News Reimagined Toontown coming

[mickEblu]

What's interesting about that is for the first 65 years, you couldn't complete a full loop of Disneyland on foot. You were always stopped on the western edge by the Indian Village/Bear Country/Critter Country dead-end. A Northwest Passage of sorts was opened up in 1979 with the addition of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Big Thunder Trail that traversed what used to be Nature's Wonderland. But on the northern edge you were always stopped by the Fantasyland dead-end, that was only extended a bit by the addition of Toontown in 1992.

Here are the main pathways in the park, mostly unchanged since 1955 until 2019, with the So Rude! dead-ends marked by red X's.

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But now with Star Wars Land, and if they include a pathway from the long abandoned Chip & Dale's Treehouse Staircase Adventure into Star Wars Land, the ability to circle Disneyland on foot will have dramatically changed in just a few short years. All the dead-ends were linked together!

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This is interesting. I’ve never known a Disneyland without a Big Thunder Trail. So was the dead end on the Fantasyland side right by the Village Haus bathrooms?

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Oh wow, looks interesting. I appreciate in the concept art how people can picnic in the grass.

Certainly looks like a step in the right direction after so many idiotic decisions.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

This is interesting. I’ve never known a Disneyland without a Big Thunder Trail. So was the dead end on the Fantasyland side right by the Village Haus bathrooms?

Yep, Dumbo and the Welch Juice Bar (that had a very nice Fantasia themed mural) blocked that side. While the entire Painted Desert of Nature's Wonderland took up the space that was later used for a good chunk of Big Thunder Trail and all of Big Thunder Ranch.

 

[mickEblu]

Yep, Dumbo and the Welch Juice Bar (that had a very nice Fantasia themed mural) blocked that side. While the entire Painted Desert of Nature's Wonderland took up the space that was later used for a good chunk of Big Thunder Trail and all of Big Thunder Ranch.
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Thanks for this. This is one of those neat details that flew under the radar. I knew Mine Train took up that area and had to go for BTMRR but never really realized that there wasn’t a path from Frontierland to Fantasyland until it closed.

 

[D.Silentu]

Dumbo and the Welch Juice Bar (that had a very nice Fantasia themed mural) blocked that side.

I'd love to see a picture of that mural if anyone knew where to find one.

 

[__r.jr]

What a lack of vision and ambition.

There are so many avenues the concept could have gone with or be expanded upon. How about revisiting Tokyo's Disneyland's Mickeyville plans? Enclosing the space ala Mermaid Lagoon in Tokyo Disneysea? What about traveling onto the second balcony of Rodger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin like originally designed? Perhaps finally placing a table service restaurant and have it be a toonified speakeasy with live entertainment?

The possibilities are vast and a land that is dedicated to characters, ones that are iconographically synonymous with Disney that have transcended nearing a century, warrants such scrutiny and deserve much, much more.

 

[brb1006]

Is this movie edited on Disney + in any way? *laughs nervously*

Also, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing characters like the Three Little Pigs and Dear Danny get some more love, and maybe with the ToonTown sprucing up, we can go back to the more "hanging out" feel characters used to have, where Pluto, Goofy, Gadget, Chip and Dale etc. all just walked around Toon Town interacting. I know this may be a long way off because of Covid, but dang, that was always a favourite of mine. When I was a kid, Goofy and Pluto hijacked my sister's stroller and pushed each other around Toon Town, ending up breaking it. It forced my (awful) sister to have to walk for the rest of the day. It's still such a fond memory.

EDIT: Also very fondly remembered, the pre-ToonTown retro: Circa 1897-92 Disney afternoon cartoon area, along with the D. Tracey stuff.

First I'm overjoyed to know I'm not the only person who loves Danny the little black sheep from So Dear To My Heart. The only time this character gained any love from any of the Disney Parks was at Tokyo Disneyland where he gained a special statue at Westerland for Year of the Sheep (2015) and even sold special Danny merchandise!

