Not Fair for the Fair

I was in WDW for my birthday (Feb. 16th) and thus, was there on that last night that Mickey's Toontown Fair was open (Feb. 11th). Not much happened to commemorate the event for us guests, but I did see some cast members dancing with some guests joining in at the County Bounty store. I took some pics of some of the buildings and got a chance to ride the Barnstormer with my mom one last time (before it becomes "The Great Goofini"). Although there's still a Toontown in Disneyland U.S.A. and Tokyo Disneyland, and Mickey and Minnie have got new meet and greet spots in Tomorrowland, Frontierland, and the Hall of Presidents at Liberty Square (mostly Mickey on his own here) before Exhibition Hall is ready for them, I feel there will never be another Toontown experience in WDW for a while. There was a ceremony for the cast members on the last night which you can see here on YouTube. (Courtesy of crushinator.) So, for my first blog post of the year, I'd like to dedicate this moment to what will become the Storybook Circus. Toontown Fair, you will be missed. June 18, 1988 (as Mickey's Birthdayland) - February 11, 2011.

Sweet Soundsation

The Disney Parks Blog just announced that a new parade is coming to Disneyland USA next year. It's called "Mickey's Soundsational Parade"!

I've seen the concept art they posted (displayed above) and I couldn't be more excited. Floats based on "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "The Princess and the Frog", and the upcoming "Tangled" featuring Rapunzel? You know I can hardly wait. 2011 can't come soon enough! More info here.

UPDATE 2/26/11: The Disney Parks Blog gave an opening date for "Mickey's Soundsational Parade" - May 27th! Proof is here along with the opening dates for Ariel's Undersea Adventure at DCA and Star Tours at Disneyland U.S.A. Mark your calendars because it won't be long before the streets of Main Street U.S.A. start sounding like music to your ears... and eyes!

Mickey Speaks! (at Disneyland)

There are a couple of videos posted on YouTube that I found simply amazing. Both courtesy of lrharrisjr, they feature Mickey Mouse at a meet and greet at his house in Disneyland USA, but get this: Mickey is actually talking! Yes, you read right, Mickey actually talks! I haven't been to Disneyland recently, but I've seen the vids and I'm still in awe! The first video has Mickey welcoming everyone and inviting them to have their picture taken with him as seen here. In the second video, Mickey talks to a little girl and her aunt and calls them by name here. That's right, he says their names. Proof positive that the audio of Mickey talking wasn't prerecorded. Can you say "wow"? According to lrharrisjr (who, as I mentioned, posted these videos), this is a test run by Disney, but I wouldn't mind if they made this feature permament, not just in Disneyland, but in Walt Disney World, too. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, they'll do the same for Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and maybe even Goofy. (Please, please, please, Disney, do Goofy next!) Let's hope Disney can make this happen.

UPDATE 5/7/10: The Disney Parks Blog posted their own video of talking Mickey here.

Merchandise to the "Max"?

There's a thread over at the WDWMagic Board asking about merchandise featuring Goofy's son, Max. Max, of course, is one of my favorite Disney characters, second only to his dad, Goofy. However, from what I've read on the thread mentioned, there's no Max merchandise at the American Disney Parks. But you can get pins of him, but those are pretty rare. Oh, well. At least, I got his autograph at the Toontown Fair back in 2002 on my first ever visit to Walt Disney World. Maybe, when I go to Disneyland or WDW this Fall, I'll take photos of him. ...if I can find him.