Mickey’s Toontown Reopening Date & Details!

Disney has shared the reopening date for Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland, along with other details and new concept art. This shares everything we know, plus our commentary about the changes and upcoming additions debuting shortly after the start of Disney100, the company’s 100th Anniversary celebration that centers around the California parks. (Updated March 17, 2023.)

Mickey’s Toontown reopens at the start of Spring Break 2023, shortly after the beginning of the 100 Years of Wonder celebration. That anniversary event is now underway, with Disneyland and Disney California Adventure each debuting new nighttime spectaculars in honor of Disney’s 100th Anniversary. Consult our Guide to Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration at Disneyland & DCA for everything you need to know about that.

In addition to that, the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction that is located inside Mickey’s Toontown is also now open. In case you’re wondering how it’s possible for the land to be closed but a ride in it to be open, it’s because everything on the west side of Toontown is still behind walls. Meaning everything in the model above is not currently accessible–just Runaway Railway and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin (which is closed until the full land reopens).

Unfortunately, the reopening date for Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland has been pushed back to March 19, 2023. The land was originally scheduled to return 11 days earlier, on March 8. However, due to construction delays caused by winter storms, it’s being delayed.

“Due to heavy winter storms that impacted our construction momentum, we are adjusting the reopening date of Mickey’s Toontown to March 19. We can’t wait for our Guests to visit and experience the reimagined land,” a Disneyland official said in a statement.

March 17, 2023 Update: Despite even more severe weather in Southern California over the last month, Mickey’s Toontown is still slated to reopen this weekend, on March 19, 2023.

Disneyland has now pulled back the curtain on some of what guests will find when the step inside the new-look Mickey’s Toontown.

While visiting this whimsical world, guests may spot and take photos with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and their pals Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Pluto, Clarabelle, and Goofy.

Mickey Mouse will sport a new outfit specifically for when he is greeting guests outside of his home. Inside, he’ll still sport his iconic look.

For the first time at any Disney theme park in the world, Pete will also make meet & greet appearances as he causes mischief around the Toontown neighborhood.

In non-character news, two dining locations in Mickey’s Toontown will serve fun new foods and scrumptious snacks. Café Daisy is the highlight, and it offers a variety of diner classics that are available for mobile ordering via the Disneyland app. There’s also the Perfect Picnic Basket novelty, which should be nice for picnics on the Toontown grass.

Located next to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, EngineEar Souvenirs features a selection of Mickey Mouse and pals toys, apparel, headwear and more to “choo-choo-choose” from, including the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Remote Control Trackless Train.

EngineEar Souvenirs offers merchandise mobile checkout, which enables guests to scan and pay as they shop for select items right from their phones using the Disneyland app. 

Here’s the rest of the details about the evolution of Toontown:

It was this time last year that Disney first announced Mickey’s Toontown would undergo an ambitious reimagining, and reopen with some all-new experiences for families and young children to have more opportunities to play together inside Disneyland. At D23 Expo in September, the company shared a bit more about the interactive play areas and how Disneyland is stepping into a new era of inclusive experiences in this land for families of all ages.

Mickey’s Toontown will become a vibrant symphony of sights, sounds and sensations very soon. Here’s a look at some of what you can expect when the land reopens on March 19, 2023!

The reimagined Mickey’s Toontown will provide open, grassy play spaces for everyone to unwind. This starts with CenTOONial Park, the first space guests will see when they enter the land.

CenTOONial Park will be anchored by two new interactive play experiences; a beautiful fountain featuring water tables designed for play that invite guests to have a sensory experience, plus a nearby dreaming tree with sculpted tree roots providing an opportunity for children to crawl and explore.

Over in Goofy’s neck of the woods, you’ll find Goofy’s How-To-Play Yard, as shown in this new aerial concept art.

This area in particular will see some of the most significant changes in Mickey’s Toontown, as it’ll offer more to do inside and outside.

Dedicated to all things play, Goofy’s How-To-Play Yard incorporates a whimsical soundgarden where kids will discover new ways to make wacky noises, as well as enjoy an all-new, elevated clubhouse.

When you step inside Goofy’s House, you’ll find a fun, interactive candy-making contraption that only Goofy could imagine!

The confectionery contraption begins high outside of Goofy’s home, as drips of honey fall from a beehive onto a chute that slides the colorful drops around and down into the home.

