Though the official debut is not until next week, the Merida meet-and-greet had a soft opening earlier today at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. While the red-haired character from Brave appeared at the neighboring Epcot a little over a week ago, her time there was more of a testing ground to prepare for her grand entrance at the Kingdom. After the jump, get a first look at her Magic Kingdom debut, with some photos and a video!
The Fairytale Garden, which previously hosted Tangled‘s Rapunzel, has been made-over so that Merida feels more at home. She is accompanied by three friendly yet mischievous bear cubs in a setting that includes archery, tapestries, and tartans. Our friends at Inside The Magic were there to capture the experience.
Here is a video that they shot, providing a look at the entire experience, archery lessons and all:
I love the tapestries that are draped all over, featuring art by Pixar artists. Take a look at some here:
With the film not even in theaters yet, Merida’s appearance is already drumming up some buzz at the Disney park. Wait times for meet-and-greets can get fairly long. Considering that the summer season is approaching and Brave will be hitting theaters worldwide soon, those wait times will be massive. Once you make it into the Garden, though, the various activities should keep you busy and ease the well-known wait-time blues.
Merida officially debuts at the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland next week.
Head on over to Inside The Magic for their full report, including many, many more photos.
