Toy Story Mania
(photos below)

On Saturday, May 10, Aronda attended the PassHolder Preview for the new Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Photography isn't allowed inside the attraction (as it wouldn't work anyway, with the 3-D projection systems in use), but she was able to take some pictures of the outside of the building as well as the preshow area. Have a look:

Mickey Avenue has been totally transformed: no longer a simulated-asphalt lane, it now has more of a courtyard feel to it

The Green Army Men are busy at work getting the Scrabble board lowered into place--see below for a photo of where it goes!

Both sides of the street have been redesigned--a compelling and pleasant atmosphere here!

FastPASS distribution is located in the same place as it was for Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Play It!

FastPASS machines themed to match the rest of the area. They weren't operating during the 
PassHolder Preview, but the return time board was lit for effect

Entrance to Toy Story Mania. Note the larger-than-life toys. The theming inside is designed to give a "toy's eye view" of the world

As you enter the building, the walls stretch high. The nightlight is well above Guest head level and is very, very large.

Someone hasn't cleaned up his room! These huge toys are everywhere, and Guests wind their way among them.

Candyland game board becomes a wall in this structure. 
Look to the left corner (not in this photo, but when you visit the attraction) to see a stack of checkers holding up the ceiling.

The monkeys continue inside the preshow area. Notice the ceiling. It's the Scrabble board that the Green Army Men were lowering 
into place while you were outside. This building is really a construction of toys--created by the toys themselves!

Mr. Potato Head talks, sings, tells corny jokes and panders for applause and compliments. 
He also removes and reinstalls his right ear while Guests watch!

A Lincoln Log cabin is the pickup point for the 3-D glasses. After this area, the queue leads up a flight of stairs.

After picking up 3-D glasses, the queue leads up a stairway and then back down into the loading area. The "game trams" are mounted two units to a platform, with seating for (2) Guests per side of each unit, back to back, for a total of (8) Guests per platform. 

Inside the attraction, there are a total of (6) interactive "shooting" areas, one is for practice; the others contribute to your score. The game controllers are stylized gun-shaped contrivances, with a pull-string to actuate the firing mechanism. The game is very realistic, your controller fires such items as pies (in the case of the practice round), rings, darts, etc. in real time into the 3-D images, making for a realistic interactive feel to this game. The track is fairly short, with lots of "hairpins" to have your tram going back and forth among the various game areas. 

This is a very well-themed attraction from the time a Guest approaches the building all the way through to the exit. A nice feature here is the "cross-generational" interest it's certain to have: youngsters who like Toy Story will love it, videogamers of all ages will like the realistic video game aspect, and adults will enjoy the game and the quality of theming. The game itself is easy enough to please inexperienced Guests, but challenging enough to keep teens and adults engaged. 

We look forward to the grand opening of this one!

Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios -- Fun for the whole family, “Toy Story Mania!” will 
immerse guests into the “Toy Story” world as never before. Donning 3-D glasses, guests shrink 
to the size of a toy, and hop into fanciful ride vehicles that travel and twist along a colorful 
midway-themed route. It will be a featured attraction in summer 2008 for guests of Disney's 
Hollywood Studios - renamed next January from Disney-MGM Studios. 
Walt Disney World Resort is in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Toy Story Mania, the new attraction being constructed in the building on Mickey Avenue formerly occupied by Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Play It! is reported to be an interactive adventure utilizing the so-called CAVE technology to create virtual scenes. Below, check out the construction progress as the building is updated for the new attraction!

Aronda has been watching the construction, and will continue to add photos on this page as she takes them. Check back for updates--and new photos!

Toy Story Mania! Fun Facts

In General...

• Each ride vehicle weighs as much as 8,580 Woody dolls.
• It would take 5,026 toy soldiers lined up end-to-end to make up the total track length.
• Toy Story Mania! is the first time that Walt Disney Imagineering is creating an attraction for two Disney Parks simultaneously.
• It has been estimated that, each day, guests may break over one million virtual plates using the spring-action shooters.
• Riders in the Sky, the award winning group that wrote the songs that Mr. Potato Head performs as part of the attraction, is the same group that wrote "Woody's Roundup" for the "Toy Story" feature films.
• This is the first attraction that Walt Disney Imagineering designed where the Imagineers had to wear 3-D glasses to art direct all the black-light paint elements.
• The murals located in the load area at Disney's Hollywood Studios are the biggest murals painted since Epcot was built.
• In order to create a show that responds not only to every pull of a guest's spring-action shooter, but also every move their midway tram makes, there are over 150 computers communicating over multiple networks throughout the attraction.
• At Toy Story Mania! every guest gets to experience life at the size of a toy. So in Andy's room, a 5 foot 6 inch person will feel about 14" tall.
• More time was spent programming Mr. Potato Head than for any other Audio-Animatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
• Mr. Potato Head will be able to say more lines of dialogue than any Audio-Animatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
• The Mr. Potato Head Audio-Animatronics figure is the first time that an Audio-Animatronics figure can remove a body part and re-attach it (in the case of his ear).
• The Mr. Potato Head Audio-Animatronics figure has new, highly expressive and animated eyes that can look directly at a particular guest in the queue when speaking to him/her.
• Mr. Potato Head marks the first Audio-Animatronics figure whose mouth appears to form words and vowel sounds.

