First impressions of Toy Story Midway Mania (from the Annual Passholders preview on 6/9/08):

• The queue building has a great amount of detail and really is up to previous Disney standards. Overall I enjoyed the experience and had a good time. I found the games to be entertaining and somewhat challenging. Your tram enters the building and you first get to experience a test game where you are throwing pies. No points are awarded but it lets you learn to use the spring action shooter. Then your tram departs and heads for one of several banks of screens where you play the next four games, then at the end your score is tallied and you receive a virtual prize. At the end of each game your score for that game and cumulative score are shown on a screen in your tram. At the end only the total score and accuracy are shown. As you head back to the unload area you see the high scores for the day and all time.
  
  
• Gameplay: I have never been a huge fan of 3D glasses.. they always seem to bother my eyes, but in this attraction the effects seemed to work perfectly and it did add a new dimension to the gameplay. Another aspect the geek in my found fun was how each game tried to apply real physics to the projectiles you were shooting. So the rings behaved differently than the darts or baseballs. This was fun to see and play around with. The games you play are:
  • Pie Throw Practice
  • Bo Peep's Baa-loon Pop
  • Hamm & Eggs
  • Green Army Men Shoot Camp
  • Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers
  • Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery
  • Woody's Bonus Roundup
    
    
• Some nuts and bolts: As you saw in the pictorial update the ride trams consist of two cars that each seat four people (2 back to back). They dispatch two trams at a time out of the main loading area. There is a separate loading area off to the side for guests needing assistance (handicap access). This seems to keep the trams moving nicely. Also note there is no Fastpass or Single Rider line (the Florida version has both). The queue itself is fairly boring with the notable exception of the Mr. Potato Head Barker who is an attraction unto himself. If Monday was any indication they still have kinks to work out with Mr. Potato Head. He was stopped when I arrived then working but later he was behind a tarp for the rest of the evening. I have seen they are having similar issues with the WDW one too. I guess this can be expected with a piece of equipment as complex as him. Only the last 20 minutes or so of it covered and the over flow out in the open. Last note if you have infants or other small children they have to sit on the seat, you cannot hold them. We had an 11 month old in our group and he did ok, but making sure it was ok disrupted the game play (or at least that is the excuse the Lazygeek used for his score). They really pushed that option over a baby swap, but I think if he would have insisted the CMs would have let him.
  
  
• I was a little disappointed that they did not have an on-ride photo/score/email option like they have on Buzz, I thought that was a great idea and fun for the once in a lifetime folks as a keepsake and for those of us who play all the time to see our scores. Maybe someday they will add this. In terms of setting the story for the attraction, I thought the set up was a bit awkward where you come from the Pier and basically put in the Toys world with no real transition. In Orlando they use the queue to bring you into the Toy World. Here you really do not get what is going on until the last scene in the loft of the gift shop where you see the Midway Mania box and other toy boxes on the ground.
  
  
• I received a couple emails asking if it was worth it or lived up to expectations... I think it really depends on what you were expecting. It met my expectations, but I would not say exceeded them, say in the way Indiana Jones did on my first ride or my first viewing of Fantasmic but I walked away satisfied and wanting to go on again. I think the attraction is well done, the games are fun, and it fits on DCAs Pier nicely. I enjoyed the games and see myself riding somewhat frequently, depending on the wait.

The Geek's First Impressions (2/3/01)

