Toy Story Land Review
We’re here with a review of the newest addition to Walt Disney World! Toy Story Land brings two new attractions to Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers. In this post, we’ll discuss how fun the new roller coaster and whiplash ride are, critique the overall quality of Toy Story Land, and discuss the strength of these offerings at DHS.
Honestly, if you’re here only for an up/down take as to whether Toy Story Land is worth visiting, you might consider closing this window. It’s a new, relatively large scale offering from Walt Disney Imagineering featuring two new attractions plus the ever-popular Toy Story Mania. Of course it’s worth your time.
Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers are both a ton of fun. They’re cute, and Slinky Dog Dash is a strong family coaster. If fun is your only measure of success for a Walt Disney World theme park offering, you’ve got your answer. Both attractions are “successes.” With that said, the rest of what follows is critique for fellow Disney nerds who enjoy thinking critically about Disney parks. You’ve been warned…
Personally, I hold Walt Disney World to a standard higher than just fun. I can have fun on thrill rides at a regional amusement park, or even throwing a tennis ball against a wall. Given what Disney charges and how the company prides itself on being a premium guest experience, I think expecting something more than just fun is totally reasonable.
Even those who share my perspective on Walt Disney World and expect something more than ‘just fun’ may not gain anything by reading the rest of this review. By now, you’ve undoubtedly formed your own opinions and preconceptions about Toy Story Land.
Nothing I write here is going to change anyone’s mind about this land. For better or for worse, Toy Story Land is exactly what you’re expecting. As opposed to Pandora – World of Avatar, there aren’t really any surprises with Toy Story Land. It’s very much ‘what you see is what you get.’
The thing about stepping into the world of toys is that world is simply the real world. Toy Story does not exist in some distinct universe apart from our own. Literally anywhere could be the jumping off point for a Toy Story attraction. Unlike the planets of Star Wars, Pandora, or Radiator Springs, the underlying source material here did not call for a transportive environment. Disney could’ve created one–but there are no such lofty ambitions with Toy Story Land.
To some extent, an effort has been made to present Toy Story Land as if you’re in Andy’s backyard, shrunk down to the size of toys amidst other toys. I think this was more ex post facto story for the land than a concerted design consideration or even the actual backstory.
The other problem with this explanation is that everything is a different scale. Even if the scale were consistent, it just really doesn’t seem like Imagineering made an effort to sell this conceit. Even “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” Playground (hardly the paragon of themed design itself) put a lot of effort into the over-sized blades of grass and other small details.
There are some very cute touches around the land and clever nods to classic toys throughout, and guests will definitely appreciate these touches. However, Toy Story Land doesn’t seem to make a serious effort at suspending disbelief.
There are just some toy elements to look at in this passive land. That’s another of my main critiques of Toy Story Land. On the land level, Toy Story Land is mostly static and doesn’t really engage guests. There’s kinetic energy from the two attractions, but aside from that, I never had even the slightest feeling that I was in a ‘world of living toys.’ It was more like an amusement park area with a layer of extra polish and clever details thanks to a healthier Disney budget.
In fairness, this very well might work for kids. What my eyes see as a fairly static area that lacks immersion, kids might view with more bright-eyed imagination. I think there’s definitely the potential for that, but to that end, I think it would’ve been pragmatic to include a large play area where children could blow off steam and have fun on their own without having to wait in hour-long lines. (On a tangentially related note, the land could really use more shade and indoor environments to provide shelter from both sun and rain.)
With that said, I doubt a ‘world of toys’ was chosen to achieve an immersive environment, but rather, because it’s easy. The approach is relatively simple and straightforward: pull characters from the movies–a series for which many people reading this no doubt have a lot of emotion and nostalgia–plus other toy brands that are staples from most childhoods, and plop that into the land.
The end result is a theme park land that is emotionally pre-loaded. That’s probably an understatement–more like emotionally super-charged. No matter what the substantive quality of Toy Story Land, it was bound to have a lot of appeal thanks to the emotional capital of the properties and brands it’s showcasing.
This is not exactly criticism. Disney should absolutely be leveraging its most emotive stories and using those to evoke nostalgia from guests. Some might argue that this is manipulative, but I disagree. Synergy does not necessarily have to be a dirty word. Imagineering should be taking movie IP with baked-in emotions and nostalgia for many guests and piggybacking on those feelings to make really powerful attractions.
