Toy Story Midway Mania - WDWNT Archive 2014

RUMOR: The Very Latest On Possible Attractions For Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

WDWNT Author on December 30, 2014

Earlier this year, we broke the story that the Backlot Tour was closing and rumors of a third track being added to Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Since then, rumors have been swirling about what guests will actually find if and when a Toy Story Land comes to fruition in that area of the park (keep in mind we’re not even talking about the other 2/3 of the Backlot area that should be cleared for other projects yet).

At Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, the Toy Story Land is made up of three attractions: RC Racer, Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin, and Green Army Men Parachute Drop. If rumors are true, only RC Racer from that group will make it to Walt Disney World.

RC Racer is that one existing attraction that will be coming over to Hollywood Studios. The steel shuttle coaster launches guests back and forth, up and down the 80 foot tall track on what looks like orange Hot Wheels track.

Since Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree has tested so well at California Adventure, and since the proposed “Cheese the Mouse” version of the ride that would have been in Pixie Hollow in New Fantasyland was nixed, Disney will bring the ride to Toy Story Land as “Woody’s Round-Up”, where guests will ride with horse-drawn carriages that whip and whirl.

Last but not least, with rumors that Luigi’s Flying Tires at California Adventure will be replaced with a trackless, dancing car ride, the rumblings are that the ride system will be re-purposed for Buzz Lightyear at Walt Disney World. Since it hasn’t been built yet, it’s hard to gauge exactly what this is, but our guess is the dancing system will allow guests to tango with Buzz Lightyear in some way.

This is what we know so far and none of this information is official or even close to official (and anything not already under construction is always subject to change) and no announcement of this project is expected from Disney until at least August 2015 at the D23 Expo.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

BREAKING: Guests Can Only Ride Toy Story Mania Via FastPass+ This Week

WDWNT Author on October 6, 2014

In a strange test, Walt Disney World guests visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios now through Friday will need a FastPass + to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. Walt Disney World is attempting to offer enough FastPass+ throughout the day to fill the attraction to capacity, not allowing any guests to use a standby queue or use the Disability Access Service (DAS) to ride. Disney will not even allow guest relations cast members the ability to offer access to the attraction to appease any disgruntled guests during this period.

The reasoning for this test is to see if attractions offered by reservation-only can be successful, eliminating long lines by only taking on the amount of guests the attraction can handle at one given time. Similar tests and policies have been applied at attractions and meet-and-greets over the last several months, but this is the first time that absolutely no attraction access will granted via a method other than FastPass+.

With Disney making more than the usual allotment of FastPass+ reservations available, guests can still obtain a FastPass+ for Toy Story Mania through Friday as of right now. In short, guests visiting this week without a FastPass+ reservation are not out of luck just yet.

It is unknown if this test is somehow related to rumors that a third track for Toy Story Mania will be constructed, including rumblings that the new track maybe be used only for guests with FastPass+ reservations, or just a test to see the feasibility of offering attractions via FastPass+ only.

BYE-BYE BACKLOT TOUR! Hollywood Studios PIXAR Place Expansion Coming, Many Current Attractions Closing Soon?

WDWNT Author on September 19, 2014

I know you’ve heard this one before, but it seems like the Studio Backlot Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is finally closing. A few days ago we told you that once Soundstage 1 at the park moves Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Frozen Funland out, work is set to begin on a third track for Toy Story Midway Mania inside of that building. Well, now it seems like the area surrounding Soundstage 1 will be used for the rest of a large-scale PIXAR Place expansion.

Likely coming to the park are some of the small, flat-rides developed for Toy Story Playland at Disneyland Resort Paris and Toy Story Land at Hong Kong Disneyland including RC Racer, Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, and the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop. The attractions possibly on the chopping block take up much more room than these small rides would, so chances are the remaining space would be used for Cars or Monsters Inc. attractions.

Toy Story Land at Hong Kong Disneyland, also being built for Shanghai Disneyland and exists at Disneyland Resort Paris

Operating hours calendars released to cast members currently have only a few days of October hours for many of the offerings in that area, including the Monsters Inc. meet and greet, the Studio Backlot Tour, the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, the Coke Bottle food stand, Studio Catering Company, and High Octane Refreshments next door. All of these attractions have no dates posted past October 11th. So, in short, all of these offerings might be closing on October 11th, one week after the closure of Maelstrom at Epcot. All other attraction operating hours are listed through January, so you can see why it’s awfully suspicious that all of these items in one area are not listed after a date in mid-October.

These operating hours combined with rumblings among Disney employees all seem to point at a PIXAR Place expansion, but nothing is set in stone quite yet and some of this post is pure speculation based on what we have heard so far. We will certainly keep you posted as more develops in this story, but it truly seems like after 25 years that we will see the end of the Studio Backlot Tour.

What do you think? Are you excited for these possible changes?

RUMOR: PIXAR Place Expansion at Hollywood Studios Imminent; 3rd Toy Story Mania Track To Be Constructed?

WDWNT Author on September 15, 2014

OK, this one sounded far-fetched when I first heard it a few weeks ago, but it seems to be gaining a lot of traction…

So, it seems the reason that Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Frozen Funland is on the move is to free up Soundstage 1 next door to Toy Story Midway Mania. Since 2008, that location was the rumored location for the proposed Monsters Inc. Door Roller Coaster that will now likely never see the light of day based on the disappointing box office and merchandise sales (at least in Disney’s eyes) from Monsters University. Well, the plan as it now exists would see a third, separate track for Toy Story Midway Mania constructed inside of Soundstage 1, perhaps to be used as a FastPass+ guest only track. This would add 50% more capacity to the ride which has been overburdened pretty much since the day it opened. Toy Story Midway Mania was supposed to be a solid ‘B’ or ‘C’ ticket attraction for the park, but exceeded all expectations with its continued popularity.

It is certainly no secret that Hollywood Studios will see major changes in the coming years and a Star Wars Expansion of the park is sure to take place following the beginning of the new trilogy in late-2015, so making sure the capacity around the rest of the park is higher is a priority. Other minor PIXAR attractions could also be constructed around the area where the Backlot Tour entrance and Studios Catering Company currently stand, but we’re only guessing that at this point. Who knows, we even may still see Cars Land take over more of the space down the road as the land expands south in the park.

Your Toy Story Mania wait time may be a lot shorter soon…

The rumors emanate from some Studios cast members who have heard rumblings about the changes, as well as several guests who have spotted Toy Story Mania vehicles being pieced together outside of Walt Disney World Central Shops behind the Magic Kingdom, so this seems like a real possibility at this point.

I know it sounds crazy, but the PIXAR Place expansion maybe happening, it just might be very different from how we envisioned it…