To the average Disney guest, the two versions of this attraction – at least the ride portion – are almost indistinguishable. There is a ton of action taking place from the moment guests board their ride vehicle, until they reach the unloading platform. It’s an example of Disney essentially “cloning” the ride, after it’s initial success in the Florida resort. The differences in the show building and queue, however, couldn’t be much more drastic. In Florida, the decision was made to house the ride in the former Great Movie Ride show building, and, as is often the case with this approach, there was a bit of “forced” backstory in order to get everything to make sense. In this case, the idea being that Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood is hosting the premier of a new Mickey Mouse short. It isn’t too much of a stretch, but it doesn’t really fit within the greater theme of the park or the area surrounding the theater. And because of this, the ornate décor within the queue feels a bit disjointed from the story. Would Grauman’s really go through the trouble of hosting a cartoon character’s premier of a short cartoon? Probably best not to dwell on this too much. And fortunately, after the clever pre-show, the ride takes over as guests enter the cartoon world and experience the attraction itself. In the end, it works fine, but it does feel a bit out of place – nothing like the cohesive theming and idea behind its predecessor attraction – and as a result this version of the ride sits comfortably at second place on our list.

There’s a clear irony in the fact that the Florida resort – whose site was selected primarily because it afforded the “blessing of size” – chose to install this ride as a replacement to a classic attraction, and the California resort – landlocked and space constrained – chose to install this as an all-new attraction to the resort. And with this decision we can clearly see how much better Disney does things when they have the creative freedom to work from scratch and not have to shoehorn an attraction into an existing building. Mickey’s Toontown is the ideal place for this attraction – and provides a much needed shot in the arm to a land that was previously feeling a bit lacking and stale. The ride being housed in the fictional “El CapiTOON” Theater is fantastic, and offers just the right backstory in this fantastical building that fits as if it has always existed right here in Toontown. Here, we have the pleasure of touring the theater for a historical exhibit celebrating all of the filmmaking Mickey has done over the course of his many decades, with “props” on display from various features and shorts he’s starred in. Everything exists here – from the Steamboat Willie steering wheel to Disco Mickey Mouse props, to Toodles from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series. Ultimately, we’re invited in to the theater proper to view a special sneak peek of his latest short film – and that’s where the pre-show and attraction begin. It’s seamless, brilliant, creative, consistent, and it just works. There’s nothing about this that feels out of place or forced. In fact, decades from now we suspect most Disneyland visitors will never guess that this ride was installed decades after Toontown first debuted. And while the attraction itself offers only minor improvements from its Florida counterpart – that would be unnoticeable to most guests – the queue itself, and the exit into the equally well-themed gift shop, create a seamless experience that blends in with Toontown in a way that every Disney attraction should. It’s the queue that makes the difference here, and it’s why California’s version of the attraction shines bright as the best version of the attraction in the world.