The problem is not when Disney does that, the problem is when Disney coasts on the emotional laurels of the underlying IP while bringing little, if anything, new to the table. Situations where there’s nothing new or special about the theme park experience, and the emotional response is solely a result of memories of the films rather than the substance of the land or attraction.
Ultimately, this is my problem with Toy Story Land. There’s no there there. It’s an amusement park land masquerading as a theme park land; it just has a bit more flashiness. Plenty of guests will conflate their emotional response for the Toy Story movies as being a response to the land, but the reality of this land is that it’s emotionally hollow.
There will be a positive guest reaction to Toy Story Land (and long wait times for the rides), but the reaction is one that’s unearned by the land itself. Six Flags also has roller coasters with long waits. Popularity does not make them artistic successes. It just makes them roller coasters–something that is popular everywhere they’re built.
As for the individual attractions, Slinky Dog Dash is very good. It’s a smooth roller coaster with some mild thrills and is longer than I expected. It also has some cute moments in queue, good views throughout the ride, and a fun little moment at the end.
I actually enjoyed Slinky Dog Dash far more than I expected, and think it’s a solid addition to Walt Disney World’s coaster line-up. I’m told Slinky Dog Dash looks even better at night, and I’m looking forward to experiencing it then. I could see waiting in line 30-45 minutes for Slinky Dog Dash, but probably not during the day as the queue is mostly outdoors.
It’ll undoubtedly be the less popular of the two attractions, but Alien Swirling Saucers is likewise a cute and fun attraction. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a pretty basic flat ride, but it has some charm. If you’ve ever ridden Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, this is the same thing, but with less personality–I wish there more sound effects. (Personally, I consider Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree the sleeper hit of Cars Land–the soundtrack is hilarious and the ride is more amusing than you’d expect.)
The final new element of Toy Story Land is Woody’s Lunch Box, a counter service restaurant. This is just an ordering window, which I feel was a huge missed opportunity. I know we already had a Pizza Planet at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and I know it wasn’t very good, but that’s one of the few iconic environments from the films.
It would’ve been great to see Imagineering take a mulligan on the Pizza Planet concept and really turn it into something special. Now that would’ve been the immersive environment that could’ve sold this land as something more than higher-budget amusement park fodder. After the runaway success of Be Our Guest Restaurant, I have a hard time believing there isn’t the market for an awesome Pizza Planet restaurant. It would’ve been a smash hit.
Already, I’ve heard a lot of people give Toy Story Land a pass because, to paraphrase, at least it’ll mean lower wait times at other attractions in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. While it’s too early to be certain, I am fairly positive this will not be the case.
In fact, this is one of my biggest frustrations with Toy Story Land. If this land were just a cheap way to add capacity via family-friendly attractions, I’d be more accepting of it. I still wouldn’t be singing its praises, but at least I’d understand its role from an operational perspective and consider it a savvy addition to a park where most headliners are aimed at an older demographic.
I think the best example of a dedicated land like this is ‘a bug’s land’ at Disney California Adventure, which features 5 flat rides and some charming details. It’s nothing special, but it’s cute, self-contained, and serves a vital role. (Unfortunately, due to lack of space in Anaheim, it’s getting the axe for Marvel Land, but at least the rides can be relocated.)
To a lesser extent, the Toy Story Lands in Paris and Hong Kong also serve this same role, bumping up overall park capacity at a low cost as a counterpart to more costly additions. Again, those lands were nothing special, but they served a purpose. Operationally, I think those additions were quite pragmatic.
Unfortunately, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Land only adds two rides, both of which have height requirements. On top of that, there are rumors that the land is not low budget, as Slinky Dog Dash was a moderately expensive coaster. (Leave it to Disney fans–we complain when things are too cheap, and we complain when they’re too expensive!)
In other words, the Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is thus in this weird position where it doesn’t fulfill its ‘necessary evil’ aims of adding family-friendly ride capacity at a low cost because it’s expensive, has height requirements, and only two attractions. And on top of that, it’s just not that interesting of a land.
I think the concerns raised by the added capacity versus added demand are going to be the biggest surprise issue for most guests with Toy Story Land. Prior to this, Disney’s Hollywood Studios had 4 rides. Now, it has 6 rides. Thanks to it being at the center of a nationwide media blitz, Toy Story Land is going to draw people to Walt Disney World. (In fairness, the marketing is really good.) The amount of demand Toy Story Land will induce exceeds the capacity it adds.
