Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mr. Toad's Wild Ride | |
 |
|
| Land | Fantasyland |
| Designer | WED Enterprises |
| Attraction type | Dark Ride with Moving Vehicles |
| Theme | The Wind in the Willows |
| Vehicle type | Multi-colored cars |
| Ride duration | 2:01 minutes |
| Disneyland | |
| Opening date | July 17, 1955 |
| Re-Dedication | May 23, 1983 |
| Required Ticket | C |
| Magic Kingdom | |
| Opening date | October 1, 1971 |
| Closing date | September 7, 1998 |
| Replaced by | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh |
For the film released under this name in the United States, see The Wind in the Willows (1996 film).
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is a dark ride at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim. 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.
Contents |
[edit] Disneyland Version Ride Summary
Guests enter a recreation of Toad Hall, passing by artistic works commemorating both the characters of the Wind in the Willows and warning visitors of the trip they are about to undertake. A large mural shows the progress of Toad's car, which will be mirrored in the ride, yet this version is not accurate to the slower movie.
Guests board old-fashioned multi-colored cars with the names of characters beneath the safety bar and begin their tour by crashing into the library and back out through the fireplace, where fiber optic effects are employed to simulate the spreading of dispersed, yet still flaming, ashes. After nearly avoiding a falling knight statue, they break through a set of doors to find the interior of Toad Hall in disarray, as weasels swing from chandeliers and Mr. Mole eats (and gets knocked aside) in the middle of the hallway.
Leaving Toad Hall, guests then travel across the countryside, aggravating policemen and sheep farmers, before entering the city where their cars wreak further havoc. A statue of Lady Justice peeking out from under her blindfold precipitates the hasty trial of Mr. Toad, who is proclaimed guilty by a jury-less judge in a courtroom.
The cars enter what is presumed to be a dark prison cell before abruptly turning right and landing on railroad tracks. The vehicles bounce up and down on the tracks before colliding 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 points them to the left. The entire room is heated, but soon enough guests escape back into the real world; a popular prank for Disneyland cast members is to jump out and scare guests immediately after they arrive back in the "safer" environment.
[edit] Magic Kingdom Version Ride Summary
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. For more details concerning the differences between the California and Florida rides, visit Widen Your World
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, appearing to be about to collide with each other. It was a very stylized attraction and resembled a cartoon more than any other Disney attraction. 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 a number of protests, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride closed on September 7, 1998 and was subsequently replaced with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Many have disputed the reason for Toad’s departure, but some including Save Mr. Toad's Wild Ride [1] believe that money was the deciding factor. And 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 The Haunted Mansion, the Disney Company has largely disowned “The Wind in the Willows” characters and traces of these characters within Walt Disney World are minimal. Efforts have already been made to reconstruct the ride, including a 3D virtual recreation. Virtual Toad
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- 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
