A new Toontown at WDW (open brainstorming)

[Timon]

Well, maybe doing it over from scratch might be a good idea, but in other Disney parks, the Toontown is in a Magic Kingdom-type park. It's like that in Disneyland and in Tokyo Disneyland.

I don't see why it can't be in DHS other attractions have been relocated. Why can't DHS be more kid friendly? Most ToonTowns were built before there was more than one park to pick at each location. I see nothing wrong in mixing it up a bit especially if they are carbon copies.

TDL - Toontown was built before Disney Sea, only one choice. Indy was put in Disney Sea. Little Mermaid is in Disney Sea vs DCA and WDW's Fantasyland. HM is in Fland here.

DLR - Toontown was built before DCA existed. Captain Eo is in tland here vs Epcot. Soar'n is in DCA vs Epcot. Star Tours is in tland vs DHS. Pooh is in Critter Country vs WDW's Fantsyland. HM is in NOS vs LS at WDW. Toy Story Mania in DCA vs DHS

 

[mharrington]

Where is this area (http://lh5.ggpht.com/_tMmJnDHUoiU/TRorYBLOvzI/AAAAAAAAADY/eOZVr8Unuio/s640/DHS%20Prime%20Expansion%20Site.jpg) in relation to everything else?

The thing I have against putting a Toontown in DHS is that it would only further blur the boundaries between this park and the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Timon]

Where is this area (http://lh5.ggpht.com/_tMmJnDHUoiU/TRorYBLOvzI/AAAAAAAAADY/eOZVr8Unuio/s640/DHS%20Prime%20Expansion%20Site.jpg) in relation to everything else?

The thing I have against putting a Toontown in DHS is that it would only further blur the boundaries between this park and the Magic Kingdom.

Fits between the Animation Courtyard and the Pixar Gate. The area currently has the old and soon redundant Little Mermaid show and One Mans dream. While I like One Man's Dream it is filling the guest queue space of the former larger studio tour. It needs a dedicated facility. The space is underutilized and is several acres of prime land directly off the center of the park.

Putting Toontown 2.0 between Disney Animation and Pixar doesn't fit?

 

[mharrington]

Putting Toontown 2.0 between Disney Animation and Pixar doesn't fit?

It probably fits, but it would only further blur the boundaries between the Studios and the Magic Kingdom.

And the other thing is where can One Man's Dream go? I was thinking about the Exposition Hall, but with the characters supposedly making that their home, which I really don't think fits thematically, that rules that out.

 

[Timon]

It probably fits, but it would only further blur the boundaries between the Studios and the Magic Kingdom.

And the other thing is where can One Man's Dream go? I was thinking about the Exposition Hall, but with the characters supposedly making that their home, which I really don't think fits thematically, that rules that out.

Don't see the blur (Of course I should put my glasses on)

Exposition Hall used to house The Disney Story and is the perfect place for One Man's Dream with room behind it for expansion. I would like to see some themed permanent MnG's added around the MK for characters which would free up space for One Man's Dream

 

[mharrington]

Don't see the blur (Of course I should put my glasses on)

Exposition Hall used to house The Disney Story and is the perfect place for One Man's Dream with room behind it for expansion. I would like to see some themed permanent MnG's added around the MK for characters which would free up space for One Man's Dream

I really think that having meet and greets strewn about the park would confuse people, who would not know where to go to find the characters reliably. And Mickey now has no real home here anymore.

And as for the blur, look at this: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=504897.

 

[ScorpionX]

I do, I just think DHS has the best location, best fit, for a Toontown 2.0. I also think they should start from scratch for the WDW Toontown and not make a carbon copy of any other park.

My list before were suggestion for a Mickey Meet 'n Greet in the MK, there should be equally elaborate MnG's for Mickey at Epcot and AK.

OK, I just sparked many ideas from this. We could expand Animation Courtyard with Disneyland Anaheim/Tokyo Disneyland's Toontown. The current area will be themed and renamed to Toon Studio for half the land, making a subland. The other half would be suburbia, where we would have Mickey, Minnie, the kiddie coaster, etc.

 

[mharrington]

Now I know the suburbs don't fit at the Studios.

 

[mharrington]

I just had a brilliant idea! What if we put a new house for Mickey over near where The Great Goofini is going to go? That might help justify a bit of the Fab Six's presence in Fantasyland (Mickey and Goofy). We could possibly base that on the old Mickeyville concept, like so:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OO7WbmARD08/SQoTKlGj-6I/AAAAAAAAJGU/8QEyXHJgPcA/s1600-h/mickey%27s+house.jpg

In fact, I had another idea to sweeten this idea: have the house for ALL the characters there! To avoid crowding issues, we could rotate the characters, so that it's always different. This might help justify the roller coaster being called The Great Goofini, since it will still have a Goofy theme. With this, we can establish a Toontown for the Studios without doing so at the expense of the Magic Kingdom.

Any thoughts?

 

[mharrington]

I don't see why it can't be in DHS other attractions have been relocated. Why can't DHS be more kid friendly? Most ToonTowns were built before there was more than one park to pick at each location. I see nothing wrong in mixing it up a bit especially if they are carbon copies.