Moreover, when these new guests come to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, they aren’t just going to do Toy Story Land and leave. They’ll do the other headliners as well, leading to a spike in wait times across the board. While Disney Hollywood Studios’ many shows probably won’t be impacted, the thrill rides almost certainly will have longer wait times this summer than they did last.
This isn’t me hypothesizing; it’s a scenario that has played out multiple times in recent years, most notably last summer at Animal Kingdom. Wait times at non-Pandora attractions have increased by 25-30% year-over-year since the debut of Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey.
Part of that could be because the Pandora wait times have been so long that frustrated guests have balked at their times and instead done other attractions…but what do you think will happen when people see a 180 minute wait time for a roller coaster with exposed track and a totally outdoor queue in the middle of August?
Unfortunately, this will only get worse before it gets better at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will only add another two attractions while drawing approximately infinity guests to the park and although Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will likely have a healthy hourly capacity, it’s also the first attraction to highlight Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Suffice to say, both of next year’s additions will be hugely popular.
It’ll actually be interesting to see whether DHS refreshes any of its stages shows or adds more atmospheric entertainment between now and Late 2019 when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is expected to open. Both could be quick ways to ease the burden of crowds. If not, we could regularly see 120 minute waits for Tower of Terror and Star Tours. I can’t even begin to imagine how many hours the standby waits will be for the Star Wars land attractions.
Overall, I know this isn’t exactly enthusiastic about Toy Story Land (don’t say I didn’t warn you!), but it’s difficult to muster up excitement about a land that feels so phoned-in thematically. This is especially true when looking at other projects that are in development for Walt Disney World that actually do provoke excitement. Personally, my favorite thing about Toy Story Land was getting a better view of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which looks like it’ll live up to every bit of hype, providing an immersive land that will exceed even the most ardent Star Wars fan’s expectations…while also being fun.
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Your Thoughts
Are you excited for Toy Story Land? Is the land being ‘fun’ good enough for you? Do you agree or disagree with our review of this new land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? What are your thoughts about Toy Story Land? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Sometimes I feel that Disney is held to too high of a standard and that even when they do it right, it’s just not good enough. As a parent of two boys 4-7 who make the journey and “spend the money” every year we are finally visiting DHS and we are only doing this because there are finally rides for the kids to ride. Let’s remember that this was all started by a mouse and also, for kids.
Wholeheartedly agree. Having kids brings a different perspective.
So in other words, in late 2019, when my wife is hoping to take a quick post retirement trip, and we get to take an ultra rare non summer vacation, we should go to Universal (I’m only half joking; our 9 year old is a HUGE Harry Potter fan).
Because I’m the father of a young kid (the aforementioned 9 year old, who will be 10 then), I don’t have much of a problem with Toy Story Land, other than being out in the Florida heat and humidity without cover (and if we do go in late 2019, it hopefully shouldn’t be too hot and humid). What might be a deal breaker for us next year would be what I would anticipate will be a HUGE influx of Star Wars fans.
After all the hype for Toy Story Land over the past few years….and only 2 new attractions? Ugh, it’s a slight letdown even for Disney standards. Plus Star Wars Park only getting 2 rides? Parks should have more attractions than Lands!
In my opinion, Lands should have at least 5 attractions and Parks should have 10+. Disney is missing the mark on Toy Story Land and Star Wars Park.
Chelle, Galaxy’s Edge (the Star-Wars-themed land) will be contained within Hollywood Studios. It’s not a separate park. Either way, you’re correct that it would be nice if it were adding more than two rides to an already ride-poor gate!
Glad you two were able to get in for the soft open last night. Sounds like the wait times are much nuttier today.
THANK YOU for giving me at least some ammunition to convince my 6 year olds that they will still have fun on Alien Swirling Saucers even though we could not get Slinky FPs for our August trip. I had been dreading the reviews were going to say Aliens was super boring. The kiddos are still skeptical, but I feel a bit encouraged.
Enjoy your Disney trip!!!
Agreed, just looking at the pictures and marketing efforts(the live stream of the dedication which severely lacked enthusiasm) the new area, while shiney and new just seems to be lacking the wow factor, pretty disappointing! And just two new attractions added??? It feels rushed and half baked.
Love your posts. Star Wars will add “infiinity guests” 🙂 Yes!
This post is a perfect example of why I’m a regular reader. Your honesty and critical analysis are one of a kind.
