News

Early Theme Park Entry begins October 1

Evening Extra Magic Hours returning for Deluxe and DVC guests

Contemporary Room Redesign

Disney confirmed dining plans will be coming back at some later date

runDisney races return

Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend powered by AfterShokz: November 4-7, 2021

The theme, Wickedly Delicious, celebrates favorite Disney villains, and the weekend will include a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and Disney Two Course Challenge (both the 10K and the half marathon). The Post-Race Party will cap off the weekend so runners can celebrate their accomplishments with family and friends at EPCOT with exclusive, after-hours access to the park and the International Food & Wine Festival.

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend: January 5-9, 2022

Celebrating the Most Magical Celebration on Earth for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World

Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend: February 24-27, 2022

runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend presented by Otterbox: March 31-April 3, 2022

New additions to Disney's races at Walt Disney World include:

runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend: Each race season, the fourth weekend will be the runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend that will include different race themes and distances each year.

Disney Princess Sunrise Yoga: On the first morning of the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend, runDisney will host Disney Princess Sunrise Yoga in front of Cinderella Castle, before the theme park opens.

Virtual Races: All runDisney races will have a virtual race option, allowing runDisney fans across the country to participate in your favorite races, even if you can’t make it to Walt Disney World to run in person. Runners will be encouraged to run on the same morning of the on-site events, and will receive the same finisher medals.

Just for Kids: The runDisney Kids Races during each event weekend will become runDisney Kids Adventures, focused on health, fitness, and fun for kids

Restaurant re-openings

• Casey’s Corner has reopened
• Plaza Ice Cream - July 7
• Trail’s End (no fried chicken) July 17
• Citricos (with a Mary Poppins Returns overlay) - July 15

Surveys

Listener Questions

From Dan:

Next March I will have the pleasure of chaperoning a high school band trip to Disney World.

Assuming Rise of the Resistance is still run basically the same way next March, I'm interested in what strategies you might use to try and get a boarding group for approximately 40 people?
Would you have 40 different people all trying to get a boarding group for everybody? That would seem the "easiest", but could the system handle a group of 40?

Update: An update to MDE will automatically select everyone in your Friend & Family list who have park reservations for the Studios that day.  So it’s possible to do a group of 40.

From John:

As it currently stands, Mickey Mouse will finally enter the public domain as of Jan 1, 2024, which is about 2 ½ years out.  While that may seem a long way off, I can also imagine a scenario for Disney in which that date is terrifying close.

But I doubt Disney will want that to happen and will move to keep a lock on Mickey using any legal (possibly not ethical?) tactic possible.

So my question is “How is Disney preparing for losing its hold on Mickey?”

From an unnamed lawyer:

You and Jim's recent discussion of the expiration of Disney's

copyrights was, well, flawed. You're correct that the Sonny Bono

Copyright Extension Act (sometimes referred to as the "Mickey Mouse

Protection Act") means that some copyrights could expire in a few

years, unless their US copyright term is extended again.

There's far more to it than that, because Disney's videos invoke many

intellectual property laws. The ~8 minutes of video comprising

"Steamboat Willie" is an excellent example of this. The copyright on

the song "Steamboat Bill" probably expired long ago, but Disney's

copyright on the arrangement used in Steamboat Willie probably

persists, as do the individual drawings and the visual animations

resulting from combining them. Since then, "Mickey Mouse" has

unquestionably become a behemoth of a brand--arguably, THE

brand--triggering massive trademark rights. Trademark rights are very

different from copyright rights. Unless Disney somehow forgets to

renew a trademark (unlikely), its trademarks won't expire, even if a

copyright does. Disney can and will aggressively enforce those rights.

