Mr. Toad's Wild Ride into Oblivion

In the current installment of his "Lost Attractions" series, Danny Cox of the Examiner eulogizes (in a happy, upbeat way) the dearly departed Mr. Toad, who took his last Wild Ride at Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 1998 despite the protests of many fans.

There were, in fact, two versions of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, one at Disneyland and one at Disney World. Both rides opened on the same day that their respective parks opened. The Disneyland Toad rides on; the Disney World Toad, as Danny explains in his article, went ker-plop under his own wheels to make way for the better-known (and perhaps better-behaved) Winnie the Pooh.

Some aspects of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - the jailhouse, his arrival in 'Hell' - did not mesh well with Disney's long-term plans for Fantasyland, and the ride itself was notoriously unnerving for younger kids who prefer the gentler thrills of Heffalumps and Woozles, the scariest part of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh which took over the premises after Toad skipped out.

If you stay sharp, you can see Toad's picture during the Pooh ride - his visage is not crowed with hellfire so we can hope he managed to hop into Heaven.

Danny has details in his article about what it was like to take the Wild Ride. But for those desperate to experience the ride again, I suggest a visit to VirtualToad where you'll find a "virtual reality" reconstruction of the ride. Very cool! (Make sure you read the instructions before you begin or like me you'll be waiting forever for the door to open by itself.)

Mr. Toad, may you ribbitt in peace.