Mr Toad's Wild Ride

[Melora]

I will apologize in advance if I insult anyone with this question.. honestly it is only a matter of curiosity that I ask....

OK that said, I am wondering what the appeal to this ride is (was). We still have it out here at Disneyland and I went on it recently with my kids and could not for the life of me understand what was enjoyable about being hit and killed by a train then going to hell. I thought it was just freaky!

I've seen SO many people say how they missed it that I'm wondering if I'm missing something.

Please let me know what it is about the ride that you all liked so much!

 

[captchris]

When I was a little kid, any dark ride scared me. When i got a little older, I like any ride that featured cars. To this day, I am 32 and a car nut!

I think that Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was a fun dark ride that appealed to people. I will say that the Winnie the Pooh ride is very well done and is a fitting replacement for Mr. Toad's. Some rides such as Mr. Toad's will have a following, but I would definiitely consider it expendable. There are classic rides such as Small World, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, that should never...ever...did I say never, be replaced, just updated with technology.

 

[Missus Toad]

I thought it was just freaky!

And there's your answer!

 

[bubba73]

Somethings, you just can't explain. I can tell you that when I was out in California this past year for a Conference, I came out a day early so I could go to DL for the first time. One of the first rides I did was Mr. Toad's Ride. It took me down on a sentimental journey back to my childhood days when we had it at WDW. I know if I get to come back out to Cali. again this year for the same Conference, I will do the same thing again. Remember, Disney wanted you to have a place where the adults could be a kid again as well.

 

[EnnEss]

Personally, i LOVE THE RIDE and am so glad its still in Disneyland. I'm going to WDW my first time this year and was saddened when I learned it was not there.

As for why I love it, its a few things. Mainly, its the edginess or dark overtones the ride has. It is not like most dark rides where everything is fun and perfect, or a story with a happy ending. At the same time, its not disturbing. The ride is well thought out, has a good plotline, is consistent throughout, and despite being very old, has a lot of brilliant details.

 

[The Sweetness]

It was just plain fun, in a slightly scary/ freaky way for me... being a bit scared of the dark

 

[Cindypooh]

Our family loves Mr. Toad. Of course, we also love the movie. The Mr. Toad at Disneyland is different than the one that was at WDW. I like the DL one better-though it is a little shorter. Cindy

 

[sameyeyam]

My grandparent's lived just blocks from Disneyland, so I spent every summer there. I can remember going on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride many, many times. But that was back in the good old coupon book days, where you only got a few E ride tickets and had lots of A & B ride tickets left over!

I can't remember exactly what coupon it was, bu I do remember riding it because it was the only halfway fun thing on that probably A or B ride coupon! Essentially my sister & I thought it was a great ride to waste all of crummy ride tickets on!

So yes I have many fond memories of Mr. Toad. Because I couldn't possibly leave Disneyland until I had used up every single ride coupon!

 

[quietgirll]

lol...oddly enough, i remember it as really the only ride at disney world that ever really truly SCARED me. space mountain and big thunder were exhilirating, but they didn't actually scare me. my dad would always ride that with me, and i was so scared of the train portion...i would cry, but then it was just always so nice to come out into the bright sunlight with the "step out to your left please". i can't really explain it, but to me it will always be one of my magical disney memories- lol- even though it scared me, it certainly made a lasting impression...

 

[msgrimm23]

Stiff stiff i loved the ride and miss it it was just the fact that it was silly my whole family use to love going on it

 

[ChrisFL]

I loved the WDW version, even though I only went on it about a year before it closed. I also rode the DL version last month and enjoyed that one also...like another poster said, how many Disney rides do you end up getting hit by a train and going to hell?

 

[Melora]

Thank you all for the answers! Its actually helped me understand a bit better.

As a kid, I can remember my dad taking me to Beverly Park here in LA. We went every Sunday and I rode the ponies (always Popcorn who ran so fast my mother used to think I was going to get whiplash) then off to the carnival part of the place. There was fun house that I wanted to go in every time and every time I would promise my dad that I wouldn't cry THIS time. And of course, every time we were tooling along in the little fun house car and came to the room where the train came barreling down on top of you and you thought this time for sure it was going to run you down, I burst into tears. I don't know why I went back each and every time but I guess if Beverly Park were still there (and not paved over by the giant Beverly Center Shopping Mall) I would want to go for sentimental reasons. I think though, I might still cry! I close my eyes every time I've been on Mr. Toad at the train part because it just scares the bejeezes out of me!

I'm really glad I understand the appeal now!

 

[stites1]

You talk about being run over by a train on your way to Hell like its a bad thing.

Viva El Toad!!!!!

 

[dis-happy]

My grandparent's lived just blocks from Disneyland, so I spent every summer there. I can remember going on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride many, many times. But that was back in the good old coupon book days, where you only got a few E ride tickets and had lots of A & B ride tickets left over!

I can't remember exactly what coupon it was, bu I do remember riding it because it was the only halfway fun thing on that probably A or B ride coupon! Essentially my sister & I thought it was a great ride to waste all of crummy ride tickets on!

So yes I have many fond memories of Mr. Toad. Because I couldn't possibly leave Disneyland until I had used up every single ride coupon!

I grew up as a kid at DL as well and remember most of Fantasyland being C tickets.

As for the ride...it's a classic. Y'all read "Wind in the Willows", right? I loved Toady and his friends.

True confession: friends in high school said riding with me at the wheel was like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We did Mr Toad this morning at DL. It was lots of fun and actually pretty long. We only did it once or twice at WDW before they replaced it with Pooh's Hunnypots.

 

[Torjohnson]

I have a connection to it because it is really old school Disney, and I have to ride it every time I am in DL because it is just so weird and surreal. I mean it has that sense of disney morality to it that is at once preachy and fun...the morality that sends Mr Toad to hell at the end of the ride, a hell full of smoke and demons, is the same morality that turns the "bad" boys into Donkeys in the world of Pinocchio. My enjoyment of the ride is based as much on nostalgia as it is on ride quality. It is somehow no different than other rides, except for the quasi nightmarish quality, and the flashbacks I have when I first rode it. I am ten again, and I remember being taught a lesson that recklessness. What other amusement park moralizes like Disney?