Toy Story Mania is going to be great

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Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Matt Hochberg

Toy Story Mania is still some time off from it’s official opening, or soft opening or Annual Passholder preview days but already I’m excited for it to open up.  Sure, it’s something new at the Studios but also because this attraction is going to be great for the Studios.  It’s going to be a great addition and compliment the other attractions at the Studios while moving the Studios further along in it’s quest to match the Magic Kingdom and Epcot as multi-day parks.

Let me start off by saying Toy Story Mania will not be to the Studios what Expedition Everest was to Animal Kingdom.  Rather, this will take up the spot as the #3 attraction at the Studios.  In fact, it’s a great secondary attraction.  Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coaster will still be the super-headliner attractions at the Studios, but Toy Story Mania will be a popular attraction that will easily fit into the top 3 or 5 of any one going to the park.  There’s a saying that goes “There’s too many chiefs and not enough Indians” and this holds true for the parks as well; you can’t have all super-headliner attractions and Toy Story Mania will fit in nicely as a headliner attraction.  There will still be the “Sunset Boulveard Sprint” in the morning when the park opens as guests run calmly walk to Coaster and Tower, but Toy Story Mania will be bigger and better than say Star Tours or the Great Movie Ride (at least that’s my take at this point).

It’s interactivity and ever changing ride nature is what is going to make this a great attraction for the Studios.  Because the ride track and results change based on what you select and the difficulty changes based on the players, this ride is going to require guests to re-ride many times per day.  In addition, it likely is not going to be nearly as intense as Coaster or Tower are, so it will be more family friendly.  And what guests love are attractions that the whole family can go on, not just the bratty teenagers or the rugrats.  People want to share in their memories and recall years from these moments entertaining stories about what happened at Walt Disney World.

Another great advantage of Toy Story Mania will be that this will be an added attraction to the park that isn’t a stage show.  The stage shows at the Studios are great, but it’s a real pain to work them all into your day at the park (Editors note: Refer to this Studios Weekly article for how to work in the shows to your day at the Studios) and this attraction will be running all day long and ensure that guests always have a good alternative if they are between shows (and wait times permit).

Toy Story Mania, in my opinion, will also bring some added bonuses with it. It will draw crowds away from Sunset Boulevard and more to the other end of the park.  We will also see I think a revitalization of the Toy Story characters.  Currently the Toy Story characters hang around at Al’s Toy Barn, but wouldn’t it be great if we saw more Green Army Men or a Mr. Potato Head walking around the park? The Green Army men could “borrow” from the schtick of the Storm Troopers and “capture” some park guests and “escort” them into Toy Story Mania.  For anyone who has been a fan of the films (especially the original movie), this attraction could very well bring some very entertaining creativity to the Studios.

We’re still far enough out from the attraction opening not to know all of the details of the attraction and how it will turn out exactly.  We don’t know how the six foot Mr. Potato Head audio-animatronic will work (I’m hoping it’s going to be half as good as I have it pictured in my mind) or how much “re-rideability” the attraction will invoke in guests and if it will accomplish such goals as being inviting for everyone in the group, but there’s so much potential with this attraction and thus far, it looks to be that the Studios is going to have a great addition to the park.

Agree with what I said? Disagree? Have a story to share sparked by this column? Share your own idea by posting a comment below.