This is so common that courts have a name for trademarks that protect

copyrighted works from commercial use even after the copyright

expires: "mutant copyrights." Lots of lawyers make lots of money and

use a lot of courtroom time arguing about this, and a lot of

disagreement remains. However, the voluminous case law regarding the

trademarking of the expired Peter Rabbit copyright and cases that have

been litigated since teach us that Disney will probably have the

exclusive rights to profit from Mickey Mouse in the United States

until either Disney or the United States ceases to exist. "What can

you do with 8 minutes of public domain mickey mouse animation if you

don't have a license to the trademark?" is a question I wouldn't touch

with a 10 foot pole. Suffice it to say that I personally wouldn't try

to do anything with Mickey Mouse or Steamboat Willie even after

Steamboat Willie entered the public domain.

There's more. If Disney digitally remastered and republished Steamboat

Willie since 1928, Disney would probably argue that the remastering

represents a new creative work. If you wanted to prove that Disney is

wrong and that the remastering doesn't truly represent "originality"

under the law, you'd probably have to wage an expensive battle with

DisneyLegal in the courts. So, even if copyrights on the original

drawings and the 1928 film reels (if you could theoretically get your

hands on any of them) have expired, there might be longer copyrights

than you realize, unless you want to wage an expensive legal battle on

principle.

From Stacey:

Why do you think they haven’t brought back more options for food at the food court? The values have the same menus right now, for the most part and do not have a wide variety. As far as I know, we aren’t worried about food shortages anymore so what’s going on? Is this going to be the new future since they find they don’t have to be diverse since people are still going to buy what’s available?

When do you think resorts like Port Orleans are going to open again?

Do you feel like the resorts that are open are at full capacity, such as the values? Availability for rooms is nonexistent for a trip that I had already thankfully booked for December.

As far as wait times go, do you think they ever adjusted them for the social distancing and lack of free shows? Do you think the wait times are going to be more accurate now that pre-shows are back? Obviously, you know that the wait times Disney posted were usually longer than what the wait time actually was for a lot of the rides.

Why do you think they can’t get the bus system together? As long as it has been going, it is so consistently inconsistent! Why can’t they come at scheduled intervals? Why can’t a bus that has no one to pick up at their resort change it up and pick up the 1 million people that are waiting at Pop Century? How do I end up standing at a bus stop for 45 minutes with no bus coming for my resort and three buses coming by for another?

Why are there not many breakfast options open in the parks? And why are the restaurants closing so early still?

From George:

I was just wondering if you could shed any light on the current situation surrounding Typhoon Lagoon. With Blizzard Beach having been open a few months now, the hottest months of the year upon us, and Disney steadily progressing back towards full operations, I’m surprised that we haven’t heard anything yet about a reopening for WDW’s other waterpark. Have you heard anything about when Disney might be planning to do this?

Reference Bioreconstruct’s photos

Two VIP tour questions, one from Aaron and one from Jason:

Aaron: We’ll be booking a VIP tour for the first time and we’re looking for tips to make the most of this experience (Please feel free to join us :) ).

Jason: We were thinking of doing a VIP Tour in the hopes that it will secure us a reserved spot for fireworks and any presentations, along with inside knowledge of anything else special on the day of the 50th.  In addition to having those perks, our plan is to have the guide take us on and talk to us about opening day attractions and their history.  Maybe throw in anything else related to park opening.  If there's time we'll bother with a headliner like Pirates or a Mountain.

The posted prices for VIP Tours range from $425 to $750 per hour and we're assuming $750.  For the minimum 7 hours it works out to $525 per person.  Alternatively, if Disney were to offer a dessert party, I can't imagine it would go for less than $250 per person based on recent trends, and all we'd get is some dessert.  Either way we hope to avoid 16 hours hugging a railing at the hub in the blazing sun.

The cast member I spoke with was unable to provide any concrete details regarding fireworks access or pricing and suggested I try back closer to the 60-day booking window.  By the way, calling the VIP Tour number gets you a cast member in about 2 rings.

First the questions, and any insider information would be greatly appreciated:

• Will Disney keep the pricing at $750/hr?
• Will there be fireworks access?
• Do you see any potential flaws in my plan?
• Finally, do I have a shot in hell securing a tour?

