On Sunday at high noon, starry-eyed children seeking Mickey Mouse will be surprised by a not-so-placid sight on the Walt Disney World grounds. After six weeks of online campaigning to save Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - which Disney World is tearing down to make way for a Winnie the Pooh ride - the protesters have now announced their intent to rally together in front of the ride itself.
The warty hero of the yesteryear Disney cartoon based on Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's story Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad has amassed a small but avid online following of letter-writers, nostalgic Web sites, and sympathetic press. Rallies on Sunday and 14 December are intended to be a more visible pro-Toad demonstration for Disney World officials who claim the Wild Ride is outdated and too scary for young children.
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To the moon: NASA's upcoming Lunar Prospector moon mission will allow students to follow along, receiving data transmissions from the orbiter in real time, reports UPI. The NASA Web site and a commercial software package being sold to schools for US$450 by a Wisconsin firm will encourage students to conduct their own analysis of data. Prospector is scheduled to launch on 5 January.(5.Dec.97)
