We’re hearing rumors that the Toy Story Mania construction walls may be coming down tomorrow. Along with that, Mr. Potato Head may be revealed, & barker to guests, even though the attraction is not open. Also the attraction’s store, Midway Mercantile may also be open tomorrow.
Again, this is just a rumor, but we’ll let you know if it does happen!
The official Toy Story Mania attraction website was updated today with the official opening timeframes for both the Disney’s Hollywood Studios & Disney’s California Adventure attractions, as well as a download-able screen-saver. As previously reported, the attraction will open officially in late May at the Walt Disney World Resort & in late May at the Disneyland Resort. To see the updated site & to download the cool new screen-saver, go here.
Here’s a few interesting topics brought up in this week’s MousePlanet Disneyland Resort Update:
The Pixar Play Parade returned to Disney’s California Adventure yesterday after about a week off due to damage on the Bug’s Life unit. Due to the damage, the Bug’s Life float has been temporarily pulled out of the parade, & we have no idea yet as to when it will return.
Disney Parks guests will don 3-D glasses and enter a wild and wooly 4-D world of Woody the Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear when Toy Story Mania! premieres this summer. The attraction will debut on both coasts: at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and along the Paradise Pier midway in Disney’s California Adventure at Disneyland Resort in California.
Celebrating the Disney•Pixar classics “Toy Story” and “Toy Story II,” Toy Story Mania! raises the bar for interactive ride-game attractions. It’s a high energy, immersive adventure that makes guests a key part of the action as their game play triggers special effects that provide a fourth dimension of fun. “Toy Story Mania!” engages guests in a whole new way with the delightful characters of the films.
Upon entering the attraction, guests will be 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 for the immersive Toy Story Mania! experience, since he is the first attraction-based Audio-Animatronics figure who can engage guests in a two-way conversation.
Everyone gets a front row seat when guests put on their 3-D glasses, “shrink” to the size of a toy, and board the Toy Story Mania! carnival tram ride vehicles, whose fast travel and spinning 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 spin 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 the targets (or not). 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 serious 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 the pig 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 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 will 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 with the reward of an onscreen “virtual plush.”
The game play of Toy Story Mania! is accompanied by ingenious 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 compliment the games – for example, a military brass band version for “Green Army Man Shoot Camp.” No matter how many times guests return to ride and play, they can be sure every ride-through will be different.
Go “backstage” in this video podcast as we show you the making of the new Pixar Play Parade from start to finish. You’ll also get a sneak-peek of the new “Playhouse Disney Live on Stage!” Taking center stage are Disney Channel favorites from the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” those lovable “Little Einsteins,” the cast from “Handy Manny” and more. Both of these new entertainment experiences open at Disney’s California March 14, during the Year of a Million Dreams.
On Wed March 19 during the Pixar Play Parade, at Disney’s California Adventure, an incident occurred on the Bugs Life Unit. One of the swings came undone from its rigging. It fell vertically down to the unit. The performer on the unit heard a loud crack and was able to jump off. The units have to be re-inspected to be sure they are show safe for continuing performances ASAP. Brady McDonald from LA Times contacted Disney’s Media Relations Dept and received this official information:
During the March 19 performance of the Pixar Play Parade at Disney’s California Adventure, one of the pendulum swings onboard a float vehicle came unhooked from its post. No Cast Members or Guests were injured. In an abundance of caution, we temporarily suspended performances of the Pixar Play Parade on March 20 and 21 to allow for further inspection and evaluation.
The parade is also canceled for Sat, March 22, and Sun, March 23. If you would like to be notified when the parade is back up an running you can stay tuned here or call Disneyland Guest Relations at (714)781-7290.
Information received from a Parade Support source and from MiceChat
Disney Imagineers allowed me to “play test” the new Toy Story Mania dark ride coming to California Adventure in June. From the preview I got, it’s clear the theme park giant has raised the bar again with this latest interactive attraction. (Play the online version of the game.)
Inside an unmarked, low-slung brick warehouse in Glendale dubbed the Walt Disney Imagineering Concept Lab, I climbed aboard a plywood and 2-by-4 mock-up of the Toy Story Mania ride vehicle quite literally held together in some places by electrical tape.
The stripped-down surroundings and slap-dash ride vehicle belied the technological wonders I was about to behold.