My concern is ride capacity. From what I can see, each Slinky Dog holds 20 people. I understand the total ride time is around 2 minutes, and I guess it will take at least a minute to load and unload passengers, for a 3 to 4 minute cycle. That works out to a capacity of between 300 to 400 people an hour. I haven’t seen any figures on how many “dogs” can run at once, but it can’t be many given the ratio of load/unload time to ride time.
Alien Saucers looks worse – 2 people or maybe an adult and 2 kids per vehicle, no way to add capacity, and it will probably load and unload slower than Dog. Yes, there’s 2 separate rides, but I suspect what worked for Dumbo won’t work here. Dumbo is a really basic ride themed on a 1941 movie and I’m not sure how many people even remember it, much less have an emotional attachment. I suspect most emotional attachments are to the original ride and not the movie.
So we’ve got an entire new Land with a capacity of 1-2,000 per hour at best, and far more kids and parents wanting to ride it, and not much else to do. I suspect there will be a lot of unhappy kids (causing unhappy parents) for years to come.
Compare this to some of the decisions Universal made, such as the interactive wands in their Potter parks, where people pay $50+ to be able to activate relatively cheap small special effects. This keeps a lot of people entertained trying to “cast” the spell correctly. I’m sure that Universal could easily double the number of interactive effects, thus doubling that capacity, for what is in amusement park terms almost no cost or even a profit if enough additional wand sales happen.
I’m a model railroader. Sure kids (and adults) like to watch trains running around at a public show, but add push buttons which trigger some simple effect (motion, light or sound) and you draw far bigger crowds. I have yet to watch any of the Toy Story movies but I bet someone could have come up with the equivalent of a wizard’s wand and effects which could tie into the movie.
There are three slinky dog trains running at once, which I guess makes for a capacity of ~1200/hour. Not great.
Perhaps it IS heavily based on an emotional connection. My boys run on Disney. Toy Story was such a huge part of their childhood… the tents we made in the living room, the cardboard box creations we used for the houses, the endless Buzz and Woody toys that surrounded us for so long, and the soundtrack or lines from Toy Story characters that crack us up.
Would this mom prefer to eat in a spot with the AC cranked? Yup. Do lines outside in an uncovered area cause us to shy away in the August heat? Nope. ( Rope drop it /FP) If it was the case we wouldn’t vacation in August when even waiting for the monorail can feel like standing on the surface of the sun. It’s just a small part of the park we look forward to seeing. We are excited for this land regardless of how puffy the pizza in Pizza Planet/Rizzo’s is, or how cookie cutter the alien ride seems. Toy Story Land will be spectacular because we are emotionally invested in it.
Sometimes it takes seeing the simple things through the eyes of child to make it come to life. Try it next time.
I think his point was that the land relies on people already having that emotional attachment. It is unimaginative in itself and wouldn’t be very spectacular unless you’re coming with that attachment and feeling already developed.
You (and Tom) make a valid point. If I did not have a child, I never would have seen any of the Toy Story movies, and wouldn’t have any connection with them/these rides.
The stage shows HAVE to be revamped/revitalized. The houses for Indy and Beauty and the Beast are HUGE. They could be incredibly effective at sucking in crowds if they had entertainment that wasn’t nearing thirty years old playing in them. I hope they have new entertainment in the pipeline – not just for the entertainment of the guests but for their safety. All of the zillions of people that are about to descend on that park need somewhere to go.
(Little Mermaid probably needs to be replaced or revamped as well but its house is so much smaller than the others that I’m not convinced it would make that much of an impact. But those two outdoor shows! Wow, they fit a ton of people.)
They just announced Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy show at Hollywood Studios. More information coming soon, I’m sure.
Totally agree. I was looking forward to a Pizza Planet revival. I mean, they could’ve recycled those huge aliens that hung from the ceiling! Maybe an immersive ride from sliding down the Christmas lights out of Sid’s window and cruising in the back of the Pizza Planet delivery truck ala Woody style. I’m still excited to experience this new venture with my family, but expected ‘wow’. It looks like the dining area for the lunchbox doesn’t have any shade or umbrellas…..
I really like that ride idea! Maybe it could just be a zip line for older kids. That would attract teens and provide a sense of adventure.
You’re only looking at this contained to the park, though.
If Toy Story Land gets some kids and families out of Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland, that’s a net positive, right?
I think what’s missing is an indoor playground. As a kid, the attractions I loved the most were the ones I could interact with–the Health/Imagination Pavilions at EPCOT, Honey I Shrunk The Kids in DHS, Mickey’s ToonTown in MK, and the Boneyard in AK. Disney seems to have replaced these with interactive line queues. They don’t even really have arcades in the parks anymore!
