Toy Story Midway Mania!
Encyclopedia
Toy Story Midway Mania! (marketed as Toy Story Mania!) is an interactive 4-D
theme park attraction, currently located at two Disney theme parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios
at the Walt Disney World Resort
in Florida
and Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort
.
Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering
and inspired by Disney
·Pixar
's Toy Story franchise
, the attraction was first unveiled during a press conference at Walt Disney World in January 2007. The Florida
version opened officially on May 31, 2008, while the California version officially opened on June 17, 2008. A new version of the attraction will be constructed at Tokyo DisneySea
and is expected to open on May 31, 2012.
glasses (Carnival Games Goggles) aboard spinning vehicles that travel through virtual environments based on classic carnival midway
games. Ride vehicles seat up to four in back-to-back pairs.
" that can trigger additional targets or gameplay changes. These games include:
Each guest's score is recorded by an onboard display screen as points are acquired with individual toy cannons firing simulated projectiles at virtual targets. Toy Story characters including Woody
, Hamm, Buzz Lightyear
, Rex and Trixie appear during the attraction's different games.
Similar technology has been used in Disney attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold at DisneyQuest
and several Buzz Lightyear attractions. According to Disney, it is the first attraction created simultaneously by Walt Disney Imagineering for two theme parks.
The line at both parks features a large Mr. Potato Head
Audio-Animatronics
figure that interacts with guests through pre-recorded snippets of dialogue performed by comedian Don Rickles
, who voiced the character in the Toy Story films. The sophisticated figure identifies people in the audience, sings and tells jokes.
for a ride's control system. Many of the parts for the attraction's control system came from two of Disney's corporate sponsors, Siemens AG
and Hewlett-Packard
.
The control system is divided into three components: one for the ride vehicles, one for the games and one more for the attraction's special effects. Programmable logic controller
s in the vehicles alert the control system wirelessly via ProfiNET RT to the vehicle's speed and location. The central controller then sends its instructions back to the vehicles using a hard-wired network within the track. The one-way communications flow adds a factor of safety, even though the wireless network is protected against outside interference, such as a denial-of-service attack
.
The attraction features more than 150 PC
s, which includes one HP
Windows XP
PC for each of Midway Mania's 56 game screens, as well as others that control the special effects at each game. At the game screens, two tracking systems provide the game control system with the vehicle's exact location, making sure that gameplay is not affected by even minor differences in vehicle position. According to Jody Gerstner, executive director of show and ride controls, "The game doesn’t care if the car parks in the same spot every time. It just needs to know where each car has actually parked, and it can compensate." Additional sensors in the spring-action shooter provide information on its orientation, which is fine-tuned using data on the position of the ride vehicle at the screen and the rotation of the seats on the vehicle base.
All three sub-systems work together to handle any contingency. For example, if a delay or other vehicle stoppage is detected (such as might occur if the loading and unloading of the ride vehicles is taking longer than expected), the control system can command the affected game screens to launch a non-scoring practice round, so that guests may continue to shoot targets while they wait. Similarly, it can instruct the show control system to play an audio spiel telling guests about the delay.
As the games are software-based, changes can be made to the attraction's lineup of games without significant effort. In April 2010, Disney Parks announced plans to replace "Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop" with "Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts." The change took place on May 21, 2010. The new game includes one of the new characters from the Toy Story 3
feature film, which was released in June 2010.
with a live orchestra. More than an hour of music was recorded, all based on the first two Toy Story scores composed by Randy Newman
.
video game in September 2009 exclusively for the Nintendo
Wii
console. The game features gameplay and levels similar to those in the theme park attractions, along with original levels and features. Jakks Pacific
also released their "Plug It In & Play TV Game" version of "Toy Story Mania!" in 2010 featuring the original levels & Infini-D technology (Infini-D glasses are included).
4-D film
4-D film is a marketing term that describes an entertainment presentation system combining a 3-D film with physical effects in the theatre, which occur in synchronization with the film...
theme park attraction, currently located at two Disney theme parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
at the Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort
Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort is a recreational resort in Anaheim, California. The resort is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels and a shopping, dining, and entertainment area known as Downtown Disney.The area now...
.
Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering is the design and development arm of the Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation and construction of Disney theme parks worldwide...
and inspired by Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
·Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
's Toy Story franchise
Toy Story (franchise)
Toy Story is a CGI animated media franchise created by Pixar and distributed by Disney, beginning with the original 1995 film, Toy Story. The franchise focuses on a group of toys that secretly come to life and end up unexpectedly embarking on life-changing adventures...
, the attraction was first unveiled during a press conference at Walt Disney World in January 2007. The Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
version opened officially on May 31, 2008, while the California version officially opened on June 17, 2008. A new version of the attraction will be constructed at Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo DisneySea
is a 176-acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just outside Tokyo. It opened on September 4, 2001. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo DisneySea attracted an estimated 12 million visitors in...
and is expected to open on May 31, 2012.
Concept
Park guests wear 3-D3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
glasses (Carnival Games Goggles) aboard spinning vehicles that travel through virtual environments based on classic carnival midway
Midway (fair)
A midway at a fair is the location where amusement rides, entertainment and fast food booths are concentrated....
games. Ride vehicles seat up to four in back-to-back pairs.
Mini-games
The attraction features five mini-games after a practice round, each of which includes at least one "Easter eggEaster egg (media)
Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
" that can trigger additional targets or gameplay changes. These games include:
- Pie Throw Practice Booth (pie toss target practice game, a no points introduction)
- Hamm & Eggs (egg throw game now featuring Buttercup from Toy Story 3Toy Story 3Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
) - Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts (dart throw game; once Bo Peep's Baa-loon Pop)
- Green Army Men Shoot Camp (baseball throw / plate breaking game)
- Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers (ring toss game)
- Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery (suction cup shooting game)
Each guest's score is recorded by an onboard display screen as points are acquired with individual toy cannons firing simulated projectiles at virtual targets. Toy Story characters including Woody
Sheriff Woody
Sheriff Woody Pride, or simply Woody, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Toy Story franchise . He is voiced by Tom Hanks in the films, and by Jim Hanks in most other media.-Toy Story:...
, Hamm, Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear is a character and the main deuteragonist of the Toy Story franchise. Buzz is a space ranger action figure and the co-leader of Andy's Room. He has also appeared in the movie Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and the television series spin-off Buzz Lightyear of...
, Rex and Trixie appear during the attraction's different games.
Similar technology has been used in Disney attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold at DisneyQuest
DisneyQuest
DisneyQuest is an "indoor interactive theme park" located in Downtown Disney at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It is housed in a five-story, windowless building...
and several Buzz Lightyear attractions. According to Disney, it is the first attraction created simultaneously by Walt Disney Imagineering for two theme parks.
The line at both parks features a large Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head! is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in...
Audio-Animatronics
Audio-Animatronics
Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally in speech or song...
figure that interacts with guests through pre-recorded snippets of dialogue performed by comedian Don Rickles
Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
, who voiced the character in the Toy Story films. The sophisticated figure identifies people in the audience, sings and tells jokes.
Former Mini-Games
Only five mini-games can be used at a time at Toy Story Midway Mania! The Following games have been featured as part of Toy Story Midway Mania! in the past, but have been since replaced:- Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop (dart throw game) Replaced May 21, 2010 with "Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts" (updated with the release of Toy Story 3Toy Story 3Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
)
Technology
Toy Story Midway Mania! is one of the most technologically sophisticated attractions yet developed by Walt Disney Imagineering, costing an estimated $80 million to design and build. It marks the company's first use of industrial ethernetIndustrial Ethernet
Industrial Ethernet refers to the use of the Ethernet family of computer network technologies in an industrial environment, for automation and process control. A number of techniques are used to adapt Ethernet for the needs of industrial processes, which require real time behavior...
for a ride's control system. Many of the parts for the attraction's control system came from two of Disney's corporate sponsors, Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
and Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
.
The control system is divided into three components: one for the ride vehicles, one for the games and one more for the attraction's special effects. Programmable logic controller
Programmable logic controller
A programmable logic controller or programmable controller is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides, or light fixtures. PLCs are used in many industries and machines...
s in the vehicles alert the control system wirelessly via ProfiNET RT to the vehicle's speed and location. The central controller then sends its instructions back to the vehicles using a hard-wired network within the track. The one-way communications flow adds a factor of safety, even though the wireless network is protected against outside interference, such as a denial-of-service attack
Denial-of-service attack
A denial-of-service attack or distributed denial-of-service attack is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users...
