The Donald’s Duck Pond splash pad next to Donald’s boat in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland finally opened to guests on Friday, March 22 — a year after the rest of Mickey’s Toontown reopened after a reimagining. The splash pad area was only briefly open during Mickey’s Toontown media previews in early 2023. The splash pad then closed due to water issues. Only the dry side of Donald’s Duck Pond has been open since.
Donald’s Duck Pond Splash Pad
The splash pad is on the right side of Donald’s boat. The left side is a dry play area. A rope fence down the middle separates the two sections.
A sign informs guests the play area is for children ages 2 – 12 years old. They should be supervised at all times. Accessories like helmets, drawstrings, or anything around the child’s neck should be removed for safety. It also warns surfaces may be hot.
The sign resembles a plank of wood decorated with painted images of flowers, butterflies, and bees.
Donald has a yellow mailbox in this flowerbed next to his boat. There’s a sculpture of his head poking through a “Donald’s Duck Pond” life preserver.
Unfortunately, it’s mostly blocked by a fence.
The walkway leading to Donald’s Duck Pond is a sandy color. White specks in the pavement near the edge of the water make it look like waves have lapped on it like a beach.
Another sign lists rules for the splash pad:
- No food, beverages or glass in water feature or on water feature wet deck.
- Children should not use water feature without adult supervision.
- For safety, diaper-age children must wear swim diapers.
The sign resembles a wet piece of paper.
The backstory of Donald’s Duck Pond is that Donald has crashed his boat into the duck pond next to Goofy’s house. The boat was formerly in a pool of water with a waterfall but this feature was filled in to become the play area. Originally, guests were able to enter Donald’s boat, but it closed many years ago and was permanently sealed from guest access during the recent reimagining.
There are 20 computer-controlled sunken fountains in the splash pad. They shoot streams of water in arcs across the blue ground. There’s also a misting effect and lights, which we’ll return to see at night.
The fountains loop through a 7-minute sequence of water dancing.
It looks like Donald has had some leaking issues and bolted white panels to the hull of his boat. Water squirts out of some holes where bolts have gone missing.
While the leaking boat is a purposeful part of the splash pad design, it looks like there are accidental drainage issues in the area.
Water from the splash pad seeps through this space between the rope fence into the “dry” side of the play area.
On the dry side, we could see water staining the ground.
Towards the back of the boat is a flowerbed full of mulch but no flowers.
Other flowerbeds and planters in the area are filled with ferns but nothing has been planted here yet. It’s along the walkway to the splash pad’s shower.
The shower is a tall brown pole next to the fake cliff.
It’s ostensibly to rinse off before or after playing on the splash pad (to get clean, not to get dry). But it’s located at the back of the play area, so you have to walk in and out of the splash pad to reach it.
Cameras in birdhouses overlook the play area. They reminded us of the camera technology at Journey of Water Inspired by “Moana” in EPCOT, which senses guest movement for interactive elements. ButDisneyland Cast Members stated that these cameras are just for surveillance.
A wooden sign on the fence reads “Caution: Water is recirculated, do not drink!”
Watch our video tour of Donald’s Duck Pond below.
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