By Leah Zanolla
Our daughter has most of the Disney Animators Collection princess dolls, so she and I have been working our way through watching each princess' movie. She's enjoyed them all, but really fell in love with Tangled, so I have watched it many times in the past month. I was at Walt Disney World last week and while in the Magic Kingdom, took a little extra time to walk through Kingdom Crossing, or as it is more commonly known - the Tangled bathrooms.
Located in between Fantasyland and Liberty Square (basically across from the Peter Pan queue), this area opened in March 2013. As I mentioned, this area has become known as the Tangled bathrooms, but there is really so much more here. There are lots of benches which make this a great place to sit and relax, even if you're not waiting for a member of your party to use the bathrooms. Across the walkway, you'll find mobile charging stations and a little look and find game for kids.
I've been through here many times, but after watching the movie so many times recently, I was really struck by all the details here in the theming. There are so many little nods to the film that most guests probably just walk right by. I hope you enjoy checking out all these details as much as I did!
The sun design is a key symbol in the film. It represents Rapunzel's kingdom and ends up being one of the things she recognizes as she is realizing who she actually is. The lanterns shown here are replicas of the lanterns that are lit every year on her birthday, as a way to remember the lost princess.
Flynn Rider's messenger bag is hanging up above the window. I didn't even notice this at first, because the brown bag blended in so well.
This frying pan was pretty easy to spot, and if you've seen the film, you'll recognize it as Rapunzel's weapon of choice when "defending" herself against Flynn. What I hadn't noticed before was what the pan was attached to - it's the armor of one of the palace guards!
The next three photos are posters hanging on the walls. They each showcase one of the men Rapunzel meets in the Snuggly Duckling and have some great humor in them.
As you'll see in the next few photos, the theme even carries through inside the bathrooms.
Disney even pays attention to the details on a "cast members only" door. In this case, the crest-shaped sign says "Kingdom Staff Only" and features a photo of Maximus, the palace guard's horse, who is in fact, "Kingdom Staff."
These horseshoe prints lead the way down the path toward the Haunted Mansion. I had seen these before, but this time, looked closer and realized that they actually say "Maximus" on them. What a great touch that is most likely overlooked all day long!
In the movie, Maximus loves to eat apples, so Disney Imagineers have included a basket of apples (one is partially eaten) along the pathway where you see his footprints.
The next three photos are part of a fun little "look and find" game located in and around the mobile charging area. There are 10 chameleons hidden throughout the area. Our kids love to stop and see how many they can find when we're walking by. Since they're chameleons and blend in with their surroundings, some can be tricky to find!
In addition to being a useful area that's also full of details, Kingdom Crossing is beautiful! I saw many little princesses stopping to get their photos taken here in front of Rapunzel's tower. Who knows - maybe someday Disney will have Rapunzel and Flynn doing meet and greets here!
