Mickey’s Toontown Fair is the newest of the Magic Kingdom lands, and unfortunately, it is also the first of the lands to be closed. Toontown Fair is the unfortunate casualty of the expansion of Fantasyland, and as a result, much of the land is going to be disappearing, if it hasn’t been closed already. Because of this, if you are able to go, and haven’t been yet, now might be the best time to get down to see Mickey’s Toontown Fair.
The Fair was opened in, I believe, 1988 to celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday. Originally, the fair was called “Mickey’s Birthdayland”, and was slated to be a short running expansion. However, the guests loved it, and flocked to it in such numbers that it was decided to continue the fun, but with a few tweaks made along the way.
Some of the best things in all of the Magic Kingdom can be found in Mickey’s Toontown Fair. For us, the best of the attractions are the following:
- Mickey’s Country House
- Minnie’s Country House
- The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm
- Walt Disney World Railroad
Since the Toontown Fair is the smallest of the lands, there isn’t as much to do here, however, the land has it’s own unique traits that give the “Fairgoer” a good time, and a lot to see.
The real beauty of Mickey’s Toontown Fair is in the details, and the story behind the land. As I understand it, you won’t always find Mickey in the Toontown Fair, even though it would be a reasonable expectation to think that he would be there. However, the thing that you need to keep in mind is that Mickey and Minnie’s full time homes are actually in Disneyland, not Disney World. The homes that are in Mickey’s Toontown Fair are actually Mickey and Minnie’s vacation homes, so for this reason, when they aren’t on vacation, you won’t see them in their homes.
Additionally, although this is the smallest of the lands, the landmarks that are in the the land have an incredible amount of detail to them. For example, did you know that Minnie’s Country House has he following things for you and your kids to enjoy:
- You can sit on the couch or chair for pictures
- You can press the play button on the answering machine to hear the messages left for Minnie — and there are a lot of messages!
- You can bake the cake in the oven.
- You can open the refrigerator to see all the selections of cheese that Minnie has.
- You can pop popcorn in the microwave.
The details in the houses — both Minnie’s and Mickey’s — are incredible. Mickey’s doesn’t have many things to do, it is more of a walk through museum type view, but despite that, there are a lot of things to see. Take a moment to check out the kitchen that Goofy and Donald are working on, and take a look at all of the tools that there are in the garage!
Goofy’s Barnstormer roller coaster, which is how we as a family think of Goofy’s roller coaster, was Sophie’s first roller coaster at Disney World. We rode it once, back in 2005, and Sophie was hooked! We got off of it, and rode it again — and again — and again. You get the picture. In all, we rode it at least four times in a row, and we have ridden nearly every year since. Now, though, our daring nine year old has progressed to Big Thunder Mountain, the Rock and Roller Coaster with Aerosmith, and other high-intensity rides.
As a land, Mickey’s Toontown Fair is definitely the smallest, and some people think that it isn’t any big deal that it is being absorbed into the Fantasyland expansion. However, to me, some of the biggest things that the Fair has going for it are the little things. Being able to relax, to savor each part of the land, to just stroll like you would stroll through your own county fair at home. Those are the things that make Mickey’s Toontown Fair special, and it won’t soon be forgotten.
I have no doubts that somewhere in the future we will see Mickey and Minnie’s homes. Where they will be I’m not sure, but something will be done with them I believe.
Thank you for reading, enjoy the photos now and let me know what you think in the comments!
In the end, with Toontown Fair about to close, I’m going to miss it, and so are Cindy and Sophie. I really think it will be worth it in the end, but it still is a bittersweet thing to go through. That makes the pictures we have and memories we have all the more important, so thank you for reading.
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