Toon Town the weakest land?

[dlfreak]

Ok, I don't really want to compare lands but I suppose it's inevitible. My aim here is to try and say that I don't think Toon Town is a weakspot in DL (It's not the best and but I wouldn't say its bad). I'd like to open up a discussion to see the pros and cons people see with this tiny land at the very back at the park.


I don't think TT is very weak. It doesn't have a lot of rides but it is FULL of immersive themeing. I never really took a look around that back alley where the bendy bar jail is until last week, but the area is really great.

The only way to make it better is if they'd replace the trees with big fake cartoony ones (that apparantly was the reason TT initially didn't have trees, because they were TOO real for the land) And if the trees were all identical, it wouldn't matter because it could be rided off that minor background scenery in cartoons is duplicated (thinks back to Simpsons episode where they talk about this as they walk down a never ending cooridor with the same janitor sweeping every three doors, lol) Maybe they could model some trees after the first color Disney short... Flowers and Trees.

I think Toon Town, while there isn't much to do there (largely, I'm sure, because there isn't a lot of room) is still a great land and it does have second most popular dark ride in the park. Not to mention the guaranteed spot to meet Mickey all day.

Aside from being small, the only downside to ToonTown I see is everything past Mickey's house... Gadget's SLO-Coaster takes forever to load since the track is so short and only one train can be on the track at once... not to mention it's not that great of a coaster. Chip and Dales Treehouse is not very interesting either I think that whole area back there could be used for something better and NO PHILARMACIG! ::cough:: Duckberg expansion ::cough::

What do you think about TT? I tried not to make this a "TT idea thread" but what can I say... I'm weak.

[Soulquarian]

Personally, I love TT. I wish I was a bit younger so that I could REALLY enjoy though. I think the atmospher is awesome, and everytime I go, I find something new and different. If the area were bigger, that'd be awesome. I always thought it would be cool to have to "travel" into TT. For example, Sea World has an exhibit that looks like it is inside of a glacier. To get to this exhibit, you get on a simulator ride that looks like you've crashed through the ice. You get off the attraction and you're "inside" the glacier... (I think that's how the ride goes, never ridden it myself!)

Remember how Eddie had to enter TT? He went through the tunnel, and there was all kind of wacky stuff. Now, if TDA would have made it so that Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin was a sort of transition between the real world and tt, that would have been amazing. They could even use a sort of peoplemove type system.

The biggest issue is space though. I've been behind that part of the park many times and there's storage for ride vehicles and whatnot, not to mention the fireworks. To be honest with you, I think DCA should be TT... Imagine a whole theme park in the image of tt!!!!!!

[sorceress1986]

Well, I used to think that TT was awesome, but I quickly grew out of it, mainly because I was nearly out of the age bracket as it was. But that is the point! TT to me is one good example of how the Company of late has decided tp gear certain products to children ALONE as opposed to children AND their parents...

Also, I just don't think it is really as immersive as intended. I always thoughht the colors faded to quickly, or they wait to long to do a quick re-paint on the backdrop. I thought it was going to be a little more like Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? who is sprinkled in the land, but I rarely, if ever, see HIM there

Don't get me wrong it's not as bad as it could be, but it was my first indication of a lack of Disney standards.

[dlfreak]

Well paint doesn't say much about the land... it speaks volumes about the management though this has changed recently. And as for no Roger meet and greets... well apparantly due to contract issues and or bad blood between Amblin (the company that footed half the bill for Roger Rabbit) he cannot make appearances.

As for Tomorrowland, I don't see how it isn't a place where FAMILIES can enjoy together. Granted Gadget's Slo-Coaster isn't exciting but that's in the only weakspot of TT I could find. Roger Rabbit, the character houses, and the coaster are all pretty much family-friendly, IMO.

[DisneyMickey]

That area around the City Hall could use some painting.

[fearsnda]

I so desperately want to go in Goofy's Bounce House, but I am an adult And whatever happened to the Jolly trolly? And Chip and Dale's Acorn Crawl? And Clarabelle's is hardly ever open.

[RX-24]

Its the little touches that make toon town so great. have you ever opened the door at the powerhouse??? or picked up the police call box phone and listened to the conversation?? Have you ever heard whats in those crates by the exit to Roger Rabbits cartoon spinout??Its a totally immersive area for what little space it was worked into. Granted Chip and Dales ball crawl and Donalds boat got seriously trashed by the saftey police but its a great place to let kids be kids.If you cant find a way to interact with your kids in this environment (oooh you see what I see?)without physically having to jump around in goofy's house (yes I want to as well but adults would just get hurt doing stupid things that bigger bodies arent meant to do any more ) then maybe you need to take a fresh approach. I took my father along with me and my son a few years ago as a three generation trip,he thought toon town was beyond cool and wished they had had it back in the 60's when he and his friends were,well ,we will say having a good time at the park.

[ModHatter]

See, I guess I'm one of those people that think a theme isn't enough to make a land. I mean, what do you put in the guidebooks under attractions? "The theme." ???

The Spin is just too much trouble to get on for what it is. And Gadget? That's not an attraction, it's a repulsion.

I look at it and think, it took a hundred million to come up with this? I coulda had an E ticket.

I wouldn't have minded DCA taking some of the ToonTown approach and creating more richly-themed areas to ooh and ahh at on opening day, and which could be filled in as the park expands. But where is ToonTown going to expand? It's been, what, 12 years now, and this is still all it is? Toad's Teacups, which is now obsolete because Tomorrowland's Toad's Teacups now have guns (not to mention, characters that the general public still remembers).

When you think, that area could have housed a Mary Poppins E ticket, or even Bedknobs and BRoomsticks, or a Great Toon Ride, or a deluxe Sleeping Beauty ride-through, or any of a number of really cool rides, and instead we got... an imaginitively-themed queue for a non-existent E ticket?

Weak.

[travelmom]

Wow, I have always loved toon town, and thought it was inclusive to all the people who love the Disney cartoon characters. It looks horrible when its faded, but they are working on that. I remember when it first opened. It was really fun, and I love Roger Rabbit. The only thing is, they need to run TT with all the venues open, The hot dog place, the refreshments, and they need some shade.

[dsnyfnatic]

Here are my ideas for perhaps "fixing" TT (I love this land, feel that it is incredibly immersive, and am also bummed that I can no longer enjoy things like Goofy's Bounce House or the Go-Coaster, which is fun for little kids, but the line for it makes all of us practical adults us and the little ones with us away from it).

Anyways.... adding onto the land. I say dump both the Go-Coaster and Chip and Dale's Treehouse (Even as a kid, I dont think I ever even explored this attraction, despite the fact that I loved those two little Rescue Rangers). I say just build a bright, colorful wall/mural straight across from the end of Mickey's House to the edges of the Go-Coaster, and get rid of everything behind this wall. The mural can be incredibly complex, as it will be massive, and encompass virtually every cartoon character in some way or another Disney has ever created. It will at least give guests something to look at while construction is going on. Kids could even play "Find so and so" and see who can find the character first.

So while guests get to marvel at the beauty of the mural, a large two story building is being constructed. When finished, this building will have the same cartoon-y look as the other buildings in TT have, but will look as if it is an extension of Mickey's Movie Set that we find at the end of exploring the Main Mouse's House. After all, all of these movie star toons need someplace to work in their city. So now we have a HUGE movie set building, beautifully decorated to the TT theme (it will also have the large mural talked about before located somewhere on it, so that the great piece of artwork doesn't go to waste). As said before, this is a continuation of Mickey's Movie Set, so as you leave Mickey's movie house, you see animated Mickey on a large screen pop up in his garage (the last place you are in before you re-enter TT) reminding you all to check out the rest of his set right next door (a cheesy pitch I know, but it keeps with the idea of it all being his set so as not to confuse guests). So what do we find inside this BIG BIG set? Why not one, but TWO rides of course! On the far side (ex-Go Coaster) We have Philiarmagic(spl?), which is now portrayed as Mickey's Directorial debut. On the other, we have Great Toon Ride (I havn't heard any ideas for what this ride would consist of, just that people would like to see a Great Toon Ride, which I would think would be like Great Movie Ride? So I'm just going to come up with my version of it, any other ideas for it would be greatly appriciated). So you enter GTR on the ground floor, where the great queue (thing Roger Rabit Spin type queue here) explains that we are indeed on a movie set, all the Toons are here hard at work, some working on new projects, others just helping "digitally restore" scenes from their classic movies. So you enter your ride vehicle (can't think of what it would look like. Thoughts?) and proceed to embark on a backstage tour of all of these sound stages. Does something go wrong? Of course it does. Because your vehicle, whatever theme it may become, is being driven by either Pete or any other Disney Villian (this driver is also your tour guide for the ride. Many of these poor villains have been having trouble finding work lately, so have taken up the occupation of guide around the studio). Each vehicle has a different AA villain, each with different audio recorded, so your ride will be different each time depending on which villain you get (please note: the villains won't be too scary for the little ones, you just can tell they dont like their jobs, and would prefer to be wrecking havoc or something like that). So the villains , midway through your peaceful tour, decide to "kick it up a notch" in the words of Emeril, and causing meyhem , disturbing the stars as they film their scenes. After a few scenes being disturbed, Mickey gets on the in-vehicle loudspeaker and tells the villain to knock it off, which they do eventually, and the ride continues/ends as it began, with a peaceful tour around Mickey's Set. This ride takes up the rest of the first floor, whatever room Philiarmagic does not take up, and ALL of the second floor, making it a massive rideI don't want to get into all of the possible toons which could be featured here, just wondering on your thoughts of it all.


P.S Sorry it got a bit long

P.P.S. I know some work needs to be done on the idea, but any suggestions to fix it? I'd appriciate it

[dlfreak]

Like I said I wasn't trying to turn this into an idea thread but more of a thread to critique the bad and good of the land. I don't see how it's a "weak" land.

[ModHatter]

Like I said I wasn't trying to turn this into an idea thread but more of a thread to critique the bad and good of the land. I don't see how it's a "weak" land.

