The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (82 page)

Imagineers
have frequently commented on the initial difficulties of getting carpenters, plasterers, and other virtuoso craftsmen to follow
Toontown
’s non-linear, cartoonish architectural plans to the letter.

The blueprints
ran counter to anything the professionals had ever confronted before, and went against the grain of their training and experience.  The builders’ instincts were, naturally, to straighten the crazy curves.  But the first rule of
Toontown
was a prohibition against straight lines, plumb lines, lines that made visual sense.  Everything was to be curvy and off-kilter, yet it had to be functional and safe.

The result is a three-dimensional cartoon world that
’s impossible to describe adequately; you have to experience it to appreciate it.

It took me a while to “get”
Mickey’s Toontown
.  I brought my niece there several times when she was small, and I was underwhelmed by what I perceived to be a lack of attractions.  Other than
Gadget’s Go Coaster
, meeting
Mickey
, and
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
, what was there to do?  I was still learning the park, and my focus was on all the big
E-ticket
experiences like
Haunted Mansion
,
Indiana Jones Adventure
,
Pirates of the Caribbean
, and
Space Mountain
. In retrospect, I think I hurried us in and out of
Toontown
, missing the point that the entire
Toontown
landscape is an attraction unto itself.

It’s not only that the structures, landscape, vehicles
, and objects all have the hand-drawn contours that mark the cartoon.  It’s also the color palette, the rich cartoon hues, and the town’s sensibilities, by which I mean the constant sight gags and punning signage and the way the visual details are placed and piled up against each other to bring a deeper and higher level of meaning to the whole than any of the discrete pieces can do alone.

You can tell that profound thought went into the design and planning of this land
.  It was conceived by people such as
Imagineer
Joe Lanzisero
who know and love
Disney
cartoons and cartoons in general, and know a lot about
Walt
.  It’s in this land, a cartoon mirror of
Walt
and his creations, that
Imagineers
finally gave
Walt
the
tribute windows
that he’d been too modest to commission when he was alive.

Befitting
Walt
’s modesty, the two tiny windows with faint lettering are tucked away on the upper level of the
Toontown Library
, off the more well-trodden routes.  The windows laud him as
W.E. Disney, Directing Animator
of
Laugh-O-Gram Films, Inc.
, his original animation studio in
Kansas City
that created six animated fairy tale shorts.

Beyond its look and its sensibilities, what makes
Toontow
n a living, breathing cartoon world is its interactivity.  If you want to have fun in
Mickey’s Toontown
, touch everything.  This is paradise for the tiny set that is constantly being told
not
to touch this or that!  As in cartoons, not only right angles but normal expectations of physics and reality are skewed or suspended.  In keeping with the way the evolving minds of toddlers process input,
Toontown
is highly visual, aural, tactile, and literal.

Once the concept of creating this marvelous
‘toon
land was devised, the question became where to place it. 
Walt
famously regretted that he didn’t purchase more land for
Disneyland
.  The park’s limited size has always presented challenges when launching new offerings.  Generally, for a new attraction or land to be introduced, an existing, perhaps poorly performing land or attraction has to be retired and replaced.

To build
Toontown
meant designing a compact land where all of the attractions, restaurants, shops, and gags were crammed into a space of about three acres, and then tunneling through the northern edge of the
berm
to build it. 
Backstage
elements like a pony farm were removed or relocated to make way for the tiny
‘toon
domain.  The tall murals of buildings and hills that rim the northern perimeter of
Toontown
do more than provide an illusion of distance and enhance the dreamlike cartoon atmosphere; they also hide a
backstage
complex of roads, buildings, and parking lots that presses right up against
Toontown
’s borders.

Toontown
often opens an hour or so after the rest of
Disneyland
, even during peak summer seasons, although the park offers periodic opportunities to enter
Toontown
early (a great idea for families with toddlers).  Guests enter
Toontown
via a broad tunnel under the
berm
and the
Disneyland Railroad
track.

When
Toontown
is closed, two gates bar entry; painted dark blue, the first gate sports a large “M” and the word
Mickey’s
, and the second gate sports a large “T” and the word
Toontown
.  Even when the gates are shut, their colors and design communicate a feeling of friendly playfulness, aided by the big yellow, green and red sign that reads
Welcome to Mickey’s Toontown
in cartoonish lettering, and the silly, constantly rotating “population counter” that includes baseballs, questions marks, and yellow rubber duckies as well as numbers–not the most scientific population counter, to be sure, but awfully fun!

Small signs advertise local civic and commercial groups, the way small cities and towns
in the real world welcome visitors into their city limits with signs for the B.P.O.E., the Rotary Club, the Knights of Columbus, etc. 
Minnie
and
Daisy
are members of the
D.A.R.
–no, not the Daughters of the American Revolution, but the
Daughters of the Animated Reel
.  There’s an
Optimist International
organization in town; their logo is a smiley face.

