Winnie the Pooh is one of the most lovable Disney characters ever created. He’s big, he’s round, he’s innocent, and he’s kind. I mean, what isn’t there to love? It’s only fitting that a theme park attraction be created based on Pooh’s various adventures. However, Pooh tarnished his flawless reputation among me as in building his ride, it replaced one of my all-time favorite attractions in Mr. Toad. As much as I want to be unbiased in enjoying Winnie the Pooh, ultimately I can’t help but compare it to the far superior Mr. Toad and really question what the park was thinking in removing that classic.
Onto the attraction itself, I definitely can’t knock its exterior since it blends in perfectly with Fantasyland and captures the playful atmosphere of Winnie the Pooh. Now as bad as Mr. Toad’s capacity was, Pooh somehow manages to be worse, as it suffers from uncharacteristically slow loading for a Disney attraction and a rather low capacity, leading to lines resting around an 45-60 minutes, which definitely isn’t worth it. Thankfully Fastpasses are available for this attraction since they drastically reduce the wait to almost nothing.
Once in one of the various honey pots, riders begin the nice first half, where riders travel on a peaceful journey through the Hundred Acre Woods, coming face to face with a plethora of Milne’s beloved characters such as Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, and Tigger. But of all scenes during the first half, the Tigger scene is far and away my favorite. I just love the bouncing effect and it’s an absolutely ingenious feature.
But while the first half is decent, the second half isn’t all that enjoyable in my opinion. Focusing around a nightmare by Pooh, riders come face to face with many dreaded Heffalumps. Now I know that the purpose of this segment is to be chaotic and confusing since it’s meant to be Pooh’s wild dream, but it was unfortunately too crazy and disjointed for my personal tastes. Eventually Pooh’s nightmare ends, as everyone experiences a happy ending…except Mr. Toad.
Winnie the Pooh just unfortunately doesn’t live up to its predecessor, which will forever live on as one of the best attractions I’ve been on. Heck, even if Pooh didn’t replace Mr. Toad, it still would be a pretty poor attraction in my opinion. It’s just not worth the obscenely long waits it commonly has and even if it were a walk on, there’s no hiding the displeasing Heffalump scene. Fans of Winnie the Pooh should definitely give this attraction a shot, but others should only consider hitting this if you can get a Fastpass and if time allows it.
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