Attraction I love -
Attraction I hate -
Attraction I cherish -
Attraction I laugh all the way through -
You get the idea.
When I posted my list, my response to "Disney attraction I hate" was Toy Story Midway Mania. Friends seemed confounded that I could hate such a popular ride. What I want to know is why it is so popular? Theme park enthusiasts are so critical about the use of screens in attractions, and more specifically 3-D screens. So why are they practically giddy over Toy Story Midway Mania? I just don't get it.
Here's what I think: It's popular because it's a first-person-shooter video game. That's it. But is the opportunity to improve your score with each visit really enough for this "ride" to skate past the loathing people feel towards other rides that use screens and 3-D in much more effective ways?
Let's face it, Toy Story Midway Mania is a textbook example of what people hate most about screen rides. On top of it, this is an attraction that has absolutely no business being a ride in the first place. So why is this shooter the exception to the generally accepted hatred for screen rides? Toy Story is an extremely popular franchise so it's no surprise that Disney would want to capitalize on it. An entire section for it exists in Hong Kong and in Paris, and a land is in development in Orlando. Sadly I think Walt Disney Imagineering did some of its least successful work on Midway Mania. Is it a popular ride? Obviously. So much so a third track was recently installed in Florida. Is it a great ride? No, and I will get to that. But first, let's first talk about screen rides. Why are they are so hated, yet TSMM is so well regarded?
Full disclosure – I have nothing against screen-based attractions. I think they are the most effective way to bring theme park guests into the story of movie based IPs or when recognizable human actors are involved. As proof, I offer up The Great Movie Ride, Ellen's Energy Adventure, and The Indiana Jones Adventure. All are massive, traditional dark rides with huge practical sets and multiple Audio Animatronic figures of well-known, real life people. The sort of rides FanBoys (and Girls) long for. But do you really think the Ripley figure draws you into the story being told, or do you look at her and think, "Wow, that looks nothing like Sigourney Weaver!" This is not the case on the various Harry Potter attractions, which use screens to depict the actors who performed in the films.
The story that is being told should dictate the technology used for the attraction. If the storytellers want to place us on a mysterious island where a giant ape and dinosaurs fight to the death, the best way to transport us there is with huge 3-D screens. If the story tellers want us to have the sensation of flying on a hang glider over California (or eventually around the world) suspending us in an IMAX dome theater is the best way to do that. In other words, screens are not bad when used the right way. Are they being used too much? Not if they are the right technology for the story that is going to be presented.
So, now let's compare a few different shooter rides and evaluate what makes a shooter great. Later we'll see how Toy Story Midway Mania misses the boat on almost every single point.
Universal Studios' Men in Black: Alien Attack (2000) - The entire building tells a really rich story. It does this with humor, action, and adventure. At MIB you go through physical sets shooting at more than 125 animated figures during game play. Every aspect places you into the MIB universe and makes you a part of the experience. Not only can you work towards a higher score with each visit, but you compete against players on an opposing vehicle. Your performance along with the others on your vehicle trigger a unique ending that involves even more AA figures and a message from the film's star... but you may or may not remember all of that based on how well you did, rookie.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (1998) - Here you are given a mission in the queue to help Buzz defeat Evil Emperor Zurg. The ride is intended for a much younger audience so the game play is not so sophisticated, but it's not meant to be. One of the best aspects of BLSRS is that you get to control the rotate of your vehicle. This allows you to shoot at the targets all around your vehicle making the ride track a full 360-degree environment. It also allows you to interact with the riders in the cars around you. As a result you get to make decisions about the ride as it goes along and you engage with other riders around you. Your score may be your own, but you are fighting as a team to defeat the evil Zurg.
Tokyo Disneyland's Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek (2009) - Breaking the mold, this is a shooter with no screens and no points awarded. When you shine your flashlight on targets, it triggers animated effects with delightful and funny results. I rode it in 2015. About a quarter of the way through I put my flashlight down. I wanted to enjoy everything unfolding in front of me. Looking for targets caused me to narrow my focus and I wanted to enjoy the entire experience. Is it a shooter? Yes and no. Does it make you want to take repeat rides based on the game play? Absolutely. There is so much to see you could never catch it all in only one ride through. There's just no score given.
There are many other shooter games out there beyond Disney and Universal. The Six Flags chain continues to add Justice League: Battle for Metropolis to additional parks. Knott's has Voyage to the Iron Reef and Legoland just opened NINJAGO The Ride, which is unique in that you use karate-style hand motions to fire at the targets. You can read reviews by other fans like you here on Theme Park Insider to see how successful they are.
So, why is Midway Mania so popular? I really can't say. What I can do is tell you where I think it misses the mark on being a great shooter ride.
- First and most frustratingly, this shouldn't be a ride. The motion of your vehicle has nothing to do with the game experience. As far as the actual game goes, what you do on TSMM is fine. The 3-D effects are good and a few air blasts are included to draw you into the action. But why bother making it a ride? For the price of the ride system Disney World could have installed several hundred comfy couches inside the abandoned sound stages with individual screens. The hourly throughput would likely have been better than what the third track provides now.
