Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

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For the film released under this name in the United States, see The Wind in the Willows (1996 film).
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
Original ride before its remodel
Disneyland
Opening date July 17, 1955
Guests per car 2
Re-Dedication May 23, 1983
Required Ticket C
Magic Kingdom
Opening date October 1, 1971
Closing date September 7, 1998
Guests per car 2 (1971), 4 (1993)
Replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

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 Haunted Mansion.

Contents

[edit] Attraction Summary

[edit] Disneyland Version

The interior of Toad Hall, seen from the queue shortly before boarding.
The interior of Toad Hall, seen from the queue shortly before boarding.

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 board stolen old-fashioned 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 they 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. 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, 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. Many have disputed the reason for Toad's departure, but some including Save Mr. Toad's Wild Ride 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 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] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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