Toontown is where you can step into the animated
world of Mickey and his friends. The land is really impressive in
how it looks. They have managed to make a world that looks like
a cartoon, no straight lines and a lot of color.
Also note that on evenings when there are fireworks
Toontown closes down prior to the show (and many times stays closed)
due to it being in the fireworks fall out area.
On March 9, 2022 Mickey's Toontown closed for renovation and the center core of the land was reimagined. The Jolly Trolley tracks are removed as well as the fountains. New lawn areas were added. On March 19, 2023 Toontown reopened.
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway opened on January 27, 2023 in the El CapiTOON theater.
Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin is a new twist on a dark ride. This is a combination of Mr.
Toad's Wild Ride and the Tea Cups. You sit in a Taxi Cab and go
through the ride, just like all the dark rides in Fantasyland, but
you are now in control of where you face. You can spin the car around.
That is where the Tea Cups part comes in. You really can not spin
that fast but it is fun to choose which way you look.
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway - My initial thoughts from opening day (for more on this experience here is a full post with pictures)
- Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is a great addition to Mickey's Toontown. It fits into the land perfectly and the execution is great starting with the queue experience. The attraction itself is basically the same as its Orlando cousin for the most part with a couple of tweaks made to the layout at the end and some other updates/tweaks since it is a purpose build building for the attraction. Overall it felt a little more polished than the WDW version. My initial view of the attraction is still the same as my first ride at WDW. I enjoyed it but still am not a fan of this version/look of the characters and would have preferred a more classic look, especially for Toontown. Also I thought some of the ride programming was a little rough/jerky and would have liked a more smooth experience.
- Currently your only two choices to experience the new attraction are to join the virtual queue or purchase an Individual Lightning Lane which was priced at $20. The virtual queue had two distribution times 7am and 1pm. Both virtual queue sold out within a second or two. The Lightning Lane purchases lasted until late morning, I did not notice when it sold out. I am not a huge fan of either and prefer the traditional queue where you know what you are in for and can make the choice to wait it out or not. With demand so high it is almost a lottery or luck to get a spot right now in the virtual queue, much like Rise of the Resistance was.
From March 24, 2023 - My 1st Impressions of the re-Imagineed Mickey's Toontown
- Goofy's How-to-Play Yard was a hit with the nephews. They really enjoyed running around, exploring the area, interacting with the various elements and playing on the slides. I thought the additions to the yard and especially inside Goofy's house were great. There were a fair number of things to see and do and with very few other guests first thing in the morning there was plenty of room to run and play at your own pace. Later in the day we revisited and the land was wall to wall people. The kids still had fun but there were delays and it was much less fun for us trying to keep an eye on them and enjoy the land with people everywhere. I thought the overlook opportunities from the walkway/ramp were really nice and I look forward to revisiting in the evening to see it with the lights on.
- Next door Donald's Boat is now closed so you cannot go inside or upstairs. Instead you can see some portals from Goofy's yard and on the other side is a splash pad (that was closed) for kids. I found it disappointing you can no longer take in the views from the second story of the boat, but by removing that it added more space around the house.
- They were not interested in the Go Coaster so we skipped it. The new Chip N Dale statues were a fun addition and the ride is the same as it always has been. Next door their Tree House has been removed and the area is now all turf with seating. It felt a little calmer back there but still disappointing to loose an element of the land with no replacement.
- Mickey and Minnie's houses are the same as they have been. We opted not to go inside and wait for either. The area in front of their houses no longer has a fountain and is instead a turf/lawn area for greeting characters. There were a number of characters roaming around the land throughout our two visits. I did not see Pete, but did see Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Clarabelle. The interactions were much more free wheeling and closer to what you see at Avengers Campus than traditional meet and greets. I thought this was great. I am always in favor of interaction vs the wait in line for 5 second photo and autograph. I think this makes for a more memorable experience for everyone, those meeting and those just observing. On the down side in the afternoon when the land was crowded it was a tad challenging in some instances with large groups of people trying to follow around the characters.
- Overall I thought the changes to the land were a positive. It definitely felt more alive and active. The way the walkways have been reconfigured the land felt smaller in scale. Everything felt a little more condensed, guess the small street and trolley track removal make the scale feel different. One complaint I do have is the background music was way too loud in most locations, event during the crowded afternoon visit it was too loud to talk to others. It is background music not primary music. Noteworthy on the music is it has been released on several digital platforms already so if you want to listen at home you can now. No physical album is available at this time though.
- The new menus at Cafe Daisy and Good Boy! Grocers seem to be a hit. The queues there were solid on both visits. With the increased popularity it made the area feel very congested. We opted not to eat anything so I have no first hand review of the offerings.
- The CenTOONial Park and Dream Tree seemed a little under whelming to me. The kids did like running through there but it did not really seem to be a focal point like the concept art made it appear.
- Stroller parking is a challenge, it took over much of the lawn by Car Toon Spin and the old trolley building was being used like a valet lot where you could drop your stroller and get a ticket to pick it up later. I thought this was interesting and a nice option to have your items a little more secure and out of the elements. I did not see any significant waits so it was working well the couple times I noticed. As the land settles in it will be interesting to see how this evolves.
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