Disney Imagineers are great at making guests feel like they’re part of the attraction. Whether you’re flying in a hang glider around the world, floating past a pirate ship, or being immersed in a classic Disney animated film, guests are part of the action. There are, however, some attractions that take it a step further and allow guests to “play” as part of the attraction. I’m talking, of course, about the several interactive attractions scattered throughout the Disneyland Resort.
From the very beginning, there were interactive elements at Disneyland, from the Shooting Exposition in Frontierland to the fishing on Tom Sawyer Island.
As technology advanced, however, we saw a different kind of attraction. In 2005, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters opened in Tomorrowland, based on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which debuted at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World a few years prior.
Disneyland’s version has few upgrades from the classic version of its East Coast counterpart, with blasters that can be removed from their holsters and targets of various shapes (and point values).
Like a real shooting gallery, guests can trigger boxes to open and higher value targets to be revealed. There are even secret targets that guests have discovered.
Make sure you smile as you enter one of the final rooms, because your picture will be taken. What’s unusual is that, unlike ride photos on other attractions, the photos on Astro Blasters are not connected to the PhotoPass system. As you exit the attraction…before you get to the gift shop…enter in your email to get a free digital souvenir of your experience.
In 2008, Disney did something unusual, building nearly duplicate attractions at two different parks and opening them within just a few weeks of each other. Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney California Adventure (and Toy Story Mania at Disney’s Hollywood Studios) took the shooting gallery idea to the next level.
This time around, there aren’t physical targets, but instead a series of screens. To make the targets “pop”, guests wear special 3-D glasses. Also, instead of shooting blasters, we’re pulling a string…repeatedly.
The interactivity in Midway Mania is a step above Astro Blasters, with even more secret targets and tricks for guests to discover.
With the attraction utilizing screen technology, the attraction is able to adapt and change. In 2010, with the release of Toy Story 3, one of the original games was replaced with a similar game featuring new characters. Plus just this year, the toys celebrated Disneyland’s 70th by changing some of the target amounts…and placing “70” stickers all over the attraction.
While I would love to see updates more often, it’s still a whole lot of fun.
Jump ahead to 2019 when we get another interactive attraction, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. This time, while the guests are still completely immersed in the experience, the scores are really an afterthought. Still, if you want to compete with your friends as you collect the precious coaxium, you can.
Disney initially leaned heavily into the interactivity built into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge using the Play Disney Parks app, which not only had guests on a quest throughout the land, but also had them interacting with the Smugglers Run queue.
I’m curious to see if the scores will be part of the attraction when it’s reimagined next year.
Finally, let’s let look at one my favorite of the interactive attractions, Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure. There is definitely a learning curve to be successful at this attraction, but the team aspect of the scoring makes it a lot of fun.
Disney gaming technology has finally caught up with the Nintendo Wii, and this time around, guests control the action with their bodies, shooting webs by moving their arms just like your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Like Astro Blasters, targets are worth different amounts, but here the targets aren’t aways clearly marked. In addition to destroying the SpiderBots, your webs can also open, pull and trigger other reactions.
While the storyline happening on the screen is generally always the same, sometimes it’s fun to aim at other random things on the screen just to see what chaos you can cause.
In the moment, the scoring on most of these attractions is exciting, but a horrible score…and there have been some…doesn’t necessarily affect my enjoyment of the attraction. It does, however, create a shared experience with your friends or family, which is what Disneyland is all about after all.
Do you have a favorite interactive attraction at Disneyland? Do you have any tips to share with other readers? Finally, do you think we will continue to see more of this type of attraction…maybe Stark Flight Lab?