• Overview: This is the section of the park that I was convinced I would not like before going into the park. After visiting I can say I was partially right. I am still not a big fan of the section, but I think Disney did a good job with it. I think it does a great job of conveying its theme. My problem is I just do not like the theme... guess I will have to live with it. There are some good points to the section. The lagoon lends itself to some great picture oportunities with all the reflections. The wave machine was not working, so I have no idea what that will do to the pictures. I am still disappointed with Disney not designing more of its own attractions for this park. The other major problem I see with this section of the park is capacity problems. The lines all move fairly slowly due to the limited capactiy of each attraction. During the preview most of the lines were well over an hour most of the day. The early morning and later evening were the best times to see the Pier. Also be sure to take advantage of Fastpass to help you out. One of the other problems with this section is the McDonalds. I have nothing against the place, but I thought the prices were ridiculous... I will opted to walk across Harbor to a "real" McDonalds and save a ton of money and with the long lines it will probably be the same amount of time too...
• Golden Zephyr: This ride was ok... nothing too spectacular. It is a standard spinning ride. You get some nice views of the Paradise Pier section. The plastic & rubber seatbelts were interesting and felt cheap. Also I was surprised there are no doors, or chains on the inner side of the ride. Its wide open... wonder how many items will end up in the lagoon? This was a nice way to spend the time while waiting for our Fastpass for Mulholland Madness to come up... Also note if there is even a hint of a breeze this attration is closed down.
• Jumpin' Jellyfish: We did not get on this, mostly because it looked crowded and not that exciting to us. Younger kids will love this attraction we think.
• Mulholland Madness: We really hated this attraction... First off it looks aweful... the orange & green steel. Riding it was also a miserable experience due to our heights (6',6'2", 6'4"). It was extremely tight and since I road with the 6'4" guy they decided to put an extra pad on the lap bar which in turn made my legs get squished even more. It was extremely uncomfortable. The ride itself was loud and jerky. I enjoyed the lateral G-forces on the top, but because of the leg discomfort it was made worse as the ride went on. I would have probably had more fun if my legs were not being crushed... enough whining about the legs I bet your saying... so let's move on to complaining about the views.. from this attraction you can see out of the park and it looks terrible... Lazygeek commented on how this attraction looked "temporary", so our only hope is someday it will go and we will get a good attraction.....
• SS Rustworthy: This children's water play area looked really cool to us, but we did not feel like getting wet, so we skipped it...
• Orange Stinger: This is a standard swing ride with a Bee theme to it located in an orange. It looks much better from the outside than the inside. Once on the ride the orange panels block most of your view of the surrounding area. The ride is ok but nothing to write home about. The scent in the queue is a nice extra....
• Maliboomer: This is the tall ride that shoots you up 180 feet into the air and you bounce around a few times then come back to earth. The disneygeek did not ride this, but the other members of our party did twice and they really enjoyed it. The view looking out of the park was annoying, but the looking into the park was really cool they report. They also say the ride itself is exciting and fun.
• Sun Wheel: The Sun Wheel gives you the choice of riding in either a stationary (red car) or a swinging car. We went for the stationary cars on our first visit because the line was about 1/3 that of the swinging cars, also the red cars go higher and offer better photo oportunities. Overall we thought the ride was fun. It offered a great view of the park and Disneyland. Unfortunately it also offered a great view of the surrounding area too, but not much can be done about that. The ferris wheel fits the theme perfectly and works nicely in the area. The major problem with it is capacity. The line really inches along.... and waiting over an hour for a ferris wheel ride seems long to me... On a different visit we tried the swinging cars. They were fun, but the view was not as spectacular as the red ones because you do not go as high, and all the swinging makes taking pictures a little trickier. I do not think it is worth the long wait compared to the stationary cars. If the line is short, I say give it a try, but if its an hour and you can get on the stationary cars in 20 min, go for the short line.
• King Triton's Carousel: We also skipped this ride, opting to visit it on a future visit. From our vantage point it appeared to be a hit with the younger kids. The detail on the carousel looked really good. We have heard people say it appears to be "hidden" by California Screamin', but our impression was not hidden, but over powered. Finding the carousel and going on it is no problem, but with all the work that went into it, its hard to appreciate with all the steel from the coaster around it.
• Games of the Boardwalk: I hate boardwalk games, and I hated the idea of having them at Disney... so I bet you can guess my opinion of them now that I saw them. I think they were well done, meaning they fit the theme perfectly and actually looked pretty good. Unfortunately the high price seemed to really bother me... I did see quite a few people participating in the games, so I bet they will be a hit and a money maker for the park.
• California Screamin': Well the disneygeek is not a coaster fanatic, but the Lazygeek and the geek's brother did ride it and gave it two thumbs up. They said the launch was not as cool as the Rock n Roller Coaster at the Studios in WDW, but still noteworthy. They really enjoyed the length of the ride and the smoothness of it. The entire attraction is linear induction motors, no chain lifts on this coaster. I was really surprised by how quiet the trains were, all you could hear really was the swosh sound and the screams... They had no comment on the sound track, so either they were too distracted, or it was not working. They could not tell me. Be sure to use FastPass on this attraction, or you could end up in line for a while. Also note that if you want to ride get on while its working, it seemed to be having a lot of problems staying up, but then again it was a preview, so the bugs will be worked out over time.

• Maliboomer is 210 feet tall the highest point the car will go is 180 feet
• California Screaming has reached 65 mph in testing, first synchronous linear induction motor launches you 0-60 in less than 4 seconds
• Original Games of the Boardwalk: Angels in the Outfield, Boardwalk Bowl, Cowhuenga Pass, Dolphin Derby, New Haul Fishery, Reboundo Beach, San Joaquin Volley, Shore Shot

• Golden Gateway and Sunshine Plaza
• The Golden State
• Paradise Pier
• Hollywood Pictures Backlot
• A Bug's Land