From Judith:

My partner and I are having a big "debate" about the middle name of our future daughter, who is coming in October. We named our son Rohde after Joe Rohde. It’s always entertaining to watch people's faces when we explain where the name came from, and it’s not much different than naming the kids Apple and Axel so I figure it’s fine.

For our daughter we wanted to use another imagineer that has brought so  much to the parks. My partner wants to use Blair for Mary Blair and I want to use Gurr from Bob Gurr. He keeps telling me we can't name a child Gurr and I keep saying it’s perfect. What a name of strength..Gurr. Plus I absolutely love Bob Gurr and don't know that much about Blair.

Would love your guy's take on this. Also I have agreed to read a book on both Imagineers before making my final call and would love some suggestions for each artist.

The Art and Flair of Mary Blair

Bob Gurr:

• Disneyland Monorail
• Autopia
• Haunted Mansion
• Submarine Voyage
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• King Kong Encounter

Herb Ryman:

Among his contributions were designs for Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle and New Orleans Square. In 1988, his 1964 painting of New Orleans Square was selected by the State Department for display at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Herb also contributed concepts for the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and for attractions featured at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, including Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.  EPCOT center pavilions

Harper Goff

Disney patents

Toy Story Midway Mania series

Part Four of Four

Where we left off:

Now what’s kind of interesting about “Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway” is that the Imagineer who rode herd on this project -- the recently retired Kevin Rafferty -- had spent a good chunk of the early 2000s working on an entirely different version of a Mickey-themed ride-thru attraction. One that was supposed to have taken those pull-string cannons that Guests used when they were visiting DisneyQuest in Orlando & Chicago and then played that indoor theme park’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold” and then married that technology to a ride-thru shooting gallery.

That attraction had a name -- “Mickey’s Midway Mania.” Management had signed off on the idea of this attraction being built as part of an expansion of the Paradise Pier area at Disney’s California Adventure theme park. A budget & construction timetable was in the works for this project when then -- in January of 2006 -- The Walt Disney Company announced that it would be acquiring Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion.

So how did we go from a ride-thru shooting gallery that was to star Mickey & his cartoon pals to one that was built around Woody & the toys from Andy’s bedroom?

Toy Story Midway Mania

Fourth & final story

Where we left off this story … After nearly 50 years of planning, the Disneyland Resort was finally going to get an attraction that was themed around Mickey Mouse.

As veteran Imagineer Kevin Rafferty recalled in his 2019 memoir, “Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career,” they even had a name for this proposed attraction: Mickey’s Midway Mania!

There was only one teeny tiny problem: Rafferty (who was the writer & director of this proposed addition to Paradise Pier) and Robert Coltrin (who was the concept designer on this ride-thru shooting gallery) really weren’t comfortable shoehorning this particular set of Disney character into this specific setting.

Here. I’ll let Kevin himself explain. The initial idea -- going into this project -- was that:

… Mickey and the gang would work the game booths. But that didn’t last long because it was difficult for us to land on an easy-to-get story hook. It just didn’t feel right to have our most classic of classic characters operating midway games.

Just to be clear here: Imagineering is often an inexact science. Take -- for example -- what happened on May 5, 2005. The day that Disneyland Park had kicked off its 50th anniversary.

Kevin & Robert were at the Happiest Place on Earth enjoying the festivities. And among the attractions they sampled that day was the just-opened “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster.” Mind you, it had taken nearly seven years for Anaheim to finally get a clone of this hugely popular Disney World ride-thru shooting gallery (“Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin” officially opened at the Magic Kingdom back in November of 1998). And Rafferty & Coltrin were suitably impressed that the “Astro Blaster” team at WDI had crammed so many show scenes into the old Rocket Rods queue space.

But here’s the thing: Disneyland Park didn’t need a new ride at that time. And DCA desperately did. But the way things worked at WDI at the time was …

    • The year previous (In fact, it was one year to the day: May 4, 2004), California Adventure had gotten a clone of Disney Hollywood Studios’ “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.” The Company had ponied up $100 million for the construction of that thrill ride.

