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Virtual Toad's Links Page • Updated November 27, 2008

Interested in finding out more about virtual theme park rides, Disney park history, or other cool topics?
These are some of the websites and blogs I find particularly interesting.
Click on the links below to continue your adventure.

Extinct Attractions and Theme Park History
A wonderful website devoted to the history and heritage of Walt Disney World. Want to know more about If You Had Wings? Check out this site! Widen Your World also includes a very thorough review of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, explaining in eloquent detail why the experience was so special to so many. Mike Lee updates his site often, so be sure to check it out on a regular basis!


Save Toad: The Website that Started it All
The most comprehensive Mr. Toad site on the web. Read all about JT Toad's epic "Save Toad" movement. Be sure to check out the hundreds of heartfelt submissions from Mr. Toad fans, as well as detailed information on Mr. Toad in film and literature. A great all-in-one resource.
Reminisce about the good old days of EPCOT Center at lostepcot.com. This wonderful website is a treasure trove of vintage photos and much more! Be sure to click the "video" link for several incredibly nostalgic movie clips. As the saying goes, "The future is definitely in the past!"

A Tribute to Walt Disney World's 20,000 Leagues Ride
Fans of classic Walt Disney World know that across the walkway from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, there once existed a mind-blowing journey through liquid space: the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea submarine voyage. Check out this website for an amazing collection of imagery and information.


With more information about defunct Disney attractions, this site also offers a growing series of extinct attraction DVDs.


Want to rediscover Walt Disney World's early years through the magic of postcards? Click this link for some truly rare and wonderful imagery.
World Headquarters for Dark Ride and Funhouse Fans! The leading source of information on classic dark amusement rides, including funhouses, dark rides, spook houses and haunted houses.

Disney-Related Websites and Blogs

It's not just a lyric from the old Delta Dreamflight song, it's the name of a great blog by Foxxfur, described as "a forum for posting seriously considered, useful and applicable criticism on the art of design, function, and meaning of themed 'space' as practiced by the Walt Disney Company." This blog aims to ponder theme park design as a serious art form, much in the way Walt Disney strove to establish animation as "the newest of the fine arts."


Re-Imagineering the Disney Parks
One of the more thought-provoking Disney blogs on the web is called Re-Imagineering. It's billed as a "forum for Pixar and Disney professionals passionate about the Disney Theme Parks to catalog past Imagineering missteps and offer tenable practical solutions in hopes that a new wave of creative management at Imagineering can restore some of the wonder and magic that's been missing from the parks for decades." Well worth a visit.


This blog features occasional posts full of constructive criticism and insight. Why has Epcot strayed so far from its original theme and purpose? Is there any hope for Future World in the future? What's up with El Rio del Tiempo "under new management?" Join the discussion and learn more from some very passionate people who want to see Epcot return to its roots.


MiceAge.com
"A Different Look at Disney and More." Al Lutz and crew keep a constructively critical eye on Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company. A must-read for Disney fans.


Screamscape.com
Want to know the latest theme park news and rumors? This is the site to check out. One of the most reliable and authoritative theme park industry sites on the web.


DisneyWorldTrivia.com
From the author of the Walt Disney World Trivia Book, Lou Mongello's site contains trivia, secrets and fun facts about WDW, as well as photo galleries, discussion forums, weekly trivia games, and crosswords. There's also WDW news and updates, as well as Q&A with the author, and articles from guest columnists.

Virtual Attraction Websites

After completing a truly spectacular 3D recreation of EPCOT's old Horizons show building, Jason at Deep Water Studios has resumed work on a much more ambitious project-- a complete 3D rendering of EPCOT Center in its entirety. Lately, the site has evolved to include a variety of other Disney-related material. You might have to dig deep to find the EPCOT and Horizons renderings, but it's definitely time well spent.


Space Station 77 is an awesome fan site dedicated to Disneyland's Space Mountain. The site includes plenty of historical images and info about the ride PLUS a very cool NoLimits computer-animated recreation of the attraction.
Jeff Skinner is tackling a very ambitious project-- recreating Disneyland's New Orleans Square and Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D. His attention to detail on this emerging project is simply astounding!


Want to know what it's like to operate some of Disneyland Paris' best attractions? Check out this engaging (and highly addictive) simulation site, and try your hand at running Tower of Terror, Space Mountain and more!


Adventure Thru Inner Space in 3D now on DVD
Great news! Steve Wesson has finished his Adventure Thru Inner Space 3D ride-through project, and is now taking orders for the DVD! This extinct Omnimover ride was a Disneyland classic, and Wesson's CG project at atommobiles.com is absolutely incredible. "Miracles from molecules are dawning every day!"


The Haunted Mansion is another Disney classic perfect for immortalization in the 3D realm, and CG artist Ray Keim is hard at work doing just that. Visit his website to see his impressive 3D models and illustrations of the Haunted Mansion facades!


Ricky Brigante created the Monsters, Inc. Factory Tour-- a proposed attraction in WDW's Tomorrowland-- for a Walt Disney Imagineering contest called "ImagiNations." The material from his project is once again up on his web page, and it's definitely worth checking out. Don't miss it!

Other Cool Websites & Blogs Worth Exploring
Part of the Monorail Society website. Information on a very cool project-- a working, rideable backyard monorail! This is an undertaking so incredibly intriguing that you have to see it to believe it.
A wonderful blog full of fun and fantasy from another era, when dreams of a fanciful future were alive and well. Fans of Walt Disney World's Horizons attraction will love this website-- "It's always fun looking back at tomorrow."


Taxi 2000's Personal Rapid Transit System: A Transportation Revolution
It looks like the future from the past, but this could well be the REAL future of urban transportation. It's called "Personal Rapid Transit" or PRT, and the folks at the Taxi 2000 Corporation already have a working prototype. This is a technology that would have been right at home in Walt's original EPCOT.


Amazing Computer Animation by Animusic
While watching PBS late one night, I stumbled upon something so unbelievably cool, it's hard to accurately describe. A small company named Animusic has produced an incredible series of computer animations set to music. Virtual instruments play each note, and, well, you just have to see for yourself by checking out their website. I can't help but imagine these "virtual virtuosos" as working animatronics, playing their ethereal tunes throughout Tomorrowland.


Here's an unusual link for all you nostalgia buffs out there. Remember the Intellivision video game console? If you spent countless hours playing "Bomb Squad," "Snafu" or "B-17 Bomber" back in the 80's, there's a wild and wacky music CD you simply MUST add to your collection! Click the link to find out more.


A 3D Trip Back to the Ultimate Video Arcade
More proof that using computer animation to recapture nostalgia can be quite effective. Check out this amazingly detailed 3D animation of the ultimate video arcade, circa 1984. If you were one of the millions swept up in the video game craze of the early 1980s, you'll absolutely love this animation!


Very Cool Roller Coaster Toys by Coaster Dynamix
Coaster Dynamix sells a very cool product: a realistic-looking, fully operational model roller coaster kit! See what several years of research and development have produced-- and don't miss the video clips.