I don't know if this is the closure we were hoping for...

It breaks my heart to see Disney close down (or absolutely ruin ::coughfigmentcough::) an attraction that's been around for as long as I can remember. I have this horrible habit of going back and watching on ride videos from 20k, Horizons, and the like. The problem is that I start watching them and start to get really upset that they're gone and will only live on in my memory....and you tube. When I was starting to plot out this post earlier, I realized that it really had the potential to go all over the place. I'll save my thoughts on the closing of Snow White for the 31st when it actually takes it's last run. The post where I go all she hulk and rant and rave about what they've done to Journey into the Imagination will wait for a post of it's own as well.

Aside from the downfall of Figment, there are two other rides that REALLY upset me upon their closing. First, 20k leagues under the sea. The thing with 20k is that as a child, it completely blew my mind. That and the Tiki Room. When I think back on my first experiences in both, which I can actually remember quite well surprisingly, it strikes me as Disney magic at it's finest. The Tiki Room is still there and has thankfully been restored to it's former glory. Sadly I cannot say the same for 20k. Even after they had officially closed down the ride, I spent so long keeping my optimistic outlook that they'd find something equally amazing to do with the lagoon. The first time I walked into fantasyland and found the lagoon filled, I nearly cried. Any chance of anything resembling that magic was gone forever. To say I was ready to start spitting nails when I found out that DisneyLAND was going to be re-theming and reopening THEIR submarines a few years later is a gross understatement.

I know the Nemo ride there isn't the same and never will be the same. I know I'll never see that silly bastard of  a sea serphant's face ever again, but still. It pisses me off. They have SOMETHING left of it. What do we have? A stinking Nautilus carved into a tree at pooh corner. (WHICH I STILL CANT FIND BY THE WAY. DAMNIT.) This brings us to ride #2. The one who Pooh now occupies. The ones those aholes in California also still have access to.

Mr. Toad. Oh, Mr. Toad. May you rest in peace. I miss that ride something fierce. While I am, in fact, a fan of Winnie the Pooh, it's just not the same. I don't mind the Winnie the Pooh ride, I kind of like it. I think the effects are adorable. I get a kick out of the picture hung in Owl's office of Mr. Toad and Owl.

Mr. Toad was also Alexis' favorite ride. She once told me that she loved standing in line and watching the kids coming out crying because they'd just paid the little red guys with the pitchforks a visit at the end. Yes. We are those people. Now, Alexis has been boycotting Pooh for years. She refused to ride because it had taken the place of Mr. Toad. Somehow this past weekend, we convinced her to get on. Thankfully I had the good sense to whip out my camera.

Not all the language in this is particularly appropriate, so you've been warned. It's nothing AWFUL, but this is a Disney blog so I figured I should put up SOME sort of warning.