Disney World’s Toy Story Land – Did It Meet Our Expectations? – A Few Tips

This attraction was certainly a priority of our trip. It’s the one attraction everyone recommends you get a fastpass for and the one that hardly anyone can uncover a fastpass selection for. Thankfully we know the booking site fairly well and its ins and outs so we did manage to come across a pass for Slinky Dog Dash for the middle fo the afternoon. (If you are looking for fastpasses for this attraction, check out our tips for securing them here). 

Our goal going into the park was to ride the attraction at least twice or possibly even three times. Once at opening, once at dark, and once with our fastpass. Ironically we discovered rather fortunately that it’s not all that difficult to ride the attraction multiple times in one day if you plan your day pretty effectively (see our How We Rode All 3 Toy Story Land Attractions in Under 45 Minutes!).

I share that little bit of information for a few reasons. Honestly, first it’s a shameless plug to another article, but second, I think it shows that we have at least a fair analysis of the attraction from a variety of perspectives and at different times of day. 

Slinky Dog Dash is one of my new favorite attractions. It makes you laugh in a way that very few attractions do and it’s the perfect blend of thrill and simplicity so that nearly any guest can ride it. It’s also a surprisingly lengthy ride compared to what you expect when looking at it. The entire attraction winds its way through nearly the entire land, and much of the attraction you can’t even see without being in a ride vehicle.

Slinky Dog Dash isn’t going to be a mind blowing attraction for you like Flight of Passage likely was or will be when you get to ride it, but it is a ton of fun and is worth the wait if you aren’t quite as lucky as we were in riding it during short wait times.

Alien Swirling Saucers 

Going into this attraction, it was honestly one that I expected to hate. I’m not a fan of spinning and I’m not a fan of scrambler-esque style attractions. The Tea Cups are certainly a “no-go” for me and I didnt think this would be much better of an alternative. I am thrilled to admit that I was wrong. This attraction did not bother me in the slightest and unless you’re incredibly sensitive to spinning, you should be fine!

The motion of this experience isn’t as much of a spin as it is a slide around a corner. Again, just as I mentioned about Slinky Dog Dash, it just brings a smile to your face and makes you laugh. The music is a blend of techno mixed with some of the most iconic songs from the Toy Story films. It sounds strange when first described in writing, but when you’re there it fits the attraction and adds another layer to the sensory puzzle. Combine all of those things with announcements by the Green Aliens before and after each ride, the colorful lighting, and sounds of it all happening at once and it’s an attraction that is a ton of fun.

If I had to share one tip for this attraction it would be to save it until after you’ve ridden Slinky Dog Dash in the morning. The line doesn’t build very quickly and you will still be facing a short wait even after riding the headline attraction.  

Woody’s Lunch Box

We didn’t quite get to try as much of the menu here as we originally intended to but we did grab a snack at Woody’s Lunch Box mid-morning and it exceeded expectations. The line was short, the staff was pleasant, and what we ordered was immediately ready.

One of the main concerns I’ve heard about this dining location is that the seating is all outdoors. We didn’t have any problems with that due to very large fans place around the edge of the seating area. I’m not entirely sure if that’s a new addition but it’s a great touch either way. We didn’t really have any issues with the heat and this was in late July on a 95+ degree day. What I will mention here though is that if you do have to wait in the standby line for Slinky Dog Dash, don’t do it in the middle of the afternoon. The queue is not all covered and there is very little breeze. It could be a very warm wait in the peak afternoon heat.

In regard to the menu items we tried, I have to say we only got to taste the Raspberry Lunch Box Tart. It was the main thing we had anticipated trying since the menu was originally announced and it actually did meet our expectations. As many have said before, it’s very similar to a pop tart you’d find at local grocery store, but instead of being rock hard this one is somewhat dense much like a pastry. It’s almost got like a pie crust texture to it and the icing is soft but just crispy enough to add a little texture. The filling isn’t excessive and is quite a bit better that I expected it to be. If you’re in the land, I highly recommend giving these a try.

Toy Story Mania

Toy Story Mania is still that classic attract we all have grown to love and enjoy over the last few years, and the new queue and entrance adds back in a piece of the original character of the attraction that has been missing during the construction and enhancements. Mr. Potato head is back and better that ever, and the queue itself seems to fit it’s new surroundings far better that it did in the past. Call me a little nostalgic, but I’ll miss Pixar Place and the giant marquee Pixar sign that was oh so reminiscent of the studio out in California. On the bright side of all of the changes, Toy Story Mania’s wait times have dropped exponentially early in the day and late at night. We rode it three times in one day and never waited over 15 minutes!

Is it Worth a Trip Down Before Galaxies Edge Debuts?   

I know this is a question so many are looking to get an answer to before they book their vacation. My simplest of answers to that question is “yes.” Why? Well here’s the thing. Toy Story Land started out with incredibly long wait times but those wait times shrank considerably in the weeks following the debut. Shorter wait times are always a bonus. If you wait until Galaxy’s Edge opens you can almost guarantee wait times will take a jump again. Obviously huge crowds are going to arrive for it’s debut and much like Pandora, Galaxy’s Edge is going to be something everyone will want to see. As the crowds roll in for that, you’re going to have a secondary group of guests that will see the wait times in Galaxy’s Edge and walk the short distance over to Toy Story Land and ride that instead. Unfortunately, more attractions rarely means the crowds get “spread out.” New attractions may pull crowds to different parks more so that others, but within the same park, when one thing opens typically you’ll see wait times jump up in length across the entire lineup of attractions.

With all of that being said, I recommend seeing it now if it is feasible for your situation and then returning to see Galaxy’s Edge when it debuts if at all possible. When that land opens it will change Hollywood Studios and potentially make it a multi-day park. It will be near impossible to see and do everything in one day. Much like Animal Kingdom, this will go from a half day park to easily a one to two day part of your vacation if you want to see and do most of the shows and attractions.

Part of our goal for this trip was Toy Story Land. Another goal was to revisit Pandora and take some time to enjoy the details of that experience. That just goes to show that these new lands aren’t something you can go to once and say “been there done that.”

Imagineering has packed details into this land and in my opinion it lives up to every expectation I had for the project. Sure, it’s not Pandora in scale but it’s not supposed to be! That’s what I think so much of the media giving this land poor reviews and hateful comments fails to realize. It’s a place to go and just have fun. It’s not designed to be this massive land that takes you to a different world like Pandora but rather a land that is literally designed to be family friendly and fun. A friend of mine said it best, it’s almost as if Imagineering brought their kids to work, handed them some toys, and stepped back to see what would happen. The land we have as a result looks just like that situation unfolded in real life. It is, in it’s most simplest of forms, that larger that life creation you were imagining as a kid when you were sitting around playing with your toys and building an elaborate story in your head. That’s what this land is all about and one of the main reasons I see it as a huge success overall!