With the looming expansion of Fantasyland coming online by 2013, Mickey and Minnie Mouse could soon be evicted from their Toontown homes.
Mickey’s Toontown Fair opened as Mickey’s Birthdayland in 1988 in time for Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday. The land was originally intended to be a temporary addition to the Magic Kingdom, but it was so popular, Disney officials decided to keep the land.
Even though the land was intended to be temporary, Disney put a lot of effort into building the Magic Kingdom’s seventh land, including building a new station for the Walt Disney World Railroad and realigning the Tomorrowland Speedway to accommodate the toon area.
In 1990, the land reopened as Mickey’s Starland. Mickey’s Toontown Fair debuted in 1996 as a revamped version of its predecessors.
Over the years, the land was home to Grandma Duck’s Farm and Minnie Moo – a cow famous for her Mickey Mouse ear-like spots on her side.
In addition to Mickey’s Country House and Minnie’s Country House, Mickey’s Toontown Fair is a popular character greeting area. The land’s “thrill” ride is The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farms, a pint-sized rollercoaster. Guests board a 1920s-era bi-plane to buzz around the farm.
Disney officials hinted that Mickey’s and Minnie’s houses could be relocated to elsewhere.
At the D23 Expo in Anaheim, Calif., last week, Disney announced that Fantasyland will soon be expanded to include a number of attractions themed on Disney princesses, including a Little Mermaid-themed attraction, similar to what Disney is building in California.
Fantasyland’s Dumbo attraction will relocate and double in size.
The expansion will be built in Toontown and on land once occupied by the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction. That ride closed in the 1990s, and its remnants remained for many years; they have since been removed.
Walt Disney World officials also announced that an upgraded Star Tours is coming to Disney Hollywood Studios.
