Will Toy Story Land Be Any Good? A Sneak Preview from Hong Kong Disneyland
Im super excited for Toy Story Land! Toy story was probably my favorite movie growing up. Check out this article posted on the Dis.com about the new land and the already existing one in Hong Kong.
When I heard the D23 Expo announcement that Hollywood Studios‘ Toy Story Land would be opening in the summer of 2018 (only 3 years after it was first announced), it impacted me in a way that might be different from other folks. Instead of being excited, I started to get very worried. That’s because I have experienced Hong Kong Disneyland’s Toy Story Land, and honestly, I wasn’t that impressed. The fact that our Toy Story Land could be put together so quickly makes me feel like it might be pretty similar to what I saw in Hong Kong.
I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong Disneyland in August of 2014 and I stayed onsite at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. This was a quick trip, and I was only able to spend about eight hours in the park. And just in case my opinion was biased by the weather, I will say upfront that it was very hot and very humid that day. In fact, it was hotter, and more humid, than any weather I’ve ever experienced in Walt Disney World in August. And it was crowded. Despite all this, I really enjoyed my visit to Hong Kong Disneyland, but I was quite underwhelmed with Toy Story Land.
Toy Story Land is one of seven lands at Hong Kong Disneyland. The remaining lands are: Main Street USA, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Mystic Point, and Grizzly Gulch. With limited time at the park, my main priority was to ride the one-and-only Mystic Manor in Mystic Point, and to find anything else that was unique or different about Hong Kong Disneyland. The heat and humidity of the day may have impacted my opinion, so I’ll mention it again.
Upon entering the park, I headed immediately for Mystic Manor, an attraction that I knew didn’t exist at any other park. When I arrived, the wait time was almost an hour. I waited for it, and I enjoyed it immensely. But after that, I realized that I then had less than six hours to spend in the park before it closed for the evening. Toy Story Land was the next land over, so I headed over to see what I could see and continue my tour around the park.
First, the good: The land was very cute, with lots of theming, bright colors and interesting things to look at. The idea behind it is that you are in Andy’s backyard with all of his toys. I took a couple of cute pictures of the land. It contains three attractions: Toy Soldier Parachute Drop, Slinky Dog Spin, and RC Racer. There is also a meet and greet with Woody and Jessie called Barrel of Fun.
Now, the not so good: First off, did I mention that it was very hot and very humid? Well, as I was walking through the land, there didn’t seem to be any shade…at all. It was so sunny and so bright, and all the ride queues seemed to be outside. As I walked around, I debated if anything was worth waiting out in the heat and humidity for, in the limited time that I had. In the end I decided that all of these attractions, while cute and well-themed, were nothing special and not worth the wait. This was somewhat similar to how I felt when I visited A Bug’s Land in Disney California Adventure Park for the first time.
Toy Soldier Parachute Drop appeared to be a traditional “parachute ride” that you might see at any carnival or boardwalk on the Jersey Shore. It goes up and down, at a relatively slow speed.
Slinky Dog Spin is a slow moving “train” of sorts that goes around in a continuous circle.
RC Racer is the “thrill ride” of the land. The track is shaped like a “U” and the car moves forwards and backwards along the track at relatively high speeds. It doesn’t go upside down, and it reminded me of a more intense version of the Pirate Ship ride that you can see at theme parks everywhere.
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