Toy Story Mania!

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Toy Story Midway Mania! is an attraction located in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Toy Story Mania!
Toystorymania.jpg
The Mr. Potato Head Audio Animatronic located inside Toy Story Midway Mania!
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Land Pixar Place
Attraction type Dark Ride/Shooting Gallery
Theme Midway carnival games
Toy Story
Opening date May 31, 2008
Vehicle capacity 2
Ride duration 5:00 minutes
Fastpass + Yes (Group A)

Attraction History

The history of Toy Story Mania began in Disneyland in the year 2005. Imagineers Ken Raffety and Robert Coltrin were working on the Radiator Springs expansion for Disney's California Adventure, and the duo agreed that they needed to create another new attraction. While they were working, Rafferty and Coltrin were inspired by the new Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters attraction in Disneyland. Both Imagineers like the attraction and they decide that something similar could be added to Radiator Springs.

In order to make the attraction more interactive, the Imagineers took inspiration from a DisneyQuest attraction called Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold. On the Pirates attraction, guests shot toy cannons at an interactive screen, which then incorporated them into a ship battle. Raffety and Coltrin both thought that the shooting device used on the Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold would be a good addition for their new attraction. After being inspired by the Midway games located on Paradise Pier in Disney's California Adventure, Coltrin and Rafferty came up with an attraction that would be "traditional midway games that you can ride through, hosted by Toy Story characters". After developing the attraction in August and September 2005, Bob Iger green lit the attraction for construction. Imagineers also showed the head of Pixar, John Lasseter the idea, which he loved.

After the project was green lit, Imagineers went to the Los Angeles County Fair to play midway games and see how they worked. Their next task was coming up for a ride system to use in the attraction. Although initial plans called for a system similar to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, which had all the guests moving in one direction at the same speed (similar to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in Walt Disney World), Imagineers quickly realized that this ride system would not meet capacity demands. In order to solve this issue, Imagineers created a completely new ride system that allowed guests to rotate 360 degrees while and unitizing different interactive screens.

Due to the popularity of the attraction within Imagineering, Disney eventually decided to also bring the attraction to the (then) Disney-MGM Studios. Fortunately for Imagineers, the attraction fit almost perfectly into one of the abandoned soundstages in Pixar Place (the soundstages were formally used as part of the walking tour on the Backlot Tour). In order to have the new attraction blend in with the rest of Disney's Hollywood Studios, John Lasseter suggested having the facade of the attraction be based on the Pixar Studios. The ride finally opened as Toy Story Midway Mania! on May 31, 2008. In March 2015, Disney announced that Toy Story Midway Mania would be receiving a third track in 2016.

Attraction Plot

Backstory and Queue

According the backstory of the Toy Story Midway Mania!, when guests enter the queue for the attraction, they are shrunk down to the size of a toy. To reinforce the feeling that they have been shrunk down to the size of a toy, giant game pieces, crayons, and toys including a Barrel of Monkeys, View-Master reels and Little Golden Books can be found. The music in the queue was arranged and recorded by Jennifer Hammond who recorded over an hour of music based on the scores for the first two Toy Story films.

The end of the queue for Toy Story Midway Mania! features a large Mr. Potato Head Audio Animatronic who interacts with guests. Mr. Potato Head can sing, dance, tell corny jokes, pick out individual guests to interact with, and even reach up and remove his own ear! In the queue, guests also receive their 4D glasses which they will wear on the attraction.

On Toy Story Midway Mania! guests wear 4D glasses and board their ride vehicles in order to enter various Midway games which are hosted by Toy Story characters. Each mini game lasts approximately 30 seconds. After each round guests receive points, which are cumulative.

Pie Throw Practice Booth- Guests practice throwing virtual pies at targets. This mini game is used to introduce guests to the technology used in the attraction and awards no points. Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Jesse from the Toy Story franchise appear in this mini game.

Hamm & Eggs- In this mini game, guests enter a barn room where they throw eggs at various targets. The character Hamm from Toy Story makes an appearance in this mini game. The game also features the character Buttercup from Toy Story 3.

Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts- In this game, guests shoot darts at various balloons. The game is set on an island, as volcanoes and comets explode in the background. The characters Rex and Trixie from the Toy Story franchise make an appearance in this mini game. Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts was added to the attraction after the release of Toy Story 3 in 2010.

Green Army Men Shoot Camp- In this game guests shoot baseballs while attempting to break various plates. The Green Army Men make an appearance in this mini game.

Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers- In this mini game, guests toss rings over the Squeeze Toy Aliens from the Toy Story franchise. Buzz Lighyear also makes an appearance in this mini game.

Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery-In this mini game, guests shoot suction-cup arrows at various targets. This mini game lasts the longest, and features different scenes. Woody, Bullseye and Jesse from the Toy Story franchise make appearances in this mini game.

Tips

In order to get more points on Toy Story Midway Mania! there are certain targets that guests should shoot in each scene.

Hamm and Eggs
In the corner of the screen (the side depends on which screen you are facing), shoot the fox that is on top of the hen house. After the target is hit, the house opens and guests can shoot the chickens inside which are worth either 1,000 or 2,000 points.

Also, if guests shoot the two pigs, which are located on the fence, a cat is revealed. The point value of hitting the cat increases after each hit, going from 500, to 100, 2000, 2000, 2000.

Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts

If guests shoot the six lava balloons, the volcano will erupt, spewing 500 point balloons.

After performing the above trick, guests can also shoot the balloons on the two comets located in the upper corners of the screen. If the balloons on the comets are shot three times, large comets with multiple balloons will come crashing into the middle of the screen.

Green Army Men Shoot Camp

Right after the beginning of the game, two plates worth 2000 points shoot up into the air. If both teammates hit the plates, a flurry of other high-value plates appears.

Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers

If guests hit all eight of the alien ships before one of them can re-spawn, the ship in the scene will launch. Its launch will reveal a monster that opens its mouth, allowing guests to shoot their rings into it. Each ring is worth 500 and then 1000 points per shot.

Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery

If guests shoot the plunger, knocking it into the saloon doors, a bunny will pop out along with eight targets on top of the building. Four of the targets are worth 500 points while the other four worth 1000.

In the mine cart scene, following the first three targets, a bat appears who is worth 1000 points if hit. If guests hit the three mine carts again, a second bat will appear, this time worth 5000 points. If guests successfully hit both bats, all of the mine carts will come out, with each cart being worth 5000 points.

In the game’s final scene, guests can hit the large target repeatedly. The point values of the target increase from 500 to 1000 to 2000 points.

Former Mini Games

Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop- In this mini game, guests threw darts at balloons. Bo Peep from the Toy Story franchise was featured in the game. Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop was replaced by Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts on May 21, 2010.

Fun Facts and Trivia

  • Toy Story Midway Mania! was the first attraction that Disney Imagineers created in two parks simultaneously.
  • The group Riders in the Sky wrote the little songs that the Mr. Potato Head Audio Animatronic sings.
  • Guests break over one million virtual plates on Toy Story Midway Mania! every day.
  • The Mr. Potato Head Audio Animatronic can say more lines of dialogue than any other Animatronic that Disney has ever created. He is also the only Audio Animatronic who can remove a piece of himself (his ear).
  • If you want to see the patent for the technology used on Toy Story Midway Mania! click below

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060072076%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20060072076&RS=DN/20060072076

References

http://allears.net/tp/mgm/tsm.htm

http://www.studioscentral.com/toy-story-midway-mania-trivia

http://www.studioscentral.com/history-toy-story-midway-mania

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/hollywood-studios/attractions/toy-story-mania/