UPDATED WITH PICS! Review - Toy Story Mania Media Preview Event

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Thanks for the great review and pictures, Ian. We will be there in 12 days, I can't wait to see it for myself!!

[allie_to_you]

Just a quick question...how bout wheelchair accessibility. Do wheelchairs enter through the main queue area so they get to see all the great theming or do they have to go in a separate entrance?

Also, I didn't see a wheelchair accessible ride vehicle in your pictures. Do they have one?

[joelkfla]

Yes, wheelchairs enter through the main queue, until you reach the stairs up to the loading area, where you split off onto a ramp. But you get to go past Mr. Potato Head and all of the toys with everyone else.

I understand there are wheelchair vehicles, or you can transfer to a regular vehicle. The cool thing is, either way, they have a shunt track to divert the cars off the main line into a separate handicap loading area. You can take extra time to load without holding up the rest of the line or slowing down the ride.

[Figment!]

It’s Time to Play!

Walt Disney World Press Release
May 16, 2008

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Walt Disney World guests start donning 3-D glasses and entering a wild and wooly 4-D world of Woody, Buzz and other favorite “Toy Story” characters when Toy Story Mania! makes its grand premiere May 31 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As part of Disney’s “Year of a Million Dreams,” the attraction will also debut on the West Coast, with a scheduled opening in Disney’s California Adventure at Disneyland Resort June 17.

Inspired by the Disney-Pixar films "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2," Toy Story Mania! raises the bar for interactive ride-game attractions. It's a high-energy, immersive adventure that puts guests right in the action as their game play triggers fun surprises that provide a fourth dimension of fun. Toy Story Mania! engages guests in a whole new way with the delightful characters of the films.

In the timeless tradition of Disney storytelling, Toy Story Mania! takes its inspiration from the fact that Andy’s toys spring to life whenever he is away. Soon after Andy got a “Midway Games Play Set” for his latest birthday, the toys jumped at their first chance to open the box and set up the game booths and carnival trams so everyone could ride and play. That means “no assembly required” for their game-playing guests – just nonstop fun. (That is, until Andy gets home!)
Upon entering the attraction, guests are welcomed by Mr. Potato Head, more than five feet tall and looking like he stepped right down from the movie screen. The state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics Mr. Potato Head makes a perfect carnival barker, capable of engaging guests in two-way conversation and encouraging them to "step right up" for the immersive Toy Story Mania! experience.

Everyone gets a front row seat when guests put on their 3-D glasses, "shrink" to the size of a toy and board Toy Story Mania! carnival tram ride vehicles which add a huge amount of fun to the interactive experience. The exciting and colorful route takes guests through "Andy's Bedroom" filled with oversized murals and toys. The vehicles angle to face Toy Story Mania! game booths -- high-tech yet rooted in classic midway games of skill -- and guests aim for 3-D animated targets using their own on-board spring-action shooters. Players pair up and sit side-by-side for a friendly competition that delivers an ever-changing variety of targets and surprises.

As they play, guests can actually see the "virtual" objects they've launched leave their spring-action shooters and hit (or miss) the targets. And thanks to 4-D special effects technology, they may sense objects whirring past them as they pop out of the 3-D scenes.
The Toy Story Mania! games -- five of them, plus an introductory practice round -- are designed to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and skills, from beginners to experienced gamers. Play is energized by the spirit of the "Toy Story" characters cast in games that best suit their very animated personalities.

First comes the "Pie Throw Practice" round in which guests can try splattering targets with virtual pies.

Next, Hamm hosts a "Hamm & Eggs" booth in which players launch plastic virtual eggs at various barnyard targets.
"Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop" presents a landscape full of balloon sheep, trees and other objects at which guests can launch virtual darts. But players had better be careful! A popped virtual water balloon might add an additional 4-D wet dimension to the game.

From there it's on to "Green Army Men Shoot Camp" where the challenge is to break plates with virtual baseballs.

Next up is "Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers," a ring-toss game hosted by everyone's favorite space ranger, with Little Green Aliens as the targets.

For the grand finale game, Toy Story Mania! players ride through Wild West scenes launching virtual suction-cup darts at targets in "Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery." A final "Woody's Bonus Roundup" encourages guests to fire their spring-action shooters as rapidly as possible at one last super target for extra points. When scores are tallied, players' skill levels are identified and they can see how they've done compared to the high scores.

The game play of Toy Story Mania! is accompanied by creative musical variations of Randy Newman's "You've Got A Friend in Me," arranged by veteran music editor Bruno Coon, a frequent Newman collaborator, to complement the games -- for example, a military brass band version for "Green Army Men Shoot Camp."

No matter how many times guests return to ride and play, they can be sure every ride-through will seem different.

[2Epcot]

The cool thing is, either way, they have a shunt track to divert the cars off the main line into a separate handicap loading area. You can take extra time to load without holding up the rest of the line or slowing down the ride.

It is nice to see Disney adding this feature to a lot of the new or refurbished attractions. This feature works well on Space Mountain at Disneyland.

[Jared]

I rode three times today and completely agree with Ian. Toy Story Mania! is an absolute winner in every aspect and will ensure I actually visit Disney's Hollywood Studios in the future.

The pull string is considerably better than the button setup at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, and the games are just plain fun! I will be back with more specific comments when I write my trip report next week.

[Mackflava99]

Thanks for sharing- i cant wait to ride it

[wdw_bound]

DD has limited use of her right arm (stroke survivor). She can managae Buzz Lightyear one-handed by holding down the firing button while aiming all with her left hand. DD is very ingenious at adapting (she can tie shoes one handed) - is she going to be able to figure something out with this?

Also, how many people fit in a car? In Buzz, I can take DS3 and DD9 with me - will I be able to do the same on this ride?

