A new Toontown for WDW - Yet another revival (open brainstorming)

[mharrington]

The sound stage and animation studios, which has been there since the park opened are actually well themed to their surroundings and look much nicer then comparable buildings you would see at say universal.

We want to bring the design indoors because A) it gives the ability to make the guest feel like their really being transported into the cartoon due to the contrast from being outside in the real world to inside in this bright vibrant place. B) it allows for the use of various materials, paint, effects, ect that would not or could not take the rough Floridian weather outdoors, again helping with the contrast and realism. C) It turns a regular run of the mill meet and greet into a full fledged attraction that everyone can walk-though, experience, and enjoy.

But there would not be much for anything inside a soundstage building, let alone a land like Toontown. All there would be is just a meet-n-greet.

 

[Donald96]

But there would not be much for anything inside a soundstage building, let alone a land like Toontown. All there would be is just a meet-n-greet.

But it would be an immersive experience, and more of a show than a meet and greet! Think about how kids and adults would be enchanted that they just walked into the animation (and air-condition) and it came to life around them? That's what Disney's all about right?

 

[goofy donald]

But there would not be much for anything inside a soundstage building, let alone a land like Toontown. All there would be is just a meet-n-greet.

That's a false statement. first off i dont think your grasping the concept of the fully immersive experience, its not just a meet and greet its a walkthrough exploration adventure. think of it more like the living seas, you have a minor but exciting attraction ushering you into a different world essentially that you can explore and look at all the minor details and in turn interact with them. second if they can house an entire theatrical program there with stage, seating, backstage, animation studios, storage, dressing rooms ect, ect.... im sure they can fit this concept in the area. keep in mind too if they move One mans dream to the old location of narnia, they have the rest of mickey avenue to work with as well, that footprint is as big as the great movie ride!

 

[Donald96]

That's a false statement. first off i dont think your grasping the concept of the fully immersive experience, its not just a meet and greet its a walkthrough exploration adventure. think of it more like the living seas, you have a minor but exciting attraction ushering you into a different world essentially that you can explore and look at all the minor details and in turn interact with them. second if they can house an entire theatrical program there with stage, seating, backstage, animation studios, storage, dressing rooms ect, ect.... im sure they can fit this concept in the area. keep in mind too if they move One mans dream to the old location of narnia, they have the rest of mickey avenue to work with as well, that footprint is as big as the great movie ride!

Wonderfully put.

 

[mharrington]

That's a false statement. first off i dont think your grasping the concept of the fully immersive experience, its not just a meet and greet its a walkthrough exploration adventure. think of it more like the living seas, you have a minor but exciting attraction ushering you into a different world essentially that you can explore and look at all the minor details and in turn interact with them. second if they can house an entire theatrical program there with stage, seating, backstage, animation studios, storage, dressing rooms ect, ect.... im sure they can fit this concept in the area. keep in mind too if they move One mans dream to the old location of narnia, they have the rest of mickey avenue to work with as well, that footprint is as big as the great movie ride!

But this doesn't make it look anything like a Toontown. It looks entirely different than that. There would be no room for any rides, would there?

 

[Donald96]

But this doesn't make it look anything like a Toontown. It looks entirely different than that. There would be no room for any rides, would there?

But didn't you just say you didn't want a Toontown in Florida or DHS? This is a creative replacement to one utilizing the houses that everyone once cherished in Mickey's Toontown Fair. Let's face it how many rides were actually in Toontown Fair? Barnstormer? If we wanted to add a ride it's deffinatley possible with the space provided, maybe a short dark ride instead of a pre-show and you exit into Toontown? I think that with a great pre-show or Pre-ride and interactive features this could become a perfect fit, especially with the backstage programs, in DHS. The expierence provided by this unique attraction would be like none other the world has ever seen, especially if you include the projected sky, and enhanced enviorment. Plus, it'd be a way to offer the backstage expierence of Disney studios so we could take out the Backlot Tour and put in a Pixar Place expansion

 

[goofy donald]

But this doesn't make it look anything like a Toontown. It looks entirely different than that. There would be no room for any rides, would there?

What are you talking about? lol I didn't even describe what the toon town area would look like so how can you say it doesn't make it look anything like a toon town. I also never said there would be any rides. I said ATTRACTION which is what the pre show to the toon town would be, transporting you into the cartoon world. as for other rides, why would you need them? just walking through the streets and interacting with various interactive pieces / exploring the environment would be an attraction in and of its self, as i said before.

 

[mharrington]

What are you talking about? lol I didn't even describe what the toon town area would look like so how can you say it doesn't make it look anything like a toon town. I also never said there would be any rides. I said ATTRACTION which is what the pre show to the toon town would be, transporting you into the cartoon world. as for other rides, why would you need them? just walking through the streets and interacting with various interactive pieces / exploring the environment would be an attraction in and of its self, as i said before.

