Nothing Disney promoted this morning will surprise anyone who has been following these projects for the past several years. But Disney did fill in some fresh detail about Toy Story Land.
This is the project that's going in on the old Studio Backlot Tour site at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The idea is that we are in Andy's backyard — reduced to the size of a toy — and playing with the other toys on some of the contraptions that Andy has built.
On the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster, we are riding on a track that Andy has built with his "Mega Coaster Play Kit," riding on the back of Slinky Dog, whom Andy has put on the track to test his stretching limits. Here is a concept video, with some computer-animated POV of the new ride:
Disney also showed concept art and a name for Toy Story Land's spinner ride: Alien Swirling Saucers.
This is a playset of Andy's where visitors will ride on spinning flying saucers, controlled by the Little Green Men, as "The Claw" looms above them, ready to strike.
The third attraction in Toy Story Land will be Toy Story Midway Mania, which is adding a third track to accommodate its overflowing crowds. Fans won't have to wait for that added capacity, though. The additional track will be ready to go by Memorial Day weekend.
But, no, Disney didn't reveal an opening date for the rest of Toy Story Land.
More from the "Awaken Summer" Event:
Wow! I can hardly wait.
I'm guessing that a lot of people are going to want this ride to be legitimately extreme, like the neighboring RocknRollercoaster. But even if it isn't, don't be that dissapointed. Actual extreme Disney thrill rides are very few and far between, as they should be. Remember, Disney is a family park first and foremost. While it is ok for them to have an extreme ride here or there, most of their stuff has to be something that can be enjoyed by all ages.
I am also worried that this land will be on the cheap, and today's info does.little to ease that concern.
Also, two years of construction for what? A kiddie coaster, a flat ride, a few themed buildings, and some oversized toys (clones of Paris/Hong Kong themeing)? In a closed-off area of the park that isn't surrounded by guest pathways? What's the deal? Six Flags does this kind of thing in a few months during the Winter. Does Disney have to send Imagineers on trips to see kids' backyards for inspiration or something? Stop making excuses.
Blame the greedy "suits" who lack any real creativity for
amazing new attractions.
They can't build these places fast enough in Asia, but have
lost the will to "take the lead" and amaze us.
They promote their latest parades and meet n greets like it's
supposed to be something special.
@AJ Hummel I don't get your logic. Sure it's a "fast" and cheap filler but If Star Wars is ready Disney needs something as cool in the park to level the crowds, that is not this cheap crap. Remember why Universal did build Transformers in 11 month? Because they needed an awesome ride in place to have as much pull against Diagon Alley.
Sure this is Disney's plan so they can sell overpriced 1:15 hour upcharge tickets in the morning and 3:00 hours upcharge tickets for the evening for Star Wars, just because they created the demand. It's just sad. I hope the Disney I once fell in love with will ever come back...maybe I will to.
I'm interested is seeing how this area stands near to Star Wars land. Will Guests appreciate a smaller area with a subtler theme than Star Wars... or will the intensity of being immersed in the Star Wars IP leave Toy Story land feeling cheap.
We will see!
The coaster looks to be somewhere between the Barnstormer/Gadget Coaster and BTMRR, but the limited views provided in the video look to be that the theming is rather minimal (even less than the Barnstormer). I hope that's just a function of the early visualization and limited views of the ride shown. However, this doesn't look like anything special. Hopefully, there's more to this expansion than meets the eye, because there's nothing there that makes me want to rush to DHS in 2019 (or 5 years later when the land actually opens following delays).
Positive Me: I love a coaster I can ride with my family and think it's a perfect fit.
Negative Me: Hmmmm....looks like "Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play Set Ver 2.0"
They really should have put the full Cars Land in, the rock work would have complemented the foresty area of Star Wars Land. Then they should put in an Indiana Jones area with the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.
I don't understand the popularity of Toy Story Mania, to me it's a D ticket at best. It just shows the lack of attractions in Hollywood Studios. Same with Soarin in Epcot - it's an E ticket maybe because of it's scale, but a D ticket in terms of creativity/immersion and experience. Basically a larger version of Circle Vision.
If you really felt you were in an individual hang glider, without being on a bench with other people, and seeing people's feet, then it would be awesome. The Simpsons ride addresses this somewhat. It sounds like the Avatar flying ride will be similar, I hope they find a way to make it more immersive.
So if you're disappointed if you can't go on Toy Story Mania due to long lines, be disappointed if you can't go on a little roller coaster since you can't handle it and this land only offers one flat ride that you'll likely skip anyways. Pass go to Star Wars Land.
