On the Express....

For those of you lost as to what that title means, back in 1988-1989, Mickey was celebrating his 60th anniverasry, and the company thought it would be great to create a special land, meant to be temporary, dedicated to everyone's favorite mouse. Thus
Mickey's Birthdayland was born.

Anyway, the title of this page is based on the song you heard on your way to Birthdayland as the train circled around to the station.

The Song went like this: "We're on the express bound for birthdayland,
gonna have a big surprise for Mickey at birthdayland,
gonna be a whole lot of fun,
so come on everyone,
we'll have a big surprise for Mickey Mouse."
And so on. It was a catchy tune, and I can honestly say that I never enjoyed a train ride better than that ride going to Birthdayland.
As the train pulled into the station, it was obvious that there was a celebration going on in this land.

Birthdayland had only one attraction, and that was a show all about a surprise party for Mickey Mouse. The format of the show went like this. You first entered into Mickey's house (which is still there at Toontown Fair in an expanded form), and after seeing all of that, you then passed by minature versions of Donald, Minnie, and Goofy's houses. Then you went into a large waiting area, where you watched some of Mickey's Greatest Hits over the past 60 years (btw anyone else notice that in 1999 he's going to be 70). Then they led you into the giant theater where you watched the show, which was a comedy involving all of the characters doing their best to surprise Mickey, while not letting him know what's going on.

< Birthdayland also featured a number of other things, like a petting zoo and the like. It was a nice little place to go, and proved to be extremely popular with the guests.

In fact, it was so popular that it was decided to keep the land, even thought it was only meant to be temporary (and trust me it had that hastily assembled look to it), add a few things and rename it Mickey's Starland.

Starland ran successfully for about seven or eight years up to about 1996 when it was replaced by Mickey's Toontown Fair.
The premise of the show there was changed from a surprise party for Mickey, to a show concerning the characters of the Disney Afternoon interacting with Mickey in various ways.

The basic premise of the Starland shows were all the same. Mickey is missing.....let's find him. Then the members of the Disney Afternoon would run around on stage bumping into each other. They'd sing a song, then, Mickey would be found, and everyone would go home happy.

While Birthdayland had that certain charm, Starland completely lacked that special something Birthdayland had. I believe it was because every year you would return, the show would get cheesier and cheesier. Eventually it involved a comptuer named Dude, that would rap (badly I might add), and you would shout at it Hey Dude!, as the CM cheered you on to do so. The only thing I wanted to do was cheer for the Pepto Bismol to keep the bile in my stomach. It was not a pleasant experience. The last show I went to in Starland amounted simply to a thirty minute commercial for the Disney Afternoon, and had lost all of the story it once had.