.
The attraction features more than 150 PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s, which includes one HP
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
PC for each of Midway Mania's 56 game screens, as well as others that control the special effects at each game. At the game screens, two tracking systems provide the game control system with the vehicle's exact location, making sure that gameplay is not affected by even minor differences in vehicle position. According to Jody Gerstner, executive director of show and ride controls, "The game doesn’t care if the car parks in the same spot every time. It just needs to know where each car has actually parked, and it can compensate." Additional sensors in the spring-action shooter provide information on its orientation, which is fine-tuned using data on the position of the ride vehicle at the screen and the rotation of the seats on the vehicle base.
All three sub-systems work together to handle any contingency. For example, if a delay or other vehicle stoppage is detected (such as might occur if the loading and unloading of the ride vehicles is taking longer than expected), the control system can command the affected game screens to launch a non-scoring practice round, so that guests may continue to shoot targets while they wait. Similarly, it can instruct the show control system to play an audio spiel telling guests about the delay.
As the games are software-based, changes can be made to the attraction's lineup of games without significant effort. In April 2010, Disney Parks announced plans to replace "Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop" with "Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts." The change took place on May 21, 2010. The new game includes one of the new characters from the Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
feature film, which was released in June 2010.
Locations
- Disney California Adventure: Paradise PierParadise PierParadise Pier is a themed "land" at Disney California Adventure, Disneyland's sister park, which are all part of the Disneyland Resort. Its appearance is based on that of Vicotian boardwalks that were once found along the coast of California. Despite its name and the presence of a nearby manmade...
, beneath the California Screamin'California Screamin'California Screamin is a steel roller coaster located at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, CA.-History:This boardwalk-themed coaster was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, and was built by Intamin AG. California Screamin' is the 6th longest roller coaster in the world , at long...
roller coaster, a space formerly occupied by themed midway games and food service locations. The area is designed to resemble a Victorian-era seaside carnival. - Disney's Hollywood StudiosDisney's Hollywood StudiosDisney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
: Pixar Place, inside the studios' former soundstages, which were most recently used for the park's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It!Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It!Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It! was an attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California...
attraction. The facade, as well as the surrounding area, resembles Pixar Animation Studios' campus in Emeryville, CaliforniaEmeryville, CaliforniaEmeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California, in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. Its proximity to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and...
. - Tokyo DisneySeaTokyo DisneySeais a 176-acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just outside Tokyo. It opened on September 4, 2001. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo DisneySea attracted an estimated 12 million visitors in...
: Will be located in the New York area of the American Waterfront. Opening in 2012.
Name variation
The attraction is being referred to as both Toy Story Midway Mania! and Toy Story Mania!. While the attraction marquees and some in-park signage read the former, the latter has been used in press releases to the news media, used in both resorts' advertisements, and on the disneyland.com, disneyworld.com, and official promotional website for the attraction, along with attraction merchandise.Music
Music for the queue area was arranged and recorded by Jennifer Hammond at Capitol StudiosCapitol Studios
The Capitol Studios complex opened in the Capitol Records Building, a futuristic new building in the heart of Hollywood, in 1956. It has since hosted some of the most treasured recordings in music history, from Frank Sinatra to the Beastie Boys. It is owned by Capitol Records whose parent company...
with a live orchestra. More than an hour of music was recorded, all based on the first two Toy Story scores composed by Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
.
Merchandising
Disney Interactive Studios released a "Toy Story Mania!"Toy Story Mania! (video game)
Toy Story Mania! is a video game produced by Disney Interactive Studios and developed by Papaya Studio. The game is based on the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction located at Disney's California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios, which was inspired by the Toy Story movie series produced by...
video game in September 2009 exclusively for the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console. The game features gameplay and levels similar to those in the theme park attractions, along with original levels and features. Jakks Pacific
Jakks Pacific
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. is a designer and marketer of toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses...
also released their "Plug It In & Play TV Game" version of "Toy Story Mania!" in 2010 featuring the original levels & Infini-D technology (Infini-D glasses are included).
See also
- List of current Disney's California Adventure attractions
- Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction and entertainment history