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Mickey's Toontown, which debuted in 1993 and closed for major renovations in March 2022, reopened Sunday. The new Toontown offers natural trees, artificial turf-like greenspaces, benches and a shady enclave specifically designed as a quiet zone to block noise from the rest of the park. What makes the new Toontown especially significant for Disneyland are the developer's efforts to create a playground accessible to as many guests as possible, regardless of ability.
Read more from USA Today.
I applaud parks (and any other venues for that matter) that have areas with accessibility and inclusivity at the forefront. I don’t view Disneyland as a particularly noisy place, but at the very least there is a constant bombardment of music. (I’m not saying anything against lovely Disney music, mind you, but even that can be overwhelming to some.)
At our state fair last summer there was the usual Family Day and all of its trappings, but one thing they did that was new was devote part of the day to Quiet Hours. Loud music was eliminated on the midways and at the rides. There were no barkers at games or commercial buildings. Announcements were cut way back. The marching band and the choir got the morning off and there were no concerts or parades. I work at the fair and it took me a minute to realize that there was a weird stillness over the place but once I caught on I had to agree that it was kind of nice. I’m a fan of peace and quiet overall, and being there every day was beginning to wear on my nerves. But the best thing was that families with special needs and requirements were better able to attend and participate in a lot more activities.
I totally applaud adding quiet space for unplugging a bit, especially in a park where space is at a premium. There's only so many train laps I can do, and although Small World is slow, it definitely isn't "chill." 😉
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