For the curious.

Wait....Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...? How did you manage to get off?

I miss the original alien space ride before they replaced it with Stitch's great escape.

Fellow Figment lover here! I wish I could ride the original one more time.

You probably know this already, but they still have Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in California.

Used to love riding Horizons as a kid. That orange scented air was the best :)

Horizons was such a peaceful ride (and cool as shit)

As an EPCOT aficionado and lover of the Disney World parks, a part of my soul was torn out of me when Horizons came down. Finding relics leftover of Horizons is difficult, if not nearly impossible, these days. Though to be perfectly fair, toward the end of Horizon's life, the building was under a lot of stress from the ride, and from what I've seen and heard, leaked like hell to the point where some of the set pieces on the ride had water damage visible from certain angles. It was pretty much doomed one way or another.

Having said that, if you're looking for a huge nostalgia rush involving Horizons, do a Google search for the 'Mesa Verde Times' and read the blog from beginning to end. I spent a good three days just digesting every picture, video, and audio clip that blog had to offer. You won't regret it.

RIP Forever Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Was probably my favorite as a kid. Haven't been there in probably 20 years... might be time to go back.

I want to get back on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Oh man horizons was the best wish they would bring it back

The 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was the most amazing ride to 6 year old me. I was very upset when I went back in the 90's and it was gone.

)

A few years ago I helped on a job for water treatment plant at the park & they requested it be Mickey shaped in aeiral view. I'm pretty sure it was completed that way. So there are still some people there trying to keep the magic alive

Delta Dream Flight? Was that ride associated with Eastern Airlines before that? The last time I went to Disney, my mom worked for Eastern and we were given free tickets. I loved that ride!!

Why did they got rid of those attractions? Are the replacements at least as good as them?

I vaguely remember Horizons...it's been so many years since I was there.

So what's your favorite thing about Universal Studios?

Journey into Imagination w/ MJ and Figment is gone?

I call lies.

Next you'll tell me that Space Mountain is now a parking lot for fat people scooters.

It's crazy how older people refer to the hat as horrible and a blemish, but younger people like myself loved it and are sad to see it go because we never had anything different.

I miss the original Figment ride at Epcot. I loved it so much as a kid. I went on it last year and it broke my heart that they ditched the entire story and just kept the character. Stupid people trying to make us learn shit instead of taking a magical fantasy ride. :(

article about the original ride

To shreds you say?
And how is his wife handling it?

What were your thoughts on extraterrorestrial alien encounter?

Man, I loved Horizons!!! I feel like the new Space Ship Earth junk at the end is just ripping it off. My cousin has worked all over Disney for the past 25 years, a lot of memories from all the rides you mentioned.

Hidden Mickey Nerd here... That was a cool one. No way to see it but from the air.

Old photo

Hey that's some destination...

I've always been fond of Horizons. I thought of it as a newer Carousel of Progress.

Uh yea, I worked Journey into the Imagination in '07.

The best trick is the slow fall into the abyss of madness that progresses through months of hearing "Imaaaaaggggiiinnnaaattiioooon" and that goddamn song over...and over....and over...and over...and over...and over...and over.

At least at honey I shrunk the audience we got to ad-lib some dry humor on stage.

DixOut4Disney

That place was fun to work at though. ....and over...

As a little kid I was obsessed with the Figment ride... so many awesome and fun activities to do in that area, let alone the awesomeness of the ride.

The new figment ride sucks in comparison to tbe old one! Thank you!

horizons and original figment man. Worst thing Disney ever did was get rid of them instead of updating them. Figment is an abomination since they redid the ride.

I hope Horizons comes back in some capacity eventually. Futurism is what EPCOT should be all about. Maybe Elon Musk can sponsor a new Horizon's pavilion...

Mr. Toads wild ride was my favorite Disney ride as a kid.

I still long for the days of the Kitchen Cabaret. Veggie veggie fruit fruit for life.

Dinosaur Gertie!!! I use to sell ice cream from inside of her. It was my favorite place to work. She had a.c. and it was barely ever busy. There was barely enough room for two people inside of her so I often worked alone. Made it easier to secretly eat the ice cream.

Delta dream flight ... oh the feels.

No more Mr. Toad's Wild Ride?!?!?!? Thanks for making me stop crying and go back to cynical. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

To shreds, you say?