Obviously "weak" is going to be a subjective evaluation.

However, let's just separate TT from the -Lands and focus on NOS and Critter Country as points of comparison.

NOS... Most people, I think, would consider this the best of the three. Two of the best rides EVER, great restaurant, other good eateries, great shopping, truly awesome scenery, and great immersive qualities.

CC... Yes, Pooh is lacking, but Splash is still a leader in queue times, which is a testament to its quality. Decent eaterie that benefits from a great location. Not quite as good as NOS, but still a great addition to the park.

TT... Certainly doesn't offer the quality of rides or even eateries that the other sub-lands do. The transition from Fantasyland is somewhat abrupt, and the immersion lacks the depth of other lands.

Like Innoventions, a person COULD spend a long time there, if it fits their personality. But it lacks that "something for everyone" quality that would make it strong.

[nish221]

I so desperately want to go in Goofy's Bounce House, but I am an adult And whatever happened to the Jolly trolly? And Chip and Dale's Acorn Crawl? And Clarabelle's is hardly ever open.

Let's seee...

Jolly Trolly got axed (as I've heard) for operational issues as well as
being a minor hazard when TT is full of people.

Chip & Dale's Acorn Crawl was quickly closed when too many people
bumped their heads on the ceiling. Too bad, nice concept, apparently
bad execution.

Don't know why Clarabelle's is hardly open.

[ryborg]

Ever since TT opened I've always felt it was a bad idea. RRCTS is a good, solid ride, but the area needs more of these types of attractions -- not playgrounds and walkthroughs.

Even putting my own personal desire for an adult ride, I would rather see kids rides than walkthroughs and playhouses. My problem is that all themeparks have these things for kids-- they are cheap, unoriginal and they always look thrashed. (my biggest complaint)

I'm going to risk sounded super negative here.. but I would not be sad to see TT and DCA bulldozed.

[ModHatter]

Ever since TT opened I've always felt it was a bad idea. RRCTS is a good, solid ride, but the area needs more of these types of attractions -- not playgrounds and walkthroughs.

Even putting my own personal desire for an adult ride, I would rather see kids rides than walkthroughs and playhouses. My problem is that all themeparks have these things for kids-- they are cheap, unoriginal and they always look thrashed. (my biggest complaint)

I'm going to risk sounded super negative here.. but I would not be sad to see TT and DCA bulldozed.

We, DCA is big enough so that certain elements can be revamped while other areas remain open to the public.

Toon Town, on the other hand, really only has the one main attraction. I vaguely recall riding it once. It was okay. But it's in an area I otherwise don't give a darn about at all. And, for a just okay ride, it's a ridiculously long line. It looked deceptively short, but it really felt like I was winding my way through the very bowels of hell, with no end in sight, so I just turned around and walked back out.

I really would be fine with tearing this whole land out. Even if it was just to rebuild a new and improved Toon Town from scratch. But it really does have the funk of Eisner all over it, and in the long run it might be better to use that area for Mythia, Land of Legends, as a segue from the Discovery Bay-style Frontierland expansion to the multicultural it's a small world and back into Fantasyland.

[PanTheMan]

Kids will always LOVE it.

[ModHatter]

Kids will always LOVE it.

Kids will also always love picking all manner of nastiness off the floor and putting it in their mouths. Doesn't mean we have to abide by it.

[THE BOB]

I think TT will always be geared towards kids, as it should be. But improvements do need to be made just so it doesn't look like the land Disney forgot. A new paint job, a new dark ride (see my Ten Year plan thread), and some maitence and should be on par with what it used to be when it first opened. Again, most of DisneyLand is geared to both young and old, I think it's really good that children have a place in Disney they can call their own. Plus, Cartoon Spin is one of the better dark rides in the park and I couldn't picture the ride anywhere else, and I believe both kids and adults can appreciate that ride.

[drnilescrane]

I was thinking for a DCA renewal (i.e. demolishment and rebuild) the land where the 'third gate' is meant to go could become the 'Maroon Toon Studio's'. Basically taking the conventional studio idea but toonifying it in a way both the parents and kids can enjoy. Link it to 'Disney's America Park's' new south-west coast area. with an enclosed bridge/people mover/dimension warp thing. Bigger park, 'fresh' idea.

[Helios77]

The whole point of Disneyland was so that parents AND children can have fun on attractions together....so isn't the whole "TT should be for kids only" a complete contradiction of what Walt wanted for DL? Besides, that's what Fantasyland is for....that's the land that's geared more towards children. Walt got the idea for DL while sitting on a park bench, eating peanuts, and watching his daughters ride the merry-go-round....flash foward to today and what do we see....parents sitting on park benches watching their kids go in Goofy's bounce house or Donald's house boat. I suggest they add more stuff geared to the whole family...that means something that parents can participate in along with the children...no land in DL should be geared completely to just parents, teens or to children...there should always be a balance. Mickey's PhilharMagic would go great in TT...they can put it in the downtown area of TT and call it ToonTown Concert Hall or Symphony Hall or something.....and so ends my late night rambling....I go sleepy time now and dream of my next visit in August. zzzzZZZZzzzzz