I'm fine with a kiddie coaster and a spinner ride - whatever - but this land darned well better have a fully themed Pizza Planet restaurant. Skipping that would be the worst missed opportunity at Disney in recent memory.
As for Pizza Planet, I would imagine that since the original closed down, they'll prop up a newer and better looking one.
And everyone, relax. Let's wait until the land is open before we attack the theming and usage.
If I were a kid, I would much rather ride something like Ninja with my feet dangling and smooth ride in the trees than the Toy Story coaster. What a shame!
Maybe they should take Universal's tact of "under-promise, over-deliver" in the future (in other words, save concept art for the coffee table book).
So. She created these rides to pay him back.
Copies of already existing rides, equals government fun.
If you want to compare Toy Story Land with Cars Land, that is perfectly fine provided you also include Toy Story Midway Mania with the land. While the ride was built several years ago, it will become an official part of the land once it opens. Therefore, you can think of this new land as if DCA went and built just Radiator Springs Racers and then went back 5+ years later and added the rest of Cars Land. Now, let's compare the contents of the two lands:
Cars Land
-total size of 12 acres
-3 attractions (one E-ticket attraction and two C-ticket attractions)
-2 restaurants (counter service)
-several shops
-space for a meet and greet
Toy Story Land
-total size of 11 acres
-3 attractions (one E-ticket attraction, one D-ticket attraction, and one C-ticket attraction)
-1 or 2 restaurants (counter service)
-at least a couple shops
-space for a meet and greet, if not a specific meet and greet attraction
Looks pretty comparable to me.
Now, for the attractions themselves. Everyone here is likely familiar with Toy Story Midway Mania, so I'll skip over that one. Alien Swirling Saucers is the same ride system as Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. This is not simply Mad Tea Party rethemed, it is a completely different attraction that I would argue is the best standard flat ride at the entire Disneyland Resort. It is a great family attraction. As for Slinky Dog Dash, I see a lot of people calling this a kiddie coaster and that is selling the ride short. The coaster itself is actually going to be very similar to Manta at SeaWorld San Diego, just a bit less intense. While this information may not be 100% correct, I do trust my source, and they said that the coaster will be 2,000+ ft long, 40-50 ft tall, reach speeds of almost 40 MPH, contain two LSM launches, and should be comparable to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in terms of intensity. This is not some little kiddie coaster, it is a full size family coaster and I'd suggest not passing judgment based on the low quality animation that has been released. As for the ticket level, this is one example of why I prefer to define rides as "headliner", "major attraction", "minor attraction", etc. To me, Slinky Dog Dash is a major attraction, which I would equate with a D-ticket. That would put it below something like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Expedition Everest, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, or Space Mountain, which are headliners (aka E-tickets), but above something like Barnstormer or Primeval Whirl, which are what I would consider C-ticket coasters. I'd say it should be about on par with, or possibly slightly below, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and most would consider that a D-ticket attraction.
As far as the timeline goes, two years is actually pretty typical for a project of this scale. Think about everything that is required: demolition of everything currently present, groundwork to ensure stability and lay new utility lines, installation of the infrastructure, construction of guest pathways, construction of backstage elements, installation of theming, landscaping the area, and testing. Look at Wizarding World of Harry Potter at USH...that land began construction in September 2013 and opened in February 2016, a little under 2 1/2 years later. For comparison purposes, Wizarding World of Harry Potter is just over half the size of Toy Story Land. You also cannot compare the construction of a single attraction to that of a full land, as only a fraction of the work is required. Besides, a Six Flags roller coaster project usually has a construction timeline of 9-10 months...to make a May opening, work often begins in July or August. If nothing else, there would also be little incentive to get Toy Story Land open before 2018. With Avatar Land opening next year and Toy Story 4 releasing on June 15th, 2018, it makes the most sense to aim the land for this date.
Why not go straight for Star Wars Land? Because there are more hurdles for Star Wars Land in Florida than in California, so it is unlikely they would have been able to open the land before 2020. In California, Star Wars Land is going into a park that is already a 1.5 day park and is not causing major layout changes. Yes, parts of the park are temporarily closed, but most of Star Wars Land will be occupying former backstage area in California. In Florida, however, the placement of Star Wars Land requires not only permanent closure of sections of the park, but also a redesign of the parking lot and entrance road. This needs to be done before construction on the land can commence, so we will not see active Star Wars Land construction until late next year or even the first part of 2018 in Florida. Now, given that Disney's Hollywood Studios is currently a 1/2 day park according to most people, if you asked them whether they want to wait 4 years for Star Wars Land with no major addition before then or have Toy Story Land in 2 years and Star Wars Land in 5, I'm guessing you'd get at least 3 to 1 in favor of the second option.