TIL Goofy says bad words haha

I went back to DisneyWorld for the first time since the late 90s recently and was sad that Epcot did not have Journey into Imagination with the original figment. It is now a ride which didn't have the same magic.

RIP Dream Flight... Also Alien Encounter :(

Journey into Imagination with original Figment left a mark on me as a child. It still either haunts my dreams or subconsciously fuels my creations, whichever you prefer. I think I was 7. I'm in my late 30's now.

Yeah, but there's still like 133 more hidden Mickey's right?

Delta Dream Flight was my favorite as a kid!!! I got really scared on Haunted Mansion and my mom rode Delta Dream Flight and It's A Small World multiple times to calm me down.

Oh lord - the original Journey into Imagination, with the song, was the best thing at Epcot for me. When I went as an adult and brought family, I couldn't believe the crap version they replaced it with. There was no imagination left. What in the world were they thinking?

Ugh.. figment, one of the only things I remember from visiting when I was young; the fucker bit my arm while I was sitting next to him and left a huge bruise. I can still hear his voice and laugh.

I was so sad when they got rid of Mr. Toad's fucked up crack ride.

There are a LOT of attractions I miss terribly though. Horizons was such a peaceful ride (and cool as shit) and Journey into Imagination with the original figment had so many amazing tricks in it. I miss Delta Dream Flight and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride a lot too.

are you me?

No one misses Delta dream flight except me I thought, I still remember the smell when you "flew" up into the spinning light coming down from the engine. And old Figment will forever be one of the greatest rides ever. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was INCREDIBLE, how about at the end when you died and literally went to hell? Man old Disney was the best Disney.

I just want you to know that we at /r/waltdisneyworld hate the hat as well. We hated it so much that we had "Hat watch" while it came down a year or two ago.

Journey into Imagination was by far my favourite... Still have my Figment pin and stuffie <3...

Wait wait wait... Figment is gone? Childhood ruined.

I remember the Delta (and Eastern Airlines) rides from the 80's. And Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Miss them too!

I honestly wish they kept Horizons! It was an amazing attraction and I have always wanted to go on!

Was there a ride called Back to the Future? I always thought I remembered a ride like that. It was near space mountain and star tours. The tracks can still be seen over head.

Man Horizons was the freaking best. I loved that ride when I was a kid. I was so bummed when I went back as an adult and learned they'd taken out one of the things I loved as a child. No more Horizons, no more Figment, Mr Toad, the revolving restaurant at The Land (with the dinosaurs).

I will say... as an adult... they did a hell of a job on that Little Mermaid ride. We got stuck at Ursula and I was just amazed at the quality... she looked like she was both directly out of the movie and 100% alive.

Top 10 anime Epiphanies

Bippity-boppity-poo-poo

"Even Cinderella Farts" sounds like it could be a wonderful children's book.

I knew Cinderella from 2008-2010 or so. God, I hope it was her. She was the prettiest, sweetest, overachieving, cheerleader asshole I grew up with. Probably not though; Brooke is (still) practically perfect in every way.

This is how far I got before bursting out laughing!

After hearing that, I imagine you scooted closer to her to get a whiff of that "Disney magic". Am I right?

Liar, a princess never farts.

That used to be fun in the old days but toward the end we had to see as many guests as possible and there was always pressure from management to go faster and faster.

Thats really depressing in an odd way

My parents tried the "it's a man in a suit" thing... Toddler me thought the costume had just eaten a grown-ass man and I was TERRIFIED.

Sorry management tried to stream-line your interactions; sounds like they sucked the heart and soul out of it.

My son was an enormous Mickey fan... until we took him to the "photo with mickey" thing.

He legit thought that Mickey Mouse was going to be little. Seeing a human-sized Mickey freaked him out so bad he ran out shrieking for help.

Both funny and embarrassing. I felt bad for the Mickey.

Oddly enough, Goofy he loved. I guess he expected Goofy to be tall, so it all worked.

How does management keep track of how many guests you see?

That's hilarious that people think that would comfort children.

"Don't worry, sweetie, it's just a stranger you can't see and who won't talk in a giant monster suit."

What's the most obscure fact you know about Goofy?

Management. Ruining every job, everywhere, since forever.

God, hug and shoves drive me crazy. That extra thirty seconds of interaction is what sets Disney apart but it's such a numbers game now. It bugs me.