And I think kids these days enjoy similar things. The attraction that was hardest for us to pull our 5-year-old nephew from? The Living Seas Aquarium! Because he could run around and interact with the environment on his own terms.
It’s mind boggling that they won’t add these attractions in. They would pull down line times and wouldn’t require cast members to operate. Making it indoors would also mean that people would be more likely to stay in the park all day, since they could take a midday break indoors with the kids instead of having to trek back to the hotel.
I completely agree! I’m a college student (so playgrounds were still my jam ~6 years ago) and a lot of my fondest memories of HS come from the HISTK playground. My brothers and I could spend hours at that playground, and our parents liked it because we had a good time while they could take a breather. I can’t imagine being a kid in HS in particular without that playground or something similar, especially with so few rides open right now.
Your comments about the static nature of the land are actually some of the reasons why my family’s least favorite park is DHS, followed by MK. We find both Animal Kingdom and Epcot to do a significantly better job of drawing you into “being there”, wherever exactly there is. I mean, we still enjoy both DHS and MK, but I’m curious to see for myself how far below the standard this is if your take on it is that Toy Story Land is no longer “theme” park, but amusement park with some dressing.
Which brings me to my real complaint about Toy Story Land: the rides. I was very unhappy when the new rides were announced, because as you note they are what I would consider to be more amusement-park style. I’ve never been a “What would Walt say” person, but we have a child who is extremely prone to motion sickness, and so one of the factors that has really set Disney apart for us is that the bulk of the rides are aimed at letting the whole family experience them together, from 2-year old toddlers to grandma or grandpa with the bad back. So for people like us who come to WDW because there are so many rides that are _not_ just amusement park g-manipulators, there is nothing new for us in Toy Story Land except some scenery.
I’m glad I get to experience this as part of a trip with my 7 and 5 year old niece and nephew in the fall. It will be their first trip to Disney and it will be fun to experience it through their eyes rather than my usual solo traveler 30-ish eyes. This area kind of reminds me of what the Dr. Suess land is at Universal–an area that tries to re-create a storybook (or movie) world, a couple of rides for the kids and that’s about it.
“It would’ve been great to see Imagineering take a mulligan on the Pizza Planet concept and really turn it into something special”
My wife and I were just talking about this the other day. We were a bit confounded and disappointed as well that they was left out of Toy Story land. Would have been a great addition in our opinion.
**that this**
I completely agree Brandon.
I’m still hoping that after Galaxy’s Edge Opens , Disney will expand Toy Story land / Pixar themed elements toward Star Wars launch bay. , but i am the eternal optimist… we are 27 days away from our next visit and looking forward to riding Slinky Dog Dash!!!
I’m surprised they didn’t add a fun splash area with playground, etc. By taking away “Honey I Shrunk,” the park lost that area where kids can just play and let off some of their energy. Would have been a nice addition.
I completely agree. I know HISTK didn’t wasn’t totally amazing, but it was a nice place for the kiddos to have for themselves.
I’m excited to visit this new area of the park, but it is definitely a bummer that it’s not exactly “family friendly”. In the past I had regularly touted how you shouldn’t let having toddlers keep you from visiting WDW, but outside of MK, there is a lot that a family cannot do together. And it’s Toy Story Land! I mean, come on! Even a small area for a toddler to play makes life so much easier (Like the little play area under big thunder/splash). They could have made an amazing playground with the IP they were using. #fail
I figured this would be your review before reading it. As you say – there wasn’t much of a “surprise” about the land and you’ve already made your feelings pretty well known.
I’m glad the rides are at least fun, but I agree that more than 2 would have been nice. I even wonder if they could have resurrected the H:IStK playground in Toy Story form. This park is (still) lacking for smaller children and that area was nice for kids. People still talk up the Boneyard for the playground ageset, but that’s it in the 4 parks.
One of my favorite memories of DHS is visiting there on the first day of a trip when my daughter was 3-4. She was chatting with one of the streetmosphere performers and telling how we were going to Disneyworld tomorrow. I think he wanted to convey that DHS was part of Disneyworld, but she wasn’t buying it. If you are <32", that might still be the case.
Have you forgotten about Tom Sawyer island in MK? My 9 year old loves exploring it. Not exactly a playground, but a place they can still let their imagination run wild in.