Toy Story Land coming to Disney Hollywood Studios

Image courtesy Disney.  All rights reserved.

At the D23 Expo, Disney today announced that Toy Story Land will be coming to Disney Hollywood Studios.  This new eleven-acre land, based on the existing Toy Story Mania! will include two new attractions - a Little Green Men alien flying saucers attraction and a new family-friendly roller coaster based on Slinky the dog.

Tip Tuesday: TSMM - the Final Scene

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

I'm wrapping up my series of tips to score big on Toy Story Mania.

After exhausing your arms through the other scenes, you finally stop at this scene with a series of mine carts coming out and falling down.  See the two bats at the top?  Hit those bats for 1000 points each.  Hit a few mine carts while you wait for the bats to re-appear.  They will be worth 5000 points each.  Hit them again and the mine cars will now be worth 5000 points each.

Once the final targets appear, pick ONE and shoot away like mad.  If you can shoot fast enough, you can get the target to advance to 2000 points per shot and really rack up!

So there you go... a few tips to score big on Toy Story Mania!

Good luck shooting there cowboy!!

Tip Tuesday: Scoring big during the Alien Toss at TSMM

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

This week, I want to continue my series of posts about scoring big at Toy Story Mania. 

Let's head to the Alien Ring Toss game.  This game is pretty straightforward:  toss rings over the aliens to score points. 

Now for the tip:  See that group of eight aliens in the center?  If you can ring all eight aliens before they come back up, the section will open up and a huge gap will open where you can toss a ton of rings for major points. 

This is hard, especially for one person.  If you have a partner, the two of you can more easily cover the center portion and get that bonus area.

In the meantime, don't forget about the higher point total aliens in the top left and right corners.

If you missed some of my previous tips for scoring big at Toy Story Mania, see this list:

• Hamm and Eggs:  http://disneydaddy.blogspot.com/2012/02/tip-tuesday-more-points-hints-at-toy.html
• Dino Darts:  http://disneydaddy.blogspot.com/2012/01/tip-tuesday-toy-story-midway-mania.html

Tip Tuesday: More points hints at Toy Story Mania

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

This week, let's return to Toy Story Mania for some more tips on scoring big.

Back on January 17, I talked about how to score big points during the Dino Darts game.  This week, let's start with the first game in the attraction, Hamm and Eggs.  While there's a lot on the screen to shoot at, you're going to ignore most of it.  Instead I want you to focus on the bottom right or left corner (depending on your screen).   You will see a red fox worth 500 points.  Hit the fox.  That will trigger three chickens worth 1000 or 2000 points each. 

After you hit the three chickens, the fox will return in second or two.  Just keep doing the same thing through the entire game -- fox and chickens... fox and chickens.

If you get tired of that (or if you have a partner), you can hit the two pigs on the fence just above the fox.  That will trigger a cat near the barn.  Hit the cat for escalating values of 500 to 2000 points, though you have to hit the two pigs each time to re-trigger the cat.

Personally, I recommend sticking with the fox and chickens for the entire round.

I'll share more tips in a future Tip Tuesday post.  Have fun and good hunting!

Tip Tuesday: Toy Story Midway Mania secrets - Dino Darts

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

I'm fresh back from another trip to Walt Disney World and I'd like to start off with sincere thanks to everyone who supported me during the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 8.  I'm proud to say that I finished the race (in a little under 7 hours -- not a great time, but who cares!).

Now on to this week's tip!

I managed to get in a few runs on Toy Story Midway Mania and was working on beating my top score when I recalled that I haven't shared any tips for achieving higher scores at the most popular attraction in all of Walt Disney World.

Well it's time to rectify this oversight.

Let's start with one of the easier (but not the easiest) tip:  racking up big points during Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts.  This is the second scoring segment in the attraction.  Obviously the point is to pop balloons with darts you shoot. 

When the game begins, you'll see some long squiggly balloons like lava rivers on the front of the volcano worth 1000 points each.  There are six total that appear, first a single in the center, then two on the left and right (seen above) and finally all three in a row.  Quickly pop each of these balloon sets as they appear.  If you can pop all six, here's what you'll see next:

See those balloons erupting from the top of the volcano?  Just start shooting at the top of the volcano and hit as many as you can as they erupt.  They're worth 500 points each and they're tightly packed together right at the top so you can hit them easily without having to move much.

Next...