But I was hoping for something more like the original Toontown at Disneyland. I have a feeling that this very idea is actually less interesting than the already-weak Toontown Fair at the Magic Kingdom. And that one actually did have a couple attractions! And besides, don't you already do something of this kind at the Magic of Disney Animation? You're just basically replacing interactivities themed to animation with other interactivities themed to animation.

 

[goofy donald]

But I was hoping for something more like the original Toontown at Disneyland. I have a feeling that this very idea is actually less interesting than the already-weak Toontown Fair at the Magic Kingdom. And that one actually did have a couple attractions! And besides, don't you already do something of this kind at the Magic of Disney Animation? You're just basically replacing interactivities themed to animation with other interactivities themed to animation.

This is nothing like magic of animation at all, your totally off here. magic of animation takes you behind the scenes of how they do animation, toontown would take you and physically put you right inside the cartoon. How are those comparable? An original regular toon town in the way your thinking has absolutely no place in DHS, maybe in MK but where are you going to find room now? with this innovative design again people can go to a meet and greet with no intention of actually meeting the characters, and still have a great time, creating an experience that spans all ages and nearly all interests. This also goes with the theme of WDW as a whole, its about the details and little pieces that make the experience, if you want a bunch of packed in rides go to six flags.

 

[mharrington]

This is nothing like magic of animation at all, your totally off here. magic of animation takes you behind the scenes of how they do animation, toontown would take you and physically put you right inside the cartoon. How are those comparable? An original regular toon town in the way your thinking has absolutely no place in DHS, maybe in MK but where are you going to find room now? with this innovative design again people can go to a meet and greet with no intention of actually meeting the characters, and still have a great time, creating an experience that spans all ages and nearly all interests. This also goes with the theme of WDW as a whole, its about the details and little pieces that make the experience, if you want a bunch of packed in rides go to six flags.

Correction: The Magic of Disney Animation used to take you behind the scenes, now it's just about going around and doing various interactive stuff here and there. Besides, everyone keeps insisting that a Toontown would work best in the Studios than in the Magic Kingdom, even insisting on tying the land even more to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" than ever, such as maybe an entry through a tunnel or a smashed brick wall, even though they are conveniently ignoring the fact that there are legal battles surrounding the usage of the characters.

Your idea seems like a good one, but it doesn't seem to be executed well and does seem a bit unconventional. Also, by your logic, this is just a glorified meet-n-greet, something equivalent to the Town Square Theater.

 

[goofy donald]

Correction: The Magic of Disney Animation used to take you behind the scenes, now it's just about going around and doing various interactive stuff here and there. Besides, everyone keeps insisting that a Toontown would work best in the Studios than in the Magic Kingdom, even insisting on tying the land even more to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" than ever, such as maybe an entry through a tunnel or a smashed brick wall, even though they are conveniently ignoring the fact that there are legal battles surrounding the usage of the characters.

Your idea seems like a good one, but it doesn't seem to be executed well and does seem a bit unconventional. Also, by your logic, this is just a glorified meet-n-greet, something equivalent to the Town Square Theater.

Whatever the case may be, Magic of disney animation takes u into a studio essentially to do a drawing of a character and Mushu makes an appearance that essentially illustrates hes coming out to see you, the exact opposite of this experience.

Yes people have said a Maroon studios concept would work best in a best case scenario and they are correct. Roger rabbit's cartoon world fits perfectly into the theme of sunset blvd and has tons of potential. its being said because we are attempting to create blue sky best case scenario projects, ongoing legal battles do not apply in this realm just concepts that would work well. however if you want to go for realism, i say again the traditional toon town without the Maroon studios overlay just doesn't fit in any land currently at DHS and would be way to jarring to walk into from say streets of america, it just doesnt work in the traditional sense at this park.

I just point blank don't think you understand the concept at all still and your hung up on some point I'm missing here so it looks like I will have to draw it out in its entirety to re-clarify some things for you. the fact that its unconventional and imaginative is a compliment, its something that disney always strives to achieve although it has been lacking at the moment.

Again with your last point its clear you don't have an understanding of the concept, how would it be just a glorified meet and greet by my own logic? that is the exact opposite of the point i have been proving so far.

 

[mharrington]

Whatever the case may be, Magic of disney animation takes u into a studio essentially to do a drawing of a character and Mushu makes an appearance that essentially illustrates hes coming out to see you, the exact opposite of this experience.

