Mouse Extra

As I crossed over a bridge and back down a set of stairs onto the loading platform of the brand new Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney’s Hollywood Studios I was immediately struck by how slow the loading process was.  The comparison has often been made between this attraction and the Buzz Lightyear attraction at the Magic Kingdom.  In most respects Toy Story Midway Mania is far superior, but in this aspect it falls way short.    However, as you go through the game itself it is easy to understand why this process is slow.

The vehicle looks like a very traditional Disney dark ride vehicle, only it has two riders facing one way and two facing the opposite way.  There is an inexplicable lap bar along with a shooter which has a ball on a string as the trigger and a video screen between the two riders.  My wife and I both agree the string-thing is prime to be a maintenance headache for many years to come and will most likely be replaced eventually.

As your car takes you inside what the sign above calls the “Midway Games Playset”, the games begin.  Unlike Buzz Lightyear, there are multiple games and they all take place on a video screen.  Basically it is a series of 3-D video games, all of which involve shooting something at a target and are not very different from each other.  There are no audio-animatronics or anything not on the screens of any significance or even noticeable as you pass through.  But the games themselves are high energy, fast paced and pretty fun.  There is also some of the same Disney 3-D tricks employed here that you find in most of the parks’ films.  For instance, when you are shooting bottles you may get a spray of water, or you might feel a blast of air when you hit a balloon.  But believe it or not, the game is some quick and intense that you hardly even notice these things.

Each game is timed, and after it finishes your score is tallied on the screen in front of you.  One nice touch is that you also get to see your accuracy percentage.  This gives an added element to the competition.    Simply firing off your shooter as fast as possible might mean you score terribly on the accuracy scale.  This actually makes you slow down and aim more carefully thus paying more attention to what is going on and not just peppering the screen with as much shot as you can.  Imagineers also threw in a great little “practice round” if your vehicle is delayed.  Rather than staring a blank screen while sitting in a holding pattern, the game continues to play, only without counting points.

After the games are completed you pass a screen that shows the month’s best scores as well as the top three scores of the day.  Getting on this screen is certainly going to be a goal of many who come to experience this attraction.  It is a great way to up the interactive and competitive angles of the ride.

My overall impression of Toy Story Midway Mania is a positive one.  The queue is terrific.  The games are fun and exciting while being simple enough for even the most video game illiterate to be competitive.  The 3-D effects are fine enough, but they certainly do not wow you.  However this attraction is about the competition and not the effects so that doesn’t really matter much.  They do the job just fine.

I do not think this going to be a long term gate-busting attraction.  It simply is not a super “e-ticket” like Expedition Everest or Soarin’.  It is, however, a great addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and is hopefully just the beginning of more exciting things to come at the Pixar Studios section of the park.