Two comets on the left and right sides of the screen will appear with balloons in the center of each.  As you pop the balloons, the comet will descend a bit each time.  Pop each comet balloon three times to make it fall to the ground.  This is much easier and quicker if you have a partner who can shoot one comet while you shoot the other.  If you can get both sides to fall, you get the big payoff:

Two huge balloon comes crash to the ground, made up of balloons worth 2000 points each.  Just start shooting those yellow balloons and don't stop until time runs out.  You'll probably have only a few seconds so be watching for them as they come into the screen.

So there you go --- just one of several ways to score some big points on Toy Story Midway Mania!  I'll talk about some other easy ways to rack up big points in a future post.

Until next time, good luck and good hunting!

Tip Tuesday: Skip the Fastpass line for Toy Story Mania? Sometimes

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

What's the most popular attraction at Walt Disney World?

If you make that decision based on the longest average wait time, then the choice is very clear: Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Most times of the year, wait times at Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM) will top out at 100+ minutes, and sometimes much, much longer.

The best way to avoid the long lines is to get to the park at rope drop. I've talked about this several times before. However with TSMMl, there's an additional bit that I think will help make your experience with TSMM much more enjoyable.

You see once the rope drops and the crowds begin to move, there is a massive cattle rush toward TSMM. Everyone's headed for the FastPass machines. Within minutes, the line to get FastPasses can be backed up all the way to One Man's Dream. This means a wait of at least 30 minutes just to get a FastPass.

I've been in this situation several times. Instead of standing in that tremendous line, I skip it and go straight for the standby line. Most times, I will end up with a wait of less than that of the FastPass line -- and with much less hassle.

Best of all, by the time I get out from my first ride on TSMM, the FastPass line has gone way down (to less than 5 minutes) and I hop in and get another FastPass for that afternoon.

So there you go -- the best of both worlds!! Try this next time you're at rope drop at Hollywood Studios, you'll be glad you did!

Until next time: To Infinity and Beyond!!!

Disney to update Toy Story Mania in May

More news coming today from the official Disney Parks blog! Today Disney announced a new game coming in May at Toy Story Mania, Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts, which will replace Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop. According to the blog post, this game "will involve shooting virtual darts at all new balloon targets in a primeval world filled with volcanoes and lava balloons. You’ll be cheered on by Rex (the nervous Tyrannosaurus rex) and his new friend Trixie (a blue Triceratops, one of the toy characters from the new film) beginning in late May."

Apparently this new game also will have a few hidden surprises, like many of the current games at Toy Story Mania.

Also, Disney announced today that "Lotso," a new character from the upcoming Toy Story 3 will begin meet-and-greets at the Magic of Disney Animation at Disney's Hollywood Studios starting May 9. Most likely, the Lotso meet-and-greet area will replace the current location for the characters from Disney-Pixar's Up!

What do you think about the new game for Toy Story Mania? Cast your vote in the poll on the right side of this page!

Toy Story Mania coming to Wii

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Disney Interactive Studios today announced Toy Story Mania!, inspired by the Disney/Pixar animated feature “Toy Story,” will be released exclusively for the Wii™ home video game console this fall. Toy Story Mania! showcases an array of entertaining games based on the new Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort attractions, while featuring the iconic characters and humor from the popular Disney/Pixar “Toy Story” franchise.

“The ‘Toy Story’ franchise is a fun, dynamic and heart-warming series containing characters and themes that connect with every age group,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “Toy Story Mania! combines those popular elements with the unique antics of the new theme park attraction for the ultimate in family entertainment.”
In Toy Story Mania!, players experience the fast-paced, zany fun of the Toy Story Mania! theme park attraction, which is an interactive experience requiring 3D glasses and involving rapid or quick-firing shooting galleries. In addition to galleries adapted from the attraction, the game includes new and original galleries and a series of mini games, all hosted by beloved characters from the movies. The thematically-connected levels are designed for up to four players of all ages with competitive and co-operative multiplayer options. Toy Story Mania! also includes bonus 3D features, transforming the game experience with eye-popping visuals.

The Pixar-created “Toy Story” and ”Toy Story 2” have both had successful box office and DVD sales. The Disney Digital 3D™ theatrical re-release of “Toy Story” is in the works and will open in theatres on October 2, 2009, followed by the 3D re-release of “Toy Story 2” opening on February 12, 2010, leading up to the premiere of “Toy Story 3” in 3D summer 2010. Toy Story Mania! is the first video game to place characters from these films into a carnival game setting and is expected to resonate with fans of the films and the attraction, as well as gamers who like pick-up-and-play party games.

Developed by Papaya Studio, Toy Story Mania! will be available this fall exclusively for Wii.