Toontown let down

[kathiep]

I was just wondering if anyone else felt that Toontown was a bit of a let down?

Don't misunderstand me, I think it was cute and my kids liked it.

I guess I was just expecting more. We have been to many local amusements parks, etc and I guess since it's Disney, I was expecting so much more from this area.

I would like to see a few more rides and I think that Donald's boat could be a much better water play area.

What do you think?

[Darin M]

The houses are cute, but could be more interactive. Donalds boat is a joke. Toontown needs some refurb. Don't get me wrong, I still love it.

[Deesdisney]

I still like toontown but I wish they would have made it to look like the one at Disneyland. That one is great. It looks almost like opening a book and walking in to it.

[TexasPrincessAurora]

The one at Disneyland is far superior to the one at WDW. It would be great if they could expand and improve it to be comparable. There is so much more to see and do. They have a ceremony each morning where the characters come out and make everyone honorary ToonTown citizens. There is just so much more that could be done with the one at WDW.

[DisneyTwinsMommy]

I agree that it could be a lot more interactive... I do love touring Mickey and Minnie's houses, but even them I have found over the yers to be becoming "tired-looking." It is also quite far from most other areas...If you are not in the mood to wait in a lengthy line to get your picture taken, there is almost no reason to be there... Now that said, our next trip will be our first one with our children, I may be changing my mind!

[Polynesian Dweller]

The one at Disneyland is far superior to the one at WDW. It would be great if they could expand and improve it to be comparable.

Agree completely. Given what they produced out there I don't understand why Disney can't do as well at WDW. Time for a refurb. :mickey:

[DNS]

I like Toontown at WDW, but I have read a lot about how much better the one at Disneyland is. It's surprising that they don't make them more the same.

[angedeaile]

I like Toontown at WDW, but I have read a lot about how much better the one at Disneyland is. It's surprising that they don't make them more the same.

Yeah, I didn't think that the two toontowns would be that different. Obviously, I have never been to DL.

It only makes sense that they would be equal when compared, so I am shocked to hear it isn't.

I hope the folks incharge consider updating it sometime soon.....

[emmingo]

I kind of like ToonTown, but it just doesn't seem to fit. Its a little like the IndyCars...you get the feeling it was created to capitalize on something that was really cool at the time with the idea that it would remain really cool but instead it sort of drifted out of relevancy. I do like touring the houses a lot--and to see the really obscure pop cultural references that are made in a lot of the rooms--and the fair is a great place to meet and greet characters if you're too busy to see them anywhere else in the park. :minnie:

[snifflesmcg]

I like Toontown but I do agree that there is "something more" they could with it in order for it to be more interactive. I've never seen WDW without toontown. It was originally called "Mickey's Birthday Land" for Mickey's 60th birthday.

[CuteAsMinnie]

We've always loved ToonTown but especially years back... say 1995 it was much different and much better. Don't ask me how cuz I don't remember.:blush: But now that the kids are much older, it's just a place to walk thru and remember when they were little.:secret:

[LoriMistress]

The DLR's version of Toontown is much better than the MK's. I personally think that they should expand and do a major refurbishment.

[jszczur5]

On a similar thread, the question was posed "When is the best time to visit Toontown?"
I replied, "When you're a kid. Any time after the age of 8 or 9 and it's pretty lame".
My reply wasn't very popular. This area could be so much more. Instead, it's one of those areas that you only need to do once, unless you are specifically going to get character pictures taken.

[conorsmom2000]

Well, now I want to go and see Toontown in Disneyland! :D We all liked ToonTown at WDW, but, my son is also a huge fan of the online game of Toontown - so for him, it was like seeing the game come to life, so he wasn't disappointed at all, nor were we. But, in a few years, I could see it not being high on our list of "must do's". :mickey:

[MinniesMom]

After experiencing DL's Toontown, WDW's version is definitely a let down! I honestly couldn't believe the difference. The one at DL is far superior. More like an actual little town or like someone else said "stepping into a storybook." WDW's Toontown seems like an afterthought in comparison.

It might have just been a space issue for WDW.

[EmcDuckRN]

As an adult, definitely. Walk through this or that, see it once and there isn't much attraction to go back.

I'd like to see a few more (even little kid) oriented rides, more interactive activities in the characters houses, and definitely Donald's boat.

The boat... If that is what they gave him, no wonder poor Donald is so short tempered.

:mickey:

[mcjaco]

Remember that MK's Toontown wasn't originally planned as Toontown. It was Mickey's Birthdayland. They were two completely different themed areas. After Mickey's 50th Birthday they decided to change it to a toontownish area.

[dolphinmickey9170]

It's okay, but nothing I stress myself out to see. I usually only use the train stop, but that's pretty much it. After a quick walk through the mouse house(s), the character lines are usually astronomically long, I bail out of that area via the train.

[bleukarma]

Remember that MK's Toontown wasn't originally planned as Toontown. It was Mickey's Birthdayland. They were two completely different themed areas. After Mickey's 50th Birthday they decided to change it to a toontownish area.

Yeah, and Mickey’s Birthdayland was only thrown together in a three or four month period of time. A few months ago I had the greatest opportunity to meet Charles Ridgeway (the PR guy for Disney from the 1950’s until he retired in the 1990’s) and he told us about how Toontown was kind of his idea. Him and some other guys were discussing about how they really didn’t have any big plans for Mickey’s 50th birthday and they thought it would be a great idea to come up with an area to have Mickey a party. They took the idea to Michael Eisner at the first of the year in 1986 (I believe) and figured it would be something for a future project but Michael only approved it if they could complete it in time for the May rush. They used an extended piece of land at the Magic Kingdom and worked around the clock and completed it. But I’m sure if they would’ve had a few years to think about it then it would be really nice, like the one I am hearing about at DL. Charles didn’t expect it to last more then a year or two but apparently 65% of guests headed to Birthdayland so they decided to keep it. Read Charles Ridgeway’s book “Spinning Disney’s World” and you’ll get some great info!!!

