Woodbine Centre

[slickpete83]

you know your value village mall is cool when its on blogTO

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499882383461421059

 

[J-M-Z]

you know your value village mall is cool when its on blogTO

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499882383461421059

Fun fact: the Loof carousel in the Woodbine Centre wasn't originally built in 1976. That would have been impossible as Charles Loof had been dead for about 58 years by that point.
The Loof carousel was built in 1911, the original wooden horses auctioned off and new fibreglass ones were installed in time for Woodbine's grand opening in 1985.

 

[Maco in the 6]

the original wooden horses auctioned off and new fibreglass ones were installed

Soon, the fiberglass ones will be auctioned off as well

 

[Maco in the 6]

Watch from the 8:14 mark
(filmed in 1999)

 

[J-M-Z]

Watch from the 8:14 mark
(filmed in 1999)

According to the filming of Animorphs' second season, the year was 1999. A time before Woodbine morphed into its own unique "changes".

 

[J-M-Z]

The state of the Fantasy Fair continues to be brought up in discussions across social media. The rides being listed, then withdrawn, then supposedly sold off privately
without making headlines.

Last week, our friend (and Vintage Rexdale contributor) Eugenio Arcilesi spoke to one of the Fantasy Fair merchants about this very subject. Apparently, Eugenio was informed
that the rides will continue to run for another year.

Question of the day: what would you value Woodbine's Looff Carousel at? The latest estimate I heard was $5 Million.

 

[J-M-Z]

Recent shopper-submitted photos from the Woodbine:

 

[J-M-Z]

Seems like a risky proposition these days:

 

[Felsic Canis]

That master-plan has been on display within the Woodbine for a number of years now.

The poster should read "Closeout King Liquidation Village - more of the same popping up soon".

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I went to Woodbine this year with my friend and I saw a very similar, if not the exact same, banner in the mall. There was also an area with a large window with the expansion plans stuck on one of the walls as like, a mural?

I can try to upload the photos I took of the place. It was really sad to see the place so disheveled. My main draw was the amusement park, but based on the website (which has broken links and is generally put together really crummily) I expected it to be a decent proper mall. Prior to going, I had no idea the mall was basically on life support.

 

[Felsic Canis]

Funny enough, rumour has it that a lot of stores left when Woodbine changed hands and the new owner demanded two+ months rent in advance.

There's actually more to do from across the street along Queen's Plate. You got a superior liquidation outlet, Mandarin, Subway restaurant, Winners,
Staples, Fortinos, LCBO and a System Fitness among other finds. Basically, a lot of the stores Woodbine could use.

At this point, Woodbine racetrack should just buy out Woodbine mall and turn it into a massive parking garage. But keep the carousel inside. Carousels
are cool.

I'm glad I found a fellow carousel enthusiast. It's pretty much the best looking part of the entire mall and it's what got me to visit in the first place!

 

[Felsic Canis]

There is an old saying that goes "variety is the spice of life". Speaking of variety:

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Feel free to count along.

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Okay... I guess I can keep one mint in the box....


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Rumour has it that a "six of a kind" is being tabled to appear in 2038.

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An interior shot of the recently-renovated Fantasy Fair Arcade on the upper level. No more old arcade cabinets from
the 1990's.

When I visited, the arcade was completely shut up. No way in, and the machines looked to be either unplugged or still running for some reason despite no one being able to get inside. Which sucks because I was excited to see an arcade.

 

[Felsic Canis]

As big of a Wrestling fan as I am, I never even knew Woodbine paid for an independent Cosplay wrestling show:

Part 1 features a match between a guy dressed as Guile (Street Fighter) VS a guy dressed as a blue Power Ranger:

Part 2 keeps the video game theme going with a match between Ken (Street Fighter) VS Scorpion (Mortal Kombat):

And Part 3 features a match between Harley Quinn (Batman) against someone I'm not sure and

Would you guys like the Woodbine Centre to invest in more attractions like these or use the money for better stores/renovations?

I think these temporary attractions are really great for attracting people on a whim and drawing interest. But it won't save the mall. Stores and permanent necessities first, temporary events and attractions later.

 

[Felsic Canis]

Imagine cinemas closed at woodbine. I went on imagine cinemas website. The page for woodbine shows a 404 error. Rexdale now has zero movie theatres. And woodbine is down to one anchor. The mall will surely die.

I can confirm. The cinema was still there when i want, although there was no way in since it was obviously closed.

Yet somehow the mall is still hanging on by a thread.

 

[Felsic Canis]

I never did get my prize ticket to an undisclosed location next to Disney World!
Oh, well. It looks like there's only one store left that can save Woodbine.

....

Maggiano's

That whole ballot box prize is still one of the sketchiest things I've ever heard about this place besides good ol Maggiano's and the supposed expansion.

 

[Felsic Canis]

Just going to leave this very sad picture here of Imagine Cinemas. Photo credit goes to Eugenio Arcilesi from the "Rexdale - Old photos" facebook group

.View attachment 303434

Wow.. it's almost a liminal space.

This image encapsulates the overall state of woodbine. When I went, there were so many vacant store areas and there was even one with a bunch of liquidates stock inside and I don't even think there was a sign out front. My friend and I went inside and discovered it was full of Christmas ornaments, Christmas trees, and some miscellaneous ribbon and stuff. Likely just a seasonal store but it was in March.
Also the lady who ran the store (I assume) was pretty angry at us just looking around. I don't fault her though.