Toy Story Land expansion announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[G00fyDad]

It was built by a dad for his two grown daughters.

Actually it was built for everyone of all ages.

"We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun- together." -Walt Disney

He just had the idea after watching his young daughters riding a carousel in a "dirty" park.

 

[Mike S]

You're dead if you only aim for kids.

We are getting Star Wars as well, sooooooooooo........... Yeah.

 

[P_Radden]

I got bored so I figured I'd take a crack at the 12 acre Toy Story Land plot. Both idea areas are exactly 12 acres:

This option would use the breezeway between Toy story and the former Capt. Jack thing. With this option mermaid and One man's could stay but earful tower would have to go. =(

With this option (the more likely IMO) Mermaid and One man's get bulldozed but Earful tower would remain.

I forgot, does the announced 12 acres include the existing TSMM building?

Here is another one I just made up. No idea how big of an area it is, just my rough guess as to the boundries to TSL:

I think Cypress Dr and Stage Ln will remain, creating the West and South boundaries to the land. MY question is will the land extend all the way to Cypress Dr or stop short in order to preserve some of those facilities south of the Earfull Tower?

And how in the world are they gonna theme the sides of that BA parking garage to hide it?

 

[DinoInstitute]

I thought it was 11 acres?

 

[ToTBellHop]

I thought it was 11 acres?

It is. Carsland is 12. Star Wars 14.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I know there are a fair share of people not enjoying this theming, but as someone said SWL will (imo) knock it out of the park in the theming department. This land is to bring an IP in that kids recognize and enjoy (I.e NOT Aerosmith or Twilight Zone) and do something with the park besides having empty buildings sitting around unused. I was actually sad on my last visit to the Studios because it was a barren, husk of a park. I think/hope they're doing TSL because it's something they can do quick(ish) to start drastically improving this park. If they decided to only focus on SWL everyone would be grumbling about having to wait so long for that. They recognize the park's poor state.

TSL won't be open until 2018. It will take as long to build as Diagon Alley.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Actually it should. It is built for kids. That is the target audience of Disney. Be happy that us as adults enjoy going to the parks but remember who it was built for

Obviously, you haven't been a Disney Parks fan long. WDW was NOT built for children.

 

[Mike S]

TSL won't be open until 2018. It will take as long to build as Diagon Alley.

That is just sad. Really sad.

 

[Jon81uk]

Where is this idea of it being different coming from? The art shows the exact same aesthetic as the Toy Story Playlands.

As this has a full themed custom Slinky Dog coaster in it. As well as a new green alien ride which looks like it is based on Maters junkyard jamboree which is a custom Disney Imagineering idea.
At Paris and HK the Playland contains themed off the shelf rides.

Therefore Toy StoryLand at DHS should be better than the other TS PlayLands as it contains custom rides designed specifically for that park.

 

[DinoInstitute]

That is just sad. Really sad.

Agreed.

To put this in perspective, the original Paris version was announced late 2009 and completed August 2010. I know ours is bigger and probably better, but still...

 

[Jon81uk]

Agreed.

To put this in perspective, the original Paris version was announced late 2009 and completed August 2010. I know ours is bigger and probably better, but still...

Its also going on land with existing buildings on it so demolition is required first. Plus it is custom ride tech rather than off-the-shelf. So two years construction is probably about right.

 

[DinoInstitute]

Its also going on land with existing buildings on it so demolition is required first. Plus it is custom ride tech rather than off-the-shelf. So two years construction is probably about right.

Yeah that's true.

I agree two years would be right, I'd be ok with a 2017 opening, but 2018 is kind of rediculous IMO

EDIT: Though they could have started demolition almost a year ago, even if they didn't have final plans yet. Plus we are yet to see what new tech is in this land

 

[FitzCats]

TSL won't be open until 2018. It will take as long to build as Diagon Alley.

Not sure where you are getting that information from as no timelines have been announced yet. I would imagine we would see this open up in 2017 at the latest as it seems highly improbable that DHS will sit nearly completely shuttered for three more years without getting anything new. If they are ambitious I could see this opening late 2016, but mid-to-late 2017 seems most likely at this point.

 

[Mawg]

Slinky Dog is being used in lieu of the the toy's actual coaster train. It is a toy roller coaster providing the experience of riding a roller coaster. The extra pieces of track do not change that the experience is one of riding a roller coaster; they just play up a theoretical different layout that would still be the experience of riding a [toy] roller coaster.

I don't know how many times I have come home from work to find (wooden in this case) train tracks up and down and all over the hall and entry way. They're older now and don't do this anymore but the train table was never enough. They wanted it to go everywhere. This is what kids do. Is it easy theming, yes, can you throw almost any "decoration" in it, yes. But is it on point to a child's imagination and how they play? Now the kids will get to experience from the toys point of view of what they built. I personally think this area is over kill with Toy Story and really want to see more Pixar movies represented but I do think kids are going to Love this area. I'm not going to slam Imagineering for understanding how a kids imagination works. You are correct, it is a roller coaster themed to a roller coaster that you get to ride but on a slinky dog. The kids get to ride something that in their imagination they always wanted to ride after they built it but couldn't because they were not a toy.