    • 2005 was going to be the year that Disneyland was going to celebrate its 50th anniversary. As a direct result, all eyes would be on Anaheim that year. So the obvious expectation here was that Disneyland Park would have some sort of new ride, show or attraction for Guests to experience when they returned to the Happiest Place on Earth to then take part in this year-long party.

Tokyo Disneyland had already expressed an interest in getting its own clone of “Space Ranger Spin.” (The Japanese version of “Astro Blaster” opened to the public on April 15, 2004). And the then-still-under-construction Hong Kong Disneyland would have an “Astro Blaster” in its Tomorrowland section when that theme park opened in September of 2005.

    • So the thinking at WDI back then was … Well, hell. We’re already planning on making clones of “Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin” for Tokyo & Hong Kong. Disneyland Park needs a new ride for its 50th anniversary. Why don’t we just crank out a third clone of “Buzz” while we’re at it and then throw this ride-thru shooting gallery into that still-empty section of Tomorrowland (Rocket Rods had closed suddenly in September of 2000 for what was originally supposed to have been an eight-month-long rehab. In April of 2001, it was announced that this high speed thrill ride was closed permanently).

So from a cost efficiency / time management / marketing & promotion point-of-view, it did make sense that Disneyland Park got a clone for “Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin” for May of 2005. Because -- after all -- DCA had gotten a clone of “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” for May of 2004. And from an operational point-of-view, you always want to keep that sense of balance going. Especially when it comes to Disney’s Southern California parks.

The thinking here is that first one park gets a new land or attraction-of-size, and then the other park gets something similar: Case in point, “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” opened at Disneyland Park in May of 2019. And if COVID hadn’t tripped up WDI’s carefully crafted plans, the Anaheim version of Avengers Campus was originally supposed to have opened on July 18, 2020.

But -- again -- the problem here (at least as far as Kevin & Robert was concerned) was that a ride-thru shooting gallery didn’t belong in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. This attraction belonged over at DCA. To be specific in the Paradise Pier area of that theme park. Which was an area that actually paid tribute to California’s seaside amusement parks. And thus would have been the perfect place to build a shooting gallery-based attraction.

But -- again -- that didn’t happen because the money in 2005 was slated to go to Disneyland. Because that theme park would be celebrating its 50th anniversary that year. It needed a new attraction as part of this celebration. Hong Kong & Tokyo were already slated to get clones of “Space Ranger Spin.” So Presto! “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster” wound up being built in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park, rather than over at DCA as part of Paradise Pier. Where this attraction would have actually fit that area’s theme.

Like I said, it’s kind of an inexact science.

So -- as an outsider -- you’d think … Well, they just opened a ride-thru shooting gallery attraction over at Disneyland Park. So you’d then have to wait … What? At least a few years -- maybe as long as a decade -- before you then proposed building a similar sort of attraction over at DCA, right? Because you never want to repeat yourself, right?

Kevin & Robert were like “Screw that noise.” People clearly like this ride-thru shooting gallery. “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster” was hugely popular right out of the box with Disneyland visitors. So let’s just build the same thing -- only different -- over at DCA.

There is actually precedent for this. When Disneyland’s Autopia first opened in July of 1955, it was initially so popular with the small fry that -- in an effort to address demand / shorten the length of those lines -- Walt ordered the Imagineers to build two more Autopias inside of the berm.

    • First came the Junior Autopia, which opened on April 5, 1956 and then stayed in operation for over two years. It was built where the Mickey Mouse Club Circus tent had been erected.

    • Then came the Midget Autopia. Which opened on April 23, 1957 and was built where the entrance to Disneyland’s “it’s a small world” is currently located. That drive-thru attraction -- was tailored for very small children -- closed on April 3, 1966. Walt then had those cars sent to Marceline where they were installed in a public park as Disney’s personal gift to the kids who lived in his childhood hometown. That version of this attraction ran for another 11 years.

    • Disneyland’s Junior Autopia closed in September of 1958 for a reimagining. When that attraction re-opened on January 1, 1959, it was now known as the Fantasyland Autopia.