I'm picturing Dwight Schrute grilling Ben Franklin.

You don't have to work at Disney to understand that these days. Shooot.

Good old "love and shove" I hate that it's about the numbers

Makes it sound like the meat cutting lines in The Jungle.

"management" Ole' Mickey is a real hard-ass eh?

I was a Photopass Photographer and I hated when parents and guests would try to get me, the character attendant, or the characters to admit stuff about "real life". Like, your kid is right there and you're ruining everything.

The best was when this newlywed couple came in to see Rapunzel & Flynn and they kept asking "Do you guys date in real life?" and "What's it like to play a princess?". Shit like that. The three of us had the best time staying in character and the guests were so annoyed that we wouldn't break.

there was always pressure from management to go faster and faster.

You've said this a few times now, and I gotta ask-- do they have like, overwatchers with stopwatches or some sort of built-in guest-detector or what? How can they possibly know how many guests you're interacting with? (besides just occasionally strolling by and seeing you're not moving fast enough, but that can't possibly be a basis for policy)

Mom?

Not sure why. But this triggered memories of my last visit to WDW. My daughters at the time were 12/14. We were staying at the Caribbean beach resort. All they wanted to do was hang out at the hotel. The younger one at the "beach" near our room. The older one in our room on her phone watching Netflix. It took me getting angry to get them motivated to leave for the parks. This happened every day. And every day I would think to myself "what the fuck did I do wrong to raise such ungrateful ass holes". Since that trip I've had no desire to go back.

/r/me_irl

You just scared the shit out of me. As a Floridian, named Tim (Timmy as a child), with a little sister named Sarah... i'm fairly certain this exact situation has happened to me.

Sounds like Sarah has something she needs to get off her chest.

Would you use jumper cables?

This right here is why, even though I love WDW with all my heart, I say that Disneyland has a calmer atmosphere--DL is mostly locals, so there isn't that air of desperation to have a magical vacation.

We're gonna need another Timmy!

100% accurate. We had that discussion with our oldest before we went the first time. You ruin the magic for the little kids, we ruin the vacation for you.

Tigger, and Snow White. When my 4yo told Snow that "You're Mum-mum's favorite Princess" She came over and hugged me and it made my day, and my daughter's too.

I just realized how much I loved pooh.

they needed 16 Mickeys all set out in various rooms

Coming from Ireland (and UK too I think?), that sounds like an entirely un-Disney kind of a night.

I could go on for days about that.

Okay!

http://imgur.com/MwP9V5t

Just imagine walking into a room of 16 giant Mickeys, as you walk in the room goes silent and they all slowly turn to stare at you, you try to turn and walk away but you're just so stuck in awe staring, until they all break out into sprints and chase you down a hallway and corner you at a dead and you know you can't fight so you just accept your fate. A while after the attack is over your turn into one of them and await the next poor disney park worker.

It's a Mickey-pocalypse.

"Tell us about some things that happened?"

"Oh man I have so many stories. I could sit for hours and just tell you all of these amazing things. I sure have a lot of stories. One time this one thing happened. But yeah I could go on and on about all the cool stuff I saw. I sure did see some amazing things."

Calling... all Jan Michael Vincents. We need a Jan Michael Vincent in every quadrant!

Geez...this isn't going to be a very interesting AMA is it?

An AMA tip, if you haven't realized by now, is that people like complete answers. You can do quick short answers, and get away with it because we understand that there are a lot of questions to get to. But if you constantly make references to longer, more interesting stories that you then don't tell at all, you're gonna have a bad time.

Like the 7 Harrys.

You're probably being TOO modest about the weird things seen backstage. lol

My first day at MK, on my Keys to the Kingdom orientation, I saw a fully costumed Prince Eric making out with a fully costumed Prince Phillip. Then again, that was a few paces after walking by costuming and seeing Gepetto heads hanging on the wall.

Why would they need 16 Mickeys?

16 mickeys turn to look at you If only there was somewhere you could hide.

sick story

http://imgur.com/gallery/SVwgqtc

I had a fever dream like that once

In a world where there are 8 Mickeys and 16 quadrants

"I'll... I refuse to sign the legislation that allows more than, 8, Jan Michael Vincents to a, precinct."

