The grand reopening of Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland has been delayed until March 19, 2023, park officials confirmed today. The land has been closed since March of last year for an extensive renovation, and was originally scheduled to reopen next month, on March 8.
A Disney official said, “Due to heavy winter storms that impacted our construction momentum, we are adjusting the reopening date of Mickey’s Toontown to March 19. We can’t wait for our Guests to visit and experience the reimagined land.”
Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock cuts the film ribbon to commemorate the opening of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway at Disneyland on January 27, 2023. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
In December 2022 and January 2023, a series of “atmosperic river” storms drenched California from top to bottom, bringing much-needed water and snow to the drought-plagued region. The storms also caused widespread flooding and mudslides, and apparently caused construction delays for Disney.
One portion of the new Toontown is already open to the public. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway opened on January 27 during the launch of the Disney100 celebration. The new attraction is a duplicate of the ride that opened in 2020 in Walt Disney World, but features a brand-new ride queue that takes visitors on a tour of the El CapiTOON Theater. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway remains open while Disney wraps up construction on the rest of the reimagined Toontown area.
The Walt Disney Imagineering pavilion at the 2022 D23 Expo included a scale model of portions of Mickey's Toontown, showing a new look for its downtown area, and Goofy and Donald's houses.
Downtown Toontown sees the former bandstand demolished and replaced with an outdoor seating area that serves as a dining patio of Cafe Daisy. It appears that all of the Toontown eateries will now operate as one, and there's a mobile order pickup window clearly visible on the model.
The former Gag Factory store was incorporated into the new El CapiTOON Theater, but the Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction exits through a new store called Engineers Souvenirs.
The Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin attraction will reopen, and the complex of Downtown Toontown businesses that included the fireworks factory, jail, fire house and post office remain mostly untouched, though some signage changes were noted during previews.
On the residential side of town, Chip and Dale have lost their treehouse, and Gadget has lost naming rights to the roller coaster. Chip ‘n’ Dale’s GADGETcoaster is the ride's new name. Next door, Donald's Boat as been reimagined as a water play area, which neighbor Goofy is running as some sort of home-based candy factory. Goofy's How-to-Play yard is full of active play areas where kids can run off some energy while their parents try to regain theirs. The fenced play area is next to the land's new park, with a shady “dreaming tree” and grassy areas for families to sit.
Donald's Boat now features water play areas. Photo courtesy Disney.
Goofy's How-to-Play area offers lots of room for active play. Photo courtesy Disney.
