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[WaltD4Me]

What did you guys think of Mr Potato Head???
I heard he was really, really cool. One of those "How'd they do that?" things.

 

[DebbieT11]

Dang. And I was hoping to only experience "Africa Hot" during our Memorial day week visit.... along with "stupid crowded" conditions. Rats.

Oh well, we'll just hang out at Ft Wilderness and play!!

To answer some questions:


5 - It is Africa Hot now, it will be hotter than Georgia Asphalt in a few weeks and then roughly the temperature of the surface of the Sun until September

John

 

[*Dizney*Princess*]

Thank you very much for a)posting the blog and b) posting lots of pictures. I cannot wait for my december trip to come so I can go on this ride.

 

[Super Genius]

Great job!
Thanks John and Kevin

 

[kimbac3]

Thanks John and Kevin

Especially the heads up about the wheelchair access. My kids were worried they wouldn't get to see all the neat "line attractions".

Kimba

 

[ndmommy]

Great pictures! Thanks! I was having a hard time visualizing the cannons before. Now I get it. I can't wait until October to ride. My son and dh are going to love it.

 

[JenEeyore]

Thanks John & Kevin for posting the details! Can't wait to ride in December- DS will be so excited for something new!

 

[amyhughes]

Parker peeked over my shoulder while I was reading this AM and goes, "OOoooohhh That's Toy Story!" It even got it's own song after I showed him your pictures. It's mainly the words Toy Story and Ride done in a polka beat over and over. A blog song if you will.

It was just a great way to start my Mother's Day, which has been nasty and rainy all day, sigh. A high of 56 WOOT! Your blog brought to mind sunny skies, warmer weather, and our upcoming trip. A bit of excitement to our morning routine! THANK YOU GUYS!

 

[mommyceratops]

Thanks! Great pics!!

What kind of camera is it?

 

[checkwriter]

Thanks for the report! Great detail! I sense this one will be a winner . . . .

 

[DisneyKevin]

Mr Potato Head is the newest generation of audioanimatronic.

His eyes and eyelids are animated and he interacts with folks like Crush.

His mouth movements are so lifelike...you sort of stand there and think "how do they do that?"

Do not be fooled by a short queue outside. It's plenty long inside.

I have an "idiot" camera. It does everything for you.

It's a Casio Exilim 10.1 mega pixel. I love it because of the HUGE viewing screen.

 

[tinkbutt]

"It's a ride; it's game. It's a game; it's a ride," the 5-foot animatronic tater barked at guests waiting to board Toy Story Mania, a coming attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

Thousands of riders -- all Walt Disney World annual pass holders -- lined up Saturday for a special preview of the 3-D attraction, some of them waiting hours to play virtual midway games. Disney says the official opening will be May 31, but the pass holder-only preview continues today and Monday.

When we arrived at 9 a.m. Saturday, the line snaked from outside the new ride through the Animation Courtyard arch and back toward the park's iconic sorcerer hat.

"Is this the line for Little Mermaid?" we joked. No such luck. Disney fans line up early to be the first on their block to lock in bragging rights to a new ride. They'll sweat it out whatever the temperature.

Once inside, a four-person car zipped us through five games of skill featuring characters such as Woody, Bo Peep and Ham from the Toy Story movies. Don't worry if you have problems with motion sickness -- the car doesn't move very fast or spin too much.

The first stop was just for practice, giving riders a chance to learn to fire a "spring-action shooter" shaped like a miniature cannon. Within seconds we were caught up in the world of virtual reality, almost believing that we were firing actual pies at the bull's-eye targets.

The realistic, three-dimensional launch effects give Toy Story Mania an edge over other point-and-shoot attractions, including another Toy Story-based ride, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom. My misfires along the edge of the screen showed up as comic duds.

After supposedly learning how to hit the target, we progressed to eggs, darts, baseballs and rings. It's fun to launch things, but don't stop to admire your handiwork. Keep firing. High scores come from shooting rapidly. The launchers can fire six objects per second. My thumb grew numb.

Sensory overload?

Like a shooting gallery, different targets have different values and effects. If you hit a water balloon you get sprayed with mist. You can also take aim at ducks, trees, plates and little green aliens. I picked off high-point objects lurking at the bottom of the screen.

At one point I felt as though I was suffering from sensory overload. There were objects shattering, oversized toys looming nearby, variations on the movie's signature song, "You've Got a Friend in Me," filling the air.

