Yes, Woody’s Roundup!

The rootinest, tootinest, shootinest, hootinest cowboy around is finally due to make a Frontierland appearance over 12 years since the original Toy Story film. The ‘Woody’s Roundup’ name chosen for this redevelopment coming from the 1999 film Toy Story 2 and the fictional 1950s television series which Woody discovers he originated from. The name has also been suggested to be ‘Woody’s Roundup Village’ — a partner for Pocahontas Indian Village nearby, perhaps?

The new development is expected to be used for meet ‘n’ greets with the ‘Roundup Gang’, with other activities aimed at a younger audience also likely, encouraging these visitors to spend longer in a land with little specifically for children.

Riding through Frontierland on the Disneyland Railroad, the two new buildings are now unmissable in the grassy glade of the Cottonwood Creek Ranch area. Square pitched roofs have been added to both, including a decorative centre square raised above the main roof. Further progress has been made with what appears to be a new wooden structure joining these two buildings, a much more strongly-pitched roof bridging the gap to provide a very large new covered space.

Now, this kind of plywood isn’t particularly inspiring or suitable for a Western ranch post-1880. Lucky then, we can spot a second major construction step already – weathered roof tiles are already laid on the roof opposite The Chaparral Theater. Upon completion, we could imagine the buildings the appear similar obviously to those retained from Critter Corral, but also to the Disneyland Railroad Frontierland Depot itself. Woody may be from an animated film, but there appears nothing “cartoonish” whatsoever about his real-life ranch home.

The Christmas press release and information released last week also confirmed Father Christmas’ usual Town Square location is now being taken by Goofy, suggesting this development will be ready for its Christmas Village function this year. Woody’s Roundup itself, for the rest of the year, will then likely follow in 2008.

All photos by Photos Magiques. You can see the full construction gallery here.