Yes people have said a Maroon studios concept would work best in a best case scenario and they are correct. Roger rabbit's cartoon world fits perfectly into the theme of sunset blvd and has tons of potential. its being said because we are attempting to create blue sky best case scenario projects, ongoing legal battles do not apply in this realm just concepts that would work well. however if you want to go for realism, i say again the traditional toon town without the Maroon studios overlay just doesn't fit in any land currently at DHS and would be way to jarring to walk into from say streets of america, it just doesnt work in the traditional sense at this park.

I just point blank don't think you understand the concept at all still and your hung up on some point I'm missing here so it looks like I will have to draw it out in its entirety to re-clarify some things for you. the fact that its unconventional and imaginative is a compliment, its something that disney always strives to achieve although it has been lacking at the moment.

Again with your last point its clear you don't have an understanding of the concept, how would it be just a glorified meet and greet by my own logic? that is the exact opposite of the point i have been proving so far.

You're right, I'm having a tough time trying to wrap my head around this concept. However, isn't Toontown at Disneyland pretty jarring, too? I guess I'm just used to seeing things a very particular way. I have Asperger's Syndrome, you see. If it were to go in the Studios, it would not go over by the Streets of America, it would probably go over near Sunset Blvd., located at the opposite end of the park. I'm getting the impression that your new concept would have no new attractions, restaurants or even shops (well, maybe one, but that's it).

 

[goofy donald]

You're right, I'm having a tough time trying to wrap my head around this concept. However, isn't Toontown at Disneyland pretty jarring, too? I guess I'm just used to seeing things a very particular way. I have Asperger's Syndrome, you see. If it were to go in the Studios, it would not go over by the Streets of America, it would probably go over near Sunset Blvd., located at the opposite end of the park. I'm getting the impression that your new concept would have no new attractions, restaurants or even shops (well, maybe one, but that's it).

not true, yes there would be no restaurants, however there would be a gift shop at the exit (of course :animwink and I see this concept as two attractions. the first attraction is the pre show that gets you into the actual toon town. this preshow will be very vivid and as if you are actually being transported into the comics. then you exit the theater and enter the second attraction, toon town itself. half of the attractions are the fab 5 meet and greets where you can see them outside of their homes which could be partially built just to take pictures infront of, or walkthrough attractions in their own right. most likely mickey, minnie, donald, and goofy's houses would be the only ones you could actually walk into, the rest would be the first option while they, along with pluto did meet and greets at another location say in front of another location in the town or a themed scrim. the rest of the area would all be next gen interactive areas for those who don't want to meet and greet, for example you could crawl into pluto's dog house, walk up to pete's window and listen in on what hes saying, dance with the singing flowers in daisies flower patch, ect. so in turn it all makes a 2 part attraction, along with an additional pre show attraction. another thing I like about this concept is that it wouldn't be over crowded and is very open. only the amount of guests that fit in the pre show theater get to go through to the land, then everyone has to leave within a preset showtime of say an hour an hour 30 mins. the lines for all the characters would never get beyond 15-20 mins just because there are a bunch of them and it would give each person plenty of time to interact with each character and you could go and do whatever you wanted in that time in no specific order. I just think that its a really attractive breath of fresh air.

 

[mharrington]

not true, yes there would be no restaurants, however there would be a gift shop at the exit (of course :animwink and I see this concept as two attractions. the first attraction is the pre show that gets you into the actual toon town. this preshow will be very vivid and as if you are actually being transported into the comics. then you exit the theater and enter the second attraction, toon town itself. half of the attractions are the fab 5 meet and greets where you can see them outside of their homes which could be partially built just to take pictures infront of, or walkthrough attractions in their own right. most likely mickey, minnie, donald, and goofy's houses would be the only ones you could actually walk into, the rest would be the first option while they, along with pluto did meet and greets at another location say in front of another location in the town or a themed scrim. the rest of the area would all be next gen interactive areas for those who don't want to meet and greet, for example you could crawl into pluto's dog house, walk up to pete's window and listen in on what hes saying, dance with the singing flowers in daisies flower patch, ect. so in turn it all makes a 2 part attraction, along with an additional pre show attraction. another thing I like about this concept is that it wouldn't be over crowded and is very open. only the amount of guests that fit in the pre show theater get to go through to the land, then everyone has to leave within a preset showtime of say an hour an hour 30 mins. the lines for all the characters would never get beyond 15-20 mins just because there are a bunch of them and it would give each person plenty of time to interact with each character and you could go and do whatever you wanted in that time in no specific order. I just think that its a really attractive breath of fresh air.

I have a feeling that the whole concept will be just like Mickey's Starland/Birthdayland without the stage show, train station and petting farm. That's what I'm envisioning. What are you planning on calling the attraction, anyway?

