“Pooh’s Playful Spot,” added just last week to the Magic Kingdom, is the newest attraction to hit Walt Disney World. The attraction is so new, in fact, that it didn’t show up at all on the park guide maps distributed to park guests this past Saturday. Pooh’s Playful Spot is a new playground area that has been built at the far East end of Fantasyland.
The sign located at the entryway of the Playful Spot gives the ground rules and tells a lot about this new area. It truly was designed for the youngest of children, ages 2 to 5 years old.
The sign at Pooh’s Playful Spot gives the ground rules. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The playground area, which I’m guessing is only about 20 yards deep by 50 yards wide, is visually dominated by Pooh’s tree that sits smack in the middle of the Playful Spot.
The honey tree is the centerpiece of Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The next picture gives a good idea of the location of this playground. It’s directly across from the Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, which is a pretty reasonable location for a Pooh-themed play area.
The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh is just across the walkway from Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
At the base of the tree, you see a small door that leads into a small abode…
The side door to Mr. Saunder’s House provides another entrance to the Honey Tree. Photo by Brian Bennett.
…which according to the sign belongs to a certain “Mr. Saunders.” Of course, Winnie-the-Pooh fans know that Pooh lives here.
The sign show’s that Mr. Saunder’s owns this house under the honey tree. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Clearly, this play area isn’t intended for 40-some-year-old-men to be traipsing through… so I left the house for the kids.
A peak inside Mr. Saunder’s House under the Honey Tree shows that it’s definately designed for the younger kids. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Beside the front door, there is a slightly larger side entrance into the house, too.
The side door to Mr. Saunder’s House provides another entrance to the Honey Tree. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The theming of the area is very well done. The House, for example, is a piece of art. The designers and builders of this play area did a tremendous job.
This picture from the rear of Mr. Saunder’s House shows the great attention to detail in the new play area. Photo by Brian Bennett.
If you look carefully as you stroll around the Playful Spot, you see some fun things. Piglet, for example, is the only 100 Acre Wood character that actually appears in the Playful Spot. The other characters are referred to, but are not shown.
Piglet is the only 100 Acre Wood character that actually appears in Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
But there is plenty of reference to honey, honeybees, honey pots, and the like.
The bee hive gives a bit of atmosphere to the honey tree. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Over to the right side of the Playful Spot (as viewed from the entry) is a “dry” playground area. There are some climbing toys and a small slide here. Again, they are very much oriented toward younger children.
The climbing toys in Pooh’s Playful Spot are also designed for the very youngest of children. Photo by Brian Bennett.
My 5-year-old, Michael, enjoyed playing here, but spent a lot more of his time over in another area of the Playful Spot that we’ll see in just a moment.
Michael poses on the climbing toys in Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The whole of the Playful Spot is surrounded by a berm that looks much like Splash Mountain’s architecture. “Rocks” and painted concrete (designed to look like earth) keep the kids in the central play area. That berm, though, is decorated a bit. It appears, for example, that Pooh left some honey pots over here.
Honey pots decorate the berm of Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
A few yards away, a sign announces that “Rabbitz Howze” is here… but except for a darkened area in the berm (perhaps intended to be the hole into Rabbit’s house that Pooh once got stuck in), that’s the extent of it.
A sign for “Rabbit’s howse” is on display, but Rabbit’s house is nowhere to be seen in Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
In another area of the Playful Spot, another sign attributed to Rabbit lays down the law to Tigger.
A sign display’s Rabbit’s “no bouncing” warning for Tigger. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Elsewhere, “Pooh’s Thotful Spot” and another honeypot are shown…
A sign points out that this is “Pooh’s Thotful Spot.” Photo by Brian Bennett.
…as is Gopher’s “Howse”…
A sign for “Gopher howse” is on display, but Gopher’s house is nowhere to be seen in Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
…and “Eeyore’s Gloomy Place.”
A sign identifies this as “Eeyore’s Gloomy Place.” Photo by Brian Bennett.
The latter is acted out by my older son, Allan.
A sign identifying this as “Eeyore’s Gloomy Place” is demonstrated by Allan. Photo by Brian Bennett.
In another area of the Playful Spot, a couple of huge honey pots provide more climbing opportunities.
Honey pot climbing toys lie in the center of Pooh’s Playful Spot. Photo by Brian Bennett.
But the highlight of the entire area, at least to my two boys, was the “Floody Place.”
A sign identifies this as the “Floody Place” but it’s barely more than a puddle. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Again, this area was designed for children 2 to 5 years of age, so the “Floody Place” is a lot less elaborate than it could have been.
Kids hang out at the Foody Place. Photo by Brian Bennett.
There is no standing water, but if you’re patient enough, and stand in just the right place, eventually you’ll get wet.
Children enjoy the Floody Place. Photo by Brian Bennett.
And if your parents allow it, you can get really wet—as demonstrated here, for your viewing pleasure, by Michael Bennett.
Michael checks out the water features of the floody place. Photo by Brian Bennett.
It seems to be a hit.
You may get wet—perfect for the adventurous kid on a really hot day… but bring a towel. Photo by Brian Bennett.
One other thing to point out is this sign that warns everyone to be wary of Heffalumps and Woozles but we never saw any Heffalumps or Woozles here at the Playful Spot.
Guests are warned about heffalumps and woozles. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Although the area is reasonably large, it pales in comparison to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playset at the Disney Studios and the Boneyard at Animal Kingdom. Pooh’s Playful Spot is designed for the very youngest set, and makes no allowances for the fact that older ones might enjoy a fun place to play and get some excess energy out of the way. I suppose that means Tom Sawyer Island still has a purpose at the Magic Kingdom, which isn’t a bad thing.
The final summary? My boys seem to like it.
The boys agree: “Pooh’s Playful Spot is a fun place to hang out.” Photo by Brian Bennett.
Now if we can only get another ride built in Fantasyland…
