Toy Story Land is a cute new Toy Story themed land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It opened on June 30th, 2018 and we had the pleasure to visit it on July 4th less than a week after its opening. As you enter the land you are supposed to be walking into Andy’s backyard and become the size of one of his toys. It’s a pretty small Land. I don’t think I really felt the size of a toy, and my husband had no idea what the theme was besides just bright colors and toys. He loved that he had most of the toys they featured growing up hough. There is a ton of small cool details though if you are a big Pixar or Toy Story fan. The land felt a little bigger than last year’s new Pandora land over at Animal Kingdom because it’s more open, but it’s roughly that size or smaller. It only has one entrance for now, but will connect to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge once that opens late fall 2019.
Woody’s Lunchbox
The food options in Toy Story Land is limited to a quick service stand that looks like the inside of a Woody lunchbox. The food was great. For lunch and dinner, they have sandwiches and a tart dessert (basically a homemade pop tart). We didn’t try breakfast but they do offer it. We got the brisket sandwich which has cheese, pickle, and brisket with BBQ sauce. You get a side included with your sandwich and we had the tomato basil soup. Our drink was an “adult” lemonade. It has vodka and cherry lemonade puree. The hazelnut tart was really good, but very rich and definitely meant to split. We couldn’t finish it. Overall, I was very impressed with the food and theming of Wood’s Lunchbox, especially for the prices. It’s a good quality meal that has options most people will like and decent prices with sandwiches ranging from $9.99 to just over $12.00.
Attractions
The attractions in Toy Story Land are Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog Dash, and Alien Swirling Saucers. Toy Story Mania was already a ride at Hollywood Studios and they just redid the entrance and queue line to add it to the new land. This is an all ages family 3-D “shoot em” game ride. Slinky Dog Dash is the big ticket item. It’s a family-friendly coaster featuring some of your favorite Toy Story characters. Slinky Dog Dash is incredibly cute and not a super intense coaster. The characters around the ride all talk! Alien Swirling Saucers reminded us of a less intense version of the Teacups. The aliens drive you around in a circle while your “car” slides back and forth its own. It doesn’t make you dizzy, but is fun. Currently, both of the new rides have a height requirement and I felt a little disappointed by that. Since this is such a family-themed area I really think at least one of the two new rides should be all ages.
Wait Times and Queues
We went July 4th less than a week after opening, but ride times weren’t bad. Wait times were roughly 75-85 minutes for Slinky Dog Dash and 30-60 minutes for Alien Swirling Saucers. It started to pour right when we were leaving and I heard Alien Swirling Saucers went down to 5 minutes. The queue lines are mostly outside for Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers, so keep that in mind. Toy Story Mania was all over the place we rode it at 20 minutes and waited maybe 10, but most of the day it was upwards of 45 minutes and later in the evening when it rained it went way up since the queue line is partly indoor. Mr. Potato Head is back in the queue though! This is a stark contrast to opening day when there were reported 4 hour+ wait times for Slinky Dog Dash.
The rides are currently tiered in two categories in the FastPass+ system at Hollywood Studios with the Toy Story Land rides in the first category. This means can get one (1) FastPass+ for one of three Toy Story Land rides and two (2) FastPass+ for other attractions in Hollywood Studios. I expect this to change when Star Wars Galaxy Edge opens.
Character Interactions
There are a few character interactions in Toy Story Land. The green army patrol walk around interacting with guests. They continuously move around and will talk with you while you walk. They told my husband his parachute (baby carrier) was weird. Jessie and Woody walk around before their meet and greet starts, but they don’t take pictures with people just wave and stuff. Jessie and Woody have an outdoor meet and greet location in front of Toy Story Mania queue line. The wait to meet them was super long the entire time we were there, but where it’s positioned outside without a FastPass+ option or a true queue line, it doesn’t look like they anticipate that to be normal.
New Merchandise
Of course, no new land opening would be complete without new merch! There is not a merch store inside Toy Story Land, which we found a little odd. They did have a few merch stands in the land and merch in other stores around Hollywood Studios. The Toy Story Land merch is very cute and we wanted to buy a lot of it. The Slinky Dog headband is just downright adorable and I’m already sort of kicking myself for not buying it. In fact, I might hop back over to Disney to go get it! There is also a very cute Alien headband that lights up at night perfect for those nighttime shows. Also, there are tons of toys, shirts, and other fun items. I know our baby will be getting his own Slinky Dog once he is old enough. I think they did a fantastic job with the merch. Most of the shirts and mugs are themed for the opening and hopefully, as time goes on there will be less grand opening merch and more items that aren’t dated.
Overall Thoughts on Toy Story Land
Overall, I think Toy Story Land is a wonderful new addition to Hollywood Studios. The rides are very cute and fun. The food at Woody’s was a huge hit and I am excited to try their breakfast items. Much like Pandora, Toy Story Land looks completely different at night than during the day and it’s worth a visit and a ride on the coaster during both times. I wouldn’t say that any of the rides are worth a huge wait, (not that I think ANY ride is worth a huge wait) but for first-time guests, I think under 75 minutes for Slinky Dog Dash, under 60 for Toy Story Mania, and under 45 for Alien Swirling Saucer would be worth it. I highly suggest getting your FastPass+ for Slinky Dog Dash if it’s available and Toy Story Mania as your second option. My main suggestion when walking through this land is to look at all the details. The designers put so much work into the theming of this land and there are a lot of hidden things to see.
[…] The most exciting change in 2018 is the opening of Toy Story Land. With the opening of Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, two new rides will also open! Slinky Dog Dash will be a family-friendly rollercoaster themed around Slinky Dog. Alien Swirling Saucers will be themed around the Claw and Little Green Aliens and similar to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree in Disney California Adventure. Toy Story Land opened June 30, 2018, and we’ve already been to check it out! Read our review here! […]