How many people actually prefer Winnie the Pooh over Mr. Toad's Wild Ride?

Mr Toad vs. Winnie the Pooh

  • Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

    Votes: 124 62.9%

  • Winnie the Pooh

    Votes: 73 37.1%
  • Total voters
    197
Walt Disney1955

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In 1998 Mr. Toad's Wild Ride closed for good at Magic Kingdom. As it stands, only Disneyland still has that classic dark ride. I loved it. Always thought it was unique. I honestly don't know why it closed. Lack of lines perhaps? I don't know. I think Animal Kingdom opening up that year would have been a perfect spot for it with the animal theme and such. But that isn't what happened. It shut its doors and Winnie the Pooh replaced it. The love for Mr. Toad is strong on these boards, so much that people bring up Disneyland still having it as a positive thing, and I agree.

But how many people like the Winnie the Pooh ride better? Nothing against it, just at both parks it replaced a classic attraction (Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland). I like the ride too, but preferred Mr. Toad.

What is your choice?
 
bUU

bUU

Well-Known Member
The children in our family are entering, attending, or have completed college, now, but when they were of the age for dark rides like Winnie the Pooh we were quite grateful that Winnie the Pooh was there rather than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. And that's really the point: Not everything has to be the way that works best for one's own family; Disney has to offer things that appeal to other families - families with different preferences, families at different stages of their lives, families that shared different stories with their young children than we did, etc. - and in proportion to how many other families there are with those other preferences.
 
Heppenheimer

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
Slight edge to Mr. Toad, but not by much. Cost cutting were/are evident in both, be it the plywood cut-outs on Mr. Toad, or the "moving statues" in lieu of real animatronics on Winnie the Pooh. I give Mr. Toad the advantage because it has a manic energy that most other Disney dark rides lack. And, the Imagineers had the guts to actually end the ride with your simulated death and descent into hell, a detail that was in neither the movie nor the book.
 
M

Mickey5150

Well-Known Member
I voted for Mr Toad for 2 reasons. 1 I always loved the Wind in the Willows as a kid and 2 I just feel Pooh is out of place. It should have been built in Frontierland near Splash and Big Thunder.
 
BoarderPhreak

BoarderPhreak

Well-Known Member
Pooh is much more upscale, but it's also a little annoying and too bright. But the kids seem to like it; they have no idea who Mr. Toad is anyway. 🤷‍♂️
 
bryanfze55

bryanfze55

Well-Known Member
Heppenheimer said:
Slight edge to Mr. Toad, but not by much. Cost cutting were/are evident in both, be it the plywood cut-outs on Mr. Toad, or the "moving statues" in lieu of real animatronics on Winnie the Pooh. I give Mr. Toad the advantage because it has a manic energy that most other Disney dark rides lack. And, the Imagineers had the guts to actually end the ride with your simulated death and descent into hell, a detail that was in neither the movie nor the book.
Click to expand...

Mr. Toad looks bad because it was built in 1955. Winnie the Pooh should be so much more advanced than it is considering when it was built.

Then again, I don’t like to take technological advancement too far on dark rides. The lack of tech is part of the charm, IMO. Compare these two rides to Frozen Ever After or Na’Vi River Journey. I enjoy the latter two, but I wouldn’t call them “charming.” They’re just aesthetically pleasing.
 
Heppenheimer

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
bryanfze55 said:
Mr. Toad looks bad because it was built in 1955. Winnie the Pooh should be so much more advanced than it is considering when it was built.

Then again, I don’t like to take technological advancement too far on dark rides. The lack of tech is part of the charm, IMO. Compare these two rides to Frozen Ever After or Na’Vi River Journey. I enjoy the latter two, but I wouldn’t call them “charming.” They’re just aesthetically pleasing.
Click to expand...
Disney's other original dark rides, though, didn't look so cheap by comparison. By the time they built the ride in the Magic Kingdom, they could have at least replaced the cut-outs with three dimensional figures, like in the Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and Alice in Wonderland rides. It would be one thing if the flat figures and sets were stylistic choice (like in the Buzz Lightyear ride), but that doesn't appear to be the case.

BTW, do they still play "Merrily On Our Way to Nowhere" in the Magic Kingdom entrance music loop?
 
wdwfan22

wdwfan22

Well-Known Member
Pooh hands down. Mr Toad was just cheap cardboard cutouts. It was fun, but nothing memorable. Pooh is familiar with all ages and the ride is much better themed. I wish we could have got Poohs Hunny Hunt, but The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh is still a better ride than Mr. Toads Wild Ride.
 
KCheatle

KCheatle

Well-Known Member
Unquestionably I prefer Pooh. I grew up in the 80s and went to WDW nearly every year until about 1997. I would love to say I bonded with the Mr. Toad ride and miss it, but my family almost never went on it. Those characters did not have appeal to me as a kid, so the ride was passed over. We knew who Mr. Toad was, but he was not a character my brother and sister and I were interested in. Now I go with my family nearly every year, and we go on Pooh almost every trip . It's such a cute ride, and my kids love the characters.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
I had/ have done both multiple times and prefer Toad. I do enjoy the Pooh characters but get to see them a lot. It was always a thrill to see the character of Mr Toad and his associates and be reminded of the classic film. The ride was old but still fun enough to be enjoyed and should have been allowed a place in MK.
 

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