But my inner game-boy was challenged and competition with seatmates added fun and intensity to the experience.

Although nobody will need special skills or training, I found the ring-toss game to be the most challenging, requiring the most patience, accuracy and finesse.

Disney purists who think each attraction should carry a strong storyline might be disappointed with Mania. The interaction with the Toy Story characters is peripheral to the game-playing. We were told that the action takes place under a bed, amid other toys, and that the scale of the ride is intended to make you feel toy-sized. But once the game is on, size doesn't matter.

Cutting down to toy size

To set the mood for riders, the toys are out in force before you even enter the attraction, which took over the old Who Wants to Be a Millionaire -- Play It space.

Oversized green army men, Tinkertoys, used crayons and citizens of the Barrel of Monkeys dominate the entrance. A gigantic night light and the cloud motif from Andy's room in the movies greets you in the entry hall. The next room features jumbo-sized Candyland on the wall, Chutes and Ladders on the ceiling, king-sized Disneyland View-Master wheels alongside large checkers, dominoes and Old Maid cards. Guests grab 3-D glasses from a hutch constructed of Lincoln Logs. Parents grow nostalgic.

And just as we were about to overdose on the larger-than-life theme, we ran into Mr. Potato Head. The spud -- voiced by Don Rickles -- makes wisecracks. Some of his barbs are blatantly generic ("Hey, you in the Mickey Mouse shirt"), some of the jokes are groaners, and his computerized pacing could use tweaking. But Mr. Potato Head's moving parts -- lips, mustache, eyebrows, glowing eyes -- are spectacular.

And he responded to our pleas to pull out his right ear, a trademark stunt. That was a definite crowd pleaser.

Next, we entered a stairwell that built anticipation before the loading area. More toys and board games awaited us. Five short minutes later it was all over, and we were heading to the back of the line -- ready to play again.

If you go
•The opening date for Toy Story Mania is May 31, Disney says.

•The attraction is being previewed only for Disney World annual pass holders today and Monday at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Preview hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

•Pass holders should bring their annual pass and a photo ID. They will be checked before entering the area.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

Corey finished putting all of Kevin's pictures in a photo gallery for you all to see - http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/Toy-Story-Mania/index.htm

He kept them in order so you will get a chronological picture of our wait

 

[amyhughes]

I am in love with that queue area! It looks like the boys' bedroom!

I noticed as you were entering the attraction they shrink you down a bit with the perspective. The wall with the panelling and the nightlight etc. VERY VERY COOL! The Peter Pan View Finder, and the Candy Land Board were my favorites.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I thought the View Finder and nightlight were great! How cool! I am still having a hard time understanding the gun mechanism though.

 

[Minnie Lor]

Excellent blog and photos. I'll be there on May 21st and 22nd. Hope to ride twice. I sure hope it's not "AFRICA HOT".

 

[mouseaddicts]

Y'all are getting me wayyyy excited for our next trip!!!
I'm crossing my fingers & holding my breath that we will be able to get in while we're there in 11 days! I'm hoping for a "soft opening" at the very least .......... If not, I suppose we'll have to wait for July 4th week ........

So ..... will it be Africa Hot or Georgia Asphalt Hot Memorial Day Wknd? I know the week we're there for July 4th is Surface of the Sun Hot ............ and yet, we keep coming back! Being from GA, I'm familar with Georgia Asphalt Hot ...... barefoot summers growing up could be painful!

 

[crazydisneyman]

I am really glad to see that Imagineering is still alive at Disney. This line cue looks AWESOME! It is also nice to see that Disney is catering to the little boy. I hope they add a Toy Story character breakfast soon!

 

[amyhughes]

DITTO!!! What he said. I would love to see them incorporate more little boy things throughout DHS. Maybe this will give the push it needs to make it more than a one day park. I know in the chat last night the discussion came up of DHS needing some work. I know from personal experience on our trip that if your child is under 6 there is not a whole lot that you can really do. Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid, Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground and Fantasmic maybe the Great Movie Ride, Beauty and the Beast, MuppetVision, and StarTours if they will sit and are interested. But the rest of the shows, and attractions require a child who is a developmentally older with a longer attention span.

And YES a boy character meal would be great!!! Pirates or Pixar would have us calling at 180 days I can tell you that!

 

[CastawayJP]

We were at Epcot yesterday, but I really wanted to get over to the studios to at least see the outside of the ride... Oh well I guess I'll have to wait...