Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
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| Mr. Toad's Wild Ride | |
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| Land | Fantasyland |
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| Designer | WED Enterprises |
| Attraction type | Dark Ride with Moving Vehicles |
| Theme | The Wind in the Willows |
| Vehicle type | Multi-colored motor cars |
| Ride duration | 2:01 minutes |
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| Original ride before its remodel | |
| Disneyland | |
| Opening date | July 17, 1955 |
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| Guests per car | 2 |
| Re-Dedication | May 23, 1983 |
| Required Ticket | C |
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| Magic Kingdom | |
| Opening date | October 1, 1971 |
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| Closing date | September 7, 1998 |
| Guests per car | 2 (1971), 4 (1993) |
| Replaced by | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh |
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Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is a dark ride at Disneyland Park. It is one of the few remaining attractions that was operational on the park's opening day in 1955. The ride's story is based on Disney's adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, one of the two segments of the film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. It was once an attraction at the Magic Kingdom park in Walt Disney World, but despite a long protest against its closure, Mr. Toad's journeys to nowhere in particular were put to an end in 1998 and the ride was replaced the following year with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. However, a statue of Mr. Toad can be seen with many others at a pet cemetery outside the Haunted Mansion.
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[edit] Disneyland version
Guests enter a recreation of Toad Hall, passing by artistic works commemorating both the characters from "The Wind in the Willows" and warning visitors of the trip that they are about to undertake. A large mural shows the progress of Toad and his motorcar, which will be mirrored in the ride, yet this version is not accurate to the slower-paced movie.
Guests hop aboard in stolen early 1900s type multi-colored motorcars (mirroring the film's story) with the names of characters (including Mr. Toad, Toady, Ratty, Moley, MacBadger, Cyril, Winky and Weasel) in the front of each motorcar. Passengers begin their journey by crashing into the library where MacBadger is seen holding a stack of books while atop a ladder teetering back and forth, then crashing through the fireplace, where fiber optic effects are employed to simulate the spreading of dispersed, yet still flaming, ashes. After nearly avoiding a falling suit of armor, they break through a set of doors to find the interior hallway of Toad Hall in disarray, as weasels swing from chandeliers. Guests then enter the dining room, where Mr. Mole eats at the dinner table and gets knocked aside.
Upon leaving Toad Hall, guests then travel through the countryside, passing Mr. Rat's house, aggravating policemen and terrifying a farmer and his sheep.
Making a right turn, guests head for the docks and get the impression that their car will plunge into the river, but quickly make a sharp turn in a different direction and enter a warehouse full of barrels and crates containing explosives. Guests crash through a brick wall as the warehouse's contents explode.
The guests then head out into the streets of London, avoid a close collision with a delivery truck and enter Winky's Pub, where Winky the bartender holds two spinning beer mugs. Passengers then enter the town square, where the cars wreak further havoc to the citizens. A working fountain featuring Toad and Cyril Proudbottom stands in the center of the town. Behind this statue is a statue of Lady Justice peeking out from under her blindfold, precipitating the hasty trial of Mr. Toad.
Next, guests enter a jury-less courtroom, where the riders are proclaimed guilty by a judge (based on the Film's prosecutor for the Crown).
The cars then enter what is presumed to be dark prison cells before abruptly turning right and landing on railroad tracks. The vehicles bounce up and down on the tracks before colliding head-on with an oncoming train, whereafter they are sent to one of the ride's most famous scenes — the ending scene in "Hell." Created specifically for the ride by Disney Imagineers and not inspired by any scene in the movie or book, "Hell" features small devils who bounce up and down while a devillish Judge-looking Satan (who looks just like the prosecutor that previously appeared in the courtroom) points them to the left. The entire room is heated and all the little devils including Satan just laugh and mock you. In the ride's final seconds, a green dragon tries to spit out fire, but fails and ends up having a bad cough. Soon enough, the guests escape back into the confines of Toad Hall and the real world, where they then disembark.
