Detail from photo by Charles R. Lympany, 1956, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Welcome to the original Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride—not the version that’s now at Disneyland.

Before you get in line for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, be sure to admire the genuine canvas tent structure over the entrance and the genuine canvas awning across the loading area. Be prepared to wait, because this is a very popular attraction.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, 1956, courtesy of Chris Taylor

The original “tournament tent” canvas façade

Photo by Paul Groves, 1958

From the Skyway

Present a “C” ticket, board your motorcar, and enjoy 98 seconds of fun—including a drive through Toad Hall, a room with toppling barrels of explosives, a collision with a train, and a trip to Hell. Your guide book calls it “a hilarious auto ride through the streets of Old London Towne.”

Photo by Marion Caswell, 1976, courtesy Dennis Caswell

Barricade that you crash through

Photo by Marion Caswell, 1976, courtesy Dennis Caswell

Butler, with an emphasis on the first syllable

Photo by Marion Caswell, 1976, courtesy Dennis Caswell

Dangerous explosives

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, 1956, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Escaping from Hell

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, 1956, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Cars named after characters

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, 1956, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Looking happy, not scared

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is based loosely on Walt Disney’s animated movie, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. The movie is a “package film” with two distinct, unrelated parts. Ichabod in the title refers to Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Mr. Toad refers to J. Thaddeus Toad, the impulsive proprietor of Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

Older kids love this ride, but three-year-olds? Not so much.

If you think three-year-olds are scared by this ride, just imagine how terrified they would be by a ride based on the Headless Horseman from the Ichabod Crane portion of the movie. Alas, there has never been such a Disney ride.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was one of Disneyland’s opening day Fantasyland attractions on July 17, 1955. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was still a recent Disney movie, released on October 5, 1949.

Only the original version of the ride has “gone to Yesterland.” It lasted until 1982, when the tracks were ripped up, the show building interior was gutted, and the façade was torn off.

Then, it was rebuilt with an ornate new exterior, a larger loading area, a longer track, new scenes, and more gags. The Imagineers made the most of the limited space.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

The New Fantasyland version of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

When New Fantasyland opened in 1983, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride looked entirely different from the outside. Throughout Fantasyland, the tournament tent look was gone. Fantasyland’s three dark rides were rebuilt. They were joined by a fourth dark ride, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. Each had an appropriate storybook exterior.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005

“Class of ’55” plaque in 2005

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005

Golden ride vehicle in 2005

Although the post-1983 version of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was essentially a new ride, it was honored during Disneyland’s 50th anniversary as a member of the “Class of ’55”—original Disneyland attractions from 1955. The attraction had the same name, same story, same characters, and same location. It had just been improved with rich details, inside and out.

Photo by Karen Weiss, 2006

Highly detailed entrance to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Mr. Toad’s crest above the entrance

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2017

Mr. Toad car in the loading area

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2017

Painting at the loading area, providing a preview of what to expect

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005

Track going through the Toad Hall fireplace in the post-1983 version, instead of past it

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018

Ride Over. Time to exit.

And it helps to have a catchy theme song… “We’re merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily on our way to nowhere in particular!”

The original Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and the current version are brilliant in that there’s no attempt to retell the story of the movie. Walt Disney’s Imagineers used the characters and spirit of the movie to give guests an experience unique to the ride—a wild motorcar adventure. The highlight is a collision with a train in a tunnel, followed by a memorable ending in Hell, which is populated by bouncing red demons. There’s no such scene in the Disney movie or the Kenneth Grahame book.

Along the same lines, Peter Pan’s Flight works well because it’s ultimately about the experience of flying over London and Neverland, not about retelling the story of Peter Pan.

Squeezing the plot of a feature length movie into a brief theme park ride tends not to work. Pinocchio’s Daring Journey tries to condense the plot of an epic animated film into a little ride. In spite of some beautifully designed scenes, the ride doesn’t succeed in being a captivating experience for guests. It usually has the shortest wait time of the Fantasyland dark rides.

Photo by Marion Caswell, 1976, courtesy Dennis Caswell

Toad Hall at its original location in Disneyland’s Storybook Land Canal Boats

Way back in 1956, there was already a stately Toad Hall in Disneyland. Only this one was a miniature. Toad Hall enjoyed a prime setting on an island in the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride until 1994, when the Sultan’s Palace from Aladdin took its place. Presumably, the children of the 1990s were more familiar with Aladdin than The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005

Toad Hall at its new location

A year later, Toad Hall returned to the ride in a less prime location.

Disney has another Toad Hall, but it’s not part of a ride.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2017

Toad Hall at Disneyland Paris

When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, guests found a Toad Hall similar to the full-size Toad Hall at Disneyland. But this wasn’t a ride. It was (and still is) a counter-service restaurant. In keeping with Mr. Toad’s setting in England, the restaurant features English fish and chips.

You can exit from the restaurant without going through Hell—unless you’re someone whose digestive system can’t handle deep-fried battered fish served with deep-fried potatoes.

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Updated December 28, 2019.