    • Finally, in September of 1999, the Tomorrowland & Fantasyland version of the Autopia were both closed. Those two lengths of track were then merged into one super-sized version of Disneyland’s Autopia. Which then opened to the public on June 29, 2000.

So -- as far as Kevin & Robert were concerned -- if Walt did it back in the 1950s (built additional Autopias to help meet Guest demand at Disneyland) -- then it was okay for them to proposing building a second ride-thru shooting gallery over at DCA. Because the lines for “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster” over at Disneyland Park were crazy.

But -- again -- there was that problem of it didn’t entirely make sense (at least from a story-driven point-of-view) to have the most classic of Disney’s classic characters hosting midway games. There was no Mickey Mouse short -- or Donald or Goofy short, for that matter -- that showed these characters either visiting a carnival and/or working in a carnival setting.

To make it easier to bring these characters into Paradise Pier, Rafferty & Coltrin proposed taking that giant Sun-shaped face off of that 150-foot-tall wheel at the age of Paradise Bay and replacing that Sun face with an equally big pie-eyed Mickey from the 1930s.

But then -- in January of 2006 -- The Walt Disney Company announced that it would be acquiring Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion. And word came down from on high to WDI that Bob Iger (i.e., the newly installed head of The Walt Disney Company. Bob had been the Big Cheese at the Mouse for only four months at this point. Anyway … )

Word came down from on high that Bob really, really, REALLY wanted to see some Pixar-themed attractions get put in the pipeline for the Parks.

And here are Rafferty & Coltrin still trying to put a square peg (Mickey & friends) in a round hole (have these classic Disney characters host a ride-thru shooting gallery attraction in which they’re now supposedly working at a carnival in the midway games section). And Kevin & Robert pause for a moment and think “Well, would this ride concept work better with some Pixar characters instead of Mickey & friends?”

I mean, they couldn’t use the “Toy Story” characters … Could they? After all, “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster” had just opened up eight months earlier over at Disneyland Park. And Buzz was one of the lead characters from “Toy Story.” WDI management would never allow them to create yet another ride-thru shooting gallery based on the exact same IP … Would they?

Rafferty said that -- in the 30 years that he had worked at WDI -- he had never seen a ride concept move so quickly through the approval process. Just six weeks after they drew up some concept art for this proposed attraction (which was now known as “Toy Story Midway Mania”) and then wrote their pitch. Which was this:

"Traditional midway games that you can ride through, hosted by the Toy Story characters."

This project was not only greenlit, but Disney management wanted two versions of this attraction built. One for Disney California Adventure Park and another for Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Now keep in mind that -- again -- Disney bought Pixar in January of 2006. Rafferty & Coltrin began pitching their “Toy Story Midway Mania” concept in the Spring of that same year. And by the Summer of 2006, this project -- which called for the construction of two $80 million attractions on opposite sides of the continent -- was a “Go.”

Which is why -- on August 19th of that year -- the East Coast version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire -- Play It!” suddenly closed. So that all of the sets & seats for this recreation of ABC’s once-hugely-popular game show could then be cleared out of Soundstage 3.

On the West Coast … Well, the Imagineers originally toyed with the idea of pulling down the Mailboomer and then building the show building for DCA’s version of “Toy Story Midway Mania!” there. But it was quickly determined that that site had too small a footprint for the ride-thru shooting gallery ride that WDI now wanted to build at that theme park.

Which is when Robert Coltrin proposed a unique solution: What if the Imagineers were to build the show building for the West Coast version of “Toy Story Midway Mania!” under that theme park’s California Screamin’ roller coaster? After some onsite survey work was done, it was determined that -- yeah -- Robert’s idea would work. All they’d need to do is remove three of the booths for Paradise Pier’s carnival midway games and one steel support beam for California Screamin (That part of this story has always bothered me, Len. Which beam gotten taken out? And they did replace it … Right?).

Anyway, this project was officially announced at a press conference which was held at Walt Disney World on December 15, 2006. Barely 11 months after Disney bought Pixar.

