By the co-author of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020, the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook series ever.

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A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Toy Story Land



By Dave Shute

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

TOY STORY LAND IN DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

By Jim Korkis

Variations of Toy Story Land that were inspired by the popular Pixar movie franchise exist at Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland and at Shanghai Disneyland.

In 2015, it was announced that a Toy Story Land would be built on eleven acres at Disney’s Hollywood Studios near the area already designated as Pixar Place, and would open summer of 2018. (It will open June 30–Dave.)

(c) Disney

According to Disney publicity, in addition to Toy Story Midway Mania! that already opened in 2008 and expanded to include a third track in 2016 (and supposedly is under Andy’s bed), the land would feature the following:

“Toy Story Land. In Andy’s backyard, guests are shrunk to the size of their favorite toys and invited to join Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the rest of the Toy Story gang for a larger than life adventure among giant building blocks and game board pieces. It’s the perfect setting for toys of all kinds to gather together for an experience that’s more fun than a Barrel of Monkeys.

“Alien Swirling Saucers. Andy has collected enough game tickets at Pizza Planet to get the Alien Swirling Saucers (Home Edition), which has now landed (pun intended) in his backyard. The game features Alien-driven flying saucers whipping rockets around four turntables while “The Claw” looms ominously overhead, seemingly ready to nab those who are ‘chosen’.

“Slinky Dog Dash. Andy built Slinky Dog Dash with his Dodge & Dash Mega Coaster Kit. Instead of using the coaster that came in the box, he decided to put his Slinky toy on the tracks. The result is a family-friendly thrill adventure that whooshes around curves, up hills and down drops as it winds around the backyard.”

According to Imagineer Kathy Mangum, Toy Story Land was inspired by the overwhelming guest response to Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.

“As all of you know, here in Anaheim, we’ve been quite successful with taking immersive experiences to a whole new level as we did with Cars Land. In fact, one of our favorite stories from opening day is that we overheard a little boy asking his mom, ‘Is this where they filmed the Cars movie?’” Magnum said.

“That’s exactly how we want people to feel – like they’ve stepped onto the set of their favorite film … like the quaint town of Radiator Springs or, in the case of ‘Toy Story,’ the wild and adventurous outdoors of Andy’s backyard.”

The idea behind the Slinky Dog Dash was to have a family friendly coaster but also to take advantage of the fact that Andy has a big imagination, so would have incorporated some of his other toys into the standard design, and made the coils stretch to their limits.

For Alien Swirling Saucers, “As you rotate around the toy planets and satellites as part of the game, you’ll swirl to the beat of fun ‘Space Jazz’ music developed just for this experience,” Mangum said. “The music, the lighting, and the sound effects will add to the flurry of your adventure while ‘The Claw’ looms ominously over you.”

The entrance to the new land will be through the area that originally held Soundstage 4, where walk-through experiences like The Making of the Haunted Mansion Movie, a set from the live action version of 101 Dalmatians, two different versions of the Journey into Narnia, and the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow were presented.

Woody’s Lunch Box is the quick service food and beverage location. Andy has taken a vintage Woody themed lunch box and propped it open with a thermos. Scattered about the area are toys, items from the lunch box, and a book. A green army man keeps a lookout for Andy’s return to grab a snack.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! For more on touring Disney’s Hollywood Studios after Toy Story Land opens, see this.

Lovely wife Amy Girl and I will be seeing Toy Story Land by using the Club Level  extra FastPass+ deal:

And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Call Me Walt, and his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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