I'm still waiting for So Dear To My Heart to get added to Disney+ someday.

And second, can Disney finally bring Elmer Elephant and Tillie Tiger (another Silly Symphony character) into the parks? I would buy anything featuring those two in a heartbeat (perfect for Valentine's Day merchandise at the parks).

Come on look how cute the two are together!

Knowing Tokyo Disneyland (to a lesser-extent Disneyland Paris) loves bringing in Disney's obscure and lesser-known characters into the parks. I'm going to place my bets on Elmer and Tillie to possibly become exclusive to Tokyo for a couple a years in the near future. Heck, Japan even gained a Japanese exclusive version with both characters having a slightly different design.

Disney please make both of these characters meetable in the parks someday. Tillie Tiger is extremely adorable and might become popular with Japanese guests in Tokyo Disneyland on par with Marie, Clarice, and Miss Bunny from Bambi. Especially since cuteness is huge in that country.

 

[mharrington]

I hope the Main Street-esque windows on the upper floors of the buildings survive the overhaul, especially this one:

I love how it says "No Foolin'". It's a nice little tribute to the "I'm No Fool" series of educational cartoons starring Jiminy Cricket that originated on "The Mickey Mouse Club".

 

[TomboyJanet]

They took out an animatronic and replaced it with a barrel and repainted the sign. That's all they did. I could see the ride being scrapped.

Most likely Disney doesn't even know what it wants to do yet.

I for one would like to see that ride in DHS. It is a PERFECT fit how did they drop the ball on that one?

 

[TP2000]

Thanks for this. This is one of those neat details that flew under the radar. I knew Mine Train took up that area and had to go for BTMRR but never really realized that there wasn’t a path from Frontierland to Fantasyland until it closed.

It was the last vestige of the 1955 plan for the park. Originally, you had to exit the land you were in via the Hub to get into a new land.

Here's an aerial of Disneyland circa 1955 (astonishingly pre-Google Earth).

And here are the main walkways superimposed on it in blue. Frontierland is one of the most isolated of the lands, really just a mini-street leading to the Mark Twain dock and a pathway along the river to enter Adventureland from the west. Nature's Wonderland cuts off Frontierland from Fantasyland, and no access point existed there until 1979.

 

[wtyy21]

Since the new Toontown and MMRR had close proximity to fireworks launchpad, i wonder if newly-refurbished land and its new attraction still be close early because of fireworks shows? Whether MMRR keeps open past 8? Whether fireworks will limited to weekends only for summer? Interesting to see that new ride and what happens to fireworks in 2023.

 

[Sailor310]

Before Galaxy's Edge, I would often walk past Haunted Mansion, planning on taking the Thunder Mountain Trail around to Fantasy Land.. only to realize I was in the wrong place and it didn't go though.

 

[SplashJacket]

It was the last vestige of the 1955 plan for the park. Originally, you had to exit the land you were in via the Hub to get into a new land.

Hilariously, this was a lot of people's complaint about Epic Universe's design.

 

[el_super]

View attachment 601352
Since the new Toontown and MMRR had close proximity to fireworks launchpad, i wonder if newly-refurbished land and its new attraction still be close early because of fireworks shows? Whether MMRR keeps open past 8? Whether fireworks will limited to weekends only for summer? Interesting to see that new ride and what happens to fireworks in 2023.

It's a good question. Someone long ago stated that the restricted area for the pyro launch site was calculated at 200 yards, which would give them a slight opening in Toontown if they wanted to do it. Might work out for MMRR if they converted part of Roger Rabbit into queue space...

 

[G00fyDad]

I wish they'd do this in WDW. They have the perfect place (imho) on Mainstreet USA but I doubt this will ever come back to Florida. Maybe if my family takes a trip to California one day we might se this.

 

[Dear Prudence]

First I'm overjoyed to know I'm not the only person who loves Danny the little black sheep from So Dear To My Heart. The only time this character gained any love from any of the Disney Parks was at Tokyo Disneyland where he gained a special statue at Westerland for Year of the Sheep (2015) and even sold special Danny merchandise!

