Disney World is celebrating 25 years of Pooh.
The original facade of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Disney
Disney recently released a slew of rare throwback photos celebrating the 25th birthday of the Magic Kingdom’s Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction. Despite feeling like a Fantasyland staple, this dark ride only debuted on June 4th, 1999. The controversial attraction… Wait, did we just say controversial? About Winnie the Pooh? How could that be? Let’s find out.
During the 1990s, Winnie the Pooh and his friends from the Hundred Acre Woods experienced a SURGE in popularity. They were featured everywhere at Walt Disney World, including in the 1997 edition of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
Hundred Acre Woods characters at the 1997 Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
So it wasn’t a surprise to many When Disney announced that a Pooh ride was coming — one had been planned as far back as the 1970s for Disneyland before being shelved — the shock was WHERE that ride would be located!
In August of 1998, Disney announced that The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh would be replacing Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at the Magic Kingdom. Over the next month, there was a massive outcry over the replacement of the opening day attraction, with fans launching websites, petitions, and even staging “Toad-Ins” at the park. Suffice to say, these efforts were in vain, as Mr. Toad’s closed for good in September of 1998.
“Coming 1999” Disney
Despite the controversy, construction went on as scheduled, and the new Pooh attraction debuted to great fanfare and mostly fan acclaim the following June. Now, with a permanent home at the Magic Kingdom, the Pooh characters continued to appear at major Disney events. They posed in front of Cinderella Castle in the early 2000s and were part of the Share A Dream Come True Parade in 2001.
The Hundred Acre Woods characters in front of the castle in 2000. Disney
In the early 2010s, the facade and queue of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh were significantly refurbished to match the aesthetic of the massive New Fantasyland expansion. This included relocating a 120-ton tree…
Disney
…and adding interactive experiences based on Tigger’s Bouncy Place, Rabbit’s Garden, and Pooh’s Hunny Hives to the queue.
Disney
These days, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh remains popular, and the characters continue to appear at the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT. Imagineers didn’t completely forget Mr. Toad though, as there’s a small reference to the previous attraction in the new one.
Portrait of Mr. Toad in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Despite controversial beginnings, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh has been an integral part of Fantasyland for a quarter century. Stay tuned to DFB for more Walt Disney World history.
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Still miss Mr. Toad! Far better than Winnie. My son was 3 the first time he “drove” a car and now at 33 still talks about it.
Our first visit to WDW was in 1995 and I remember telling people back home how surprised I was that Pooh seemed more popular than Mickey. I’d been to Disneyland Paris in 1992 so this really surprised me. Mr Toad was a fun ride but so is Winnie the Pooh.