Great Moments with Mister Satan
Written: Mar 02 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: extremely original
Cons: "hell" is not what everyone expects from a place called "Fantasyland"
The Bottom Line: Mr Toad's Wild Ride is a slow dark ride - the wildness comes when you look at your partner and say, "Did we just get sent to Hell? In Fantasyland?"
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| Liffey's Full Review: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - Disneyland |
As mentioned elsewhere, I started my Disney park adventures in 2001 with Walt Disney World in Florida. (As also mentioned elsewhere, I'm trying to keep my reviews to under 300 words, but this is hard for a flibberdigibit like myself. Which is exactly why I should show some restraint - wish me luck!)
So, visiting Disneyland meant getting to experience Mr. Toad's Wild Ride for the first time, as its Florida twin had given way to Pooh by the time I went there. "Mr. Toad, now he was the one from the Wind in the Willows," I thought to myself. "Uh oh, I knew I ought to have finished that book back in the seventh grade. I blame Eva for bringing in that Linda Lovelace autobiography and distracting us all."
(But I digress.)
I found the English country manor exterior just as cute as could be, complete with "posing car" for photos. (Me, I think of it as the "see if you can fit in it before letting your long legs or round belly stand in the queue" car, but the world seems to be run by short, skinny people sometimes. Alas, I'm only a half-breed, on the distaff side at that.)
(But again I digress.)
I always wonder at these Fantasyland queues. The rides are so popular, but the queues are so bunchy, feel like forever, and they all end in small, unimaginative strips next to the loading area for the little dark rides. But, that's vintage Disney for you - easily forgiven and reclassified as "quaint." Mr. Toad is no exception to this, but, like I said, the mockup of Toad Hall with all its little touches is sweet enough.
My husband and I don't have children, so I'm writing for a "why should adults hop on this ride?" audience. And this is my answer to that question:
On this ride, you drive recklessly, smash into a pub (and everything before and after it), get sentenced to prison, are hit by a train, and arrive in hell.
Then you watch-your-step-please as you disembark and step out into Fantasyland again.
Seriously.
The same minds that designed this must have also come up with that banshee in Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People, and I know that traumatized me until my early 20s. I don't think I could've handled this ride when I was a tot; I had too much imagination. Devils? Hot pitchforks? The bright light of the train as it crashes (almost) into your face?
Of course now I love it. It's so "incorrect," so twisty-turny, so unexpected. (Those less easily swayed could perhaps pretend Mr Toad is Paris, Lindsay, or Brittney?) If only the queue weren't so long with little ones who will be gulping out the sobs in just twenty minutes' time.
Okay, I admit I've only seen this a few times, but maybe I should worry that more kids aren't upset? C'mon, children! You're sentenced to prison, hit by a train, and sent to hell. In my day, that would be some bring-on-the-nightlight dream fodder for the rest of the vacation, I tell you what!
(But again, it's completely silly fun for the grownups.)
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
Liffey
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Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 71 members
About Me:
I like thinking.
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