From there, junior candymakers will help Goofy make the candy, and the silly sounds of household appliances will combine to make a truly Goofy symphony.

Donald’s Boat will be perched in the duck pond of the Goof homestead.

This will feature larger-than-life spinning water lilies, balance beams, and rocking toys at Donald’s Duck Pond that will help little ones get the wiggles out. Kids will definitely love making a splash in this space! You also can look into the boat through the portholes to witness bubbles of fun inside the flooded vessel and interact with some familiar ducklings including Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby.

For those wanting to get a little “nutty,” you can head over to Chip ‘n’ Dale’s GADGETcoaster, where Mickey’s Toontown’s favorite tinkerer, Gadget Hackwrench, has created a one-of-a-kind, fun-sized coaster for the town’s tiniest citizens.

And at Mickey’s House and Minnie’s House, you’ll once again be able to step right into their homes and enjoy a self-guided tour as you discover special surprises in every room. You may even be able to visit with Mickey and Minnie while you’re there, should they be home!

Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin will also return, where you can board Lenny the Cab and spin through the streets and alleys of Toontown as you follow the adventures of Roger Rabbit.

And when you feel a snack attack coming on, you’ll be able to turn to two new places to appease your appetites in the land: Café Daisy, where acclaimed culinary expert, Daisy Duck, serves up diner classics at her sidewalk table eatery; and the Toontown Farmers Market at Good Boy! Grocers, a friendly roadside stand, offering grab-and-go drinks and treats.

As note above, Mickey’s Toontown is also home to the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway ride. Inside the El CapiTOON Theater, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will put you in the wacky and unpredictable cartoon world of Mickey and Minnie, where you’ll board a train with Goofy as the engineer. It shouldn’t be a spoiler to say that in short order, Goofy goofs up, the attraction switches gears and hits its “something has gone terribly wrong” bump in the scenic road. With that, Runaway Railway delivers upon both a common Imagineering and cartoon trope (and the attraction’s name).

From here, you glide through a series of loosely-connected vignettes in a variety of environments. There’s tremendous range in the settings, and the pacing of the attraction becomes fairly frenetic at this point. While I’m tempted to quibble with the tenuous narrative through-line that links the various scenes together, it feels very much in keeping with how a cartoon would bounce around from locale to locale.

As we’ve said before, we are mostly on board with the reimagining of Mickey’s Toontown. We are definitely in favor of the land being expanded and made more ‘equal’ to its counterparts around Disneyland, as it has always felt like less of a land than the rest. About the only downside from my perspective is that the previous musical Mickey Mouse and Roger Rabbit fountains are being removed, replaced by a single, centralized play fountain.

Other than that, all of this should breathe new life into Mickey’s Toontown. Previously, the land was reasonably popular for meet and greets, but that was otherwise forgotten for a lot of guests. That’s precisely why we’ve called Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin “criminally underrated” over the years–because it’s a top 3 dark ride, but never receives as much love as its Fantasyland counterparts.

I can’t really speak to the active and tactile play experiences directly, but one of the conversations we’ve had with friends who have small children is that the play experiences for that age demographic are limited in the parks.

I’m very much in favor of kids having opportunities for physical activity, discovery, and interactive experiences. There’s definitely a shortage of spaces for kids to burn off energy and explore, and I’m optimistic this reimagined Mickey’s Toontown will help add a much needed option for that.

Ultimately, all of these interactive play spaces plus Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be solid additions without anything significant being lost. Another big attraction in Toontown should also once and for all put to rest rumors about the land being replaced by future expansion.

While there haven’t been any rumors (so we’re guessing it won’t happen at this point), we’re still hopeful that eventually Mickey’s Toontown is connected to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. That would require relocating backstage facilities for Cast Members, but it wouldn’t be the first (or second…or third…) time Disneyland has done that in the last few years, and would greatly ease congestion and help with crowd flow. In the meantime, more green spaces in the parks is always a good thing. We’re cautiously optimistic that all of these changes and additions will be a net positive for Disneyland and guests!

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of the reimagined Mickey’s Toontown? Happy that it’ll debut on March 19, 2023 during the busy spring break season at Disneyland? Excited for Disney to breathe some new life into this area, or think it’s already great? Thoughts on the addition of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway to Disneyland? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

6 Responses to “Mickey’s Toontown Reopening Date & Details!”
  1. Aaron March 19, 2023
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