Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

When Nate and I went to Disney over this past winter break to visit my friend Joe (who is "good friends" with Goofy, Tigger, and Woody :) ), we learned that Disney is re-working and adding on to the Toontown area in Magic Kingdom.

When I was younger, a very exciting part of Toontown was seeing Minnie and Mickey's houses. I loved going into Minnie's kitchen and looking around, and hearing the radio in Mickey's living room; it was so fun for me.

Sadly, we learned that Disney is changing this, and from what I've read and been told, Mickey and Minnie's houses may be disappearing indefinitely. I've also heard mixed responses as to what will be replacing the Mickey's Toontown Fair section of Toontown, but my best source is Joe and he says that he knows part of it will be some form of the princess' houses. My guess is it will include the houses of the five main princesses in MK: Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Ariel. However, in place of Ariel (since she already has her grotto in MK, perhaps Tiana? or Rapunzel? - both have been met with huge support from the Disney audience so I would consider both as potentials).

Here are what some news sites are saying:

"As many of you know, we’re in the midst of the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom history, which will nearly double the size of Fantasyland. In order to make way for this transformation, it’s important to let you know Mickey’s Toontown Fair will close in early February.


Fantasyland construction will be completed in phases with most new experiences open by 2013. This expansion is particularly exciting because it will enable us to share treasured stories with you in a whole new way. We’ll share more with you here as our work progresses."

(from Disney's website)

Another website shows posters that are up in MK of "Storybook Circus", the new section they are building in place of "Mickey's Toontown Fair", however it doesn't say exactly what will be included. It does give us some ideas on features and rides:

"In 2012, as part of the New Fantasyland expansion, Mickey’s Toontown Fair will become Storybook Circus, featuring the highly-anticipated double Dumbo and a revamped roller coaster. Little is known about what else will be featured in Storybook Circus, though new preview posters hint at what we can expect...

While it has been announced that Storybook Circus will include "The Great Goofini" roller coaster as a makeover to Goofy’s Barnstormer, Pete’s Silly Sideshow and Big Top Souvenirs are new and may or may not actually appear inside Storybook Circus when it opens in 2012. But it is possible (and likely) we’ll see these posters adorning construction walls when they’re erected by the park’s opening Saturday morning."


(from Inside the Magic)

Of course we never know exactly what they're up to because it's Disney, however, I will be able to update while I'm there!

I feel as though I am teasing you to add some fun facts from The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World on Toontown since it will not be possible to check them out, however there were a few cute things I thought I'd mention:

At Goofy's Wiseacre Farm:
"The glass lamp inside the barn is a subtle joke, based on the industrial lighting term jelly-jar lamp. Here at wiseacre, they take the term literally."

At Minnie's Country House:
"Head into the kitchen next for a few surprises. If you look in the oven, you see the cake she is baking, and it's definitely falling. Luckily, she has a backup for tonight's treat. Hear the popcorn popping in the background? If not, press the button."

More to come! Here is a picture of Nate, Joe's "friend" Goofy, and I from winter break:

As you can tell, we were VERY excited to see Goofy, almost as excited as he was to see us!