This appeared on the Intercot message boards about a week ago from a very credible poster there who appears to work at WDI.
(entire thread can be found here: http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=129040 )
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Toy Story Mania is a blast.
For those wondering about the length of the attraction- it's about 5 and a half minutes of action through 5 different games (31 seconds each) and a lightning bonus round at the end with an introduction to get you up to speed on how to operate your spring-action shooter.
And for your first tip on how to get a good score (so you have the edge on your competition)- in our testing we've consistently found that those who try to take out as many targets as quickly as possible score higher than trying to individually target the very tempting high value targets in the games.
You get a substantial set of bonus points if you're able to clear out groups of similar targets on the screen which more than makes up for the really high value targets (often up in the edges of the screen which are difficult to hit).
So at the risk of developing carpel tunnel, go for speed over accuracy and you should do well and have fun in the process
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Warning! The details I'm about to list here could be considered SPOILERS for the ride, so don't say you haven't been warned if you want to remain surprised for the actual attraction.
Really, this is your last chance to turn back!
Here are some more details about Toy Story Mania- first, what's the backstory? Andy (who you may remember from the Toy Story movies) just got a new toy- the Toy Story Midway Games playset which includes 5 different games, and a toy tram with spring action shooters on them.
While Andy is away at dinner with his family, the toys decide to break out the new toy and set up their own midway and they're inviting you along to explore their version of the midway, by shrinking you down to the size of a toy and getting to explore the playset.
Your vehicle has a screen which will show you your score for the current game, your cumulative score and accuracy statistics always available until the finale. The vehicles dispatch as a train of 2 connected cars, each car holding 4 riders or 8 riders per tram (2 riders on each side, seated back to back). The 2 cars can swivel and turn independently of each other which makes for a pretty crazy ride.
Mr. Potato Head, being the talker that he is of course serves as the midway barker, encouraging you to come aboard and test your skills. It's a truly impressive animatronic especially when it comes to the animation/programming work that was done (Imagineers like John Cutry, principal show animator and Eric Swapp, principal show programmer and members of the team really outdid themselves here on the Potato Head figure).
Of course, there's a warm up so you get familiar with operating your spring-action shooter (a pie-toss anyone?) before the real fun starts.
Now, your spring-action shooter and the ammo it fires are color-coded, so you should have no problem tracking your shots and perhaps what's most impressive is that they behave as you'd expect them to- so if you're launching a baseball you can follow and track the trajectory of the baseball the entire time (makes it much easier than on Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin/Astro Blasters in trying to track where you're aiming and actually shooting)
The first game you come across is Hamm & Eggs hosted by Hamm and Rex. It's a traditional knockdown game, where you use eggs to knock down targets.
The next game on your tour is hosted by Bo Peep and called Bo Peep's Baa Loon Pop. Here the gameplay involves using your spring action shooter to toss darts to pop balloons.
Now, of course some of the balloons might be a surprise (maybe a water balloon perhaps?)
Next up is a visit with Sarge and the Green Army Men's Shoot Camp with a version of a baseball toss and trying to knock down plates.
Next, it's Buzz Lightyear along with his alien friends hosting a ring toss style game (aka Flying Tossers) and just like the real midway ring toss game, this game is a lot more difficult than the others.
For the finale, you'll join Woody, Jessie, the Prospector and Bullseye where you get to shoot rubber suction cup tipped arrows at targets through Woody's Roundup (the Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery).
This is a double stage game, that ends with a final lightning round where the idea is to try and shoot targets as fast as possible.
There are still 2 more show scenes to go through on the attraction- first up, well it wouldn't be a midway with games if you couldn't earn prizes, so you'll come across a virtual prize booth where the Toy Story characters will all return and let you know what sort of prize you've won based on your performance. (yay for virtual plush!) Don't be alarmed here when your score disappears from the screen in your vehicle.
Then in the final area, you'll get to see just how your score compares to everyone who's ever played the game. The ride will calculate stats on hourly top scores, the best score of the day, month, year and of all time and will show you exactly where your performance falls.
There are quite a number of hidden easter eggs and bonus targets to be found in the game, so there will always be a challenge and incentive to ride multiple times to try and unlock them all.
And being that the games are computer based there's also the possibility of updating them literally overnight- so during the holidays for example, we could replace those baseballs with snowballs. The possibilities and adjustments to the games make it exciting to always keep things fresh and new.
(entire thread can be found here: http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=129040 )
------
Toy Story Mania is a blast.
