To start this pre-preview off, for those of you avoiding spoilers please click on the back button. Now that that is taken care of...
I rode/toured Toy Story Midway Mania in the not too distant past. Pardon my obscurity, but it is necessary for my own sake. Obviously due to the time frame everything was not complete and work was being done while I was there, so some things I experienced were not like the “final” experience will be.
Starting outside in Pixar Place, the first things you will notice are the Green Army Men and the Barrel o’ Monkeys on the buildings and such. Of course many of you are now aware of these thanks to recent pictures. There has been some question as to whether the monkeys are permanent or not, and my answer to that is that as far as I know they are. Moving towards to the entrance to TSMM you will see a Tinker-toy built structure at the entrance holding up the Toy Story Midway Mania sign. Yes, that’s right, Midway Mania. Don’t ask why, I have no idea. The sign has the usual Toy Story logo in the top left with “MIDWAY” spelled out on scrabble pieces next to it. Underneath “MIDWAY” is “MANIA” spelled out with those alphabet-blocks from childhood arranged in some form of randomness. Other toys/decorative pieces are on the sign and the surrounding area, but you will just have to see for yourself.
Moving to head in, you have the “standard” choice of Standby, Fastpass, or Single Rider lines to enter. All three enter into the building straight and will be able to briefly see the load/unload station. At this point the standby line will veer to the left while the fastpass and single rider lines continue somewhat straight to the 3D glasses collection point which I will come back to in a bit. Weaving through the standby line there are many toy-esque items to look at. Multitudes of crayons (all with varying usage levels!), various game pieces, and a ceiling painted with board games. If I remember correctly, they were Monopoly and Scrabble but I very easily could be wrong. Continuing forward at the “back” of the queue area is Mr. Potato head in all his glory, much like he is in the released picture of him. Unfortunately potato head was not operating the day and time I was there, but I have talked to others who have seen him and they say he is quite amazing. Now that we are getting close to loading, it is time to pick up our 3D glasses. The 3D glasses for all of the lines are in the windows of a Lincoln Log cabin, very clever! At this point all the lines head up stairs, in a circus-tent painted like pathway over the ride path and down to the load station.
The load station has wood floor and has a tent-like structure built over it out of tinker-toys. The walls are painted with various toy boxes and TSMM related items, and if I remember correctly is made to roughly look like Andy’s room. Not really sure why, but I didn’t pay that much attention to that so I’m not sure, but it does look quite amazing. Two ride vehicles of 8-passengers each load at a time in the station. Perhaps the first thing you will notice about the vehicles when you see them moving is the large “swing” of the undercarriage around turns. The turrets that we are all used to seeing are only a small part of the vehicle. Stepping in and pulling down the lapbar/shooter, we are ready to go! Keep in mind, the audio for the ride was not on for my ride through so I won’t be able to comment on that.
Moving surprisingly fast, we pull up at the introductory “pie toss” scene for a quick (literally!) introduction to the shooter. If you don’t get accustomed to the shooter quick enough, don’t worry you will pick it up quickly during the games. Up first is “Hamm & Eggs” in which you are tossing eggs at various animals in a farm setting. After going around the turn and pulling up at “Baa Loon Pop” we throw darts at balloons all around the scene. Here is where I experienced my first and only “4-D” effect, most likely due to work currently being done on the ride. Noticing the cloud with the black balloons on at the top left corner I “throw” some darts at them and to my surprise comes a blast of air and a very fine mist. It was very well done and not so overdone to actually “soak you”. Moving on we meet the Green Army men and try to throw baseballs at the moving plates all around the screen, all of which are doing something “military” like such as floating down the screen on a parachute. Finishing up with the Sarge, we blast into space and try to toss rings on the little green aliens with Buzz. This is by far the hardest game on the ride, mainly because it actually has a learning curve. Come the second time you ride TSMM you shouldn’t have any big issue. Finally we get to the “Rootin’ Tootin’ Shootin’ Gallery” where we are throwing suction cup darts at various targets throughout Woody’s Roundup. What is unique about this game you ask? Well… This last game is three screens long and your ride vehicle continues to move slowly forward as you play the game adding difficulty and more choices for your darts. Reaching the last screen your goal is to hit as many targets as fast as you can for bonus points. Rounding the corner brings you to the “prize” screen in which you are awarded a “prize” based on your performance and your final scores are displayed. Rounding the final turn back to the station are two smaller screens that are themed to resemble a certain handheld video game device to show the top scores on the attraction in whatever manner they decide. Returning to the station you disembark feeling pretty satisfied and realizing you had a pretty darn good time.
Now that I’ve gotten the games out of the way (for the most part, already common knowledge) here are my impressions. The games are a lot of fun and very easy to play, yet I can see them being hard to master. With the supposed easter eggs and all to find, there should be plenty of re-rideability. Both tracks offer the same experience for the most part so it does not really matter which one your vehicle takes. The 3D effect coming from your shooter works very well (better than I thought it would!), despite the fact that I was told the shooters in each vehicle had yet to be calibrated with the game system. Overall the inside of the ride looks quite a bit like the concept art released, however there are no flags hanging between two screens facing each other. The themeing between games was seemed sparce, but I probably missed it since I was looking at the score/accuracy screen with my riding partner and laughing about it. Like I said, this ride is a lot of fun and should be fun for riding again and again. I can see people becoming very competitive as they master the games. Perhaps the best part is due to the design of the shooter, you won’t have malfunctioning “triggers” like on Buzz and you will be able to play consistently every time you ride.
Does it live up to the hype? Well I can’t place a final judgement since the ride wasn’t “final” when I rode, but I can say that TSMM is a unique experience that lives up to the hype for the most part, however there will be some that will be disappointed because they made the ride out to be more than what it ever was meant to be, which is FUN FUN FUN!
Sorry I don’t have any pictures, not even personal pictures. (What you want me to lose my job?) If you have any questions I can try to answer them, but I can’t guarantee anything. I very easily could have left some details out. I’m not going to put this in the review section of the site since I don’t consider TSMM to be “final” when I rode it.
