lighting, and couldn’t resist sharing this.

Not representative of my normal photo-taking skills.