With the recently announced expansion of Fantasyland at Walt Disney World, the days are numbered for Mickey's Toontown Fair, so let's pay a visit to the eighth land of the Magic Kingdom while we still can.
This corner of the park was first developed in the summer of 1988 as Mickey's Birthdayland, a temporary addition in celebration of Mickey's 60th birthday. For the first time, park Guests had a designated place where they could be sure to meet their favorite mouse. Birthdayland was an instant hit, and the decision was made to keep it around.
In 1990, the area was converted to Mickey's Starland, keeping the "Meet Mickey" feature but changing the main attraction to a show starring characters from popular Disney Afternoon series such as "DuckTales," "Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers," "Gummi Bears" and "TaleSpin." In 1992, the Starland idea was successfully combined with the concept of Toontown from the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, resulting in Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland.
By 1996, it was time to give Mickey's Starland a makeover. For practical reasons, the tent-like structures from the original Birthdayland were kept and worked into a story line that would introduce Guests to the characters' country homes, all in the setting of a county fair.
Although Mickey's Toontown Fair has now been part of the Magic Kingdom for more than a decade, in the story of the land the Fair is a special event that's happening in Toontown today. Throughout the land are permanent structures that are always here (Mickey and Minnie's country homes, for example), along with "temporary" items which have been put up for the Fair (like the tents).
The train station is a great example. The station is a permanent landmark, the marquee on which typically reads "Mickey's Toontown Train Station." Today, though, a banner with the word "Fair" emblazoned on it has been hoisted up to let everyone know it's a special occasion.
Other decorations for the Fair include the Mickey-shaped balloon signs and souvenir wagons, all done in signature Toontown style - bright, colorful, oversized, exaggerated, squashed and stretched.
Mickey's Toontown Fair closed for good at the end of the day on Friday, February 11, 2011. The area will become Storybook Circus in the New Fantasyland, opening in late 2012.
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