Please go on for days, op! Also, if your still around, do any of those shitty creepy pastas hold any weight?

something something that's my fetish

I worked in entertainment for 2/3 of my Disney collage programs, I'll never forget my first day of training, when Goofy passed us in the hall and spoke to our trainer through the head. The magic was shattered.

But one of my favorite moments, Goof and Pluto switched heads with the munks and we ran around like idiots for 10 minutes.

16 Mickeys

For some reason that made me think of this. "Calling all Jan-Michael Vincents. Calling all Jan-Michael Vincents."

This JANuary

If you found that really weird, I'm guessing you've never been to times square?

This AMA kinda sucks

That had to be at Hollywood Studios. We had bikes because our backstage was one big circle that didn't connect all the way (Where the entrance was). I used the Bikes to get from Pizza Planet to the Cast Cafeteria (Whose name I forget!) on the other side.

People are idiots.

I dress as Chewbacca at conventions. People have no clue that you have no visibility or dexterity.

My friend and I asked Gaston to put us both in headlocks and he also declined. It was lame, but I totally understand that some jackass is going to sue for that somehow somewhere. But let's be honest, that's a totally in-character thing for Gaston to do.

I had some guy ask me to choke him for a picture too, but I didn't have the good sense to say no.

We were at Dragon*Con and I was wearing a sexy costume. I posed for the picture and pretended to choke him. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but my dad saw all of this happen and didn't like that guy (wonder why).

Fast forward two years. The same guy is there, he recognizes me, chases me down, and stops me just to ask if I would please come up to his room to sign the copy of the picture we took from 2 years ago.

Cue my dad coming behind me and he says "Hey, I recognize you." The guy's face goes white. Then he says "That's not a good thing, is it?" and then runs into the crowd.

I still don't know if he actually had a copy of that picture or if he just wanted me to come up to his room. Though personally I'm glad I never found out, thank god.

Kids bounce.

So how do you refuse? Do you just shake your head and act like you don't want to, or do you just tell them to piss off?

Geez, why would ask one of the clumsiest characters to hold you baby, that's just asking for trouble.

Choke me Goofy

I managed to convince a person in a beaver costume at Sea World to put my friend in a headlock for a photo.

Man, I wish I still had that picture.

What would you say when people would ask you to hold the babies? Just "No"?

Just drop the baby. They'll quit asking after five or six times.

Maybe they couldn't afford an abortion. This way it's not even their fault.

I don't even like my kids grandparents holding my baby 😨

My parents have a picture they love of me at three or four months old being held by Wendy and Peter Pan. Less weird than a fully costumed person, but I still don't think I'd hand my baby off to a perfect stranger.

"I'm going to end up dropping it on the floor ma'am. H-yuk H-yuk H-yuk".

Yep. Had the same problem when I was Captain Corn.

Even giving you baby to the real Goofy is a bad idea.

I just witnessed Goofy say "shit"

Well I think I've done everything there is to do in life.

Yeah, I had drunk teens/young adults try and trick me into being photographed in sexual positions with them. I've been groped by guests and had guests try and move my hands toward their asses while, again, posing for pictures. A good rule of thumb: make sure both of your hands are always visible in every photo.

Goofy just said shit

Whoops! Gawrsh, ma'am, it's okay. I was dropped on my head as a baby too, a-hyuk!

These are the same people that try to take pictures with buffalos at Yellowstone.

Funny related norm Macdonald story about a mascot holding a baby. https://youtu.be/hGY9_JCzNpk starts at 11:30

I let a retired NHL hockey play hold my daughter. He didn't try to cross check her.

I'm still upset you wouldn't hold him...

This is why the old saying goes, "Guests leave their brains at home when they go to Disney".

Photo evidence for the lawsuit, of course!

I'd assume your handler / escort would take over and intervene on holding small babies?

Oh my god. This is kind of unsettling. My parents favorite story (and our most watch VHS) of a trip to Disney. Is when Donald duck stole a newborn bigmamajewjew and took me to daisy.. all the while you can hear my dad yelling "donald duck took my baby!" Daisy gets me then brings me to Minnie. Minnie and Daisy are fawning over me, when over comes Mickey and goofy. Mickey takes me from the girls and hands me back to my dad. It was quite the ordeal.

I loved when they tossed them at you.

Toss...

Pray...

