My own take on Mickey Avenue at DHS

I'm doing my own take on an earlier thread here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/mickey-avenue-new-land-at-dhs.843213/.

I've created several threads on a Toontown to return to WDW after Toontown Fair left, but I was just really confused as to what I wanted, because I'm used to having sections like these in castle parks and no place else. Everyone seemed to think that a Toontown would work perfectly in Disney's Hollywood Studios. But I was not so sure. Granted, the theme of Toontown seemed appropriate at first blush; in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", it was located in Hollywood, the theme of the Studio obviously.

But then, Disneyland, which has a Toontown, is also located in Southern California, where the real Hollywood is located. And I really thought that cartoon shorts, the theme of Toontown, didn't really seem to work as well in a park such as the Studios as it does in a castle park. To me, Mickey's House, as it exists in Disneyland, doesn't really fit the Studios theme. I also didn't think that cartoon-like, balloony architecture really seemed to fit the Studios, either. I thought that anything regarding a Toon Studio would work against the park's move to drift away from an actual working studio. Setting up a studio theme for an area like this, to my way of thinking, just seems to serve as a reminder of the park's past, and was a cop-out to boot, similar to the setup of Star Tours in Florida (which, of course, is located in the Studios). I agree with a website about the Studios (http://www.studioscentral.com/column/studios-weekly/defending-studios), when they said that introducing the "working set" idea creates a whole extra layer of stuff to get between the guest and the experience.

Then, I discovered this one article on Passport 2 Dreams: http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2012/09/lightning-in-bottle-storybook-circus.html. Here, it seemed to dislike Mickey's Toontown for the balloony, cartoon-like architecture it had, thinking it was themed to one thing and one thing only, "Roger Rabbit", and that it didn't feel very Disney-like (I personally think it does, but I digress). Meanwhile, the article seems to show some praise for Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland, even though it was always considered a temporary area, albeit done on a big scale. Here's what the article said:

[T]he area did have a classic "Disney" feel appropriate to the Magic Kingdom, even if the "Disney" feel was decidedly... low rent. [...] [T]he best thing about Mickey's Birthdayland is that, by getting out the door just before the Roger Rabbit craze hit, it managed to realize Disney cartoons in a classically Disney way. It really did look like Mickey's house, the way you always imagined it[.]

I explain all this because when Birthdayland/Starland became Toontown Fair, it was in 1996, three years after Toontown in Disneyland opened. And so, I feel that the Disney feel here can work again in Mickey Avenue, a section at the Studios to be expanded greatly and improved on. The article stated that the Disney feel in Birthdayland/Starland was decided low rent, but that can probably be rectified here.

I'll start posting some of my ideas later, but until then, thoughts, comments, concerns?

Let me put in a resounding agreement to a traditional toontown area not fitting in the studios. Can't wait to see what you have in store!

Well, first and foremost, I think that Mickey Avenue should be have two things: a gas station and a hotel. The main reason is what I read on the Yesterland site, which featured two articles, one each on hotels (http://yesterland.com/hotels.html) and gas stations (http://yesterland.com/gasstations.html).

Anyway, the hotel will be where you do meet-n-greets of Mickey and the gang. They will be in separate rooms, like in a hotel. I have two questions, though. First, I want to make the hotel look tall without actually being tall (I don't think I'd like to compete with the Tower of Terror), so how can I do that? Second, based on that, how can we do the elevator?

A Hotel doesn't have to be super-tall. Maybe go three stories with some visible balconies or something? Keep in mind that that Movie Ride Show Building is Huge, and the Soundstage with Mermaid, One Man's Dream, and Legend of Jack Sparrow is pretty tall too... You might just have to have a tall building depending on exactly what your plan for the area is.

Well, I don't think I would like the guests actually go up or down different floors to get to the characters. I was told that the only way to make the hotel appear tall without actually being tall (like I said, I don't think the Tower of Terror would like the competition) was to use forced perspective. As for an elevator (because a hotel should have an elevator), the only alternative would be to do what they did with the Haunted Mansion's stretching room of the Living Seas' former hydrolators, and have the elevators not actually travel anywhere and deposit guests on the same floor they started in.

But those are just ideas I was suggested.

One thing that's nagging me right now is a good music loop for the area. Here's the loop for Toontown Fair:

• The Grasshopper and the Ants
• Little Toot
• The Pied Piper
• The Country Cousin
• Who Killed Co(c)k Robin (I had to make an adjustment to be the censorship here)
• The Skeleton Dance
• Springtime
• The Tortoise and the Hare
• Casey At the Bat
• The Three Little Pigs
• Goofy's Theme
• Minnie's Yoo Hoo
• Donald Duck's Theme
• Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
• Box Lunch
• Camping Out
• Funny Little Bunnies
• Playful Pluto
• Pluto's Playmate
• Puppy Love

Also, let's listen to the music from that area, too:


I'm really not sure how this area's music loop would fit the theme of Mickey Avenue at DHS. Any ideas?

I adore the animation courtyard BGM, so I would be heartbroken if it was changed. But obviously you have something big in mind, I'm still not 100% sure what your plans are.

It will not take over the Animation Courtyard. But I really have no idea what I could have the background music in this area be for. Can you help me?

I'm really confused as to what your area is still. If you're not talking about animation courtyard, what are you talking about? What is the feel of your area? Are you putting in any new attractions? Those are essential questions before BGM.

Well, here's one of two ideal locations for it. #1:


And #2:


Either one of those sound good?

I would say either between Animation and Rockin' or Behind OMD. Preferably not between Tower and Rockin'.

your question marks on #1 are also part of one man's dream

In terms of the feel of the area, I want it to feel something like Mickey's Starland, but a lot less temporary:



But I have no idea how to do this section in something not so low-rent and be able to fit the Studios. Has anyone got any ideas for to do this?

Start at the :10 mark.

I heard this song the other day and it seemed to fit both Hollywood Studios and the area you're describing, so I thought maybe you just want to create a colorful small time, perhaps taking place during wartime, very patriotic. And just make things just over the top enough that it still fits the hollywood theme, but also seems like a place where Mickey and the Toons could live.... Just a thought.

Well, I do like your idea for the sound of the music, but I don't want any music from the feature films to be played. That should be for over at the Animation Courtyard. Instead, I really was hoping to maybe do the shorts, but the problem is the shorts don't really seem to fit the theme of the Studios.

Why don't you think the shorts fit in DHS?

Because Toontown is themed mainly to the 1930s and '40s, the supposed Golden Age of Disney animated shorts. Granted, that year range is the (allegedly) main theme of the Studios, but my feeling is that those cartoons are too simple and too folksy for a park like the Studios.

Listen to part of the old music loop from the old Toontown Fair, for example:

Good point. While listening to the loop, I realized something complex would work better.

Also, where you thinking a more structured architecture, like in Post #13, or more free-form, like in Disneyland's Toontown?

Yes, I was thinking something more structured, as in the image of Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland above. I really don't think free-form like at Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland would fit very well in the Studios.

Okay, I got it. I have two solutions:

Colour Scheme: What if opposed to the rainbow of colours, we narrow in down to darker tones, like Mickey's Toontown. This could lead to feeling less low rent.

Sizing: I think I understand the reason they sized the buildings like they did the photo: to make you feel like you were the size of a toon. I am unsure if this is reasonable, but if the buildings were bigger/taller like Mickey's Toontown, maybe this could help.

Yeah, I did mention Mickey's Toontown a lot, even though that's not what you're going for.