In a ceremony featuring sky divers, fireworks and Disney executives, along with NASA Astronauts and Buzz Lightyear on board the International Space Station, the new TOY STORY MANIA! attraction premiered Tuesday in Disney's California Adventure as part of Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams."
Inspired by the Disney-Pixar films TOY STORY and TOY STORY II, TOY STORY MANIA! raises the bar for interactive ride-game attractions. It's a high-energy, immersive adventure in which guests don 3-D glasses and enter a wild 4-D world of game play with Woody, Buzz and other favorite TOY STORY characters. Special effects add a fourth dimension of fun.
"Through the years, millions of people around the world have enjoyed the humor, excitement and wonder of TOY STORY and its unforgettable cast of characters," said Bob Iger, President and CEO of the Walt Disney Company. "With the opening of TOY STORY MANIA!, we celebrate the enduring popularity of Woody, Buzz and their friends as our Disneyland Resort guests become a part of their adventures through this new and imaginative theme-park experience."
Joining Iger in the opening festivities for TOY STORY MANIA! were Jay Rasulo, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; Ed Grier, President of the Disneyland Resort, and John Lasseter, director of the original TOY STORY and Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Buzz Lightyear and NASA astronauts sent greetings to Disney-Pixar fans from "infinity and beyond" -- aboard the International Space Station.
In the tradition of Disney storytelling, TOY STORY MANIA! takes its inspiration from the fact that Andy's toys spring to life whenever he is away. Soon after Andy received a "Midway Games Play Set" for his birthday, the toys opened the box and set up the game booths and carnival trams so everyone could ride and play.
Upon entering the attraction, guests are welcomed by Mr. Potato Head, more than five feet tall and looking like he stepped right down from the movie screen. The state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics Mr. Potato Head makes a perfect carnival barker, capable of engaging guests in two-way conversation and encouraging them to "step right up" for the immersive TOY STORY MANIA! experience.
"TOY STORY MANIA! merges interactive gaming with classic storytelling as only Disney can do," said Rasulo. "We consider it to be one of our most energetic, immersive experiences yet ... and it took a remarkable collaboration between Pixar and Disney to bring it to life in 4-D."
Everyone gets a front row seat when guests put on their 3-D glasses, "shrink" to the size of a toy and board the TOY STORY MANIA! carnival tram ride vehicles, which add a huge amount of fun to the interactive experience. The innovative design includes features that also make the fun accessible to guests with disabilities. No matter how many times guests return to ride and play TOY STORY MANIA!, they can be sure every ride-through will seem like a new experience.
This is the first time that Walt Disney Imagineering has created an attraction for two Disney Parks simultaneously. Toy Story Mania! opened June 17 at Disneyland Resort in Southern California and it opened May 31 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Some other fun facts about the ride include:
--In Andy's room, a 5-foot-6 inch person will feel about 14" tall.
--It has been estimated that, each day, guests could break more than one million virtual plates playing the games with the spring-action shooters.
--Each spring-action shooter has a limitless supply of projectiles for unlimited fun.
--In each of the Midway games, there is at least one "Easter egg" -- a target that can trigger the appearance of bonus, high-value targets and other changes in the scene.
--Riders in the Sky, the award-winning group that wrote the songs that Mr. Potato Head performs as part of the attraction, is the same group that wrote WOODY'S ROUNDUP for the TOY STORY feature films.
--It would take 5,026 toy soldiers lined up end-to-end to make up the total track length.
--This is the first attraction designed by Walt Disney Imagineering that required the Imagineers to wear 3-D glasses to art direct all the black-light paint elements.
--It takes more than 150 computers communicating over multiple networks throughout the attraction to create the show that responds to every pull of a guest's spring-action shooter and to every move of their midway tram.
--More time was spent programming Mr. Potato Head than any other Audio-Animatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
--Mr. Potato Head is able to say more lines of dialogue than any Audio-Animatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
--Mr. Potato Head is the first Audio-Animatronics figure that can remove a body part and re-attach it (he does this with his ear).
--The Mr. Potato Head Audio-Animatronics figure has new, highly-expressive and animated eyes that can look directly at a particular guest in the queue when speaking to him/her.
--Mr. Potato Head is the first Audio-Animatronics figure whose mouth appears to form words and vowel sounds as it moves.
--TOY STORY MANIA! marks the first time that Woody and Buzz Lightyear appear together in a ride-through attraction, and they're joined by some of their friends from the Disney-Pixar TOY STORY films.
--Watch out for loose change in the prize scene -- Hamm is carrying more than $6 in coins when his cork pops.
TOY STORY MANIA! is just the latest highlight of the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration at Disney Parks. Also premiering at Disneyland Resort Tuesday was the new Innoventions Dream Home, in Tomorrowland at Disneyland park.
Innoventions Dream Home is both a show and a showcase, offering guests of all ages a hands-on experience with the newest in-home technologies as they interact with members of the fictional Elias family in a fun, home environment. Microsoft, HP, Life|ware and homebuilder Taylor Morrison joined with Disneyland Resort to create entertaining, story-based demonstrations of the connected digital lifestyle, which can simplify and enhance daily family life.
Additional highlights of a summer visit to the Disneyland Resort are the new shows and entertainment experiences that have premiered in the "Year of a Million Dreams." In Disney's California Adventure, the "Pixar Play Parade" features characters from Disney-Pixar motion pictures dancing along the parade route in a fun-for-all animated playground, and "Playhouse Disney Live on Stage" invites children to clap, dance and sing along with the stars of Disney Channel kids shows.
At Disneyland, not far from the treacherous Temple of the Forbidden Eye and Indiana Jones attraction in Adventureland, Indy himself invites guests to join him for the "Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries," unraveling clues and spotting Indiana Jones as he outwits villains in various Adventureland locations.
To learn more, visit www.disneyland.com, call (866) 60-DISNEY or contact local travel agents.