Catch... (Thank fucking god)

Drop like a sack of potatoes. Get that baby as close to the floor before you drop it.

And I'm guessing it'd be breaking character to verbally explain your visibility and dexterity issues to a guest. Not that they shoudl be letting a goof hold their child.

I have a picture of my little dude as an infant (about a month) being held by a goofy on the request of my girlfriend. Fuck.

At least you're playing a character whose main attribute is clumsiness. Good excuse to refuse!

Yeesh!

You mean "Gorsh!"

Why do people do that? I see people hand their children to my school's mascots (Big Jay and Baby Jay) and I'm like...what?

Yeesh!

Gawrsh!

FTFY

So did you hold the baby?

Hold my baby, man.

Gawrsh!

I worked for a whale watch when I was younger. I can't tell you how many times I've had to tell parents NOT to hold their children over the railing to "get a closer look at the whales." Some people don't want to keep their kids I guess.

Do it for the Snapchat

..... You may have held my newborn sister.

Why would you let me hold your baby? Yeesh!

Why would you let Goofy hold your baby, for that matter?

At least as Goofy you could say no and stay in character. You can't trust Goofy to not mess up.

I think it was my uncle who asked

A guy once asked me to choke him for a picture

Does that happen more than once?

Because if not, I think that was my dad.

Do you still hold them or refuse?

i was choked by the Grinch at Universal. My parents thought it was hilarious but i remember being 5 and not asking this strange creature to put their hands on me, not even imagining he would mimic choking. This sprung many dreams of the grinch killing me.

Smokey Bear here! I hate that, I can't even feel the baby through the gloves and sometimes people would still try and force their infant in my arms

It's called Darwinism

You can always make a new baby.

The interaction my son had with the costumed characters at Disney World absolutely made our vacation years ago. Goofy, Pluto and Donald were all fighting over who was going to sign his autograph book first and pose at the indoor picture set with him. I have hilarious pics of them "arguing" and of him wided eyed and absolutely cracking up over it. You guys are very, very special folks for doing this day in and day out. @OP, We appreciate it more than you know!

He was trying to set you up with a lawsuit. You choke him for the picture then on CNN the next day "goofy chokes tourist at Disney World"

I read that last line in Goofy's voice.

Character performer here! I have had multiple guests literally put their hands around my throat to choke me for their photo "pose". This has only happened in my face roles, which means it is MY neck and that is NOT cool. I have no idea what the appeal of that image is for the perpetrators. That goes right up there with guests picking me up off of the ground. Guests can be atrocious, and the atrocious ones are ALWAYS the grown ups.

As for people trying to hand off their babies to me, when I am able to talk, I like to go ahead and drop their pens and autograph books on the ground and say "you sure you want me to hold onto that?" Or simply "oh no, I drop things."

I can understand being asked to choke someone, but to hold their baby? Thats crossing the line! /s

The low lifes are already gearing up to screw your life.

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/12/08/former-goofy-at-disney-world-for-over-20-years-why-would-you-let-me-hold-your-baby

A Darwin Award for slipping through Goofy's giant hands would probably be a first.

Why would you let me hold your baby? Gawsh!

ftfy

maybe they are trying to get rid of them

maybe they want to make a break and run

Gawrsh*

Last year when I was backpacking around Europe I went to Disneyland Paris. I acted along with the characters, and I got an awesome picture with Jafar. He actually grabbed me by the face, pinched up my cheeks and twisted my head towards the camera. He was very gentle, but it did take me by surprise when he did that, I didn't think the characters would be allowed to touch guests like that. I played along, I got my eyes very wide and had a scared look on my face. Photo was awesome :)

Was this because this was Disneyland Paris, and they aren't so concerned with Europeans suing left right and centre as their American counterparts?

Well, it could be worse. They could ask you to have a baby with her.

Or keep the baby.

Or both.

A guy once asked me to choke him for a picture (I didn't).

I like to believe that he was trying to reference the older Goofy cartoons in which Goofy is a violent sociopath.

I work at Chuck E. Cheese and we are not allowed to hold babies in the chuck suit. It bothers me too when a parent asks chuck e to hold their fucking newborn baby

Nowadays characters can't hold babies, at least in DLP all cast are told to never hold a child - and AFAIK if you buy a ticket at the desk we tell you there too.