TDL - Toontown was built before Disney Sea, only one choice. Indy was put in Disney Sea. Little Mermaid is in Disney Sea vs DCA and WDW's Fantasyland. HM is in Fland here.

DLR - Toontown was built before DCA existed. Captain Eo is in tland here vs Epcot. Soar'n is in DCA vs Epcot. Star Tours is in tland vs DHS. Pooh is in Critter Country vs WDW's Fantsyland. HM is in NOS vs LS at WDW. Toy Story Mania in DCA vs DHS

I forgot to mention: are you saying that the only reason the Toontowns of both Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland are only in those parks because there was only one park to choose from in those days?

 

[Timon]

I forgot to mention: are you saying that the only reason the Toontowns of both Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland are only in those parks because there was only one park to choose from in those days?

I just saying it's a possibility. Star Tours was in Disneyland, Tomorrowland first but was then built in Disney MGM. After that Star Tours was installed in DLP's Tomorrowland which was before Disney Studios opened. I don't think there is a locked down rule book to where Imagineering will place an attraction. I think it should be open to new ideas.

 

[mharrington]

I just saying it's a possibility. Star Tours was in Disneyland, Tomorrowland first but was then built in Disney MGM. After that Star Tours was installed in DLP's Tomorrowland which was before Disney Studios opened. I don't think there is a locked down rule book to where Imagineering will place an attraction. I think it should be open to new ideas.

Well, it's just that sometimes I like to opt for the status quo; in this case, stuff that works in certain areas because I know they do.

 

[Timon]

Well, it's just that sometimes I like to opt for the status quo; in this case, stuff that works in certain areas because I know they do.

As a company, Disney gets new guests and return guest not just for their existing rides but for the latest addition. Right now Universal is having a party with Harry Potter with record attendance. Not so at Disney. For Disney the party starts when the Fantasyland Expansion is finished. Sometimes lesser attractions give way to newer attractions. Visit Yesterland.com which documents all the changes in DL & WDW. Sure it's sad but often what's new is totally amazing. Hang in there you'll make it thru.

 

[mharrington]

As a company, Disney gets new guests and return guest not just for their existing rides but for the latest addition. Right now Universal is having a party with Harry Potter with record attendance. Not so at Disney. For Disney the party starts when the Fantasyland Expansion is finished. Sometimes lesser attractions give way to newer attractions. Visit Yesterland.com which documents all the changes in DL & WDW. Sure it's sad but often what's new is totally amazing. Hang in there you'll make it thru.

What does that have to do with where to put Toontown?

 

[Timon]

What does that have to do with where to put Toontown?

Just trying to say nicely after 90 replies - Get over it. It's going and there are no announced plans for a replacement. The WDW version was lame at best.

 

[mharrington]

Don't see the blur (Of course I should put my glasses on)

You don't see the blur, huh? Okay, I will tell it to you, complete and unabridged. My argument is based on the book "Realityland" by David Koenig. The book states (and I quote):

The least experimental component of the entire place [Walt Disney World] - the time-worn Magic Kingdom theme park - has become the template for every operation.

Because the Magic Kingdom continues drawing more than fifteen million guests a year, whether or not there's anything new to see, management is less likely to change, improve and at times adequately maintain anything. Its popularity has led the other parks, which once had more distinctive identities, to mimic the Kingdom's fantasy personality, such as inserting Donald Duck into Epcot's Mexico boat ride or plopping a giant Sorcerer's Apprentice hat in front of Disney-MGM's once-iconic Chinese theater. In fact, Disney-MGM has abandoned any pretense of being a real movie studio.

I put up the bracketed words, meaning they did not come from the book.

So you see, while a Toontown in the Studios might work (and certainly help give it something worthwhile for guests to do), it would not help the Studios regain that which it lost but only further blur the boundaries between this park and the first park.

 

[mharrington]

Now, if we're going to go with putting a Toontown in the Studios, how would we be able to go about doing this?

 

[nelsond1231]

I think a house of mouse restaurant would be awesome in DHS. I personally loved the show when it was on and maybe it would put it back on t.v. with popularity from being in a park and have actual cartoons being played on a big screen i can see that being a big part in a new toon town area

 

[Timon]

Now, if we're going to go with putting a Toontown in the Studios, how would we be able to go about doing this?

Between the Animation Courtyard and the Pixar gate is an underused spot almost in the center of the park behind GMR. I'd like to enter the land via the Acme Gag warehouse from Roger Rabbit. A second gateway through the car tunnel from the same movie. This would create a total immersion land with no site line problems. I'd like to see new ride featuring a Mickey Donald & Goofy adventure ride. Here is an aerial with poorly scaled DL Toontown laid over. Personally a total new design would be more interesting other than a clone.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_tMmJnDHUoiU/TS0Zx6qz82I/AAAAAAAAAFo/kOhrHVyeqZw/s640/DHS%20Toontown.jpg

 

[nelsond1231]

its hard to move toontown because when you get the people who go to disney and can only afford one park admission ticket to one park they will go to MK 99% of the time and toontown is a huge draw and great for a whole family.