 

[goofy donald]

I have a feeling that the whole concept will be just like Mickey's Starland/Birthdayland without the stage show, train station and petting farm. That's what I'm envisioning. What are you planning on calling the attraction, anyway?

there's no sense arguing this further because there's obviously nothing that can be done to convince you of the concept, your thinking is illogical, it is nowhere near a birthday land comparison. like they are not even in the same realm. what How could you possibly get that from the basic outline i created?

 

[mharrington]

there's no sense arguing this further because there's obviously nothing that can be done to convince you of the concept, your thinking is illogical, it is nowhere near a birthday land comparison. like they are not even in the same realm. what How could you possibly get that from the basic outline i created?

It just seems as though the meet-n-greet concept is merged with Mickey's house (which I don't think fits the theme of the Studios anyway) and an interactive spot, which appears to be the entire land. As for any alleged ties (or not) to Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland, all of these were things that you could do there. Furthermore, there was this one section of Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland that the Birnbaum Guide to WDW called the Mickey Mouse Club Funland. Here's what it says:

[At the Mickey Mouse Club Funland, guests] are surrounded by a colorful cartoon version of a city skyline. An interactive video area allows guests to see themselves on TV screens, and there is a variety of activities waiting just outside the exit doors. A walkway features shops that offer interactive audio experiences. The Popcorn Shop, for example, has boxes out front that pop when opened. The firehouse features a working siren and rotating light activated when guests push the right button. In addition, Mickey's Walk of Fame replicates Hollywood's starred Walk of Fame. These stars, however, represent Disney characters, and when guests step on a star they hear a character's voice.

And that's where my comparison with Mickey's Starland came into play here, because I felt as though your concept is like that area. And what would the pre-show area be anyway?

 

[goofy donald]

It just seems as though the meet-n-greet concept is merged with Mickey's house (which I don't think fits the theme of the Studios anyway) and an interactive spot, which appears to be the entire land. As for any alleged ties (or not) to Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland, all of these were things that you could do there. Furthermore, there was this one section of Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland that the Birnbaum Guide to WDW called the Mickey Mouse Club Funland.

Yes, essentially it is your right, but its so much more then that. Not only do we see just mickey and minnies houses which is all weve seen before, we now get donald, and goofy's houses, along with the outsides of several other favorite characters such as daisy, clarabell, pete ect, the likes of which have never been depicted in a theme park before. It fits the theme of the studios because the park is all about taking you into the movies.... well this is physically taking you into the cartoon, a more in depth experience then any other currently offered at the park. If that doesn't fit don't know what does. another issue is your looking at this from the perspective of a land when it isn't that but a kind of super attraction if you will inside of the Animation courtyard land with four separate pieces (the preshow, the M/G, the interactive next gen, and the store/portal back) to create a cohesive experience. thirdly its not just an interactive "spot" but an entirely immersed interactive experience. As opposed to some cheesy effects seen in birthday land you seem to be thinking of this land will have top of the line next gen technology that will allow guests to interact with almost everything on the entire mock street. I reiterate, this is nothing like birthday land. as for the pre-show, iv'e already described it. it will be a short 3-d film in a moving theater themed to some sort of teleportation vehicle to take you into the cartoon. you are briefed in the holding area and you then enter the theater where you watch the show and then enter Mickey's street. hopefully there are no further questions

 

[mharrington]

Well, here's my own idea for Toontown. It is more traditional, but with differences. I was thinking of a set-up similar to Cars Land, but with a fancy movie palace at the end of the main drag, which is to be home to a new E-ticket ride, of which I will go into detail later.

Another difference is the lack of character homes (they just don't fit the theme of the Studios, such as it is). Instead, character meet-n-greets will now be housed in what looks like a Toon-style hotel. But I don't want the hotel to actually be tall (might end up dwarfing the Tower of Terror, knock on wood). So what do you think would be a good solution for that? And I don't want character areas be located on different floors; it just seems to inconvenient for guests. So how can we do the elevator here?

 

[goofy donald]

Well, here's my own idea for Toontown. It is more traditional, but with differences. I was thinking of a set-up similar to Cars Land, but with a fancy movie palace at the end of the main drag, which is to be home to a new E-ticket ride, of which I will go into detail later.

Another difference is the lack of character homes (they just don't fit the theme of the Studios, such as it is). Instead, character meet-n-greets will now be housed in what looks like a Toon-style hotel. But I don't want the hotel to actually be tall (might end up dwarfing the Tower of Terror, knock on wood). So what do you think would be a good solution for that? And I don't want character areas be located on different floors; it just seems to inconvenient for guests. So how can we do the elevator here?

If the characters homes aren't there then its not toon town, its something else all together.

 

[mharrington]

If the characters homes aren't there then its not toon town, its something else all together.

If it's not Toontown, what is it?