I'm still waiting for So Dear To My Heart to get added to Disney+ someday.

And second, can Disney finally bring Elmer Elephant and Tillie Tiger (another Silly Symphony character) into the parks? I would buy anything featuring those two in a heartbeat (perfect for Valentine's Day merchandise at the parks).

Come on look how cute the two are together!

Knowing Tokyo Disneyland (to a lesser-extent Disneyland Paris) loves bringing in Disney's obscure and lesser-known characters into the parks. I'm going to place my bets on Elmer and Tillie to possibly become exclusive to Tokyo for a couple a years in the near future. Heck, Japan even gained a Japanese exclusive version with both characters having a slightly different design.
View attachment 601337

Disney please make both of these characters meetable in the parks someday. Tillie Tiger is extremely adorable and might become popular with Japanese guests in Tokyo Disneyland on par with Marie, Clarice, and Miss Bunny from Bambi. Especially since cuteness is huge in that country.

Dear Danny is one of my favourite Disney characters of all time. My grandmother was not American, and one of her first jobs when she moved here was working at a movie theatre. She had absolutely no touchstones for American culture and basically learned through watching American movies. She said that So Dear to My Heart was one of her faves. She got to watch it over and over again (because she was an usher) and she said it never stopped being magical. I own So Dear to My Heart on DVD (and you can stream it on Amazon and YouTube, etc.)--and I agree! It's certainly up there for me. I was sort of pleasantly surprised when he was a sleeper-hit at Toyko Disneyland, but they still sell a lot of merch of Danny (I own an embarrassing amount of it and wear the SPECIAL AWARD ribbon fairly often, hahaha hahaha).

Also, I absolutely, nine million percent agree, Elmer Elephant and Tillie Tiger should be walk-around and huggable characters!!!!! I think the Silly Symphony characters need a revival, especially since a whole new generation of kids are seeing them on Disney Plus. My nephew is absolutely obsessed with Steamboat Willie and Elmer Elephant. Having early Disney/ Walt-era characters walk around ToonTown is just a perfect fit.

Also, the Cookie Carnival characters as meetable would be EVERYTHING!

 

[mharrington]

View attachment 601352
Since the new Toontown and MMRR had close proximity to fireworks launchpad, i wonder if newly-refurbished land and its new attraction still be close early because of fireworks shows? Whether MMRR keeps open past 8? Whether fireworks will limited to weekends only for summer? Interesting to see that new ride and what happens to fireworks in 2023.

Didn't fireworks used to happen only on weekends, summers and holidays?

 

[chadwpalm]

View attachment 601352
Since the new Toontown and MMRR had close proximity to fireworks launchpad, i wonder if newly-refurbished land and its new attraction still be close early because of fireworks shows? Whether MMRR keeps open past 8? Whether fireworks will limited to weekends only for summer? Interesting to see that new ride and what happens to fireworks in 2023.

Construction photos had shown that the launchers were moved from the south side of the old building (along the faux hills) to now being on the north side of the new building. I believe this was purposefully done to allow Toontown to be open during fireworks.

If they are claiming the new design will have grassy areas to relax they may end up being good spots to watch the fireworks from.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Construction photos had shown that the launchers were moved from the south side of the old building (along the faux hills) to now being on the north side of the new building. I believe this was purposefully done to allow Toontown to be open during fireworks.

If they are claiming the new design will have grassy areas to relax they may end up being good spots to watch the fireworks from.

I didn't think the launch pad was moved significantly enough to allow ToonTown to be open during Fireworks still?

 

[chadwpalm]

I didn't think the launch pad was moved significantly enough to allow ToonTown to be open during Fireworks still?

The main launch pad was always far enough away to be safe in ToonTown...it was the secondary launchers on the front of the building behind ToonTown that was the issue. The new secondary launchers should be 200 ft away from inhabitable space in TT now.