For those wondering about the length of the attraction- it's about 5 and a half minutes of action through 5 different games (31 seconds each) and a lightning bonus round at the end with an introduction to get you up to speed on how to operate your spring-action shooter.
And for your first tip on how to get a good score (so you have the edge on your competition)- in our testing we've consistently found that those who try to take out as many targets as quickly as possible score higher than trying to individually target the very tempting high value targets in the games.
You get a substantial set of bonus points if you're able to clear out groups of similar targets on the screen which more than makes up for the really high value targets (often up in the edges of the screen which are difficult to hit).
So at the risk of developing carpel tunnel, go for speed over accuracy and you should do well and have fun in the process
-----
Warning! The details I'm about to list here could be considered SPOILERS for the ride, so don't say you haven't been warned if you want to remain surprised for the actual attraction.
Really, this is your last chance to turn back!
Here are some more details about Toy Story Mania- first, what's the backstory? Andy (who you may remember from the Toy Story movies) just got a new toy- the Toy Story Midway Games playset which includes 5 different games, and a toy tram with spring action shooters on them.
While Andy is away at dinner with his family, the toys decide to break out the new toy and set up their own midway and they're inviting you along to explore their version of the midway, by shrinking you down to the size of a toy and getting to explore the playset.
Your vehicle has a screen which will show you your score for the current game, your cumulative score and accuracy statistics always available until the finale. The vehicles dispatch as a train of 2 connected cars, each car holding 4 riders or 8 riders per tram (2 riders on each side, seated back to back). The 2 cars can swivel and turn independently of each other which makes for a pretty crazy ride.
Mr. Potato Head, being the talker that he is of course serves as the midway barker, encouraging you to come aboard and test your skills. It's a truly impressive animatronic especially when it comes to the animation/programming work that was done (Imagineers like John Cutry, principal show animator and Eric Swapp, principal show programmer and members of the team really outdid themselves here on the Potato Head figure).
Of course, there's a warm up so you get familiar with operating your spring-action shooter (a pie-toss anyone?) before the real fun starts.
Now, your spring-action shooter and the ammo it fires are color-coded, so you should have no problem tracking your shots and perhaps what's most impressive is that they behave as you'd expect them to- so if you're launching a baseball you can follow and track the trajectory of the baseball the entire time (makes it much easier than on Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin/Astro Blasters in trying to track where you're aiming and actually shooting)
The first game you come across is Hamm & Eggs hosted by Hamm and Rex. It's a traditional knockdown game, where you use eggs to knock down targets.
The next game on your tour is hosted by Bo Peep and called Bo Peep's Baa Loon Pop. Here the gameplay involves using your spring action shooter to toss darts to pop balloons.
Now, of course some of the balloons might be a surprise (maybe a water balloon perhaps?)
Next up is a visit with Sarge and the Green Army Men's Shoot Camp with a version of a baseball toss and trying to knock down plates.
Next, it's Buzz Lightyear along with his alien friends hosting a ring toss style game (aka Flying Tossers) and just like the real midway ring toss game, this game is a lot more difficult than the others.
For the finale, you'll join Woody, Jessie, the Prospector and Bullseye where you get to shoot rubber suction cup tipped arrows at targets through Woody's Roundup (the Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery).
This is a double stage game, that ends with a final lightning round where the idea is to try and shoot targets as fast as possible.
There are still 2 more show scenes to go through on the attraction- first up, well it wouldn't be a midway with games if you couldn't earn prizes, so you'll come across a virtual prize booth where the Toy Story characters will all return and let you know what sort of prize you've won based on your performance. (yay for virtual plush!) Don't be alarmed here when your score disappears from the screen in your vehicle.
Then in the final area, you'll get to see just how your score compares to everyone who's ever played the game. The ride will calculate stats on hourly top scores, the best score of the day, month, year and of all time and will show you exactly where your performance falls.
There are quite a number of hidden easter eggs and bonus targets to be found in the game, so there will always be a challenge and incentive to ride multiple times to try and unlock them all.
And being that the games are computer based there's also the possibility of updating them literally overnight- so during the holidays for example, we could replace those baseballs with snowballs. The possibilities and adjustments to the games make it exciting to always keep things fresh and new.
4 weeks exactly till i go down, hope that it's open if so I'll <3 Disney for the rest of my life especially if I can get an opening day pin!I'll destroy anyone who gets in my way!:fork:
