Disney sets the closing date for Mickey's Toontown Fair at Walt Disney World

From Joshua Counsil on December 10, 2010 at 4:16 PM
Two Dumbo's? Great idea. That attraction draws inconceivable lines and needs the extra capacity.

However, why bring back the Barnstormer? Did kids really enjoy it that much, or does Disney just not want to fork out the dough for a new design?

From Robert Niles on December 10, 2010 at 4:54 PM
Dumbo's target age is, what, two to five? The Barnstormer gets, maybe, four to eight or nine?

So the younger child goes on Dumbo, and the older sibling to the Barnstormer (or whatever it ends up getting called). Parents are happy 'cause neither child has to go on anything too "baby" or "scary." Brilliant, I say.

Bring on the Dueling Dumbos!

From James Rao on December 10, 2010 at 11:07 PM
I am interested to see what Disney does with the Exposition Hall for the new Mickey/Minnie meet 'n' greet. Will they just slam in something cheap, or will they give the iconic mouse a beautiful new home. I hope for the latter, of course.

As for Toontown, I said my farewells during my May visit, and I am looking forward to the changes. I always thought the area was a bit of a sore thumb, despite having many nice little touches. For some reason it never seemed to rise above the feeling that it was just an afterthought.

From Robert Niles on December 11, 2010 at 12:05 AM
Well, that might be because the land *was* an afterthought. The young'uns might not know this, but what became Mickey's Toontown Fair was intended to be a one-year, temporary exhibit called Mickey's Birthdayland, to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 60th birthday... in 1988.

The "land" was built with temporary structures - glorified tents, really - at the nadir of Walt Disney Imagineering's influence within the company. But people liked it, and when the year-long 60th birthday celebration ended, Disney renamed the place "Mickey's Starland" and scripted a series of live-action shows for it featuring characters from the Disney Afternoon cartoon series of the 1990s.

(TV toons rapping - yes, we're all ashamed that any of us thought that clever back then. But no one will fess us to being one of ones who did.)

Anyway, in 1996, with an eye toward the success of Toontown at Disneyland, Disney World renamed the land Mickey's Toontown Fair, and we ended up with what we have today.

I say, good riddance, and I eagerly await seeing what a resurgent Imagineering team can do with some time and a decent budget in reimagining this section of the park.

From Anthony Murphy on December 11, 2010 at 8:47 AM
I wish they would have just redone Toontown because, lets face it, where does Mickey live now when he visits the east coast? We need his house, wherever that is! Personally, I would have liked to have seen a Roger Rabbit like attraction with the fab five vs. Pete and Mortimer Mouse.

As for the letters leaving DCA, it makes me sad because I enjoy their Iconic status. Maybe move them somewhere else....