The Game Itself...

• In each of the Toy Story Mania! games, there is at least one "easter egg" -- targets that can trigger the appearance of bonus high-value targets and other changes in the scene.
• Toy Story Mania! is the first time that Woody and Buzz Lightyear (along with some of their friends) from the Disney-Pixar "Toy Story" films appear together in a ride-through attraction.
• Watch for loose change in the prize scene -- Hamm is carrying more than $6 in coins when his cork pops.

Nice to Know...

• Because of the indoor nature of the attraction and to keep the guest experience fun for all, flash photography or video is not allowed on Toy Story Mania!
• Everyone can play! There is no height or age restriction for guests to experience Toy Story Mania!
• Actual ride time aboard Toy Story Mania! is a full five minutes.
• Ready, aim, fire! Players have 30 seconds in each game play area to score points.
• A beeline to fun! Toy Story Mania! utilizes Disney's FASTPASS, a return voucher offering little or no waiting time at select attractions. Single riders also have their own queuing option for Toy Story Mania!

The following information was taken from the brand new Disney Vacation Club magazine, Disney Files, winter issue: 

What We Love about Toy Story Mania

Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts: If there's one thing everyone on the Disney Files staff has in common, it's impatience...and good looks. (And humility.) But let's stick with the impatience. Case in point: Toy Story Mania!

Imagineers are hard at work on the virtual-target-shootin', high-score-bustin', every-age-pleasin' attraction, which is slated to open in summer 2008 at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts as The Year of a Million Dreams continues. The interactive ride will immerse Guests in the ultimate midway competition, where they'll shoot for high scores, bragging rights and that proud feeling that comes from outscoring your nine-year-old. (Or the quiet shame that comes from the kid embarrassing you beyond belief.)

Fueled by our inability to wait until next summer, we took a sneak peek behind the scenes at Walt Disney Imagineering. Here's what we loved most about what we saw:

The characters: From Woody to Buzz to Rex and Hamm, there's nothing like an anthropomorphic toy to bring out the kid in everyone. (Except maybe a spring-action shooter. More on that in a moment.)

The effects: The cutting-edge visual effects will put you in the middle of the action, and there are a few surprises that you'll not only see, but feel. (We'd tell you more, but we'd lose our backstage access, and that would be sad.)

The spring-action shooter: It's the nifty device you'll use to shoot darts at balloons, rings at aliens, eggs at barnyard targets and more. Not only does this thing look cool, but we're pretty sure it'll qualify as your cardio exercise for the day. (Either that or we really need to hit the gym.)

The Mr. Potato Head Boardwalk Barker: This five-foot-tall Audio-Animatronics character will spice up the "pre-show" by interacting with Guests in real-time, inviting gamers of all ages to "step right up" to the challenges ahead. (Not since microwave fries have we been this excited about potatoes.)

The unexpected: Anyone who has unlocked an "Easter egg" on a DVD knows how much fun it is to discover a digital surprise. The Toy Story Mania! games are loaded with these hidden twists, making every ride a new experience. (Let the obsessive Web postings begin!)

READY, AIM...FUN!: Seated in one of the new attraction vehicles, Walt Disney Imagineers Ira Frank (left) 
and John Noonan (right) test the new “spring-action shooters” which Disney's Hollywood Studios guests 
will use to score points when the Toy Story Mania! attraction opens summer 2008. Standing at right 
is Jim Jannick. An innovative ride-game experience coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios summer 2008, 
Toy Story Mania! combines memorable film characters from Disney-Pixar classics "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" 
with games that match their motion picture personas. Donning 3-D glasses, guests seemingly shrink to the 
size of a toy and hop fanciful ride vehicles that follow a midway-themed route. At each game booth, 
they aim for animated targets using a special spring-action shooter. The challenges are designed to 
be fun for everyone from beginners to serious gamers -- and, for Disney theme park guests on both coasts, as 
Toy Story Mania! also is coming to Disneyland Resort in 2008. It's all part of Disney Parks' Year of a Million 
Dreams celebration for 2008.

These photos taken Saturday, August 18, 2007:

Mickey Avenue has been recently (within the past several weeks) blocked to through traffic by a large construction wall. To add to the excitement surrounding this new attraction, Disney has just recently added some posters to this wall. Check out the photos!