[edit] Magic Kingdom version
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Florida was one of the Magic Kingdom's opening day attractions on October 1, 1971. Although it was modeled after the Disneyland attraction, it had some unique characteristics that set it apart from its California counterpart. The most obvious was that the Florida incarnation had two separate boarding areas. The vehicles (in the form of Jalopies) in each boarding area were on separate tracks that followed different paths, so riders would get a slightly different ride, depending on where they boarded.
Like its counterpart at Disneyland, it was not a thrill ride, but it was not slow and quiet like most dark rides. It made sudden turns and often the vehicle would move at full speed towards an obstacle, which would move out of the way at the last second. At one point the vehicles on different tracks would head directly towards each other, giving the sense of an oncoming collision. It was a very stylized attraction and resembled a cartoon more than any other Disney ride. It contained highly ornate plywood characters and sets that were very reminiscent of the multiplane camerawork featured in many Disney films.
Despite the ride's popularity and many protests, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride closed on September 7, 1998 and was subsequently replaced with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This was due to the characters in Winnie The Pooh having similar characters to The Wind In The Willows, and Winnie The Pooh being a Disney-Owned product. While minor tributes to the ride can be found in Disney World, including paintings of Mr. Toad and Moley within The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and a statue of Toad in a pet cemetery outside of Haunted Mansion, traces of "The Wind in the Willows" characters within Walt Disney World are minimal. Efforts have already been made to reconstruct the ride, including a 3D virtual recreation.
[edit] Ride Experience
The two tracks of the Walt Disney World version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride didn't pass through all of the same show scenes. Thus, each track gave riders a completely different set of scenes to pass through.
[edit] Track #1
On Track #1, riders passed through rural English countryside upon leaving Toad Hall, coming face to face with a few cows along the way. After passing through a small room with several warning signs, guests made a turn into a central plaza. Traveling around the turn, the vehicles passed a policeman signaling riders with his whistle. Guests then made a right hand turn into the courtroom as the judge declared Mr. Toad guilty. Upon making a right hand turn, the vehicles entered several jail cells. After winding through the cells, guests emerged out into a dark scene, passing by a shootout between police and gunmen (using red lights to simulate gunfire). Several of the police barriers then moved aside revealing a railroad crossing, complete with a ringing bell. The gate then moved aside, and vehicles made a right hand turn onto the "tracks". Vehicles traveled along the railroad tracks, until getting hit by a train (with riders seeing the headlight of the "locomotive"). A door then opened, revealing the "Hell" scene. Afterwards, guests went through a door back to the boarding area.
[edit] Track #2
From the boarding area to the plaza, Track #2 passed through two scenes not seen in Track #1: Toad's trophy room, and a Gypsy camp. After rounding the plaza, instead of entering the courtroom, guests continued on and entered Winky's Tavern. The vehicles made a right hand turn and guests could see the Weasels hiding out in the Tavern among the ale barrels. Following this, guests emerged into the night countryside. Passing by a small house, the vehicles reached a railroad crossing with ringing bell. This gate moved aside, and vehicles made left hand turn onto the railroad tracks. Like on Track #1, the headlight of the locomotive was visible before the train hit the riders. The "Hell" scene was a mirror image of the Track #1 "Hell" sequence.
[edit] References
- MR. TOAD ATTRACTION WILL FINALLY CROAK September 2, 1998
- MR. TOAD LEARNS: IT AIN'T EASY BEING GREEN September 8, 1998
[edit] See also
- List of current Disneyland attractions
- Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
[edit] External links
- Bring Back Mr. Toad's Wild Ride An online petition devoted to bringing back the attraction to Walt Disney World
- Passport to Dreams Old & New in-depth article commemorating WDW's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
- Jim Hill Media An up-close look at some figures from WDW's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
- AllEarsNet
- Mr. Toad's Wild Ride from GoSleepGo
- Save Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!
- Virtual Toad a virtual reconstruction of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
- Walt Dated World
- Widen Your World
- Mr. Toad's Wild Ride from YouTube
[edit] References
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