Category Archives: Toon Town

Donald’s Boat, S.S. Miss Daisy

2 Comments Posted by on March 26, 2012

Yep, still here in Toontown. What can I say, I tend to take a bunch of pictures at the same time, so there ya go.

Nestled in between Goofy’s house and Gadget’s Go Coaster is Donald’s Boat.

Apparently in dry dock

 

Well, there is water, but this boat is certainly not floating by any stretch of the imagination.

Donald’s boat does sit right next to a waterfall.

The front side of water

 

Aaaaaaannnnnnndddd

The back side of water. But you saw that coming, didn't you?

 

Sadly, the inside of Donald’s Boat suffered the same fate that the bounce house in Goofy’s House did. That is, there used to be something to do, and now there isn’t.

There is, as you can see, an upstairs and a downstairs. These are reached by way of a stairway next to the back side of water. However, once upon a time, there was another way to get upstairs.

See that net? And the big gaping hole?

 

You used to be able to climb a net to get to the top. Now you just sort of have this inexplicable hole.

Hunh?

 

There also was a spiral staircase that went up too, but they blocked both ends of that.

The upstairs is small but cute.

Theo REALLY liked it up here

 

And in the absence of things to do downstairs, you have big blank spaces where children can lie down.

Or fall. I'm not quite sure what this kid is doing.

 

That duck face thing is a communication tower to the upstairs. At least I think it is. I didn’t try it out.

Oh, and I forgot the best thing about upstairs–buttons! There are buttons to press! Buttons! I MUST PRESS A BUTTON NOW! <– Theo

Once again, it’s a shame that Toontown has been stripped to a shell of its old self. I really wish they would do something about that.

Toon Town , ,

Five & Dime and Gag Factory

1 Comment Posted by on March 23, 2012

If you’re so bummed you can’t ride the Jolly Trolley that you need some retail therapy–fear not! Right here in Toontown there’s the Five & Dime and Gag Factory.

It's tall and has a prominent sign

If you are feeling the shopping bug and it has to be in Toontown, you better do it here because it’s your only Toontown option.

I combined this post with the Gag Factory because the Gag Factory is connected to  the Five & Dime

Except the entrance is a little bit behind and to the side of the Five & Dime

I’ll be honest here. I’m not sure where the Five & Dime ends and the Gag Factory begins. So that’s the other reason why you’re getting a double post. It’s a MYWTM Twofer!

I do know that this part is the Five & Dime:

Mickey and Minnie O'Rama!

I have to say, I love seeing little girls in Minnie outfits. And I love seeing Mickey merchandise too. I mean, it’s not that I don’t love the princesses, or pink, or a combination of princesses and pink, but they get to be a bit…much. So I always appreciate a little Minnie running around. And if not Minnie, then Snow White.

Oh! And little boys in Peter Pan costumes! LOVE!!!!!

I think everyone should get into the dress-up thing. And by everyone I mean children under 10.

This is sort of the second half of the Five & Dime, and I think that this is actually where the Five & Dime ends

I think the Gag Factory is through these arches

But you know? Not sure. Hopefully some Sharp-Eyed Reader will chime in here.

I can say for sure that this part of the store is the Gag Factory. Know how I know? Because it says “Gag Factory” on that big red machine thingy.

My powers of perception are unrivaled, except when they're rivaled.

In one section, they used to have a “make your own mouse ears” station. It was actually really cool. You picked a hat, snapped on the ears of your choice, added various decorations, and so on. And then they took it away. I’m not really sure why. It always seemed pretty popular when I was there.

Anyway, because it’s in Toontown, the theming is pervasive.

Did you know that spellcheck doesn’t think that “theming” is a word? Instead, it suggests:
teeming
Hemingway
Themistocles
thematic
hemming

Yes, spellcheck. Themistocles, the Athenian politician and general, was exactly what I was shooting for. Thank you!!!

Anyway.

Fun theming! And by theming I mean Themistocles!

Here’s the back of that Gag Factory boiler-thingy. And seriously, spellcheck just accepted “thingy.”

Boiler thingy, and by thingy I mean Themistocles.

There’s also the hat writing stations, and here’s another one of my Disneyland sad stories, the old hat writers. Once upon a time your hat was written on by a human muscling the hat through an insane sewing machine that looked and sounded like it would take your arm off if you weren’t careful (exaggeration–to my knowledge, the hat writing sewing machines were never a serious safety hazard. at least not to your arm). And the human had to write your name in the Disney script, backwards and inside-out.

That, my friends, is a skill.

Unfortunately, that went by the wayside when new hat writing machines were introduced. Now you can get the traditional Disney writing in a couple different thread colors, or you can get other premium fonts in different colors. This seems like progress except for the fact that it now takes for.ev.er. for the machine to finish. So my advice is that if you’re getting a hat written on, you go ahead and find a churro cart and grab a munchie while you wait for it.

"Get comfy--this is going to take a while"

One bonus, though, is that it’s fun for little kids to watch the sewing as it goes!

