Vintage Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. (And I bet you expected something about the Haunted Mansion today, right?) It's a Disneyland favorite, and now the only ride with this theme in the Disney park empire. With the double tracked version of the ride in Florida's Magic Kingdom now long gone (R.I.P.), Mr. Toad also makes his home in Disneyland Paris, but only as the master of Fantasyland's fish and chips restaurant.
This vintage photograph shows Disneyland's Fantasyland in its early charm. Even though the top photo's black, we know and can see the colorful buildings, and tournament banners, and pennants created a fun medieval environment to celebrate the joys of childhood. Like large swaths of the park, the land has gone through so many changes and additions over time. The entire revamp of this fantasy world debuted in 1983, replacing the original theme into the European village we all know and love.
While a ride that ends in Hell is a very odd choice for a Fantasyland favorite, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride creates fun and thrills as it sends its riders on a crash course to the devil's final home of eternal torment. Unlike the ride, in reality when Jesus returns to rule and reign, the devil is not the master but instead the prisoner- and there is not an ounce of fun to be had. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, Chapter 20 tells us:
"...and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
is a bit of false advertising!
After reading this, the Bible's very famous words about Jesus make sense- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17)
In a sense, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride may be the most frightful of Disney Imagineering's scary attractions. It rightfully takes its place among the Haunted Mansion, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Phantom Manor, and the defunct Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour in Tokyo, and equally dead and missed Alien Encounter. You can find out more about each of these on the Insights blog- if you dare.
(Art and photographs copyright The Walt Disney Company.)
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