 

[Baltar]

Oh what the heck... let me ramble on to what I would like to see in a Toy Story Land in addition to what we know:

1) Toy Story Midway Mania
2) Slinky Roller Coaster
3) Alien thingy haha

I'd also like a well themed Pizza Planet with similar looks to the movie. I think the concept art shows a "Woody's area" so a Woody's Round Up show would be a nice addition.

An RC car racing attraction in the future would be cool as long as we can use better technology as to make the cars not as loud as the Tomorrowland Speedway

I hope they have a few large animatronics similar to Mr. Potato Head around the place. Hamm and Rex could have some good one liners!

 

[Baltar]

I don't how many times I have come home from work to find (wooden in this case) train tracks up and down and all over the hall and entry way. They're older now and don't do this anymore but the train table was never enough. They wanted it to go everywhere. This is what kids do. Is it easy theming, yes, can you throw almost any "decoration" in it, yes. But is it on point to a child's imagination and how they play? Now the kids will get to experience from the toys point of view of what they built. I personally think this area is over kill with Toy Story and really want to see move Pixar movies represented but I do think kids are going to Love this area. I'm not going to slam Imagineering for understanding how a kids imagination works. You are correct, it is a roller coaster themed to a roller coaster that you get to ride but on a slinky dog. The kids get to ride something that in their imagination they always wanted to ride after they built it but couldn't because they were not a toy.

Maybe before I am dead haha they'll add additional lands like Monstropolis. Monstropolis is a gold mine if you ask me. I don't particularly mind a Toy Story area. I just also hope we get additional areas down the road.

 

[gmajew]

I don't how many times I have come home from work to find (wooden in this case) train tracks up and down and all over the hall and entry way. They're older now and don't do this anymore but the train table was never enough. They wanted it to go everywhere. This is what kids do. Is it easy theming, yes, can you throw almost any "decoration" in it, yes. But is it on point to a child's imagination and how they play? Now the kids will get to experience from the toys point of view of what they built. I personally think this area is over kill with Toy Story and really want to see move Pixar movies represented but I do think kids are going to Love this area. I'm not going to slam Imagineering for understanding how a kids imagination works. You are correct, it is a roller coaster themed to a roller coaster that you get to ride but on a slinky dog. The kids get to ride something that in their imagination they always wanted to ride after they built it but couldn't because they were not a toy.

I can not agree with this more... My youngest who is 7 when he saw the art for this land went crazy and said how cool it was. Then he went and got all his green army men and set up a huge battle in our front hallway but this time he build a rollercoaster through it and was using his nerf gun to take out the little green men.

This land serves a huge purpose in this park and that is to give families a place to go and have something to do as Sunset Blvd is a no go if your kids are under 7 due to height restrictions. It gives the park much needed family friendly rides that this park needs bad.

It also gives a huge new property that just gives all of us something more to do and no it may not be what you want to do but I can assure you those kids that grew up on the Toy Story movies will want to experience it because to them this was their Mickey Mouse it was the movie of a generation... So you have that playing with future guest as well. Especially as they continue to get older and have kids on their own.

 

[Baltar]

I can not agree with this more... My youngest who is 7 when he saw the art for this land went crazy and said how cool it was. Then he went and got all his green army men and set up a huge battle in our front hallway but this time he build a rollercoaster through it and was using his nerf gun to take out the little green men.

This land serves a huge purpose in this park and that is to give families a place to go and have something to do as Sunset Blvd is a no go if your kids are under 7 due to height restrictions. It gives the park much needed family friendly rides that this park needs bad.

It also gives a huge new property that just gives all of us something more to do and no it may not be what you want to do but I can assure you those kids that grew up on the Toy Story movies will want to experience it because to them this was their Mickey Mouse it was the movie of a generation... So you have that playing with future guest as well. Especially as they continue to get older and have kids on their own.

Totally agree as well. I have 4 kids. 3 girls are 16, 13, and 7. One son is 5. My 7 yr old and 5 yr old have much less to do at DHS. It's hard in their head to grasp why we probably just don't go to MK for all 10 days of our next trip. lol. This area will be great for families with little kids and Dads like me who just really likes Toy Story.

 

[Mawg]

Maybe before I am dead haha they'll add additional lands like Monstropolis. Monstropolis is a gold mine if you ask me. I don't particularly mind a Toy Story area. I just also hope we get additional areas down the road.

me too

 

[Mawg]

There is also the argument that if you build something only for kids you are dead and the target audience needs to be broader. I agree with that statement but don't think this land is targeted only to kids. Instead of looking at who the target audience for this land is we should consider who the target audience isn't. I believe boys/males between the ages of about 14 to their mid 20's or 30's will not like this land. This is an audience Disney overlooks a lot and universal does a better job with but Star Wars should be able to grab the attention of.

Parents, will like this land. It reminds us of how our children play(ed) and their imaginations. Older girls are more likely to appreciate it only because of the double standard that they tend to do more babysitting and playing with younger children than teenage boys and young males.

So yes, it is not targeted to all but probably targets more than something like Tower or Terror (one of my favorite rides)