News Reimagined Toontown coming

[NobodyElse]

Mickey's Toontown, Presented by AstroTurf Division of Monsanto!

That looks dumb. And tacky. What is the point exactly? Would it have killed them to at least center what few benches remain along the fence? Actually, they should have ordered another half dozen benches at least and then spaced them evenly along the perimeter, but there I go noticing details and trying to do their job for them as "showmen". Or failed showmen, in this case.

I assume this will be mass stroller parking, so why even bother with the AstroTurf? Why not just keep the fountain and all the benches under the trees and park the strollers along the back? What convinced them this was a needed change, I wonder?

Perhaps they'll add this to the musical loop:

 

[TP2000]

Toontown reopening has been delayed until March 19th -

Several days of rain are now forecast for late this week in SoCal, with unusually cold temperatures from Seattle to San Diego.

Will that push the reopening date back further?

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

Several days of rain are now forecast for late this week in SoCal, with unusually cold temperatures from Seattle to San Diego.

Will that push the reopening date back further?

Since they’re all toons might as well push the opening to April fools days. Joking

 

[Brer Oswald]

Perhaps they'll add this to the musical loop:

You joke, but they are playing the “Hall of Science” theme from the New Mickey Mouse Cartoon, “Down the Hatch”, in the updated music loop. You’ll never guess which classic Disneyland song makes an appearance in that same cartoon.

 

[Nirya]

They honestly should have enclosed all of ToonTown like they did for Mermaid Lagoon at DisneySea. They would have allowed them to keep the land open through fireworks while also letting them do projection mapping stuff on the inside, like switching from day to night repeatedly throughout and having things flying around.

 

[MisterPenguin]

They honestly should have enclosed all of ToonTown like they did for Mermaid Lagoon at DisneySea. They would have allowed them to keep the land open through fireworks while also letting them do projection mapping stuff on the inside, like switching from day to night repeatedly throughout and having things flying around.

Disney parks do indeed need more gigantic boxes!!

 

[Brer Oswald]

Disney parks do indeed need more gigantic boxes!!

I vote for a red one this time

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

They honestly should have enclosed all of ToonTown like they did for Mermaid Lagoon at DisneySea. They would have allowed them to keep the land open through fireworks while also letting them do projection mapping stuff on the inside, like switching from day to night repeatedly throughout and having things flying around.

As cool as that sounds, let's be honest - they didn't even bother projection-mapping the ceilings inside Runaway Railway.

 

[Nirya]

As cool as that sounds, let's be honest - they didn't even bother projection-mapping the ceilings inside Runaway Railway.

That I understand, though - the center is where they're running all the lighting and projectors, so you don't necessarily want to call attention to it. Putting ToonTown in a box means you can hide all that stuff behind/on top of/inside the building exteriors, similar to how they do projection mapping for the fireworks shows on Main Street.

 

[mharrington]

Several days of rain are now forecast for late this week in SoCal, with unusually cold temperatures from Seattle to San Diego.

Will that push the reopening date back further?

I have a feeling they might. I was tolerant the first time around since I'm not going any time soon anyway, but now I'm starting to wonder how much further out they can go. And yes, I have a feeling that it could easily extend out past April 1.

In hindsight, it's actually a miracle they were able to open Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway without the weather getting in the way.

 

[TP2000]

I have a feeling they might. I was tolerant the first time around since I'm not going any time soon anyway, but now I'm starting to wonder how much further out they can go. And yes, I have a feeling that it could easily extend out past April 1.

There's a part of me that understands stuff like exterior painting that could be delayed by rain. Especially if, giving them the benefit of the doubt, they still have high standards for their work in the Disneyland Paint Department even if most other Anaheim department's have let their standards nosedive the past few years.

But I guess most of that end of Toontown is nothing but exterior sets and props, so maybe that's part of the issue?

But then, as a former SoCal'er who has lived in over a dozen other states in my life, there's a part of me that thinks this is just Anaheim CM's and their bosses being total weather wimps. It's winter, it's cold and damp even in SoCal, deal with it.

In hindsight, it's actually a miracle they were able to open Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway without the weather getting in the way.

You have to wonder why they did it that way? To launch at the same time as Disney100? Seems really dumb in hindsight. I take it that level of decision was a Ken Potrock and Josh D'Amaro call? I'd love to hear how they explain that timetable.

The rest of the stuff for the Disney100 campaign is minor and mostly cosmetic and decorative; reworked World of Color and fireworks, and bringing back a three year old parade that got canned because of Covid (two weeks to flatten the curve!). Either separate the Toontown project for its own grand premiere six weeks after Disney100, or delay Disney100 six or eight weeks and debut it all together right as Spring Break starts.

But what do I know?

 

[TP2000]

Or, maybe, they were so proud of their new Monsanto AstroTurf with two (2!) trees and three (3!) benches (that are painfully and unevenly placed obviously just to annoy the hell out of me) that they wanted to debut it as part of the Disney100 kickoff even if the rest of the land and it's two other rides wasn't going to be ready for another six weeks?

 

[mharrington]

...there's a part of me that thinks this is just Anaheim CM's and their bosses being total weather wimps. It's winter, it's cold and damp even in SoCal, deal with it.

Maybe they were trying to be safe. Safety is and should always be a top priority.

You have to wonder why they did it that way? To launch at the same time as Disney100? Seems really dumb in hindsight. I take it that level of decision was a Ken Potrock and Josh D'Amaro call? I'd love to hear how they explain that timetable.

But they didn't let the rain stop them from finishing and opening the ride.

 

[TP2000]

That I understand, though - the center is where they're running all the lighting and projectors, so you don't necessarily want to call attention to it. Putting ToonTown in a box means you can hide all that stuff behind/on top of/inside the building exteriors, similar to how they do projection mapping for the fireworks shows on Main Street.

That's a darn good idea!

Mermaid Lagoon in Tokyo is ingenious. And it has four or five rides in there, plus a very snazzy Mermaid theater show. And stores and a few snack bars. That never closes due to rain or fireworks or lightning (or even lightening). In climate-controlled comfort for CM's and guests alike.

Seems like a missed opportunity. Especially as it would be easy to theme as a "Toon" environment that wasn't supposed to be real.

An indoor Toontown land could even change throughout the operating day from daytime to nighttime. Perhaps a sundown version of the Cars Land neon show where Mr. Sun goes behind the Toontown hills and Mr. Moon comes out with a musical flourish as all the lights turn on? All off the top of my non-creative head, of course. It's a real shame there aren't some showmen running the Disney Parks division and it's Billion dollar profits to come up with similar ideas as I just did in 20 seconds over a glass of Malbec on a Tuesday night.

 

[TP2000]

Maybe they were trying to be safe. Safety is and should always be a top priority.

I think it's more a desire for artistic excellence, rather than "safety". Or at least I hope it is.

If it was unsafe to do some painting in the rain, the Seattle Space Needle would still be bare metal even 60 years after the World's Fair.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Maybe they were trying to be safe. Safety is and should always be a top priority.

It more likely than not is a safety issue.

TP says he doesn’t believe experts, but loves to pretend like he knows what’s happening regarding a bunch of things. This one is no exception lol.

 

[TP2000]

It more likely than not is a safety issue.

TP says he doesn’t believe experts, but loves to pretend like he knows what’s happening regarding a bunch of things. This one is no exception lol.

I don't automatically disbelieve "experts", but after the last three years I now take anything they say with a giant chunk of salt. They are increasingly wrong. As this week's National Weather Service forecasts for several inches of snow at Disneyland this Friday prove.

As for safety and painting in the rain, I have seen people painting bridges and structures in wet weather. Even snow. Cement pours for foundations and walls in particular work great in the rain, the cement cures beautifully when its wet.

I imagine it was more an artistic decision regarding theme painting and artistic design skills, rather than a safety decision to protect people from the light to moderate rainfall that Anaheim got on seven separate days over the first two weeks of January. At least I hope it was an artistic decision, as I could respect that.

If it really was a "We can't do anything in light rain! It's unsafe! We have to cancel shifts this week and go home to have soup!" decision, then that's just laughable and deserves to be made fun of.

 

[TP2000]

There's got to be a legit reason or two why Toontown had to push its reopening back a few weeks. But "Worker Safety In Light Rainfall!" isn't one of them. They probably just used the two weeks of rainy weather as an excuse for whatever the real, and less flattering, reason was.

As for the "Safety!" of working in light rain, this guy in this video proves it can be done. He's a hero, and a very good American!

He didn't complain about light rainfall and ask to go home to have soup and push the reopening of the freeway back a few hours.

He got the job done, because he was being paid to get it done. In hip deep water. Bravo, Texas Highway Worker Dude!

 

[celluloid]

Some of the same people who think that WDW will have their Blue Sky projects happening and opened before 2030 are the same ones who are witnessing DL's Toontown two rides that were already built and operating before the redo, not ready.

 

[mharrington]

They honestly should have enclosed all of ToonTown like they did for Mermaid Lagoon at DisneySea. They would have allowed them to keep the land open through fireworks while also letting them do projection mapping stuff on the inside, like switching from day to night repeatedly throughout and having things flying around.

What would the exterior of this enclosure have looked like since it's on the other side of the tracks? The entrance to Mermaid Lagoon looked like King Triton's castle if I recall.