Author's Note: Hey all! Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter. I will be back in my element, Disneyland itself, within the month so I will gather more materials for this story then. Okay, showtime!
Chapter 58
After their time exploring the front of Toontown, they went further into the land. They entered Goofy's house first, which was littered with zany items and a few kids zooming around while the adults sat in benches around the structure.
While it looked fun for those under the age of five, it had very little that interested the group. After some initial exploring, they moved on.
"This looks like this wasn't the original plan for this attraction." Kyoya frowned. 'I hate to say it but it looks… bare?"
Katie agreed with him wholeheartedly, offering an explanation. "This was originally Goofy's Bounce House, making the inside floor and furniture bouncy. It was a lot of fun, but that is gone now."
Everyone nodded. It was odd associating Disneyland with bare, but some spots seemed to be overlooked as time and interest waned. So they moved on to something near the house.
It was a perfect photo op, for it was Goofy's car collided with a light post. Everyone squeezed in or around the car for a photo. Tamaki and the twins were in the front, grappling for the wheel as Steph and Haruhi were in the backseat, sleeping on each other and faking disinterest. Mori and Honey were next to them in the backseat, with Honey on Mori's shoulders. Honey was pretending to be a pure tourist by taking photos of his surrounding as Mori pointed to different sites Honey should snap with his (Haruhi's) camera. Outside the car, next to the broken light, was Katie playing a Toontown cop as Kyoya reluctantly payed a ticket for the accident. Manuel took a few pictures and the moved on.
As they walked, Katie briefed them on the history of Toontown, saying that it was the newest land Disneyland had to offer. It was added onto the park in 1993 and was themed after Who Framed Roger Rabbit? where animated characters lived and worked beside humans. The entire area was meant to look like a movie set, for that what toons feel most comfortable in.
Steph showed them the wacky theming and lots of pictures were taken, both posed and candid. Everyone was laughing and having a wonderful time.
Next came the lovely vessel, the Miss Daisy. Steph explained that Donald Duck obviously lived in Duckburg, but sailed into Toontown to visit his friends. The boat was his and his home away from home. This interested the group a little more, so they did ten minutes of exploration or observation. They walked around the boat and inside it. It contained some interactive materials, such as the foghorn and boat whistles. Pictures of their doings were recorded by Manuel, who followed Host Club members silently, letting them experience Disneyland but capturing precious memories as they went.
After that, they saw and heard childlike screams coming frond the end of Toontown. Katie told the group it was a kiddy coaster, how it was called Gadget's Go Coaster, named after the inventive mouse from Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers cartoon. They entered the line and waited only five minutes, for not a lot of people occupied Toontown at that moment. They boarded an ingeniously crafted acorn pod and began their journey, which lasted about a minute, and exited. It certainly didn't have the thrills of Disney's mountains, but enough excitement for kids testing the joys of coasters.
They moved on to a small artificial tree, one Honey immediately began to explore the inside of.
"Why does it look so…?" Haruhi let her question trail off as Mori found he could not fit in the tiny tree, and the twins were trying to scale it with difficulty.
Katie looked at the treehouse glumly. "Forgotten? I don't know. But kids still like it, despite it being a shadow of what it used to be."
Which prompted the question from Kyoya, "What did it use to be?"
Steph took on the question then. "Well, Toontown itself went through changes when the outside world started taking structures from playgrounds that were considered too dangerous for play. This new way of playtime, which now means a structure to climb and maybe a slide, saw the loss of foam pits, bouncy houses, and more interactive feature. Things were taken out for 'safety'."
"For example," Katie led those interested off to the side a tiny bit to a large marked off area. Everyone had not seen it until Katie had pointed it out to the group. "This area used to be Chip 'n Dale's Acorn Pit, where children could play. Basically, at the top of the tree house one could slide down and into a pit filled with plastic acorns."
"Like a kids ball pit?" Kyoya asked, as he wrote everything she said down.
"Exactly like a ball pit. Some say that it was shut down for safety reasons, other say sanitary reasons, and others still say that the pit required too much maintenance."
"Seems like a lost opportunity." Kyoya mumbled, looking confused.
"Well, maybe, but that was then and this is now." Katie gently, but firmly, as she led Kyoya back to the base of the tree to let those who wanted to go up the house do so.
This was something the Host Club understood, but didn't really like. But, playground politics aside, let a few of the smaller members take a look at Chip and Dale's Treehouse. They moved on to the main events of Toontown with Manuel in tow.
In front of their destination was another car, this one in a lot better condition than the one in front of Goofy's house. Since it was another good photo op, Tamaki insisted on some more pictures. Haruhi had her phone out too, taking more scenic photos than ones with people in it, figuring that her clients would want to see Disneyland up close. Heck, what she really wanted was to show her dad this enchanted place up close.
They took a few photos in front of the iconic yellow house, until it was finally time to enter the home of Mickey Mouse, star of Disneyland and creation of Walt Disney.
Author's Note: Please R&R, I love to her your thoughts on this. Toontown needs some attention in my opinion, but I am curious to hear what you all have to say.
That's All!