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What’s Disney building?

The entire Disney's Hollywood Studios expansion will take place over 25 acres of land, making it the largest addition to an existing park in the history of the company. 44 percent of the expansion is Toy Story Land. Obviously, it’s going to have a lot of new inclusions, the most important of which are the two new rides.

The more attention-grabbing of these new attractions is a roller coaster. A children’s ride at Disneyland Paris called Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin is quite popular with kids. That’s because of its novel ride design. The park guest effectively gets inside a Slinky Dog and rides it around a track. It’s a fun concept for children, although its appeal to anyone over the age of 10 is up for debate.

Rather than build a ride with such a narrow target demographic, Disney is expanding the idea for Hollywood Studios. The new version of the Slinky Dog is a twisting, turning roller coaster that seems like a kindred spirit to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. The individual coaster trains don’t twist and turn like Mine Train, but it’s that sort of looping coaster concept.

Image: DisneyDisney had originally announced that the tracks would run straight to the ground, as if the rider were going through a trench. It also promised sections that looped over, around, and through some of the Hollywood Studios walkways. Judging from the tracks placed thus far, Disney’s since scaled back on those plans. You can see the artist’s rendering in video clip above, though.

Slinky Dog Dash will still skew young, of course. It’s not intended as the thrill ride that the Aerosmith roller coaster is. Instead, it’s all about fun. It’s a rare outdoors roller coaster at Walt Disney World, one that should offer amazing views of the rest of the park, particularly the neighboring Star Wars Land.

That’s not the only fun-based attraction at Toy Story Land, either. Alien Swirling Saucers will celebrate one of the greatest gags from the original movie. The Claw is the infamous device that chooses which of the three-eyed aliens is worthy of ascension into outer space, the land beyond the dome.

Image: DisneyIn the Toy Story vernacular, The Claw “chooses who will go and who will stay”. Disney’s constructing an entire attraction around that concept. Park planners have indicated that it’ll use similar technology to the existing Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at Disney California Adventure. You’ll get to feel like one of the Little Green Aliens, trying to get grabbed by The Claw. It’s another silly but joyous concept that theme park tourists will find endearing and pure.

That’s the underlying theme of the entire Toy Story Land expansion. Disney is adding to the existing Pixar Place, changing the entrance to Toy Story Midway Mania! to put three thematic attractions in one section, and opening the doors to an entirely new section of the park. The only goal is to make something entertaining enough that it’s worthy of the Toy Story name. It’ll siphon traffic from tired guests of Star Wars Land while providing folks who currently don’t spend much time at Hollywood Studios with another reason to visit. It’s not getting the media attention that Star Wars Land has and will, but Toy Story Land is a crucial part of the future of Hollywood Studios.

 
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