R.I.P. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

redstomr63 · Post by **redstomr63** » Sep Sat 20, 2008 7:59 am

I really do miss Mr. Toad and will not ride the Pooh ride because of the fact that Disney took out Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...

moirymoe · Post by **moirymoe** » Oct Sun 05, 2008 1:04 pm

haha. sadly, kids these days don't understand the hilarity that was mr toad or his wild ride. i loved those books, though, and the animated versions disney made were brilliant. i will miss that ride too!

zdog · Post by **zdog** » Oct Tue 21, 2008 9:24 pm

I loved this ride. It's funny though - there was nothing special about it. It really is no different than the Pooh ride or Snow White. Maybe it's because it's gone. Who knows.

hunter88 · Post by **hunter88** » Oct Tue 28, 2008 9:44 pm

mr.Toad that was one of my favorite rides when i was six years old at disney world now they have the Mickey's philhar magic in it's place

agingerbugg · Post by **agingerbugg** » Oct Tue 28, 2008 9:58 pm

hunter88 wrote:mr.Toad that was one of my favorite rides when i was six years old at disney world now they have the Mickey's philhar magic in it's place

I think you are mistaken. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Mickey's Philharmagic is in the Fantasyland Theater which previously held Legend of the Lion King, Magic Journeys and Mickey Mouse Revue.

Iamthecaptain · Post by **Iamthecaptain** » Oct Tue 28, 2008 10:37 pm

I miss that ride and was so ticked when I found out it was going to close. As a little kid I went on that before the grand prix cars and thought I really was driving. Not to mention the old school black light styling was very cool.

Mr.ToadWildRider · Post by **Mr.ToadWildRider** » Oct Wed 29, 2008 10:50 am

zdog wrote:I loved this ride. It's funny though - there was nothing special about it. It really is no different than the Pooh ride or Snow White. Maybe it's because it's gone. Who knows.

I think it was actually better than either Snow White or Pooh, while both fun rides in their own right. Toad had an extra pep to its step if you will, the actual ride itself always seemed to have more of that whipping and accelerating effect due to the track design (I'm sure it was intended as the ride is about an insanely wealthy and eccentric toad driving through literally everything). Were the characters more impressive? No, they were mostly cutouts - but they were artfully done and in many ways for me always made it feel like you were actually IN the cartoon; which I believe is the intention of these rides.

I miss you so much Toad

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Oct Wed 29, 2008 10:08 pm

It's odd... I was just comparing those three in my head and I do think Mr. Toad was better executed than Snow White, but Pooh is a pretty good ride.

So I'm trying to do a mental comparison of things I like about Pooh vs things I liked about Mr. Toad, and thought one of the things I don't like so much about Pooh is that they use black light to the point it's like 'okay guys, there are other effects in the world'.

But when I think about it, that black light use/overuse is a hold over from Toad. And I wouldn't have said "Well Toad had weaknesses like overuse of black light" ... at least I don't think I would have. And the track layout from Toad (at least one of them) is pretty much used exactly as is for Pooh, with the same turns and doors opening, so I'd have a hard time saying it was so great for Toad but not so great for Pooh.

So now I'm starting to wonder how much of zdog's statement applies to me. I mean, I loved Mr. Toad, but am I giving it more credit for being a great ride that it deserves just because it's gone? I'm not sure anymore.

All of that said, I'd still rather that they'd built the Pooh ride where the Thotful Spot went and left Mr. Toad be. But it's interesting to think about the rose-colored glasses effect. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all of that.

Post by **js3901** » Oct Wed 29, 2008 10:46 pm

DisBeamer wrote: All of that said, I'd still rather that they'd built the Pooh ride where the Thotful Spot went and left Mr. Toad be. But it's interesting to think about the rose-colored glasses effect. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all of that.

then, are you saying that you're glad they got rid of 20K leagues under the sea?

The sight of the Nautilus gliding through the water of the lagoon was a beatiful sight, much better than a bunch of trees and a playground for kids. though, the designers did put a "hidden Nautilus" inside the playgound tree as a tribute...

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Oct Wed 29, 2008 10:51 pm

Well no, but 20k was already gone by the time they tanked Mr. Toad. In a perfect world they'd all be there but I don't see any reason two other 'franchises' had to go under for PoohNation, is all. If they wanted something with Pooh, I'd have preferred he oust one or the other of Toad and 20k, rather than both, if that makes sense.

SimonTemplar · Post by **SimonTemplar** » Nov Tue 04, 2008 3:33 pm

Somewhere around here I have a "Save Mr. Toad" t-shirt that I got before it was shuttered for good. I bought it on some internet set dedicated to saving the ride.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Nov Sun 16, 2008 9:28 am

The blog post mentioned the thing that always made Toad stand out for me...it really was the closest any attraction I've seen has come to the dream state. Magic Journeys was probably a close second, although it was more overt about it.

Just like a fading dream, it was always really difficult to remember what had just happened in a linear fashion. The second track made the jumble of memories even more difficult to process. I had to ride many, many times before it was anything other than a series of random experiences piled up in my brain.

Toad has always been my favorite dark ride. Scary, cool, exhilarating, rebellious, hilarious...seriously, how funny is that picture of the bobby?

Toad was simply the most fun attraction in the park. It had such a great sense of chaos and absurdity, which is more reflective of my tastes than anything Disney has to offer these days. The senselessness of it all was just so freeing.

The Wild Ride made a big impression on me and was a huge part of why I became such a rabid Disney fan. It's closure (and the way they handled it) marks the point in history at which I realized that Disney was really, really going down the wrong path.

They were struggling with their identity before that, but right around that point was when things started snowballing and getting really bad, really fast.

grumpyutboi · Post by **grumpyutboi** » Nov Sun 16, 2008 6:13 pm

Wow I am really disappointed that Mr. Toads Ride is not at WDW! That really sucks because we moved to the wrong coast 2 years ago and we are headed down to WDW in 11 days. Great to know that there is no Mr. Toads Ride, no 20,000 leagues under the sea (DL had Nemo now) and there is no Indy ride!. Big whoop to see some sort of actors or stunt men acting like Indy. I am getting the feeling very quickly that WDW doesn't have the magic that Disneyland has, am I wrong?

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 11:58 am

You are very wrong grumpyutboi! You shouldn't poo poo things before you even get there. WDW and Disneyland are very different from eachother. It's like comparing apples and oranges. There are things WDW has that DL doesn't and visa versa. Go with an open mind and enjoy all the Magic WDW has to offer! Then form an opinion. If you don't love it, I will be very surprised! There is so much more to WDW than just the Magic Kingdom!

Magical Wonder · Post by **Magical Wonder** » Nov Sat 22, 2008 11:59 am

Iâ€™ll be honest; I loved Mr. Toad as a child. Itâ€™s the one attraction that I do have memories of from an early age. However, I do like the Winnie the Poo. Kidâ€™s today donâ€™t know who Toad is and I do think this was one update that Disney did make the right call on (they donâ€™t always but I believe they did on this one). I rode Mr. Toad again last year at Disneyland, and while I loved having an opportunity to ride it once again, Iâ€™m still in the opinion that Winnie the Poo is the best for the current generation of children at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.