Part 1 of our look at the brand new Toy Story Midway Mania
Saturday morning my wife and I stood outside Disney’s Hollywood Studios waiting for the rope to drop on what was a mad dash to the new Pixar Studios section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It turned out to be a really good idea to get there early, because only 1 hour into the Annual Passholder and DVC member preview of the new Toy Story Midway Mania the wait time was reported by cast members to be around two hours. But from my experience on this new attraction, which was certainly a positive one, I don’t expect two hours to be the norm in the future.
First, notice that I called it “Toy Story Midway Mania” and not “Toy Story Mania”. This is because of some very bizarre confusion going on at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. All of the marketing Disney is doing calls it Toy Story Mania. Even the guide map uses that title, but from the picture above you can clearly see it is actually called “Toy Story Midway Mania”? What is the purpose of the peculiarity? Your guess is as good as mine.
The exterior of the building is themed to look like a real working, and also aesthetically boring, studio. The theme is also somewhat jumbled, because this rather dull looking studio building is also littered with toys, like monkeys and green army men. These same items are used in the queue area, so is this a studio or a toy chest? One or the other would be much better than what appears now to be a thrown together mess.
The queue itself is really well done, and fits in nicely with the recent Disney World tradition of fun and immersive queues. I was told that this was supposed to be like you were under the bed of Andy, the boy who owned all our favorite characters from the Toy Story films. But it really feels more like being inside a toy chest. Either way, it features brand name nostalgic games and toys, as well as Andy’s own drawings that make great conversations pieces. It is also so packed full of so much eye candy that you can’t possibly see it all.
But the star of this area is Mr. Potato head. He is a large and beautifully fluid audio-animatronics character that entertains the waiting crowd with jokes and songs. Of all the audio-animatronics used in queues, he is the best. It was reported that he would be interactive and even talk directly to guests like Crush does at Turtle Talk or the Monsters over at the Laugh Floor. Perhaps that will some day be the case, but it was clear while I was there that this was just a very well orchestrated trick. Mr. Potato Head would ask questions and point to people on the line, but it was clearly pre-recorded. However, this is something you would only notice if, like me, you get stuck in front of him for 15 minutes waiting for the ride to start working. But don’t think I am trying to be negative about this. He works very, very well and did a great job at entertaining the waiting masses.
After you pass Mr. Potato Head you go up a flight of stairs, through a circus like corridor, and out into the loading area. You actually walk through an overpass that goes over the ride track itself and onto the loading area.
Check back later for a spoiler filled review of the game itself…