Walt Disney Imagineering will take advantage of the digital promise of transforming an existing ride with a seasonal overlay at the flip of a switch when a popular 17-year-old ride gets a long-awaited makeover during Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration.
Toy Story Midway Mania in Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure will get a 70th anniversary ride overlay starting on May 16 when the year-long party kicks off.
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Concept art for the ride overlay shows Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear holding targets emblazoned with the number 70 and diamond logos with the words “Celebrate Happy” — the motto for the anniversary celebration.
The Toy Story ride overlay tied to the park’s 70th anniversary fulfills the digital promise of the shoot ‘em up dark rides that debuted in 2008 at Disney California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.
Toy Story Midway Mania riders climb into spinning cars that take them through a series of games where they use a spring-action cannon to fire virtual darts, baseballs, eggs and pies at targets on digital screens.
The rides on both coasts debuted with five games themed to Buzz, Woody, Rex, Hamm and the Green Army Men.
Rex and Trixie’s Dino Darts was replaced with Bo Peep’s Baa-loon Pop in 2010 when “Toy Story 3” came out in theaters.
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The digital nature of the carnival midway-style games always meant Imagineering could update the Toy Story dark ride with new games and seasonal overlays, which has been done on other attractions.
Imagineering has updated Star Tours with new destinations in the Star Wars galaxy and introduced a seasonal overlay to Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout during Halloween.
While a seasonal overlay can take months or even years to create and develop, the story for an attraction can literally be changed with the flip of a switch once the digital update has been uploaded to the ride system.
That flexibility has allowed Imagineering and Disney Live Entertainment to create countless new World of Color storylines since the water show debuted in 2010 — with the latest incarnation debuting as part of the 70th anniversary celebration.
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Holiday ride overlays have become a seasonal tradition at Disneyland and DCA on non-digital rides like It’s a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters.
Which raises the obvious question: Will Imagineering create a holiday overlay for Toy Story Midway Mania once the anniversary celebration is over?