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Disney Opens the Toy (Story) Box

The Walt Disney parks continue to sprinkle Pixar dust onto their new attractions. Next up: Toy Story Mania, based on the Disney-Pixar Toy Story films. The interactive 3-D rides will bring video game-style fun to Florida's Disney-MGM Studios and Disney's California Adventure when they open in 2008. Using a carnival midway theme, the rides will move guests through a series of 3-D-enhanced "game booths" where they will rack up points by using onboard toy cannon controllers. For example, guests will throw virtual darts at balloons in one scene; in another, they will toss softballs into milk cans. Characters from the films, such as Woody and the Little Green Men, will coach the players. According to Tom Fitzgerald, executive vice president and senior creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, the sophisticated ride will be able to gauge riders' game play abilities and tailor the difficulty levels. "Unlike typical carnival midways, you'll actually be able to win these games," he promises. And video game-challenged adults will be able to have a fighting chance against their game warrior kids. Expanding on Disney's "Living Character" program, in which characters interact with guests using real-time voice animation (such as the incredible Turtle Talk with Crush shows at Epcot and Disney's California Adventure), Mr. Potato Head will serve as a carnival barker and entertain guests while they are in line. Unlike the digitally animated Crush however, Mr. Potato Head will be an actual animatronic character.

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