Toy Story Mania

New Friends, Old Faces 

And, while we're not always fans of when Disney take out an existing attraction to put in something new, their designers have certainly come up trumps with this wildly inventive 3-D shoot-‘em-up which is at once both high-tech and wonderfully old-fashioned.

Gone is the old Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show and in its place is this ride-through arcade game that will appeal to Auntie Mabel as much as 15-year-old Britney and 5-year-old Tommy.

In best Disney fashion, we were also treated to all the razzamatazz of the grand opening, with the Toy Story cast (led by the Green Army Men) staging a colourful show in the park's main plaza before leading us all on a merry dance to the ride itself.

For those unfamiliar with the big Pixar Studios films Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (and where have you been? These were groundbreaking movies!), it is a world of the high-tech (as evidenced by techno-toy Buzz Lightyear) and the staunchly traditional (like cowboy ring-pull puppet Woody, Slinky the Dog and Mr Potato Head).

Meet Mr. Potato Head

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A Madcap Carnival 

And you are drawn into this larger-than-life world right from the start, with the queuing area alone a visual riot. The storyline is you have been shrunk to toy-size and are in Andy's bedroom, where Buzz and Co have set up a series of games for everyone to play.

The many twists and turns of the queue line reveal dozens of overgrown childhood memories - from Etch-A-Sketch screens, to crayons, to dominoes and Tinkertoys - and a huge animatronic Mr Potato Head, who engages the audience like a fairground barker with cries of ‘Hey you, lady in red. Do you want to hear me sing?' And off he goes.

Outside is a larger-than-life scrabble

That gentle fun brings you through to the ride itself, where you embark in four-seater cars (in back-to-back pairs) to try your hand at this madcap carnival, armed only with a draw-string shooter (imagine a toy cannon with a handle), a pair of 3-D glasses - and your sharpest wits.

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An Extra Dimension 

Be ready for a fast, frantic encounter with five different games - from Hamm & Eggs, where your toy shooter fires virtual eggs at different-value targets, to Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Round-up, where you launch suction-cup darts at an increasingly rapid array of cowboy paraphernalia.

The 3-D effects are impressive and vivid. Whether your toy cannon is firing pies or baseballs, you can ‘see' your missile all the way to its intended target, and there are some amusing extra effects as you burst the occasional water balloon or things come whirring back at you (seemingly) when you hit other objects.

It all adds up to a breathtaking whirl through this ultra-creative cyber-world (you soon forget the 3-D glasses and are convinced your ‘ammunition' is totally real!), with the game pitched so it is just as easy for Tommy as Britney (and even Auntie Mabel).

One of the Toy Story rides

And it is all waiting for Disney World visitors to discover this summer (although it is sure to draw some massive queues, so make sure you take advantage of the FastPass opportunity here - see our Disney Survival Guide).

But why oh why did they have to call one of the games Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers.....??!

Simon and Susan Veness live in Orlando and are acknowledged as Britain's foremost experts on Orlando and Central Florida through their guidebook ‘A Brit Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World' and website www.askdaisy.net/orlando.

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