Hello out there and welcome back to another My Disney Top 5. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are looking forward to another great year with us here at MousePlanet.
Change is always in the air at Walt Disney World. Nowhere is that more evident right now than the back section of the Magic Kingdom in Fantasyland and Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Perhaps you’ve seen the plethora of construction walls surrounding the new Fantasyland Forest expansion. Maybe you’ve already seen the newly redesigned queue for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The final piece of this puzzle of construction will be the demolition of ToonTown. The Disney Parks Blog just made the date official. Toontown only has a month or so left. The newest land in the Magic Kingdom will close on February 11, 2011.
There are differing feelings about this closure here in our home. My wife and I are into something new and are looking forward to a change. My kids, especially my 12-year-old daughter, have fond memories of Mickey and Minnie’s houses and are pretty upset that they’re being torn down. The plans call for the removal of all the Toontown structures, except for The Barnstormer, and for a new Dumbo/circus area to be constructed. We’re not crazy about the relocation of Dumbo. Part of the simple, long-lasting appeal of Dumbo to us has always been the view of Cinderella’s Castle as you fly around and around in circles. I think I would miss that. However, the possibility of eliminating that horrendous Dumbo wait time by having two Dumbos, as the current plans call for, does have its appeal.
All that aside, the fact of the matter is that Toontown is leaving us. Some of us will miss it and others, maybe not so much. Now, as a collector and accumulator of all things Disney, what does the demolition of Toontown mean to me? How about the possibility of taking some mementos with me before they disappear into the Disney warehouses somewhere? Now I realize that me actually acquiring pieces of Toontown is pretty much in the realm of fantasy, but hey, we’re talking Disney here—fantasy is around every corner—so indulge me. Besides, it does happen. As anyone who’s ever been on the web site for Orlando's MouseSurplus can testify to, sometimes you can actually buy a ride car, or furniture from the resorts, or an attraction sign. Maybe someday some things from Toontown will become available, and I’ll get to make some room in my house for my Top 5 “Souvenirs” I'd Like From Mickey’s Toontown Fair:
5 – A Pot Full of “Daisys”
Daisys from Minnie's Country House. Photo by Chris Barry.
These are actually a little creepy. Daisy sort of looks like she was stuffed and mounted on a wall in mid speech, but I still think they’re kind of cool in a wacky, bizarre sort of way. They can be found in Minnie’s Country House in the sunroom before you enter the backyard and are surrounded by Dandelions, Tiger Lilies and other pun-filled pots of flowers. I think having this pot of Daisys in our own sunroom would be pretty funny.
4 – Mickey and Donald Ping Pong Racquets
The Mickey Ping Pong racquet. Photo by Chris Barry.
The Donald Ping Pong racquet. Photo by Chris Barry.
We don’t even have a Ping Pong table in our house, but I could picture these two paddles hanging up on the wall in our basement. Come to think of it, maybe I’d want the whole Ping Pong Table after all. Of course, I’d also want the sign that says that Donald, as usual, is losing.
Looks like Donald loses again. Photo by Chris Barry.
3 – Mickey’s Mailbox
The mailbox in front of Mickey's Country House. Photo by Chris Barry.
If I didn’t think that it would get damaged or that some other crazed Disney fan would swipe it, I’d put this out in front of the house and use it as my real mailbox. How cool would that be?
2 – Minnie's Nighthawks Painting
The Disney version of Nighthawks. Photo by Chris Barry
This is the kind of thing that Disney should actually make a print of and sell. I’m sure I would buy one. Based on Edward Hopper’s famous 1942 painting, this hangs in Minnie’s Country House. Everyone from Santa Claus and his reindeer to Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and James Dean to the cast of the Simpsons have been put in versions of this famous painting. Naturally, this is my favorite version and I think it belongs somewhere on my walls.
1 – The Thinker
Donald “The Thinker” Duck. Photo by Chris Barry.
Again, Disney should make a miniature version of this and sell it in the theme parks. I know I’d buy one of these. This version of Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture has always been one of those things that I walked by and said, “That’s really cool!” It's one of my favorite props in all of Walt Disney World. This would look great in a corner of my house set on a nice table or a pedestal. It’s funny. It’s irreverent. It’s very Donald Duck.
There are lots of details in Toontown that I will miss; the Mickey pumpkins in the garden, Pluto’s dog house, the gas pump at Pete’s Garage with the restroom key floating in it, the map drawn by Ludwig Von Drake in Donald’s boat. Judging from my Top 5 though, I guess I’ll miss the two houses the most. Each of my kids were quite confident that these were really Mickey and Minnie’s actual homes and that after the park closed, the Mickey and Minnie they saw in the parade went back to these houses to go to sleep. We did all we could to encourage that while we were touring through the houses. Knowing the characters lived in this corner of the Magic Kingdom was a big part of the magic for them.
There have been rumors out there that Mickey and Minnie’s houses will resurface in another location. That would be great. Giving the characters an actual home was pretty important to my kids, and I’d feel bad if other kids couldn’t get that little extra piece of magic out of a Walt Disney World visit. Of course, once my kids saw Mickey and Minnie's house, Donald's boat and Goofy's barn, they started asking where all of the other character's lived. I can barely remember all of my answers, but I'm sure I thought quick and they seemed to buy it. It was fun listening to them come up with their own answers. I'm sure they'll miss Toontown.
Knowing the Imagineers, I’m sure there will be a few nods to Toontown in whatever attractions take its place. Maybe some of these little treasures and artifacts from Toontown will end up somewhere else on property.
Or…maybe…just maybe…they’ll end up someplace else?
If you're a Mickey's Toontown Fair fan, be sure to check in next week for Jeff Kober's pictorial tribute to this soon to be closed corner of the Magic Kingdom.
That's My Disney Top 5 for today. What's yours? Click on the “Discuss this article on MousePad” link below and share your list!
