Anyone else sad Mickey+Minnie's houses are going?

[WDWGoof07]

At least you could see Walt's apartment. You couldn't go into it, but you could see it.

Shouldn't guests be able to at least see where Mickey and company live?

Most guests do not know that Walt had an apartment above the Firehouse. Walt's apartment is not part of the "story", so to speak, of Main Street - it's strictly offstage. I only brought it up as an example of location.

Once again, for many years in DL and MK, guests were fine with the implication that Mickey and Friends lived there without actually being able to see their homes. The explanation that they have an apartment or penthouse of some kind somewhere on Main Street should suffice.

 

[unkadug]

At least you could see Walt's apartment. You couldn't go into it, but you could see it.

Shouldn't guests be able to at least see where Mickey and company live?

No... you do not get to see the homes of other characters, just as you do not ever see them eat. It should suffice that they exist, you really don't need to know how.

 

[jt04]

The characters will not be living at the theater. It's implied that, similarly to Walt's apartment in Disneyland, Mickey and Friends live somewhere on Main Street guests can't go. The gang will be cast as actors at the Town Square Theater, and guests will be meeting them when they're not rehearsing or performing.

The concept art on the Disney Parks Blog doesn't give any indication of how "Toon" the place will be on the inside, but this meet-and-greet would still be appropriate in a non-cartoony Victorian environment because, as I have discussed earlier, Mickey and the Gang can fit anywhere in the Magic Kingdom.

I hope they keep the 'toon' theming to a minimum. MSUSA should be more genuine in the theming rather than creating an extension of Fantasyland.

At least you could see Walt's apartment. You couldn't go into it, but you could see it.

Shouldn't guests be able to at least see where Mickey and company live?

I am thinking the backstory may be that the characters are on tour and they are taking time out to greet the people from the town. So then this is not their home at all. It is just a tour stop.

I think keeping the theaters, which it sounds like they are, may give Disney the opportunity to use them seasonally. They are beautiful and so I think I see why they have chosen not to convert them into homes for the characters.

 

[jt04]

Also, there was a lot of speculation in this thread about the possibility the toon town homes might be relocated. The good news is they are being relocated. The bad news is they have been reduced to dust to make that possible.

Actually that is good news too. :lol:

See ya, starland. :wave:

 

[WondersOfLife]

I am looking forward to the Fantasyland changes, but Im sad that Mickey and Minnie's houses are going (Im guessing demolished but dont know for sure). I always felt Toontown was lacking,but I think it would have been great to use this area for the Fab 5 (or Sensational 6) and really make something special for the mouse that started it all! This would have appealed to boys as much as girls. Maybe a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse play area (and no nothing like the Pooh play area), somewhere for Donald and Daisy etc. It just feels to me like Mickey is being shoved in a corner somewhere for meet and greets to keep the crowd happy,but surely this is meant to be Mickeys Place? :shrug:

Oh, surely you're not serious.. I mean really, I'm sure Disney would allow a free stay in one of their delux hotel rooms!

 

[mharrington]

Oh, surely you're not serious.. I mean really, I'm sure Disney would allow a free stay in one of their delux hotel rooms!

What does that mean?

 

[kymie]

WondersOfLife Im not sure what you mean?

 

[WondersOfLife]

Now that mickey and minnies houses are gone, i was sayin that disney would probably allow mickey to stay at one of the hotel rooms for free

 

[kymie]

Ooh!! My problem was more due to the fact my family and I loved the houses as an attraction in their own right. My children loved the thought of it really being Mickey and Minnie's houses, and I loved all the quirky details etc! But if what someone said above is true and new houses will be built then thats great!!

 

[unkadug]

The default color is much easier to read.

 

[mharrington]

The other thing is that I saw this interesting before-after article on the Magic Kingdom between 1983 and 2011, here at Yesterland: http://www.yesterland.com/mkthennow2.html.

Here's what the author said about the ornate structure where Mickey is being shoehorned into:

The ornate structure on the east side of Town Square opened in 1971 as the Hospitality House, presented by Gulf Oil Corporation. It hosted The Walt Disney Story from April 1973 through October 1992. For most of the past two decades, it’s been Exposition Hall, home to the Kodak Camera Center, historical camera displays, photo backdrops, and a small theater area showing Disney animation.

• At the time of the 1983 photo, there was no marquee across the front of the building.
• The lack of such a marquee is an example of how attraction signage was usually much more subtle in earlier decades than now.
• In the 2011 photo, the former Hospitality House is in the process of being transformed into the Town Square Theater, the new meet-and-greet location for Mickey Mouse.
• If the Town Square Theater ends up look like the rendering, there will be nothing subtle about it.

In the interest of time and space, I did not put up the pictures. You can look at the link in the post here if you want. But I guess it's safe to say that just as theme means nothing to Disney anymore, then neither does subtlety.

 

[pppapazo]

In the interest of time and space, I did not put up the pictures. You can look at the link in the post here if you want. But I guess it's safe to say that just as theme means nothing to Disney anymore, then neither does subtlety.

Yeah, but the attraction signage for the Walt Disney Story was so subtle, they closed the attraction for lack of attendance.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

There was NOTHING subtle about Toontown Fair.

 

[mharrington]

There was NOTHING subtle about Toontown Fair.

But at least, from the outside, you could see what you were getting yourself into there.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

MHarrington, you're dead wrong as usual. And so is that Yesterland article!

 

[inluvwithbeast]

But at least, from the outside, you could see what you were getting yourself into there.

Which means you'll be able to see what you're getting yourself into at the new M&G location...

 

[inluvwithbeast]

But at least, from the outside, you could see what you were getting yourself into there.

Which means you'll be able to see what you're getting yourself into at the new M&G location...

 

[mharrington]

Which means you'll be able to see what you're getting yourself into at the new M&G location...

But it doesn't seem to be as much fun. It seems more direct, not like with Mickey's house. You know it's his house, but you're not taken to the greeting spot in particular directly. You have to traverse his home first, which is an attraction in its own right. The new location, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be that elaborate.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

But it doesn't seem to be as much fun. It seems more direct, not like with Mickey's house. You know it's his house, but you're not taken to the greeting spot in particular directly. You have to traverse his home first, which is an attraction in its own right. The new location, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be that elaborate.

So you want the new attraction to be both elaborate and subtle? You are one tough customer!

 

[unkadug]

But it doesn't seem to be as much fun. It seems more direct, not like with Mickey's house. You know it's his house, but you're not taken to the greeting spot in particular directly. You have to traverse his home first, which is an attraction in its own right. The new location, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be that elaborate.

It's not even open yet!