THanks for the info! We are REALLY looking forward to TSM this October!

[McGoofy]

I rode three times today and completely agree with Ian.

How did you get to ride on Saturday? Lucky you! Is it under soft opening or has it officially opened already?

DH and I were planning to re-arrange our plans and be there for the grand opening on Saturday, May 31, but if it is already opened, we'll just leave our plans as they are and do DHS on Sunday.

Ian, do you know if May 31 is still set to be the official opening date? Do you think that would be at park opening? I'm hoping to be lucky enough to time it to be there for the official opening. I don't know if they'll do anything special or not, but it's worth being there to find out since we are going to be at WDW anyway!

[Ian]

From what I understand the "official" grand opening is still slated for May 31st, but they've been running it off and on for the last few weeks.

I think they open it up, run some guests through, track down any issues, tweak, and repeat.

[Mufasa]

DD has limited use of her right arm (stroke survivor). She can managae Buzz Lightyear one-handed by holding down the firing button while aiming all with her left hand. DD is very ingenious at adapting (she can tie shoes one handed) - is she going to be able to figure something out with this?

Also, how many people fit in a car? In Buzz, I can take DS3 and DD9 with me - will I be able to do the same on this ride?

Your daughter will probably be able to adapt very well with firing and aiming the cannon with one arm- the cannons are mounted to the lap bar on a swivel mount and it really does not take a lot of effort to activate the spring action shooter mechanism.

As for the seating in the cars, each tram is made up of 2 cars (for 8 people per tram). Each car can seat 4 people, but arranged with 2 people per side (the seats are set up back to back).

Each individual seat has their own lap bar, so you will not be able to squeeze 3 people into a row- a maximum of 2 people per side of the car.

There's no minimum height requirement for children, but they must be able to sit by themselves (you can be seated next to them) and remain seated at all times with a lap bar in front of them (no lap seating allowed on the attraction).

I make a point about this because there have been some issues with very small children not remaining fully seated at all times especially towards the load/unload areas which is something that CMs are keeping a close eye on for everyone's safety.

[Ian]

Each individual seat has their own lap bar, so you will not be able to squeeze 3 people into a row- a maximum of 2 people per side of the car.

Actually, if it's a small child they will let you sit three in a car.

We rode and they let DS1 ride in between DW and I.

[KathyMO]

Thanks for the great review. Can't wait to ride it in November.

Kathy

[Camping Mom]

GREAT pictures....my bil and his family got to attend a "sneak" preview a week or so ago. They said it was AWESOME. Can't wait....I need a Disney fix something awful right now!!

[Surfer_Clock]

The attraction grand-opened on May 31st with seemingly little fanfare, but a remarkable increase in reliability. The majority of the time, all of the games worked correctly. However, it's still very, very new, and the attraction isn't without the occasional hiccup. I didn't get the Prospector/Bonus Rounds only twice of the 10 or 11 times I did it today, and only once did the Practice Round not show up ( and in its place? A note telling us that it was being worked on. I got a good chuckle out of that...it's a nice touch).

It's a great attraction, and all of the Guests I've spoken with about it have really taken to it. Many say it's "better than Buzz" and that it's "gotta be re-ridden." Even heard (and know!) that "It's addictive, through and through." There's no better way to describe it, I think.

[MinnieMommie]

We were at the Studios Monday (6/2) for EMH and got on Toy story 3 times in a row without much wait at all and then 1 other time after getting yr of a million dreams fast passes (for all fast pass attractions). Toy Story is a blast and so much fun!!!

Ian could not have described it better (and thanks to Figment too - great pics!). Not only is the ride itself amazing but the entire queue was perfection! All my childhood favorites and that of my children. My teenage daughter and I were together while the rest of the fam did TT and RNRC and it was so cool for us to share enjoyment in seeing the toys we both hold a sentimental attachment to.

Naturally DD raked up the points considerable higher than myself (she is a gamer) but the ride is such that all participate fully at their own speed and aptitude and enjoy equally. When the rest of the fam finally caught up with us they too were amazed at the attraction's design and play.

Can't wait to return!

PS Mr Potato head is quite amusing

[brownie]

Thanks for the great review! I can't wait for our next trip so we can try this!

[GrumpyFan]

We just returned (6/8 - 6/13) - and we rode/played it twice! I will confirm, it is lots of fun, moreso than I anticipated. I had it in my mind that it was Buzz Lightyear 2.0, but the interactivity in TSMM makes it way more fun. The waits were 60-90 minutes, but the line moves pretty well. Both times we went was in the evening and fastpass tickets were already gone. The pull-string is pretty simple and I think it may actually be better than Buzz' gun, but you have to be fast to get a good score, because the targets come at you pretty quick.

The one thing that bothered me, had nothing to do with the ride, but how guests are treating the queue. There is already starting to appear some (light) vandalism of the props in the queue. People have started scratching initials and such on the Lincoln Log home and I think I actually saw where somebody had written on something. This kind of thing REALLY IRRITATES me! Hopefully Disney will take some steps to clean it up and do something to prevent it. Of course they could always add a few "virtual" electronic Etch-a-sketch type devices which would allow people to draw or write on. It wouln't stop it all, but it would help and it would also help with the line.

[VolMickey]

Can't wait to check it out. I saw an online video of Mr. Potato Head. Wow! Great fluid motion and they had the original, Don Rickles, doing the voiceover.

I'll drink to that...

[dan864]

Great review,
But it does not sound like the spiderman killer that disney said it would be,witch is a real shame,i was hoping disney would come up with something that would steel the thunder from universal,knowing that harry potter is coming late next year.
They need to get there finger out,because disney will become the second stop for tourists,instead of universal.
i dont mean to put a downer on things,i love disney,but universal is getting better by the year.