As crowds gather to wait for the little land to open for the day, c
hildren and even adults are often champing at the bit to enter
Toontown
.  For some locals, this is their hundredth visit, but for some Guests this is a long-planned, once-in-a-lifetime dream come true.

Since
Mickey
appeared in
Disney
’s 1928 masterpiece
Steamboat Willie
, there have been plenty of
Mickey
fans of all ages, and while waiting for
Toontown
to open, you’ll see Guests of all ages jockeying to be near the front of the pack.

I’ve seen an elderly couple,
perhaps celebrating a golden anniversary, holding hands beatifically but ruthlessly positioning themselves near the entrance, blocking youngsters not as quick as their elders.  I’ve seen toddlers pitch tantrums because the gate was closed and wasn’t going to open for three more minutes; three minutes is a very long time for a two-year-old.

Friendly Cast Members do their best to calm crying little ones and get them to laugh.  If you have to wait for the gates to open, pass the time by asking the Cast Member questions about
Toontown
.  When it’s time for the Cast Member to open the gates, have the civility not to trample him or her as you rush into
Toontown
.  I once heard a Cast Member politely ask Guests who were pawing the ground and skittishly maneuvering like horses about to burst out of the gate for a steeplechase “
Please
let me get out of the way, folks, before you head in.”

Beyond the
entrance tunnel a wide promenade slopes gently upward into
Toontown
.  The boulevard is lined with benches for weary toddlers, parents, and grandparents, as well as snack carts for the hungry and thirsty.  (As I frequently caution, ask for snack prices before you make your purchases.  You might find more food and better deals at the food court at
Toontown
’s center.)  At the end of the walkway, on your right, is the bright yellow
Landmark 3 ½
sign that explains the park’s official history of
Mickey’s Toontown
.

When
Toontown
opens, most Guests rush pell-mell up the promenade in a delirium of anticipation and bear left, to the west side of town, to queue to meet
Mickey
and
Minnie
.  If that’s at the top of your wish list, or your child’s wish list, that’s what you’ll want to do.

However, you can meet
Mickey
and
Minnie
throughout the day, although lines get longer as the day progresses.  So if your main objective is the very popular
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
, which has lines of up to and even surpassing an hour on peak days, instead of bearing left, bear right and be one of the first to take a spin through
Roger
’s
‘toon
world, or pick up a
FastPass
for the
Car Toon Spin
before heading over to
Mickey
and
Minnie
’s homes.

The
downtown commercial and industrial district on the east side of
Toontown
is a sensory feast of puns and gags.  This is where you’ll find
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
, but the buildings surrounding it are just as much fun.  If you press the doorbell of the
Camera Shop
, you hear the click of a camera’s shutter.  Press the doorbell of the
Glass Factory
, and you hear panes shatter.  Depress the plunger outside the
Fireworks Factory
a few times, and there’s a loud detonation of fireworks, accompanied by smoke and sparks from the second-story window.  For a truly electrifying experience, try to open the door of the
Power Plant
!

Boxes outside the
Gag Warehouse
make sounds related to their contents when you lift the lids.  Voices emanate from the sewers if you stomp on a manhole cover.  Want to break out of the little jail?  The bars will bend and stretch for you, just like in a cartoon.  There are many more visual and interactive gags, and they’re all safe and fun and funny.  Look, for example, for the
Dalmatian
puppy peeking out of the middle window on the second story of
Toontown
’s
Fire Department
.

The center of
Toontown
is
Toontown Square
, the civic area, with the
Toontown Skool
,
Library
, a
City Hall
topped by an entertaining
Mickey
clock, and of course the
3rd Little Piggy Bank
, where the money boasts pictures of
Roger Rabbit
and is worth “zillions” (sorry; you can’t actually open an account there!).  Look for one of the best bits of grown-up humor in town, the
Planning Commission
sign so poorly planned that they ran out of space and had to squash in the final letters.  (Anyone who’s served on a committee, at work or at school, will probably appreciate
that
gag!)

Guests can’t enter these
civic buildings.  The bank and library and “skool” are façades, part of the whimsical landscape, and hide vast
backstage
areas.  You’ll see Cast Members entering and exiting
City Hall
, for example, as they come and go from
Disneyland
’s northern
backstage
complex.  Guests can’t go
backstage
, but they can enjoy
Toontown
’s adjacent food court, sitting near the bandstand at one of the many
Toon Square
tables, or resting for a spell on a bench of the now-stationary
Jolly Trolley
.

Toontown
doesn’t serve breakfast, and it has neither table service nor even “buffeteria”-style dining options.  It’s all snack counters that open in the late morning hours, serving up quick, simple, relatively inexpensive meals for parents and little ones.  Breakfast before you hit
Toontown
or you’ll have a hungry and cranky group on your hands (you, perhaps, among them!)