While Disney struggles to call Toy Story Mania more than a ride-through 3-D video game, it is just that and then some.
Poised behind a spring-action shooter, I fired virtual ammunition at virtual targets in an immersive environment unlike any other I’ve experienced — including Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, which the new ride is often compared to.
Capable of firing up to six rounds per second, the spring-action shooter is nothing more than a rope with a bob tied on the end that works like a slack pinball machine plunger. (Here’s the Wikipedia explanation of this arcane entertainment device for the Wii generation.)
The ride starts with a practice round hosted by “Toy Story” characters Woody and Jessie before moving through five scenes that become increasingly difficult. The two-stage lightning round finale, the easiest of all the games, is where players rack up a majority of their points.
To call me competitive is to call Napoleon short.
My initial strategy of focusing only on high-point targets proved only partially correct. Another key to success in the target-rich environment was continuous firing. I discovered with my unlimited ammo supply that I could rack up plenty of unintended points while moving from one bull’s-eye to the next.
I found most of the high-value targets at the top and bottom of the 10-foot-square video screen in front of me. The most difficult prizes requiring the greatest accuracy resided in the top corners. In several instances, hitting one target triggered another of higher value. In other cases, taking out a group of identical targets generated substantial bonus points. Low-value, special effects-laden spoilers served only to distract me from my mission.
On my first attempt, I finished with 102,000 points to 112,000 points by new friend (and mortal enemy) Arthur Levine, who writes the well-regarded About.com theme park guide.
In my utter humiliation, I turned to Toy Story Mania chief Imagineer Chrissie Allen for assistance in finding the much-rumored “Easter Egg” targets within the game. She refused to budge (though I am determined to break her and reveal said secrets in future posts).
Kind and wise Imagineer Estefania Pickens, holder of the current in-house high score (210,000) among Disney staffers, offered to mentor me and guide my training. Her patient tutelage soon paid off.
On my second and final attempt at the game, I scored 125,000 points, besting my Disney host (who will remain nameless to avoid bringing shame on him, his family and his future generations).
The only downside to my new favorite ride is the repetitive stress injury I’m sure to suffer from repeatedly playing the game.
Toy Story Mania seems to be just the E-ticket that Disney’s California Adventure needs to draw bigger crowds. Expect a long line.
Check out WDW News Today for MSNBC video that features the Toy Story Mania ride vehicles in motion.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Disney’s California Adventure’s new Pixar Play Parade — or, as I’ve taken to calling it, Pixar Puddle Parade — is about as much fun as watching a parade in the rain. Actually, it’s exactly like watching a parade in the rain.Some people like to get wet at theme parks. I prefer to keep water where it belongs — in water parks. The mere sight of drenched people stepping off a white-water raft ride sends chills up and down my spine.
The new Pixar parade, which features characters from the animated movies, replaces the old Pixar parade, Block Party Bash, which — wait for it — featured characters from the animated movies.
The water theme of the new parade is immediately evident as “Cars” star Lightning McQueen leads the procession accompanied by a pair of women dressed as mops (no, sadly, I’m not kidding) who squirt the crowd with water bottles and sponge off the red roadster. The car wash gag is an apt metaphor because you are about to be put through a soaking fit for a Ford Mustang.
Before the first float had even passed, I’d been squirted in the eye twice and dried my face three times with my shirtsleeve. By the time the second float went by, I was suitably annoyed — as were others who were fleeing the parade route as if attacked by a swarm of bees. As the third float passed, I uttered words not appropriate for a family publication.
After the 12th and mercifully final squirting, spitting and splatting float rolled by, a mop brigade brought up the rear — a first for any parade I’ve ever seen. And an apt ending to a parade that, in my opinion, is all wet (sorry, it was unavoidable).
It’s a shame, really, because the Pixar Play Parade looks like an improvement over Block Party Bash, of which I was never a big fan. I loved the beautiful new floats, the must-see “Incredibles” hovercraft and the twirling acrobats.
But mostly I felt bad for the 100-odd performers in the show, from whom I shielded my eyes for fear they’d assault me with a water pistol or douse me with a fire hose. Sadly, it may take a tragic slip and fall by one of the 12-foot-tall stilt walkers to force the Disney lawyers to switch the H20 to bubbles.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