- Another sore point is how the vehicles transport players between screens to play different games. Why? Since everything is video, each of the games could be shown at the same station. Moving between screens is almost a cruel joke. First time I rode I assumed I was going to be taken somewhere that would eventually have physical sets, AA figures, anything to improve the overall experience. Sadly, no — just another screen with another game that I could have played sitting on a comfy couch.
- The time you spend moving between screens is also pointless. There is nothing of any great interest to look at and the movement is often jarring and sudden. It is such a lost opportunity. Where are the fun interstitial scenes featuring AA figures? They could have been included and would have added more real dimension and story progression to the experience.
- As discussed earlier, screens are the best storytelling device to bring us into worlds where real humans are involved. Toy Story has no real humans, just toys and cartoon versions of humans. This would have been a perfect opportunity to populate the ride track with AA figures of the movie's characters. I'm not saying the action from the games played in TSMM could have been completely replaced using AA figures, but they could have been included alongside the screens to cheer us on OR play against us. There also could have been a couple of scenes utilizing old fashioned shooting gallery style physical props.
- Nothing goes horribly wrong. It's the most popular tropes used in modern dark ride development. The Cat in the Hat creates a mess while our Mother is out. The boat goes off course while taking a cruise through Hadrosaur Cove. The police are chasing us as we try to get ET home to the Green Planet. Having something go horribly wrong gives the ride a story arc and allows the riders - either passively or actively – to feel invested in what's happening. With a great villain like Sid in the Toy Story universe, why isn't there a need at some point use our shooters (they are never called guns, are they?) to stop him from doing something Sid-like to one of the toys? Radiator Springs Racers is another ride where nothing goes horribly wrong. We are just along for a really fun high speed ride through monument valley – except we aren't! This is a race. A competition between us and against them. At the end, one car wins and one car does not. RSRs isn't a shooter, but make no mistake, there is competition happening and that's one reason it is so much fun.
- TSMM lacks the element of competition against other riders. Men in Black is great because about halfway through the ride (SPOILER ALERT) you discover the passengers on the vehicle across the track from you are, in fact, escaped space criminals that need to be recaptured. This pits you in completion against them. The creative team was very cunning in designing the game so that you shot not at other people but at the exhaust port on their vehicle. Each hit gives you points and sends the other car spinning. This is fun for the shooter and hampers the score of the other competitors. But there's no "playing defense" like this on TSMM.
- TSMM hides the element of team work. As an individual riding MIB, you are hoping to get the highest score for bragging rights, but in the end the total score of your vehicle determines if your group "gets to wear the suit." This open, common goal among the riders provides a feeling of camaraderie among the recruits on your vehicle and fosters a desire for success for all. TSMM rewards riders for cooperating on several "Easter eggs" on the ride, but only dedicated fans who read about the ride online learn about those. Most riders go through with no idea that they can work together for a higher score.
There is one element where I think TSMM uses its technology in a very successful way. During a ride stop or delay the system has the ability to extend play, without scoring benefit, for riders who are on hold. This keeps people pacified and entertained while problems are resolved. Very smart.
So with Toy Story Midway Mania, what we have is a ride that has no business being a ride. It moves you between multiple screens that could just as easily have been shown on one screen placed in front players on a super comfy sofa. There is no interaction between players. There is no feeling of team work and there is no element of competition between players other than final the score. While traveling between screens there is a nothing to look other than the occasional glimpses of other cars moving between other sets of screens in the dark. All this happens as nothing goes horribly wrong.
In short, it's a lot like what a kid in a stroller must experience while being pushed through the TV section at Best Buy.
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But Disney disrupted the amusement park industry by creating something far, far better than cheap carnival attractions. So why on Earth would Disney use a cheap carnival experience as a show theme? Especially for one of its most popular franchises?
I agree, this is fun gameplay, and if you have a partner who knows the Easter eggs, there's a nice challenge here. But I can play it just as well at home. There's no need for this to be taking up valuable space in a park in its current form.
Imagineering did do an awesome job with the Mr. Potato Head animatronic, but you have to endure the queue to even get a glimpse of him.
And I agree that MIB is almost the perfect shooter ride -- great use of AAs, the chance to compete against the other car (though, if you'll notice, most of the time the car on the right-hand load side almost always wins -- I've been on the left side a few times that we managed to pull out a win, but the best targets seem to be on the side of the right load car....) and the constant quest to beat your own best score.
Midway Mania would have been much improved with the addition of some of those elements. That being said -- and I've only ridden it twice -- I found the ride to be strangely addictive. Maybe it was just the simplicity of pulling that stupid string. Or maybe it tapped into nostalgia from the many hours I spent in video arcades as a kid in the '80s, back when video games were simple and all you needed was a joystick and a fire button :-)
For further reading: a dated but still solid book on the history is Judith Adams's "The American Amusement Park Industry: A History of Technology and Thrills." There are also many good books on the Coney Island parks, look for the ones by Kasson, Frank and Denson. If you want to go back even further, Cross and Walton's "The Playful Crowd" is a fantastic read on the rise and fall of pleasure gardens that eventually led to the mechanical amusements of Coney Island and Blackpool.
