It’s as predictable as the tides. First a new attraction soft-opens at one of the Disney theme parks. And then someone online declares this new ride or show is ” … the worst thing that Imagineering has ever designed.”
Which is why — on the heels of “Spaceship Earth” ‘s torturous test-and-adjust period as well as the ongoing “Should-Disneyland-add-Disney-characters-to-it’s-a-small-world-attraction?” debate — WDI is trying something different these days. They’re deliberately ignoring what’s being posted on the Web about “Toy Story Mania.” Turning a deaf ear to whatever WDW cast members and/or Disneyana fans are saying about this new Disney’s Hollywood Studios ride-thru.
Which is kind of ironic. Given that the biggest complaint (so far) that’s come out of the Cast Member Previews has to had to do with acoustics. As in: Due to the way that “Toy Story Mania” was constructed, you can’t help but hear all of the other game trams that are moving around inside of this show building at the same time as you are. And that noise bleeding problem distracted many WDW cast members as they rode through this new attraction.
As one Disney World insider who rode “Toy Story Mania” last week put it:
“What with all of the noise coming off of the other game trams that are in this show building, it’s just not an intimate experience. You’re always aware that you’re one of many rolling through this 3D shooting gallery. Trying to squeeze off as many shots as possible before you have to move on to the next flat screen.
To be honest, I liked this pop gun technology better the first time that I used it. Back in 2000 when ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold’ first opened at DisneyQuest. At least there you’re having a somewhat intimate experience. As you and four or five of your friends are manning the cannons, blowing up ships, collecting pirate gold. You’re having an adventure together.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Whereas with ‘Toy Story Mania’ … You’re just moving from one shooting gallery to the next. Which — in the end — is kind of an empty experience.
Sure, it was fun seeing that new 3D animation of the ‘Toy Story’ characters. And I liked a lot of the theming in the queue. But having ridden the thing twice now, I just don’t feel the need to go on ‘Toy Story Mania’ again. Which makes me question this whole rerideability thing that the Imagineers keep talking about.”
In the spirit of fairness, I forwarded this cast member’s comments to one of the Imagineers who worked on “Toy Story Mania.” And they admitted that WDI was already well aware of this attraction’s acoustical problems. Which they’re still trying to address as part of “TSM” ‘s preview period.
But that said, this cast member’s sound complaint did get a rather venomous response from my friend in Imagineering.
“How typical. We spend $70 million to build this damned attraction, then pile on the theming. Even go so far as to try and match the color of those hand-kilned bricks that Steve Jobs selected to build Pixar Studios out of. But do we get praised for our efforts? For our years & years of hard work? No. We get bitched at for the one thing that we got wrong.”
It was at this point that I learned that many of the Imagineers who worked on “Toy Story Mania” were deliberately going out of their way to avoid reading the negative comments that had been posted on the Web about their attraction. To wit:
” … we’re tired of the constant bitchfest. The foamers who post on MiceChat, WDWMagic and your site. They never seem to like anything that WDI does anymore.
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Which, I have to tell you, is the exact opposite of what we’re seeing in those guest surveys that they do at the parks. Where Disneyana fans complain whenever we add characters to an attraction or update some tired old Epcot ride, the people who pay big bucks to fly on down to Orlando with their families once every five years just love what we’ve been doing.
That’s what I think your readers need to understand. When it comes to Walt Disney World, we’re not out to please the annual passholders. Our goal here is service the tens of millions of other guests for whom a Disney World vacation is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
People like that are going to love ‘Toy Story Mania.’ They’re not going to obsess about some minor acoustical problem. They’re just going to be thrilled that they got to ride through a 3D shooting gallery that starred the ‘Toy Story’ characters.
I wish that more of your readers could experience the parks the way those once-in-a-lifetime guests do. They’re just there to have fun with their friends and their family. They’re not actively going out of their way to always find things to complain about.”
Which — you’ll have to admit — is not the sort of perspective that you usually find posted here at JHM.
So what do you folks think? Is my friend the Imagineer right? Are the Disneyana fans who post online often far too negative? Have they forgotten how the average Disney World visitor actually experiences the theme parks? Or is reporting on things like “Toy Story Mania” ‘s acoustical problems really a valid criticism?
Your thoughts?