Ever since the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, a Magic Kingdom-style park has debuted in a different locale around the world in each subsequent decade. Tokyo Disneyland: 1983. Disneyland Paris (then called EuroDisneyland): 1992. Hong Kong Disneyland: 2005. On June 16, one of Disney’s most ambitious theme parks finally sees its day. Shanghai Disneyland Park, part of the Shanghai Disney Resort, a project in the works for more than 15 years, is an epic Magic Kingdom with unique experiences, Chinese cultural influences, and technological innovations.

As we anticipate the opening of Shanghai Disneyland, let’s peek through the curtain at what Disney has in store for its future guests.

If you have the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World, you must know which rides and shows everyone queues up for at the start of the day. At Epcot, all race toward Soarin’ or Test Track. For Animal Kingdom, Expedition Everest, and Kilimanjaro Safaris bring the longest lines. But many attractions are often unfortunately overlooked, namely because many other spectacles distract guests’ attention.

The purpose behind this Disney In Depth is to honor the many shows, exhibits, films, and rides that may be forgotten in the mix of the most popular attractions at Walt Disney World. Here are my 10 Most Overlooked Walt Disney World Attractions.

“When you read, don’t just consider what the author thinks, consider what you think.”

So true are the words of John Keating, the character from the movie Dead Poets Society portrayed by Robin Williams in an Oscar-nominated performance. The actor’s death, tragic in that a man who gave the world so much joy could never appear to possess joy himself, continues to startle Hollywood. There are few performers we could call “genius,” but Williams was one of them, an irrefutably gifted comic-turned-actor who was as much a poetic dramatic actor as he was a comedic revelation.

Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Malcolm Smith’s got to utter the famous phrase on Sunday night “I’m going to Disney World” after his team, the Seattle Seahawks, won the big game 43-8 over the Denver Broncos. Each year, the Super Bowl MVP gives this excited response about going to Disney World (or sometimes to Disneyland, depending on where the game is held) when asked on the football field immediately after the win – “You’ve just won the Super Bowl. What are you going to do next?”

On Monday, the Seahawks linebacker arrived in Orlando, FL, from the New York/New Jersey area where the game took place the night before, to take part in Disney World’s celebratory Super Bowl parade at the Magic Kingdom park.

Check out a video here below of part of the parade, as well as some words from Smith about his whirlwind experience.

Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark on HBO’s Game Of Thrones, took a recent vacation to Disney World in Orlando, FL, where she was able to pull the famed sword from the stone at the Magic Kingdom theme park.

Check out the photo here below of the 16-year-old actress at Disney World at the end of August, sporting Minnie Mouse ears and happily lifting the sword.

The Sword in the Stone attraction, based on the 1963 animated Arthurian movie, is located in front of Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel in Fantasyland. Back in the 1990s, there was a “Sword in the Stone Ceremony,” where Merlin would select a child from the crowd to pull the sword out of the stone. Although there’s no longer a show, guests frequently take photos at the park attempting to draw the sword. While the sword is typically firmly in the stone, periodically, a guest is able to remove it.

Welcome back to Disney In Depth for the “top five” of a special two-part edition that explores the movies that deserve theme park attractions. Just in case you missed the previous edition, you can check it out here.

Before exploring the “most deserving” films, we cannot ignore the movies that would least work as attractions. Among them are great films and some bad ones, too.

If you’ve been to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Florida recently, you’ve seen that the Fantasyland area is under heavy construction — that’s because the area is currently undergoing a major expansion that will nearly double the size of the original Fantasyland.

One of the main objectives of the expansion is to add a whole bunch of new Beauty and the Beast-themed attractions, eateries, and architecture, including Beast’s Castle!

Check out the image here below, via Disney Parks Blog, that provides a sneak peek of Beast’s Castle, which will house the Be Our Guest restaurant, scheduled to open in late 2012. The restaurant is said to “offer a lavish dining experience in the castle’s elegant ballroom, gallery and mysterious “west-wing.” Eventually, other Beauty and the Beast-themed buildings will open around the Castle, like Gaston’s Tavern, Bonjour! Village Gifts, and the cottage of Belle’s father, Maurice. And of course, there will be a meet-and-greet with Belle and her friends.

A new interactive queue is coming to The Haunted Mansion attraction at Magic Kingdom Park at Disney World Resort in Florida.

Disney Parks Blog has released a video sneak peek at the ride’s queue, which you can watch here below.

If you’ve ever visited this popular haunted attraction, you’ll recall seeing grave stones and other spooky elements throughout the queue that leads to the ride. Now, the Imagineers at Disney have taken some of those familiar elements and placed them throughout the area, and they’ve also added new features that not only introduced never-been-used concepts, but also make them interactive.

Deadline is reporting that The Walt Disney Company isn’t done with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen quite yet. The company is reportedly seeking to re-team the two actors, who voiced Woody and Buzz Lightyear in all three Toy Story movies, in a live-action project called Jungle Cruise.

The movie will be based on the theme park ride of the same name found at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. The ride sees park-goers jumping on a riverboat and navigating many rivers as animatronic animals pass by. The script is being written by Roger S.H. Schulman, who was a writer on Shrek and has penned many of Disney’s sequels like Mulan II, The Jungle Book 2, and Bambi II.

The artist Shag will be at Disney World in Orlando today (Monday, January 31, 2011) signing deluxe art prints of his Disney World 40th Anniversary Map. This is the only day the print will be available until Shag’s entire Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary art collection is unveiled later this summer. The sneak peak and signing will take place today at the Main Street Gallery at the Magic Kingdom from noon to 2PM. The Deluxe Print dimensions are 16×20 inches, complete with double mat, and retail for $35.

The Disney World 40th Anniversary Map artwork, which you can view above, incorporates elements from the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Resort, and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, all with Shag’s original style.