Late last year it was revealed that Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland was going to get a major overhaul. While we knew that a Disneyland version of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was already under construction, we learned in November that all of Toontown would be closing down at some point this year for a major overhaul, set to be finished sometime in early 2023. But now we know exactly when Toontown will be shutting down, and exactly what will be changing when it does.
Disneyland Resort has revealed that Mickey’s Toontown will close on March 9, 2022. When it reopens, on an unannounced date in early 2023, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which currently exists at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, will open as well, but that won’t be all that’s different.
While Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, as well as the walkthrough attractions for Mickey's House and Minnie’s House, will remain, the rest of the land is set to be “reimagined.” This includes Gadget’s Go Coaster, as well as Goofy’s House and Donald’s Boat, both walkthrough attractions. Although it’s possible the holdovers could still get updates. Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin has seen some running changes while remaining open, so more of that isn’t out of the question.
The word reimagined certainly covers a lot of ground. It could simply mean these attractions will get polished up and refurbished. It could mean we see the core attraction remain the same, but it could be rethemed to a new IP. But removing the attraction entirely and replacing it with something entirely new would technically also qualify as reimagined.
We know that Mickey’s Toontown will be gaining an area called CenTOONial Park which will feature an open grassy area as well as natural shade, and that space is going to have to go somewhere. That means losing some of what is currently in the land is very possible. Concept art (as seen above) shows all three of these reimagined locations still standing. However, and I cannot stress this enough, concept art is not a very good indicator of what we will actually get.
Above all, I certainly hope that Gadget’s Go Coaster remains. If it gets rethemed and ends up with a name change, that’s fine. The current theming is honestly barely there in the first place. Though it’s possible with the upcoming Rescue Rangers movie the coaster could get an update to include elements from it.
The “kiddie coaster” is fun for all ages and it’s a great way to introduce young Disney fans to thrill rides. Get them on the Go Coaster and if they like it they’ll be much more willing to try Thunder Mountain Railroad or Space Mountain when the time comes.
If anything is lost, or even just significantly changed, there will certainly be fans who will be upset by that, but Mickey’s Toontown is an area in desperate need of an update. Folks who want to experience the existing Toontown still have a couple weeks to do it before it closes. Then we’ll have a year of waiting to see what brand new exciting stuff we’ll get when it reopens in 2023.
