Question For the Crew Who Went West To Disneyland

[JimmyV]

Loved the Podcast review of Disneyland and the comparisons to Disney World. My question is for the crew members who had never been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride when it held court in WDW. Obviously, the demise of the Toad was met with protest and gnashing of teeth. And the creation of Pooh's Angel Dust Adventure did little to assuage the hurt caused by the loss of an original attraction. That said, I am curious to know from those who had never been on the ride before, now that you have, can you understand why it was shuttered and taken to the bone yard? Or did you love the ride and now appreciate just how painful it was to see it disappear? It is/was clearly a low tech "dark ride" with little of the flair that Disney tries to achieve today. But at the same time, it is/was a wild spin of sound and color that appealed to the youngest guests. Having grown up with the ride, I find it hard to be objective about it. But for those of you who have no emotional connection to the ride, I'd love to hear your opinions.

So where do you come out on this?

• The ride was "meh" and I can see why they put it out to pasture.
• The ride was great and Disney really blew it when they removed it from WDW.

 

[pieface]

I have been to DW 50 times since 1972, Disney blew it when they removed it from the world. I took a trip to the land for my first trip wanted to see where it all began. I loved Mr toads wild ride I got on it numerous times while at the land. I miss it and wish they would return it to the world. It's a basic ride low tech but the kids as well as adults love it.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I just went on Mr. Toad for the first time in October and LOVED it.

 

[kbelle8995]

I enjoyed Mr. Toad and miss the attraction. Winnie the Pooh is cute but not my favorite. The lines are usually very bad and the lines are not always helped by the interactive elements. I wish they had found a way to keep Mr. Toad and add Winnie the Pooh in a separate show building expanding Fantasyland. They could have done this. They were closing the 20th League ride as well. I don't know if they did this before Mr. Toad or After.

So I think Disney did make a mistake by removing it.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Nancy from the DL Team here! Wanted to throw my two cents into the ring. Disney needed a home for Pooh in the 90s, since the Sears contracts were up and Disney had managed to elevate it to its peak of being a "hot commodity".

While Toad was a great ride at the MK (I loved the town square where the double track came together), it was losing attendance and Wind in the Willows was rapidly losing popularity as a children's novel and English Lit subject. This meant that Toad seemed the most logical thing to take out, since Snow White was still reflective of the princess properties. (Never take a princess away from a little girl....)

2 decades later, we look at Pooh from a much different perspective than we did then. Pooh's popularity has waned and is being replaced with the newer franchises, like those from Pixar. To our kids, Pooh has taken its place as a "babies only" property - no longer being offered on Disney Channel. My girls never gave Pooh a second thought. The movies bored them. The only Pooh thing they like is the ride and the Kenny Loggins song.

Give it 15 years or so. Pooh will be replaced with something newer and more exciting. Come out to DL! We'll still have Toad out here and you can indulge the love!!!! All of us need to sit through a good morality play every now and then!

 

[Teleclashter]

My thoughts on this subject are varied. I loved going on Mr. Toad's out in Disneyland and I think it is a ride that should never leave the park. It is classic. However, I can see why they would take it out at either park. It needed to remain in at least one park and it would be nice to have the World version with two tracks, but the fact that any Disney fan can still go to California and ride it is good enough for me.