I woke up last Sunday morning anxious to attend the last day of the inaugural D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. When Lisa invited me to be a guest blogger, I jumped at the chance to attend the “Comic Con” of all things Disney. Little did I know, the first session began at 9:30 AM… Alas, I am not an early bird and find it necessary to hit snooze a couple of times before rolling out of bed. Lucky for me traffic was very light that time of morning and I made it to the Convention Center in no time.

Perhaps I was distracted by my own nervous energy or maybe it was insufficient caffeine intake but I found it very difficult to navigate my way around the convention center. After taking a few moments to sort out the site map, I found my way to the Storytellers Theater for the Making of Toy Story Midway Mania!

Walt Disney Imagineers Kevin Rafferty, siblings Lori and Robert Coltrin, with Roger Gould of Pixar shared their stories on the creation of the popular attraction located in Paradise Pier at Disney’s California Adventure.

The concept for the attraction began during Disneyland’s 50^th Anniversary, when Kevin spotted the Midway Games on the Boardwalk at Paradise Pier. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland had just opened and he felt the Toy Story had a good cast of characters to showcase in another interactive attraction.

Kevin and Roger agreed the creative process developed quickly. Within a month, the project was presented to Bob Iger, President and CEO of the Walt Disney Company and John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation Studios. John reportedly did the “happy dance” and the project was quickly given the green light.

Inspiration for the midway game element came from carnival games such as those found at the Los Angeles County Fair. The games that were incorporated into the attraction include Bo Peep’s Baa-loon Pop, Buzz Lightyear’s Flying Tossers, and Woody’s Rootin’ Tootin’ Shootin’ Gallery.

Borrowing concepts from previous attractions, such as Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Tokyo Disneyland’s Monster’s Inc. Ride & Go Seek!, the ride vehicle features “front row” seating for every guest, which allow the Guests an unobstructed view of the targets. This is accomplished by having four Guests in one rotating ride vehicle. A pair of Guests is seated next to each other, and the other pair sits back to back behind them. The spring-action shooter is borrowed from Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold, which is located in Disney Quest at Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney Area.

As the ambitious Imagineers carefully constructed Toy Story Midway Mania literally in and around the California Screamin’ roller coaster, Toy Story Mania!, its sister attraction, was installed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. While the attraction in California fits into the boardwalk theme, the Florida attraction is modeled after the Pixar Animation Studios.

The interior of both attractions resembles the bedroom of Andy, the little boy from Toy Story. As soon as the Guests are seated in the ride vehicle, they are surrounded with Andy’s toys. Scattered throughout Andy’s room are classic board games and toys, which tower over the diminutive Guests. Although Andy is known to take very good care of his toys, just as John Lasseter did as a child, the Imagineers cleverly added signs of gentle wear. The 3D and glow in the dark elements of the attraction provided an extra challenge to the Imagineers when selecting the correct color pallet for the hand painted 100’ x 30’ backdrops.

Before the game component is installed into the attraction, it is tested extensively in a warehouse in Glendale, CA. Volunteers of all ages helped perfect the scale and positioning of the spring-action shooter to ensure younger children can reach the shooting mechanism, while adults are not too close.

The game itself was also fine tuned. Guests can learn quickly yet still be challenged by eliminating the ability to repeatedly hit the same target to rack up points. The testing process also revealed the Guests were hesitant to break the virtual plates in the Little Green Army Men game, so the drill sergeant was programmed to bark out orders, “I am not your mother. Break those dishes!” Attention to detail ensured Guests would be immersed in the game without seeing the characters’ “twins” on screen at the same time while the ride vehicles are traveling through the attraction.

The ingenious Imagineers also programmed the game to tally the score two different ways, either by overall points or by accuracy. At the end of the game, the points are added up and the Guests are rewarded a virtual plush doll, which are modeled after the Roundup Gang from Toy Story II.

Some amazing finishing touches on the attraction are subtle, such as a distinct orchestration of the theme song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” for each scene in the game and a replica of the Toy Story Midway Mania game box found in Andy’s room as the Guests exit the attraction. Another, not so subtle, finishing touch was the enormous carnival barker, portrayed by Mr. Potato Head, an audio-animatronic figure voiced by Don Rickles.

Throughout the presentation, the Imagineers emphasized team work, creativity, and attention to detail. They also left the audience with the impression Imgineers have the best job in the world.