I’m kind of thinking I need a pair of Mickey ears embroidered with “Themistocles.” Yes?

Toon Town , , , , ,

Jolly Trolley

9 Comments Posted by on March 21, 2012

First off, Random.org says congratulations to Stephanie–she’s our big winner of What to do in Line: Disneyland! Thanks to everyone who entered!

I have covered the beautiful Jolly Holiday Bakery and Cafe, so now it’s time to head to the back of the park for another Jolly experience–the Jolly Trolley in Mickey’s Toontown!

Wait, is that a Disney Vacation Club sign?

 

The Jolly Trolley sits right in the heart of Toontown and it used to run a loop from one end of Toontown to the other.

It ran on tracks just like these:

Actually, exactly like these, since these are the original tracks.

 

Have you noticed I’m speaking of it in the past tense?

(on a side note, the past tense has been haunting me lately. I’m working on a novel and it just keeps switching from past to present tense, which can sometimes be an artistic choice, but not when it happens in the same sentence.)

Yes, unfortunately, the Jolly Trolley doesn’t run anymore. Rumor has it that it appears to be a victim of its own popularity. As Toontown grew in popularity, it became more crowded, and people were constantly blocking the tracks. Sort of like the Main Street vehicles, which they also don’t run at crowded times.

I mean, can you even imagine that Main Street car with its honk honk horn moving approximately 0 miles per hour trying to thread its way through post-parade traffic? Insane.

Anyway, so the Jolly Trolley remains stationary, and a fun place to take a picture or sit for a short while.

Sorry, but this guy does not look very jolly

 

Like everything else in Toontown, the theming is whimsical and fun.

I love the key on top

 

But now, sadly, it’s used as a Disney Vacation Club outpost (although not 100% of the time). I never got to ride the Jolly Trolley, though I hear good things about it. Perhaps one day they will bring it back. Maybe put one of those cow catcher things on the front to just plow through guests who  happen to get in the way. Heh.

Toon Town , ,

Goofy’s House–The House of Goof?

3 Comments Posted by on March 5, 2012

Once upon a time, Disneyland ended at Small World. I mean, the onstage area ended at Small World. And then they put in Toontown. Now let me just be honest here, Toontown is the area I spent the least amount of time in. Partly because it’s all the way in the back of the part and I’m exceedingly lazy, but also because there’s not a lot of shade and it always feels like 15 degrees hotter back there than anywhere else.

And with that ringing endorsement...

The nice thing about Toontown is that it’s kind of like Little Kid Land, and there’s a lot for little kids to do and explore.

I’ve already covered Mickey’s House and Minnie’s House, but did you know that Goofy and Donald live there too?

Fact: Goofy and Donald live there too.

Goofy’s house is conveniently adjacent to a play area, which really comes in handy when you have a toddler who needs to blow off some energy. Like I do. Have a toddler, I mean, not energy to blow off. I wish I did though.

And a play area. I kind of wish I had a play area.

Theo loved the play area.

He's a big fan of slides.

Goofy’s house is rather ramshackle, unsurprisingly.

Goofy's house, kind of, behind the tree.

And in case you wonder why I don’t cover more attractions when I’ve got the kid along, it’s because while I was taking the above picture, this happened:

STOP THAT TODDLER!!

The lesson here is clearly to dress your child in a brightly-colored shirt so that when you are done taking pictures of other things, you can locate him later.

Or just put the camera down and run after him, like I did.

Anyway, Goofy’s house has an entrance onto the play area.

Is that some sort of lighthouse architecture?

And I’ll be honest. While there is some elaborate decorating inside, Goofy’s house was a pretty big disappointment, especially compared to Mickey’s and Minnie’s houses. There’s basically one big room, and if you look up you see this:

I have an intense fear of sharks, but this one does make me laugh.

Here’s an awkward angle:

I was going for an artsy, forced-perspective shot here. Right.

But mostly Goofy’s house is one big room, and not all that populated either. There’s the piano:

Theo did love banging on it

And some sort of wardrobe/cabinet/spinner toy thing:

Great and all, but we actually kind of have one of those spinner things at the park across the street, and that's free.

And classic Goofy art on the walls:

Ah, the good old days

While I’m being honest, it’s really kind of underwhelming. Theo did have a good time, and I liked just kicking back and watching him  knock things over and terrorize other little kids  play, but it wasn’t nearly as good as Mickey’s or Minnie’s house.

Which kind of makes you feel bad for the old Goof. I mean, he’s always kind of getting the short end of the stick. It’s not his fault he’s that tall. Or that he’s some kind of weird talking dog when Pluto gets to be a regular dog. It can’t be easy wearing patched, ill-fitting clothing. Not to mention that hat. But somehow, Goofy pulls it off, so we applaud him.

No idea where he sleeps though. On the floor?

UPDATE: Reader Amber informs me that Goofy’s house used to be a bounce house! I HAD NO IDEA!!! It’s too bad they took the bounce part out. That would be really cool.

 

Toon Town , , , ,

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