Lastly, for those comparing the quality of this expansion to what can be found at Six Flags, I have to ask...which Six Flags are you visiting? I've been to most of the Six Flags parks (GE, LR, SFDK, SFGAdv, SFGAm, SFMM, SFNE, SFStL) and two of the Disney Resorts (California and Paris). If you're talking roller coaster quality, Six Flags obviously wins. However, even the worst theming I've ever seen at a Disney park (Toy Story Playland at Walt Disney Studios Paris) is still better than the best theming I've seen at a Six Flags park. I think people are just spoiled by Cars Land and Wizarding World of Harry Potter, when those types of lands are more the exception rather than the rule. Not every addition can receive a $400-600 million budget...you need the $150-200 million additions as well.
Look, I know this addition is not going to appeal to everyone and is probably not something that most will make a special trip for. However, I am betting it will be a big win for DHS and that it will win over some of those fans who are strongly opposed to it now. I just wish enthusiasts weren't so quick to complain about everything, especially when the project satisfactorily addresses multiple previous complaints.
I just think they could have done a better job with the Slinky coaster, at least from the footage that I saw. It looks pretty bare bones and lacking in imagination. Obviously, the finished product could be a whole different beast.
Honestly, I don't really have a dog in this fight. I'm a Disneyland guy with little desire to visit Disney World. It just seems that WDW fans are getting short-changed with the Toy Story Land and in other areas. That's why I hope we never get a 3rd gate and stay relatively small so the 2 parks can get constant investments, improvements, and maintenance.
Anyway, I think we all can agree that it'd be nice if Disney doubled their budget for Toy Story Land, and finished it in half the time. Wouldn't it be nice if every theme park had nothing but E-tickets, fantastic theming, and high end landscaping? Wouldn't we all be thrilled if every new hotel was a Grand Californian/Portofino Bay at half the price? And wouldn't it be nice if monorails and boats connected all of the parks and hotels?
It isn't easy or fast, and it sure as heck aint cheap! It's a business, and reputation is everything. Until Disney's reputation suffers to the point of hitting them in the wallet, or the masses push a Universal park ahead of a Disney park for the first time domestically, Disney is going to do what they feel is in their best interest. I feel like once Star Wars Land is open (in 2026), TSL will just be another fun area of the park for people to enjoy.
One thing I always try to consider too, is that we are Disneyphiles. We dissect everything, and are pretty spoiled. The average guest doesn't think about all of the minutia. They don't see the original concept art, know the cost of building this stuff, or read updates, etc. Just us.
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Russell, I get your point as well and I think it would be nice to have an additional flat ride or something. It definitely looks like there would be space for one (particularly in the lower right corner on the concept art). The criticism about using an existing attraction to anchor the land is valid as well, but at the same time you have to ask whether Toy Story needs a second E-ticket or not. In my opinion, the answer is no. This project is something that I think would have been much smarter to build when Toy Story Midway Mania originally opened (or a year or two later), but that wasn't an option then. Now, however, it makes a lot of sense, and to be honest I think it is a better fit for DHS than a clone of Cars Land would have been.
There's 1,000+ people at WDW right now, and most of them are really enjoying themselves.They probably don't even notice/care about all the problems being listed on this thread.
Just sayin'....
Also, never underestimate the power of a dead end in a theme park. Disney has not revealed the formal plans or layout of Toy Story Land, but from what I've seen, it looks to create a dead end that will not connect to either Star Wars Land to the south or the Rock 'N Roller Coaster plaza to the north. That means your E-ticket is going to be at the very front of the new era and a D ticket (coaster) at the dead end. Theme parks have struggled with attractions located at dead ends for decades, and Disney is not immune, though they have had some successes (Tower of Terror and RnRC - which could be categorized as at a dead end, and Cars Land, which isn't technically a dead end, but the wrap around path from RSR to the Wharf is completely underutilized making it feel like a dead end land). Disneyland's Toon Town and MK's Storybook Circus are prime examples of Disney failing miserably to design a land that has a dead end. Slinky Dog Coaster better be darn good, or the land must be designed with flow through to Star Wars or the north section of the park, or this land will be a complete failure like the other Disney dead end lands that have preceded it.
I also feel that the least Disney could do, if they're not investing in a true e-ticket for the land, that they should upgrade TSMM (beyond the extra track). Perhaps they're already planning this, but I think they're missing the boat if they open a new land with an "anchor" attraction that will probably be over 10 year old when it opens. Disney needs to understand that the only reason TSMM lines are so long right now is because there's nothing else to do in DHS. Once the capacity is increased to a more reasonable level, those lines should normalize a bit.
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