Toy Story Mania Pictures

To see pictures of the Pixar Place area and the queue and loaing area for the new Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, head over to the great photo update at Orlando United by clicking HERE.

Toy Story Mania Update

While I cannot say whether or not I experienced the new Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this week, I can share a few news bites about the soon-to-open interactive adventure.

-Cast Member previews were originally scheduled for this weekend, but are now going to take place from May 2-4, 2008. However, some guests and cast have already play-tested the attraction.

-It seems the rumors of a separate track in the ride were right, as we are now being told that the trams will split down two individual tracks in order to provide a higher capacity.

-The loading area for the attraction is themed to the underneath of Andy’s bed, a much more detailed experience then you will find at the Disney’s California Adventure version of Toy Story Mania. The attraction’s queue is going to take place on two levels of the show building.

Please stay tuned to WDW News Today as we continue to gain information on the upcoming Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

4/14/08 Jose Eber Update

Jose Eber returns with another video update from Walt Disney World!!! This time, Jose updates us on American Idol and Pixar Place construction, as well as some other minor updates from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Enjoy!!!

Disney

I found a rather funny press release put out by Disney earlier this week and felt I should share it with our readers. This is probably the first time Disney has acknowledged that they have a huge number of attractions based on Pixar films:

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — It’s a Pixar palooza at Disney Parks! In family-friendly attractions and immersive experiences on both coasts of the United States, guests can do it all — find Nemo, zap Zurg and meddle with Monsters.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Coming this summer to Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., is a whole new interactive adventure: Toy Story Mania!

Celebrating Disney-Pixar classics “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2,” this new ride-game experience combines delightful film characters with personality-matching games guests can play. Donning 3-D glasses, guests shrink to the size of a toy and hop fanciful ride vehicles following a midway-themed route. At each game booth, they aim for animated targets using special on-board spring-action shooters. And since games adapt to the skill level of each player, beginners and gamers alike have plenty of reasons to ride — and play — again and again.

Toy Story Mania! debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida in late May and at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim in late June. It joins these other experiences inspired by favorite Disney-Pixar characters and films.

At Walt Disney World Resort:

  • Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor — Guests find the power of laughter in an engaging and interactive adventure inspired by “Monsters, Inc.” as they match wits with the one-eyed hero Mike Wazowski and his friends. As Monster-of-Ceremonies, Mike recruits comedian wanna-bes whose humor delights audiences at a 400-seat theater in Magic Kingdom.
  • Finding Nemo-The Musical — The undersea world that charmed audiences in “Finding Nemo” comes to life in a musical stage show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The 30-minute Broadway-style production immerses guests in the story of Marlin and Nemo, an overprotective clownfish father and his curious son, with imaginative puppetry, dazzling special effects and an original musical score.
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends — This whimsical and visually stunning attraction at Epcot picks up where the film “Finding Nemo” left off. Riding aboard “clamobiles” in a colorful coral reef setting, guests meet Mr. Ray and learn that Nemo has wandered off. The journey continues as Dory, Bruce, Marlin, Squirt and Crush help with the search. These deep-sea friends inhabit a variety of vibrant vignettes, including a huge aquarium that contains more than 65 species of marine life.
  • Block Party Bash — This high-energy extravaganza at Disney’s Hollywood Studios cranks the music and excitement to the max, putting guests in the middle of the wildest Disney spectacle ever — a non-stop musical block party that doubles as a fun-filled interactive street spectacular. Featuring characters from “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Monster’s, Inc.” and “The Incredibles,” “Block Party Bash” combines dancers, acrobats, stilt performers and a caravan of electric scooters to fill the performance area with awe-inspiring visual and sound sensations.
  •           At Disneyland Resort:

  • Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage — Guests embark on an underwater expedition where they discover Nemo and his finned friends from “Finding Nemo.” Thanks to cutting-edge imaging technology, characters such as Dory, Marlin, Crush, Bruce and, of course, Nemo, come to life before guests’ eyes in a brilliantly colored lagoon at Disneyland Park. 
  • a bug’s land — Designed especially for kids, this land at Disney’s California Adventure features Flik’s Fun Fair, which is full of attractions inspired by the film “A Bug’s Life.” Children can experience the world from a bug’s point of view by visiting Flik’s Flyers, Francis’ Ladybug Boogie, Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train, Princess Dot Puddle Park, and Tuck and Roll Drive’Em Buggies. Families can then cap off their adventures with a screening of the 3-D spectacular “It’s Tough to be a Bug.”
  • Monster’s Inc., Mike and Sulley to the Rescue — Disney’s California Adventure guests are in for a ride of “monstrous” proportion as they climb aboard taxis and hit the streets of Monstropolis with Mike, Sulley and Boo. Along the way they’ll encounter the super-sneaky Randall Boggs, the yellow-suited agents of the Child Detection Agency and other characters from the film.
  • Pixar Play Parade — Characters from Disney-Pixar films “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars” and “Ratatouille” dance onto the parade route and invite guests of all ages to join in a whirling, spinning, fun-for-all animated playground. This daily spectacle at Disney’s California Adventure is brought to life in giant parade floats, puppetry, acrobatics and interactive surprises including bubble, fire and water effects.
  •           At both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort:

  • Turtle Talk With Crush — Crush from “Finding Nemo” has made a different kind of screen debut at Epcot and Disneyland Park — as a chatting, joking quipster who engages guests in conversation from his movie-screen undersea environment. The interactive show is a breakthrough experience in real-time animation using digital projection and sophisticated, voice-activated animation.
  • It’s Tough to be a Bug — Inside the massive trunk of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life, and at the heart of Disney’s California Adventure’s “a bug’s land,” is “It’s Tough to be a Bug,” a humorous 3-D film and special effects show starring Earth’s least-known wild creatures — and a few familiar faces from “A Bug’s Life.” Guests will recognize friendly Flik and the villainous Hopper, but the rest of the show promises some “stingingly” surprising antics.
  • Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (WDW) / Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters (DLR) — Armed with infrared lasers, guests join forces with Buzz Lightyear to defend Earth’s supply of batteries from the evil Emperor Zurg in a spinning, brought-to-life spin-off of the movie “Toy Story.” The shoot-’em-up fun at both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park triggers sight and sound gags, while a lighted display inside toy-spaceship vehicles allows guests to keep score.
  • For more information about Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort visit disneyworld.com and www.disneyland.com.

    Sing Along with a Spud

    We finally have our first listen to the theme song to Toy Story Mania, thanks to the already operating Mr. Potato Head barker at Disney’s California Adventure:

    Toy Story Mania is scheduled to debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios later this month, with the official opening around May 20, 2008.

    Potato Head Preview

    Here is a look at Toy Story Mania’s Mr. Potato Head animatronic barker, now performing inside Disney’s California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort:

    An identical animatronic Mr. Potato Head will begin performing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting later this month on Pixar Place at the entrance to Toy Story Mania.

    Toy Story Mania Website Updates

    The official Toy Story Mania attraction website was updated today with the official opening timeframes for both the Disney’s Hollywood Studios and 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 and late May at the Disneyland Resort. To see the updated site and to download the cool new screensaver, go HERE.

    Toy Story Mania Construction Update

    Here is a youtube video from staff photographer Jose Eber featuring construction pictures of Pixar Place and the upcoming Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

     

    Opening and Important Dates for Toy Story Mania

    Here are the dates our “sources” have stated for the following events pertaining to the new Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

    -Soft Openings begin on or around April 25, 2008

    -Cast Member Previews of the attraction from April 26-27 and May 2-4, 2008

    -Media Preview on May 9, 2008

    -Annual Passholder Previews from May 10-12, 2008

    -Media Press Event on May 16, 2008

    -Official Grand Opening on May 20, 2008.

    These very same dates were also posted on the Inside the Magic Forums, which leads me further to believe they are accurate as of the current moment. Be sure to stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information becomes available on any of these events and this upcoming attraction.

    Toy Story Mania Press Release

    Even though we released and confirmed most of these details last week, here is a look at a press release from LaughingPlace.com about Toy Story Mania:

    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.