NIGEL THOMPSON
Entering Toy Story Land at Walt Disney World, you are greeted by a 20ft Woody, cheering: “Welcome, toys!” No kidding. Because this is Andy’s backyard, and everything is upscaled, essentially shrinking you right down to the size of a toy. You aren’t playing with Woody, Buzz and Jessie, you’re hanging out with them.
The new 11-acre attraction based in Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida, has been lovingly created to make you feel like you’re as tiny as a green army man. There’s even Sarge barking orders and Andy’s 25ft-long footprint.
In keeping with the toy-like scale, Buzz, Jessie and Rex loom over fans as they queue for rides or whizz around the track on one of two new attractions, Slinky Dog Dash.
The double-launch coaster – a Disney first – is made up of 18-seater carriages set inside Slinky’s coils. The first half of the ride swirls, turns and dips, the second pulls you back and launches you into a series of camelback humps, as if a child was playing with the Slinky Dog toy.
As you wait in the queue, you pass Andy’s drawings showing how he created the ride, from huge Crayola sketches to a bottle of glue stamped with an Al’s Toy Barn price tag.
The amount of detail is impressive, all ensuring the illusion is kept alive. Slinky’s husky voice tells you to keep all your “parts and pieces” inside the vehicle before you shoot off, winding past Rex balancing precariously on top of a Jenga stack.
Then you see Jessie, equally unstable stringing up the Christmas lights that tangle and wind around the park, casting a stunning glow across the land at night. Wheezy, the squeaky toy, serenades you with the classic You’ve Got A Friend In Me as the ride pulls back in.
Similarly, the second new ride, Alien Swirling Saucers, sells the story setting you inside a playset Andy won at the infamous Pizza Planet.
Think Mad Hatter tea cups with a twist. A 14ft talking Buzz Lightyear waves you into the queue, before you pass a massive toy raygun and Star Command computer buttons, all based around the idea you’re helping Buzz defeat Zurg.
If you make it through the mission – or the queue, which has been more than an hour and a half at peak – then you’re flung around in the little rockets on spinning circuits as the aliens try to avoid the far-reaching Claw.
Both the crowd-pleasing rides are a draw for any fan, there’s even an updated Toy Story Mania, a 4D arcade style ride. But don’t expect high thrills.
These are aiming for grin-inducing