Toy Story Land expansion announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

HMF

HMF

Well-Known Member
CJ @ Disney said:
Is Toy Story Midway Mania moving? Are they rebuilding the entire attraction within Toy Story Land, or are Toy Story Mania and Toy Story Midway Mania two different attractions?
Click to expand...
The name Toy Story Midway Mania! is used in in-park signage. Toy Story Mania is the name the marketing department refers to it because the marketing geniuses who made Rapunzel "Tangled" and the Snow Queen "Frozen" feel that 8 syllables is too much for average consumers to understand but 6 syllables is fine. They have been pulling this crap for the past 9 years.
 
Andrew C

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
HMF said:
The name Toy Story Midway Mania! is used in in-park signage. Toy Story Mania is the name the marketing department refers to it because the marketing geniuses who made Rapunzel "Taangled" and the Snow Queen "Frozen" feel that 8 syllables is too much for average consumers to understand but 6 syllables is fine. They have been pulling this crap for the past 9 years.
Click to expand...

They called the Rapunzel movie "Tangled" and the Snow Queen movie "Frozen" in an attempt to appeal to a larger demographic (not just little girls) They learned something from "The Princess and the Frog"
 
HMF

HMF

Well-Known Member
Andrew C said:
They called the Rapunzel movie "Tangled" and the Snow Queen movie "Frozen" in an attempt to appeal to a larger demographic (not just little girls) They learned something from "The Princess and the Frog"
Click to expand...
Yeah, Imagine if Walt was so concerned about demographics that he changed the name of his fairy tale movies to "hip"-sounding words. Where would we be today?
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
HMF said:
We are going to discuss demographics in a park that was founded on a philosophy of "A place where the parents and the children can have fun together."
Click to expand...
That does not now nor has it ever meant that everyone will like everything, it only means, then and now, that the whole family can participate if they so desire. That concept is stubbornly confused by those that enjoy making useless negative statements. If anyone can possibly tell me what it would take to consistently make a 4 years old and a 60 years old enjoy the same thing, I'm ready to listen. An adult that has even the slightest ability to release their inner child can and will have fun with their family no matter what it is that they are doing. It is to enjoy with and because they are doing it together, not that it has achieved the same mental or thrill status regardless of age.
 
Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
That does not now nor has it ever meant that everyone will like everything, it only means, then and now, that the whole family can participate if they so desire. That concept is stubbornly confused by those that enjoy making useless negative statements. If anyone can possibly tell me what it would take to consistently make a 4 years old and a 60 years old enjoy the same thing, I'm ready to listen. An adult that has even the slightest ability to release their inner child can and will have fun with their family no matter what it is that they are doing. It is to enjoy with and because they are doing it together, not that it has achieved the same mental or thrill status regardless of age.
Click to expand...

Apparently you can't if it's themed to a backyard with toys in it. Lol
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
That does not now nor has it ever meant that everyone will like everything, it only means, then and now, that the whole family can participate if they so desire. That concept is stubbornly confused by those that enjoy making useless negative statements. If anyone can possibly tell me what it would take to consistently make a 4 years old and a 60 years old enjoy the same thing, I'm ready to listen. An adult that has even the slightest ability to release their inner child can and will have fun with their family no matter what it is that they are doing. It is to enjoy with and because they are doing it together, not that it has achieved the same mental or thrill status regardless of age.
Click to expand...
Some of the most popular and cherished of Disney's works in film and themed entertainment are enjoyed by people of all ages. The Toy Story films themselves would be part of this group of works.
 
Princess Leia

Princess Leia

Well-Known Member
DisneyExpert said:
Thank you so much for this post. This is what I've been trying to express but I couldn't put it into words for some reason. It's the themed design equivalent of carving an eagle head into a coaster car and saying that it's themed to a forest. This area just has no real sense of story to me.

Why is Andy playing with his midway set at the same time as his Buzz Lightyear little green men playset? All of which he's decided to set up next to his western village and Al's Toy Barn playsets. Thankfully, he also brought his roller coaster toy. Unfortunately he has to use poor Slinky Dog as the car because the actual toy coaster car is... missing? Who knows. And my goodness, why is this child always using these indoor toys in the backyard? Andy is a strange one apparently.
Click to expand...
Sooo, story time. When my sister and I were kids, we had a couple of sets of Lincoln Logs. One of the sets came with a couple of tiny cowboys and some horses.

We also had an entire closet of Disney toys (two drawers alone were dedicated to The Lion King, but that's another story), including a 'Woody's Roundup' set that featured Woody, Jessie, Stinky Pete, Bullseye, and some of Jessie's animal friends. Naturally, Woody's Roundup made its way to the Lincoln Log container (and the LL cowboys became child cowboys due to their tiny sizes compared to the Roundup Gang).

