Team Betamouse! This week we are talking about one of the tech-iest rides at Disney, Toy Story Midway Mania!
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- Henry introduces the Panel.
- Nate gives the history of TSMM.
- The team discusses rope drop strategies and how they differ at Disney World and DCA.
- Henry asks the Panel what they think of the queue, including Mr. Potato Head.
- Team Betamouse discusses the ride itself, the history and the tech involved.
- Henry discusses some Toy Story Mania secrets. An episode of WDW Today illustrates them all! Check it out.
- Henry also discusses the community’s obsession with high scores at Toy Story, especially in DCA.
- Katie and Scott discuss Toy Story for the Wii and iPhone and if they are worth the buy.
- The Team discusses their final thoughts.
Reminder! Come to the Team Betamouse December meet! December 3rd, 8:45am right outside of Epcot!
Good episode. If anybody is interested in more of the tech behind the ride, here’s a link to a story from a couple of years ago, right around the time it made its debut.
http://www.designnews.com/article/46702-Disney_Rides_on_Wireless_Ethernet.php
I like that they’ve used a lot of the shelf technologies by Siemens and others in a unique way to create a new experience.
BTW: Siemens products were used for a lot of the ride and network components, but they were not a sponsor.
As for Mr Potato Head, I completely agree with you guys’ comments. It’s amusing, but only for about 5 minutes, then he gets to be annoyingly repetitive. I would love to see them try to use the Living Character Initiative tech to enhance this. If not Potato head, maybe they could use some of the other characters from the movie. But, they need to do something.
One of the things you guys neglected to say much about was the theme of the queue. Personally, I find the whole queue to be chaotic and cheap feeling. I think the queue has to be one of the less enjoyable that Imagineering has created in quite a while. I think they had a good idea with the toy box concept, but the mix of colors, shapes and the almost boxed-in feeling that comes from the low ceiling makes it a somewhat uncomfortable queue, to say the least. The only thing good about this queue is that it is indoors and air conditioned.
Hey GrumpyFan, thanks a lot for the comments! I agree with ya on the queue–the budget was definitely blown on Mr. Head. Sorry about the Siemens mistake!
Thanks for the return of the direct link !
Paul
The “download the episode” link?