Toy Story Mania! (Plus Other Cool Disney News) Thread

[Justin]

As the rest of you I can't judge any attraction just off a video of some person who posted it on youtube. BTW it seems like all you tube videos have a horrible compression filter on it. Because it turns everyone of them into a muddy mess!

 

But back to the ride, Like Rob said, I felt like I needed to lower my expectations. After watching the video the ride movements seemed to be really repetitive. When it came to the layout, it was just a switchback all the way through wasn't it? This kind of took out any of the mystery that I would of felt even riding it. It just seems like the ambient noise level would be through the roof! It's almost like if everyone started talking in the same room but only had cardboard boxes between them.

 

The video quality I'm sure is up there, I didn't really think PhiliharMagic was junk, so why would this next addition be?

 

I wonder how the responsiveness on the trigger is? Does it actually show up as you pull it?

 

Over all I will make my own decision in June when I visit DCA.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Justin

[televisedconfession]

Hmm--oddly enough, based on some of the concept art, this ride is pretty much what I expected (I just thought there would be a few more animatronics involved in the show building).

 

You took the words right out of me. I was expecting an immersion of animatronics and video interaction.

 

And did anyone else find the "bonus" men's bathroom cut in that video creepy?

[robbalvey]

As someone who actually rode this twice on Friday, I was impressed. Sure, it is not going to change the world or be the end-all-be-all of theme park rides, but for what it was, it was fun.

 

Basically, the Pirates attraction from DisneyQuest with moving cars. Very interactive, kind of tiring after hitting all of the targets, and a few surprises thrown in. A vast improvement over Buzz Lightyear. And the queue line is very detailed with lots of huge replicas of children's games. AND they have a single rider line!!

That's good to hear! Thanks John for the report.

 

It's like I said, I'm sure the ride will be fine and be a hit with the public, just for some reason I was just expecting something different. Not sure why I was expecting that because I've paid very little attention to the this attraction while in development.

 

Just that I thought it would be less like a moving DisneyQuest attraction and more like Men In Black meets Spider Man.

 

Glad to hear it's turned out fun, though. I am looking forward to giving it a try next time we are in Florida.

 

--Robb

[Bucket]

Is there a difference (layout wise) between the two Toy Story attractions? Or are they essentially the same?

 

I think this attraction is a bit underwhelming (so far from what I've seen) since I've been following the construction at DCA pretty closely. But like many have already said before, YouTube won't and can't do a 3D attraction justice. I guess we'll just have to wait until it opens to make judgement!

[SharkTums]

Do we know anything about the version going into Tokyo Disneyland? I'm pretty sure it's themed to Monsters Inc. but it was supposed to be the same technology. Just wondering if I should expect something very similar, or more like their version of Pooh vs. ours!

[twistedmickey]

^Reading your post made me think of another way the ride could have just been so much better. BUMPER CARS! Why couldnt they have put the technology thats in Winnie the Pooh and even incorporate some animatronics you can shoot at as well as screens but let loose in a bumper car setting. Just a thought.

 

Maybe I just need to start lowering my expectations for Disney rides.

[Wes]

Do we know anything about the version going into Tokyo Disneyland? I'm pretty sure it's themed to Monsters Inc. but it was supposed to be the same technology. Just wondering if I should expect something very similar, or more like their version of Pooh vs. ours!

 

I think you know the answer to this!

[laqueefa]

incorporate some animatronics you can shoot at as well

 

I figured Disney would have put animatronics in the ride to host each section of the ride.

[Truecoat]

Do we know anything about the version going into Tokyo Disneyland? I'm pretty sure it's themed to Monsters Inc. but it was supposed to be the same technology. Just wondering if I should expect something very similar, or more like their version of Pooh vs. ours!

 

It is different in the fact that the ride vehicles will have flashlights. When the "lights" are shone on the screens, they will reveal more images you can't see otherwise. It's kind of a x-ray effect. It was originally reported that the TSMM was supposed to be like this.

[SLUSHIE]

I haven't really looked much into this ride and even though I had no idea what to expect, I am greatly disappointed.

 

Disney has had this technology for ever. Disney Quest's Pirates of the Caribbean ride uses the same 3d screen and shooting technology.

 

I find the fact that this was even made into something you can call a ride is ridiculous. They could have just stuck you in a room with a gun and changed the screen for the different games.

 

I think I've seen all I need to see to base my opinion of the ride, and I think it really wasn't worth the money that they must have spent on it.

 

I know the Pirates of the Caribbean ride from Disney Quest would not work in a theme park setting, but that attraction is way better in my opinion.

 

Having said all that though I think the way they used the technology in the ride is pretty impressive, how they linked every screen to every vehicle so that every vehicle can use every screen and keep track of the score.

[mcjaco]

It is different in the fact that the ride vehicles will have flashlights. When the "lights" are shone on the screens, they will reveal more images you can't see otherwise. It's kind of a x-ray effect. It was originally reported that the TSMM was supposed to be like this.

 

Like the world's greatest EPCOT Game, "Where's the Fire?"

[DATman]

We have to take into account that the CA ride will have to be different simply due to the long stretch before the actual show building. I don't see why that would exist in the DHS version of the ride.

[laqueefa]

^The one in CA will have to be different simply due to that long stretch to the show building. It should be interesting to see what is done in there.

 

I remember hearing the CA version would also have the flash light feature. Can anyone confirm this?

