Once upon a time, Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park had a ride like no other… it was a drunk driving race through town that ended in Hell.
No, really. Not only that but it was in Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland! Despite the theme, this ride was beloved by all. To this day, it holds a special place in many people’s hearts, mine included.
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Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
The ride, of course, is Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and it has a place in both Disney nostalgia and Disney infamy!
We couldn’t let our Halloween look at Disney’s creepiest rides and theories go by without paying homage to this now-defunct attraction. Defunct is a bit of a misnomer though because a version of the ride still exists at Disneyland.
Walt Disney World’s version, though, was far superior. Rather than being a carbon copy clone of the original, Imagineers improved on the design when it was brought to the Florida theme park.
Disney World’s version sported two tracks with slightly different experiences, with Track B being more popular than Track A. The Florida version’s storyline made more sense than Disneyland’s, as well. It also featured more 3-D scenes as opposed to the mostly two-dimensional cutouts in Disneyland (though after seeing the ride’s popularity, the California version was updated to include some of those 3-D figures as well).
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The ride began at Toad Hall, and you knew it would get wild when you began by driving through the Toad family estate, Toad Hall. You then quickly found yourself in Mr. Winky’s bar, where you presumably drank yourself silly, judging by how crazy it gets from there.
You are soon terrorizing the village and crashing into…well…everything. Eventually, you are caught by the police and convicted for your crime and thrown in jail, but you manage to escape.
In a stroke of bad luck (or just desserts, depending on your outlook), you have a head-on collision with a train and find yourself in Hell. That’s how the ride ended. No classic Disney happy ending here, just a collision course with Hell.
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Speaking as a child who grew up riding this attraction (it closed permanently when I was 13), I had no idea what was going on. I’m sure the adults who rode had more than a few questions, though.
Death and Hell didn’t stop this ride from amassing a huge fan base, however. Guests showed up to protest when the ride closure was announced. In pre-social media and Etsy days they showed up in matching t-shirts to try and save the ride.
Ultimately, they were unsuccessful, and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, which, albeit more family-friendly, still manages to come across as a fever dream that borders on the absurd.
Mr. Toad isn’t completely gone, however. He lives on in YouTube videos:
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Disney Imagineers gave Toad a gravestone in the Haunted Mansion pet cemetery. His gravestone contains a cheeky epithet that reads, “Here Lies Toad, it’s sad but true. Not nearly as marketable as Winnie-the-Pooh.” Perhaps the Imagineers were just as sad to see Mr. Toad go as we were.
Disneyland’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride Lives On
While Mr. Toad has said farewell at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, as mentioned above, you can still take a ride at Disneyland Park in California. Disneyland describes the attraction with:
Toad Rage: Enter the lavish English manor house known as Toad Hall and hop into a 2-person, open-air buggy.
Skid past teetering stacks of books in the library and barrel through a fireplace—before hurtling into a formal dining room. Careen through a wall-sized window and race past a riverbank, narrowly missing a flock of sheep.
While avoiding a platoon of policemen, crash through scaffolding, splatter a stack of pies, smash crates and ignite a fiery explosion—but look out for that train!
Will you escape trial for your trail of destruction? Or is something even more devilish in store?
A One-of-a-Kind Drive: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was an opening day attraction at Disneyland Park.
The ride is based on the Wind in the Willows scenes from the animated Disney film, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
In 1983, the original façade was updated to include the stately Toad Hall; inside, various scenes and settings were enhanced with new details and special effects. This classic attraction is unique to Disneyland Park!
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Do you think Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride should be removed from Disneyland as well? Let us know in the comments.
YES, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride should be REMOVED from Disneyland ’cause it’s the most DEVILISHED ride I’ve ever heard. It’s a good thing that I don’t ever want to go on that ride. I say we shall bring God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit back in our nation and that’s the end of discussion.