Want to stress here that -- while the interiors of these two ride-thru shooting gallery attraction were basically supposed to be identical -- the exteriors of the West Coast & East Coast versions of the “Toy Story Midway Mania” show buildings were two very different animals.

The DCA version had to fit in with Paradise Pier’s pre-established design esthetic (i.e., which was “a tribute to Southern California’s amusement piers of the 1920s & 1930s). So that show building was deliberately designed to look like a turn-of-the-century seaside structure that would then fit right in with this area’s carnival-like atmosphere.

Whereas the Disney’s Hollywood Studios version of “Toy Story Midway Mania” … Well, since this theme park celebrated movie making, John Lasseter got the idea that the East Coast version of this ride-thru shooting gallery should be located in an entirely new “land” at that theme park: Pixar Place. Which would then ape the look of the actual Pixar Animation Studio campus in Emeryville, CA. Right down to the color of the bricks that would be used to decorate the exterior walls of Soundstage 3.

While work was already well underway on these two huge show buildings, WDI was working with the folks at Pixar on the CG version of the Pixar characters that would appear inside of this attraction. Believe it or not, this was the very first time that Woody, Buzz, Bo & Jessie had ever been done in 3D animation. So there was a lot of trial & error involved here when it came to get the look of these Pixar characters just right.

One particular concern was making sure that the cast of “Toy Story” didn’t get too big. Remember, the creative conceit of this ride-thru shooting gallery attraction is that we’ve been shrunk down to the size of toys. And we’ve now been invited under Andy’s bed, which is where Hamm, Rex and the Little Green Space Aliens have set up a variety of carnival games.

During the playtesting phase of this attraction at WDI headquarters in Glendale, CA, the Imagineers played very close to how people reacted to the full-sized animated versions of Buzz, Woody, Bo & Jessie. They found that -- if they made these “Toy Story” characters any taller than 5 foot, six -- they then got kind of scary.

Speaking of which … That’s why the Audio Animatronic version of Mr. Potato (who plays the carnival barker for this ride-thru shooting gallery. He’s outside for the DCA version and inside for the Florida version) is only 5 feet tall. But to make sure that the folks in the back of the queue can see him, Mr. Potato is positioned on top of a three foot tall pedestal.

The Imagineers really wanted this AA figure to be able to interact with the Guests as they moved through the “Toy Story Midway Mania” queue. Which is why they had Don Rickles come to WDI headquarters and record upwards of 30 - 35 hours worth of dialogue.

Don was in his early 80s at the time. But Kevin Rafferty and Roger Gould (he’s Pixar’s creative liaison to WDI) have very fond memories of those long, long hours in the booth with Rickles. He recorded every bit of dialogue without complaint. Only occasionally (largely because this is what people expected of Don when they met him) would he put on his insult comic hat. Gould recalls that Don once told him that he was “ … like the son I never wanted.”

Want to talk for a quick second about how Don Rickles actually got to be the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” movies. In the early 1990s, John Lasseter personally drove out to Malibu to try & pitch Rickles on this role. He even bought a plastic Mr. Potato Head doll as a gift for Don.

Anyway … Lasseter walks to the front door of the Rickles’ Point Dume home. Don personally answers the door after John rings. Lasseter goes to hand Rickles the Mr. Potato Head doll. And -- of course -- its little plastic hat falls off, as they always do. Don bends over to pick up that hat. And as he does, Lasseter looks down and realizes that Rickle’s head looks exactly like a potato. It’s the perfect potato shape. So it’s fate that Don was up for this part.

I don’t think Lasseter told Rickles that his head was potato-shaped until after he actually signed his “Toy Story” contract.

Oh. We were just talking about those 30 - 35 hours of recordings that Don did for the Mr. Potato AA figure in the “Toy Story Midway Mania” attraction. Sadly, we lost Rickles in April of 2017 at the age of 90.

Which -- given that “Toy Story 4” didn’t arrive in theaters ‘til two years & two months later (June 21, 2019 to be exact) should have meant that we wouldn’t hear Don voicing Mr. Potato Head in that Pixar Animation film. But because WDI had all 30 - 35 hours worth of recordings that that Rickles did for the carnival barker version of Mr. Potato Head that appears in “Toy Story Midway Mania,” the sound team at Pixar was able to repurpose some of that dialogue. Which is why the Mr. Potato Head that you hear in “Toy Story 4” is the real deal. Authentic Don Rickles.

Mind you, it took hours & hours & hours of work to do this. But -- in the end -- it was a worthy tribute to a comedy legend.

Interesting side note: Bob Iger was so pleased with the work that was being done on the “Toy Story Midway Mania” project (which -- again -- cost $80 million each to build. The full cost of both the East Coast & the West Coast versions of this ride-thru shooting gallery attraction -- if you include the exterior work & area improvements -- reportedly came in just north of $200 million)

Anyway … By the Summer of 2007, Bob Iger was so pleased with the way the “Toy Story Midway Mania” project was shaping up that he then decided to roll the dice on DCA. Which is why -- on October 17th of that same year -- Iger announced that Disneyland’s second gate would soon undergo a 5-year-long, $1.1 billion makeover. With the first component of this DCA redo being … You guessed it. “Toy Story Midway Mania!”

The Disney’s Hollywood Studios version of “Toy Story Midway Mania” opened on May 31, 2008.

Another interesting side note here: Disney World’s third theme park was known as Disney-MGM until January 6, 2008. The very next day, this theme park was renamed / rebranded as Disney’s Hollywood Studios. And a big part of that theme park’s renaming / rebranding effort was tied to “Toy Story Midway Mania.” Cast Members at the WDW Resort were actively coached to say -- when Guests asked:

Q: Where is that new Toy Story ride? Which park do I have to go to? The Magic Kingdom? Epcot? MGM?

A: No. You want to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Another fun fact: Buzz Lightyear wasn’t there in person for the opening of the Disney’s Hollywood Studios version of “Toy Story Midway Mania.” That’s because -- that morning (May 31, 2008) -- an action figure version of this “Toy Story” character had been launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle. Kind of cool publicity stunt.

The California Adventure version of “Toy Story Midway Mania” opened some three weeks later on June 17th of that same year. These ride-thru shooting galleries were such a huge hit that the Oriental Land Company reached out and insisted that they get one for the Tokyo Disney Resort as well. That one opened at Tokyo DisneySea some four years later. On July 9, 2012 to be exact.

Now remember how we’d just been talking about how Walt -- in the late 1950s -- in response to the popularity of the Tomorrowland Autopia built two more Autopias inside of Disneyland Park.

Well, the Walt Disney World version of “Toy Story Midway Mania” started off hugely popular and then just got busier from there. And then -- in hindsight -- the combination of all that brick & the hot Florida sun may have been a mistake. Especially given the number of people who’d queue up outside in that very tight space inside of Pixar Place and then stand in the sun for hours, waiting to get into the interior air conditioning queue space for “Toy Story Midway Mania.”

After one too many tourist face-planted on those bricks, the Imagineers decided that it was finally time to do something about the Florida version of “Toy Story Midway Mania.” Which is why -- on March 5, 2015 -- they announced that they’d not only be adding a third ride track to the Florida version of this ride-thru shooting gallery attraction but that they’d soon be adding a third theater to Epcot’s “Soarin’ “ attraction.

Some 14 months later, the third track for the Disney's Hollywood Studios version of “Toy Story Midway Mania” opens in May of 2016. And then -- just a week or so after that -- the third theater for “Soarin’ “ opens over in Epcot’s Future World section on May 27th of that same year.

Final quick side note: I got to interview Marty Sklar back in February of 2001 just before Disney’s California Adventure Park first opened to the public. And at that time, I asked Mr. Sklar if there was one thing he would change about DCA. Marty thought for a second and said “I’d have added a third theater for ‘Soarin.’ People just seem to love that show.”

Which showed that Marty remembered what Walt had done with all those Autopias back in the late 1950s.