[andawe]

It seems to me like Disney is a real big fan of using projector screens instead of animatronics these days. The examples I can thing of are Nemo in Epcot and Disneyland, Toy Story Mania in DCA and Disney Studios, Monsters Inc Laugh Factory in Disneyland, Turtle Talk with Crush in Epcot and DCA. All of these are pretty new and use projectors instead of actually building the scenes and using animatronics.

 

I assume it's because it's cheaper to employ some animators to put together new scenes based on existing animated characters instead of designing and building robots.

[CoasterEricHP]

I assume it's because it's cheaper to employ some animators to put together new scenes based on existing animated characters instead of designing and building robots.

 

That and the technology for MILF and Turtle Talk allows the animations to interact with people in an amazingly lifelike way!

 

I do miss the Timekeeper robot though. Sigh....

 

I completely forgot about the flashlight feature! I wonder why that idea got cut out of TSM. Sounds like its a lot more geared to a Monsters Inc ride though.

[SLUSHIE]

I assume it's because it's cheaper to employ some animators to put together new scenes based on existing animated characters instead of designing and building robots.

 

This is the future. Soon we will have 3d animated projections that can vacuum our floors.

[coasterdude5]

Looks cool, probably an improvement over what it's replacing...

 

I think the park needs more rides like this actually. Something that isn't going to be a "main draw" but something to do while you're waiting for your fastpass at ToT or Rockin'.

[laqueefa]

Looks cool, probably an improvement over what it's replacing...

 

I think the park needs more rides like this actually. Something that isn't going to be a "main draw" but something to do while you're waiting for your fastpass at ToT or Rockin'.

 

Agreed. With new rides with big price tags (a la Little Mermaid), I'm sure this one will help round out DCA as a whole.

[knottslover77]

I don't think this ride will have a impact on DCA attendance unfortunately. people just don't ike the park for some reason(I love it).

 

2001 attendance - 5 million

2007 attendance - 5.6 million

 

That may be a big increase for some parks, but not DCA.

 

Since opening they've added numerous new parades and seasonal shows/events, Aladdin, Tower of Terror, Monsters inc., Turtle Talk with Crush ,Flicks fun fair(which is 4 rides in i's self).

 

Their going to spend 1.1 billion to raise attendance to a goal of 9 million people. when they've already spend at least 300 million on the above. I just don't see it happening.

 

--Jay

[RCFreak]

Attendence for DCA is already up, they keep blowing through their projected daily attendence forcasts often, and I'm sure it has a lot to do with this ride and all the (actually positive) media surrounding the park and it's upcoming improvements.

 

 

For those complaining about the "poor youtube quality" of the video, they do link to a 191MB version of the video here. It definitely helps, especially when the guy does use the one lens over the camera lens, you can definitely see some quality animation there. Like I said, it looks fun.

[knottslover77]

^I hope it goes up. I just was saying they've done alot aleady and it really hasn't helped. I would love for DCA to get over 6 million this year.

 

--Jay

[DATman]

I don't know why everyone brings up animatronics. Only seven attractions at Disneyland use them. I don't hear anyone complaining about Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's WIld Ride, Pinnochio, Snow White, and many others.

 

As for the projection argument pertaining to Finding Nemo, that is a heck of a lot of Animatronics and I don't see how they could have accomplished nearly as much with them as they did projections (angler fish being my only complaint), not to mention that the rest of the ride uses real sets.

 

As for Midway Mania, we knew that this was to be a projection based ride fron the very beginning. We knew that the whole point was simply to play carnival games. I don't know why everyone is so dissapointed by a ride that isn't meant to be the greatest dark ride at DCA. Lest we forget that the Little Mermaid will not be projection based and will cost far more.

[Mechanic]

Thanks for the link to the better quality video.

[Truecoat]

^The one in CA will have to be different simply due to that long stretch to the show building. It should be interesting to see what is done in there.

 

I remember hearing the CA version would also have the flash light feature. Can anyone confirm this?

 

The CA version is just a shooter, no flashlights. I think that was rumored in the very beginning.

[robbalvey]

I don't know why everyone brings up animatronics. Only seven attractions at Disneyland use them. I don't hear anyone complaining about Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's WIld Ride, Pinnochio, Snow White, and many others.

But even without animatronics, the live sets bring you more into a "world." It's really hard to hide the fact that you're looking at TV screen.

 

As for the projection argument pertaining to Finding Nemo, that is a heck of a lot of Animatronics and I don't see how they could have accomplished nearly as much with them as they did projections (angler fish being my only complaint), not to mention that the rest of the ride uses real sets.

The WDW version of Nemo does a GREAT job of combining live sets and video screens. I think I was expecting something more like this out of Toy Story Mania.

 

I would have been pretty dissapointed if everything in Nemo was a flat screen projection the entire ride.

 

As for Midway Mania, we knew that this was to be a projection based ride fron the very beginning. We knew that the whole point was simply to play carnival games. I don't know why everyone is so dissapointed by a ride that isn't meant to be the greatest dark ride at DCA. Lest we forget that the Little Mermaid will not be projection based and will cost far more.

I guess I don't even care about the DCA version. My sights are set towards Walt Disney World. Hell, I still haven't been on Disneyland's Nemo! I really think DHS needed another "E" Ticket, and clearly this is not going to be that.

 

Again, like I said before, I think this ride will be "fun" I just expected it to be something else. More like Men in Black meets Spiderman. I'm not sure why I thought that, but based on the little information I had heard about the ride, that's what I was expecting. Not "DisneyQuest on a track."

 

My overall judgement of course will wait until I've ridden the thing, but I think I have a pretty good expectation of what the ride is now. I just thought it would be something more, that's all.

 

--Robb