I think when they made the decision to keep it and turn it into ToonTown then they should’ve/could’ve done some extra things. Since I don’t have kids I rarely go into ToonTown but when I do go into it I can agree, it’s time for a refurb.

[SpecJoe Magic]

That area was originally opened to celebrate Mickey's 60th birthday in 1988 and was known as Mickey's Birthdayland. It wasn't meant to be a permanent land, but they discovered that having a special land where guests could meet Mickey and friends works really well so they decided to keep it. I remember the train station there having to be rebuilt a few years ago because the original was only built as a temporary structure. After Mickey's birthday celebration, it was modified slightly and renamed Mickey's Starland, then it eventually became Mickey's Toontown Fair (I think that happened in 1996). There was already a Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland that opened in 1993 that was carefully planned as a permanent addition to Disneyland Park. It's loosely based on the cartoon town in the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", and it even includes a dark ride based on the movie. The current Mickey's Toontown Fair at WDW doesn't have any resemblance to the town in the movie. They just took what already existed as Mickey's Starland and made some changes to turn it into a country fair and borrowed part of the name from Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland. So, even though the lands at WDW and DL share the "Toontown" part of their names, they aren't meant to be the same place. Disneyland's is supposed to be like walking into an animated movie or book while WDW's is supposed to be like going to a country fair. It's very bizarre and confusing. I don't know why they felt it necessary to include "Toontown" as part of the name at WDW. It seems to me that they could have avoided comparison to Disneyland's Toontown by just calling it Mickey's Country Fair at WDW, but maybe the idea was to draw more guests to the park by leading guests to believe that WDW now had a land that was similar to the well-known land at Disneyland.

[MickeysEars]

DisneyLand Has another ride but I like the play area in DW. The kids like to play and we get a rest

[RocknRoller94]

Toontown at WDW is a bit boring(besidesthe Barnstormer). The one at DL is much better.

[magicofdisney]

I just wish they'd clean up Mickey and Minnie's homes. They're looking so run down. You'd never sale a home looking like that in today's market. ;)

[GrmGrninGost]

The Toontown at DL is much superior to the one at WDW. This is obvious to anyone who has been to both. The question is, why? Why don't they put a couple rides in the one at WDW like they have at DL? Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin and the Jolly Trolley are awesome! If they don't want to copy these particular rides, come up with some originals! This could be a spectacular area with a refurb! It's a children's area, they don't need Expedition Everest type rides, just something to do as a family. There seems to be room, and a definite need there for something!

[MickeyandTink]

There was already a Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland that opened in 1993 that was carefully planned as a permanent addition to Disneyland Park. It's loosely based on the cartoon town in the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", and it even includes a dark ride based on the movie.

I love Roger Rabbit. It sounds like they really should do a major renovation at WDW to bring up to Disneyland's standards. I haven't been to Disneyland since 1992, so Toontown didn't exist then but it sounds really cool.

On a side note, I know that MK at Disneyland is the original park, but WDW gets a far larger number of visitors. Because of that, it's strange to me that MK at DL appears to get most of the updates and new concept rides ahead of WDW.

[MickeysEars]

much smaller than I thought it would be, but it is a cute escape...

[DisneyOtaku]

I really dislike the new Toontown--I wished they could have kept it as either the birthday or starland theme. What was great about it was the stage shows which included the popular Saturday morning cartoons of the time (rescue rangers, gummi bears, etc.) In fact, I JUST found a picture of one of the stage shows--Mickey Mouse talking to Darkwing Duck. Kids were pulled up on stage and afterwards, they got to meet Mickey and have their picture taken with him in his dressing room.

THAT was great. :mickey:

[Marker]

my kids liked it.


Shouldn't that be the goal, after all, they're the intended audience.

[TikiGoddess]

I love it. My kids are 4 and 2, so it's perfect for them. They love going through Mickey and Minnie's house -- and can't get enough of Goofy's Barnstormer! I really like the idea of being able to go and see multiple characters in the Tent rather than chasing down and waiting in line for separate characters out in the rest of the park. We usually hit Fantasyland first and then head straight over to Toontown at 10am. The kids ride Barnstormer 2-3 times with no wait and then we head for the houses and the characters.

I do say that they could have done more with the area but given its history I think it works fine!

TikiG

[katzctkpt]

Toontown is a little bit of a let down compared to the rest of the park. It definately needs some work. There is only 1 ride and really to me the only reason to even go there. My kids are at the point that they are getting to old for toontown. From what I'm hearing about the DL one the WDW one needs more rides and interaction etc...

[Tink#64]

Been there, done that, don't care if we go back! It's cute, but that's about it. We've done the houses, cute the first time. Not worth pushing through with a crowd for a repeat. We still do enjoy riding Gooy's Barnstormer though. That & shopping at County Bounty are the only things we do now in TT. I think we could definitely take it or leave it. DS's are now 10 & 11 & wouldn't miss that one ride & there's lot of other places to shop!

[mikelynn91]

We always make it a point to visit ToonTown but it definitely feels like an "after thought" from WDW. It feels like an area developed strictly to spread out the crowds a bit. I wish they'd add some rides to the area. Everything is walk-through or shop!

However, even with that said, I'll be in Mickey and Minnie's house next week just like always!!:mickey: