What with all of the excitement associated with the Fantasy Forest project, Disneyana fans seem to have overlooked one important aspect of this Magic Kingdom expansion. As in: Given that Mickey’s Toontown Fair is going to be flattened to make way for new Dumbo Circus & Disney Fairies-themed areas, where are Mickey & Minnie going to live now?
When the Imagineers who were associated with this $300 million-plus project were quizzed about this matter at the D23 EXPO, they immediately got cagey. Saying things like “Don’t worry. We’ve got plans for Minnie & Mickey.” But now that rumors have begun to fly that Toontown Fair could close for dismantling as early as the first of the year, Mickey fans are now growing quite concerned. They just don’t like the idea of Disney’s Big Cheese becoming homeless.
Not to worry, though. The guys at WDI really do have a plan. Which involves Mickey changing from a country mouse to a city mouse.
Photo by Jim Hill
To be specific, Mickey will be giving up his quaint country home in Duckburg USA and moving into the Town Square Exhibition Hall. Where — in air conditioned comfort — Mickey, Minnie and all of his Toontown pals will soon be able to greet Magic Kingdom visitors from the moment this theme park opens in the morning right up until the last guest heads out for the night.
Under the current plan, the Town Square Exhibition Hall (which was last overhauled in 2001 for WDW’s “100 Years of Magic” promotion) will receive a fairly significant makeover. With all of that display space that’s currently celebrates the early days of the motion picture industry being ripped out and then replaced with character-friendly photo-op environments.
Now before the Disney diehards start squawking … Anyone who’s ever walked through Town Square will have to acknowledge that this is already an area where the characters regularly pose for photographs & sign autographs. And given that setting up a new place to meet Mickey & friends towards the front of the Magic Kingdom will make things a whole lot more convenvient for the Guests (Not to mention making things a whole lot easier for those in charge of WDW’s Zoo Crew. What with these friends-of-Mickey now being about to work inside in air conditioning, out of the weather and away from the heat & humidity), this seems like a win-win from an Operational standpoint.
Photo by Jim Hill
Besides, it’s not like all of Mickey’s Toontown Fair is actually going to be flattened. The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm is expected to remain in place. Though — once the Fantasy Forest project is completed — this kiddie coaster will most likely have a brand-new theme.
Given that the Barnstormer (where it stands now) is so close to where the new Dumbo Circus area is supposed to be built, the Imagineers (for a time, anyway) toyed with retheming this coaster as the Casey Jr. Circus Train. The only problem with that idea is that … Well, in order to be recognized as the Casey Jr. Circus Train, the front car of this roller coaster would have to resemble the character as seen in that 1941 Walt Disney Studios animated feature. And given that the Casey Jr. Circus Train has this very distinctive, rather tall smokestack, that meant that WDI was suddenly dealing with all sorts of clearance issues at Wiseacre Farm. Which led one wag at 1401 Flower Street to reportedly say: “Couldn’t we just shortened the smokestack and call this the Casey Jr. Jr. Circus Train.”
So — for the moment, anyway — the Casey Jr. Circus Train-based retheming of the Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm is supposedly off the table. Though I hear that the Imagineers are still reviewing some Dumbo-inspired ideas from the redo of this Mickey’s Toontown Fair kiddie coaster. One of which would send Guests zooming down Clown Alley, where they narrowly avoid getting pies thrown at their faces and/or seltzer squirted in their hair.
So what do you folks think? If it would mean that Fantasyland would then get this hyper-themed 5-acre expansion, could you live with Toontown Fair closing, Mickey moving to Main Street USA and Wiseacre Farm becoming overrun by clowns? Or would you prefer that things remain just as they are right now?
Your thoughts?