Minnie/Mickey's Houses Demolished???

[DCTooTall]

Originally Posted by DolewhipPrincess

I believe that I read somewhere that the entire structure was made out of concrete. There was no way to pick them up and move them.

Pretty much..... and if you saw the pictures of the demolition, You'd see how the majority of the structure was concrete and rebar. (You gotta recall that those houses were built, similar to the "Temporary Tents", For the Temporary Mickey's BirthdayLand for Mickey's big 60th Bday celebration in '89....Which then turned into Mickey's Starland.... and then got the remodel into Toontown. Nothing was really built with the intention of remaining in place for 20+yrs)


They did save many of the interior decorations though, and I believe i've heard and seen some pictures of some of those set pieces and props even being placed around the Expo where Mickey now does his M&G.

[BeadyLady]

Good to know, the interiors were great fun!

wish we were there NOW

[tikistitch]

Originally Posted by dwaters

Same with the old Disney Store I used to go to- it got remodeled into a very generic Gap-looking store before shutting down. I wonder what happened to all the cool character statues and set pieces. They were too cool to just toss into a dumpster.

Not a dumpster. They were woodchipped to prevent people from taking them. I helped close/demolish a large handful of the disney stores in the area I live in between 2004-2006 and it was always so sad to have to woodchip the animation that used to live on top of the store.

[MichelleAMouse]

That's really sad news :/. I haven't been since this new expansion, so I guess I'll just have to hope it was worth it to remove them.

[dwaters]

Originally Posted by tikistitch

Not a dumpster. They were woodchipped to prevent people from taking them. I helped close/demolish a large handful of the disney stores in the area I live in between 2004-2006 and it was always so sad to have to woodchip the animation that used to live on top of the store.

Oh no! Don't put Mickey in a woodchipper!

Why woodchip versus simply giving them to employees or fans? Maybe auction them off for charity? Seems like they had lots of options here.

Did they tell you why they did it this way?

[Jackiemarie21]

The Mickey and Minnie houses were always a favorite of mine! I am excited about the FE, but I will also miss that attraction. I can still remember the first time I saw Mickey's house, its one of my favorite childhood memories.

[tikistitch]

Originally Posted by dwaters

Oh no! Don't put Mickey in a woodchipper!

Why woodchip versus simply giving them to employees or fans? Maybe auction them off for charity? Seems like they had lots of options here.

Did they tell you why they did it this way?

The only thing we were told was they had to be destroyed and not put in a dumpster, to keep people from taking them and selling them. I hope some of the other stores were able to maybe auction off the larger characters for charity, though! I'm not saying some of the smaller animation like Tink and Figaro didn't make their way home with some managers, and I'm definitely not saying it did , but we were just told to destroy all of it before our final day of demolition.

[jshuff1]

that is news to me I was really looking foward to bring my 5-3-1 year olds( of course in a couple of more years) to see the houses I wish they would build them somewhere else for it is Disney World right??? Home Of Mickey

[Fantasmiss]

My husband said he thinks they should be sold on eby or similar. How funny would it be to live in Mickey's house, haha! Imagine the neighbours' faces! :D

[Disneyfreak44]

Those two houses would be the smallest million dollar houses ever hahaha

[Itlngrl]

So sad. We were there a few years ago when our daughter was 3 and it's one of the things she still remembers.

She is now 6 and yesterday she told me she is so excited we are going this January and the first thing she wants to do is visit Minnie's house. Yikes, not sure what story I will have to tell her now as to why the houses aren't there.

[AdamRos19]

It was an upset to see them go I remember them as a kid. Definitely with the new expansion though.

As for stories in true Disney Spirit,

1- moved into cinderellas castle
2- live in California but come here every day. (goes along with your arriving and departing video on the magical express bus)
3- depending on your resort they could be "staying at your resort on vaca" also goes along w those videos
4- moved into he upstairs of the firehouse- or live on mainstreet

I'm sure you'll come up w something, after all prince charming did get cinderella cable TV to the castle. :-)

[AdventureIsOutThere]

I know this has been mentioned on the board, but for all of those worried that their kids will be sad that they can't see Mickey and Minnie's houses just remind them that WDW is where Mickey and Minnie go on vacation, too! Their permanent homes are safe and sound in ToonTown in Disneyland!

It should be an easy enough explanation... we go on vacation, so do M&M! And lucky for the kids they are visiting at the same time!

I realize not everyone can go on multiple trips and make it out to California but that is where all the magic started and where Disney is headquartered. Disneyland is so wonderful and knowing you are walking in Walt's dream is pure magic!

[BeadyLady]

Views of insides

wish we were there NOW

[Angebee]

"Yikes, not sure what story I will have to tell her now as to why the houses aren't there."

According to the website about New Fantasyland, a spell has been keeping us from seeing this expansion for many years. Could always paint Mickey and Minnie as heroes in that they sacrificed their Florida homes to help break the spell?