There is a great family attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and that is Toy Story Midway Mania! Wildly popular since its opening, it is still the ride to make a mad dash to upon park opening as the wait can often climb to an hour and a half and Fastpasses are usually completely gone by noon.
The ride is located in Pixar Place and is great for everyone in the family. Once you are inside the building, while waiting in line, you will notice many nostalgic games such as Candy Land, A Barrel of Monkeys, Chutes and Ladders, etc. There is also a very special Mr. Potato Head. Don’t think he is only there for decoration as he is the most audio-animatronic figure in all of Disney World. Fully interactive, he can sing, talk, move around, and he interacts with guests through pre-recorded short spurts of dialogue performed by comedian Don Rickles, who provided Mr. Potato Head’s voice in the Toy Story movies. Mr. Potato Head identifies people in line and it is hilarious fun to watch unsuspecting newcomers when he starts describing them and what they are wearing in an effort to get their attention. He then asks them fun questions and performs jokes for the crowd. I really enjoy that part.
After getting through the line, you will climb into your ride vehicle which sets four people in back-to-back pairs. Your vehicle will spin throughout the ride so that you are able to play every carnival game. Once inside your ride vehicle, put on your 3-D glasses and get ready. When the ride starts you will find that Andy has received a brand new midway carnival game and, true to form with the Toy Story movies, once Andy leaves the toys all come to life. As the guest, you are shrunk down to toy size and are no taller than the electrical outlet running along the wall in Andy’s room.
The ride vehicle spins you from screen to screen where you play virtual midway style games with your favorite Toy Story characters. The games include Green Army Men Shoot Camp (baseball throw, plate breaking game); Rex and Trixie’s Dino Darts (dart throw game where you pop balloons); and Buzz Lightyear’s Flying Tossers (ring toss game), just to name a few of the many. Each guest uses her own toy cannon which fires simulated objects at virtual targets with the pull of a string.
Each person’s score is recorded by an onboard display screen as your points are acquired. The “maniac” in the title to this article is my daughter, Kristen. The ride opened in 2008 and for the last four years she has been battling all of us for high score as though her life depends upon it. This year, she will be 21 when we go, but as competitive as she is it will not make a bit of difference. This ride is fun for everyone, from 3 years to 103 years. We all love it, including my 76-year-old mom. It is great fun!
Ride Information
- Everyone can play! There is no height or age restriction.
- Ride swap in not available.
- Actual ride time is a full five minutes; 30 seconds in each game play area to score points.
- Wheelchair accessible
- FAST PASS attraction.
Fun Trivia Facts from Studios Central:
- It has been estimated that, each day, guests may break over one million virtual plates using the spring-action shooters.
- At Toy Story Midway Mania! Each guest gets to experience life at the size of a toy. So in Andy’s room, a 5’6” person will feel about 14” tall.
- Mr. Potato Head will be able to say more lines of dialogue than any Audio-Animatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
- Each ride vehicle weighs as much as 8,580 Woody dolls.
- In each of the games, there is at least one “easter egg” – targets that can trigger the appearance of bonus high-value targets and other changes in the scene.
- Have a blast and laugh the whole time!
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Brenda is a native Texan born and raised on the Gulf Coast. She visited Disney World twice as a teenager and always dreamed of growing her family Disney. She took her first-timer husband and their three children to Disney World in 2000 and they now spend every Thanksgiving there. Brenda writes with a comedic twist on various Disney topics. She will be sharing tips she has learned during her travels and also hopes to enlighten people on little-known freebies that Disney has to offer. She wishes she could have met Walt Disney and considers herself to be a student of Walt. In parallel to his dream it is her wish that everyone would take at least one trip to Disney World in order to share in its magic with their families.