Robert you just identified the general distate of too many screen/3D attractions. Transformers, Despicable Me, Simpson's, Star tours etc.? We can watch a 2 hr. 3D or 2D movie at home or in the theaters. We can see our favorite characters on screen anytime but in AA which is a fully physical form we cannot experience at home. Huge practical sets and effects we cannot experience at home.
Regarding Toy Story my opinion is that alone it has no appeal to me and certainly not worth a long wait. However with friends or family it is very fun. Playing a competitve video game is something I usually cannot do with, say, my parents. But on this ride we can. That's a special experience that this attraction offers me and that's the appeal I imagine for many. How often can 3 generations have a fun immersive 3D gaming experience together? Not often and that is why I believe this ride is so successful, along with the very appealing IP. While the mechanics of MIB maybe the best in the industry the IP unfortunately has very limited appeal. If they made the same ride using Simpsons or Despicable Me I imagine it would be at least as successful as TSMM.
I also like that I don't feel I have to choose between enjoying the ride or playing the game. After riding MIB, I want to go back to just enjoy the fantastic sets. The simplicity of Space Ranger Spin, like Midway Mania, doesn't make me feel like I'm missing out on too much by aiming at the targets and getting points, either.
Pirates wouldn't be improved if I had to shoot targets to make Captain Jack jump out of a barrel. Haunted Mansion wouldn't be better if I had to shoot a proton pack at a target to make the dancing ghosts spin.
Perhaps the popularity of Midway Mania is in its simplicity; It's fun to see Woody, Buzz & the gang. It's fun to shoot at targets. It's fun to not feel like you're missing out on a ride by focusing on a task. And because it's so simple, you don't feel ripped off by everything being a screen. It suits the ride.
Now, if somebody wanted to come up with a version of It's a Small World where I got to shoot at the dolls...
We had rented the Wii game before the trip and I was astonished how little more the attraction had to offer. Regardless, many in our party had fun and yes, just knowing you are doing it at Disney adds a certain element of joy. The entertainment I've grown accustom to expect from a Disney dark ride was lacking. Lacking!? Ok...non existent on TSMM. Does the vehicle motion add suspense to the next scene? Do you think to yourself "Wooooo here we go! What's around the corner!?!?!?" "Oh....the same thing I just left."
I adore the TS franchise but this left a sour taste to my palate. From Daniel's perspective, I can understand how having a "generational" moment would be something to cherish. Perhaps that was lacking from my experience. Simply put, I didn't have fun and it was nothing more than a check mark of "new Disney attractions I had to try." Yep..been there...done that...
The ride moves because it's a way to dynamically move people in and out of the attraction. It also makes sense from a story perspective. If you just switched stuff on screens, they're definitely screens. Move around, and each screen is a scene that you've moved to.
My 7-year-old kid loves Midway Mania. My friends love it. It's friendly competition and fun to find the easter eggs that score higher points. We were thrilled when they added the extra track.
The back to back seating arrangement has always bothered me on this ride as it requires families to split up and not be able to see each other while they're riding.
I've never minded the layout of the ride as you progress from game to game, and while Disney could have just as easily plopped guests in front of a single screen for the first 3/4 of the ride, just changing the games on the screen, the movement gives the illusion of progressing down a boardwalk playing each game as you go. Disney absolutely skimped on the theming in the ride itself, but you have to consider when the ride was developed, and that Disney was all about cutting corners to deliver attraction on time and on budget during that period of their history. However, I disagree with Robert about the use of valuable space. In terms of dark rides, TSMM has a pretty small footprint except when compared with the Fantasyland dark rides, and is about on par with the Buzz Lightyear rides. Even with the third track at DHS, the attraction takes up a pretty small space.
Honestly, I don't have a huge problem with the ride. It's a necessary evil in parks that needed another attraction at the times it was added. We only FP and run to it first so as to avoid having to wait in lines for it later. It's an identical approach we use for 7DMT and Soarin'. Just like those, the typical standby lines don't match the quality/enjoyment, so using a FP or making it the first ride of the day is the only way to go.
One weird wild note about this ride - it runs on Windows XP. Yikes.
As a local then years ago we used to go to DCA and ride all the time. It was a 10min wait at most and then we'd move one. Butt as the park population boomed then we quit waiting for this ride and it wasn't until I read this article that I finally understood why.
You're right. This ride actually isn't that good. It's kinda fun but it's not "let's wait an hour for it!" because, as you perfectly described it, this is more of a stroller simulator than an actual ride.
On the other hand, I'd actually say the ride is pretty good if treated as an overall attraction, particularly if you're visiting with a mixed group. It is accessible to everyone, it is very entertaining without being at all scary, and it is just the right length to keep kids from getting bored. The main problem is that the ride has E ticket popularity while capacity and quality is closer to a typical D ticket attraction. In my opinion, it's worth a 30-45 minute wait (particularly if you haven't ridden before), but if the line is much longer than that it will likely feel a bit underwhelming.
In short, it's not a must do attraction, but it is well worth the experience if you can get on with a reasonable wait. If you're looking for a true dark ride rather than a ride-through game, however, your time is better spent elsewhere.
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