Shortly after, the Roundup Gang got some friends. A lot of friends, who really had no reason to be there, but we were imaginative kids. Friends like Esmeralda & Phoebus, Meeko, Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas & John Smith, Belle, Peter Pan & Captain Hook... and Luke and Leia (later joined by Padme and Anakin). Belle and Peter Pan became Woody and Jessie's children, but occasionally Belle was Luke & Leia's kid (we didn't have a Han action figure, unfortunately, so we had to pretend that incest wasn't a thing). One time I made a noose out of Lincoln logs and yarn and staged an execution for Captain Hook.

As for why is Andy playing with indoor toys in the backyard? Idk, but my entire Barbie collection ended up in the bathtub at one point, my Beanie Babies wore Barbie clothes, and I turned my American Girl dolls into the Beatles.

As a child whose imagination ran rampant, I don't really see anything wrong with the backstory of Andy's backyard toy set-up.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
I get the disappointment that the Slinky Dog coaster's theming as it initially appeared in artwork was reduced. But, that's kind of a separate issue from the 'exposed coaster.' Even with the hill and valley and the extra loop, Slinky Dog was always going to be an exposed coaster.

The problem that some seem to have with TSL is that they're holding it up to the standards of the Potter Lands, Pandora, and what we expect of SWLs. But those lands aren't primarily for grade school children. While some children do like those movies/IPs, they are clearly aimed for older children and even adults. But Toy Story is aimed for the younger children (even though adults can like it, too). TSL is a different demographic and a different creature. TSL is aiming for the Storybook Circus crowd.

Just like rides can be E Ticket or D, C, B, or A. Then we should realize some 'Lands' aren't going to be E-Lands, but maybe D or C Lands. When Dinorama gets re-done, will you hold it up to the expectation of a Pandora?

When we look at the old-style 'lands' (e.g., Adventure Land, Fantasy Land, etc...) of DL or MK, we can ding them for bad sight lines or for a mish-mash of stories/IPs. Or for a lack of extensive or inconsistent theming (like confusing 'southern' with 'frontier', or having a Haunted House not fit with either land it abuts). Would anyone consider Tommorowland an "E-Land" as it is now?

So, TSL may only be a D- or C-Land, and purposely so for the demographic it's aiming at.

I've recently had people telling me how important it is to have a bunch of B-, C-, and D-Ticket rides to absorb crowds without creating the problem of an onslaught of even greater crowds. It seems TSL fits that build.

It's just frustrating that the big E-Tickets they're supposed to supplement won't be until a year later.
Click to expand...
When the land was announced it was described as having Cars Land type theming. Toy Story as an IP simply doesn't lend itself to that. Oversized props feel more like decorations than theming even if the ruse is that we're in Andy's back yard.
 
Castle Cake Apologist

Castle Cake Apologist

Well-Known Member
Princess Leia said:
Sooo, story time. When my sister and I were kids, we had a couple of sets of Lincoln Logs. One of the sets came with a couple of tiny cowboys and some horses.

We also had an entire closet of Disney toys (two drawers alone were dedicated to The Lion King, but that's another story), including a 'Woody's Roundup' set that featured Woody, Jessie, Stinky Pete, Bullseye, and some of Jessie's animal friends. Naturally, Woody's Roundup made its way to the Lincoln Log container (and the LL cowboys became child cowboys due to their tiny sizes compared to the Roundup Gang).

Shortly after, the Roundup Gang got some friends. A lot of friends, who really had no reason to be there, but we were imaginative kids. Friends like Esmeralda & Phoebus, Meeko, Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas & John Smith, Belle, Peter Pan & Captain Hook... and Luke and Leia (later joined by Padme and Anakin). Belle and Peter Pan became Woody and Jessie's children, but occasionally Belle was Luke & Leia's kid (we didn't have a Han action figure, unfortunately, so we had to pretend that incest wasn't a thing). One time I made a noose out of Lincoln logs and yarn and staged an execution for Captain Hook.

As for why is Andy playing with indoor toys in the backyard? Idk, but my entire Barbie collection ended up in the bathtub at one point, my Beanie Babies wore Barbie clothes, and I turned my American Girl dolls into the Beatles.

As a child whose imagination ran rampant, I don't really see anything wrong with the backstory of Andy's backyard toy set-up.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'd like to clarify that I understand that children are imaginative. I was a child once myself, by the way. And as a lover of Disney Parks who wanted to be an Imagineer, I was a child with a very active imagination. So I get it, it makes sense because he's a child.

That doesn't change the fact that the Toy Story Land aesthetic comes off as cheap. It looks more like over sized toy decorations and just doesn't translate well to a physical environment. The existing Toy Story Playlands don't offer any kind of immersive experience and are clearly just somewhat generic theme park rides meant to look like toys surrounded by more toys. This land will feature better attractions, but will be decorated the same way as the others.

There is a significant difference between themed design / story telling through place making vs. just throwing up a bunch of "good enough" props that fit the assigned theme and calling it a day. This is themed decorating, and is not what Imagineering is known for.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom