A Backyard Playland

The newest area at Walt Disney Studios Park is Toy Story Playland, a mini-land located within the Toon Studio backlot. It's as if you've stepped onto the set of Toy Story and are in Andy's backyard amid all his playthings. From the Hot Wheels track and Tinker Toys to a Barrel of Monkeys and stacks of dominoes, many of your favorite toys from childhood are here and larger than life.

An enormous Buzz Lightyear stands over the entrance to Toy Story Playland, greeting Guests in both French and English as they arrive. Once inside the land, you'll find other familiar faces and elements from the Toy Story films, including the brightly-colored ball featured in the 1986 Pixar short "Luxo, Jr." and tucked into nearly every other Pixar production since.

Looking up, you'll discover an old-fashioned string of Christmas lights is used for illumination, while on the ground clever observers may notice the sneaker tread of Andy's footprints in the dirt.

At the other end of the land, the Barrel of Monkeys is cracked open and laying on the ground - one half housing a merchandise location, the other providing a tunnel transition back into the human-size section of the park.

Here in Toy Story Playland, though, everything is toy size, from the photo op with Rex to benches made from wooden train track pieces.

At the southern edge of the area, model airplanes of the balsa wood and plastic varieties signal the entrance to the first major attraction of Toy Story Playland, the Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop. Look closely at the model plane which forms the marquee, and you'll even notice the rubber band inside ready to be twisted to spin the propeller.

The Toy Soldiers (as they're known here; Green Army Men in the States) are on the case, ready to train new recruits on how to parachute into enemy territory... or at least into a houseplant to spy on Christmas and birthday presents.

Every element of the attraction is authentic to the films and supports the story that we're immersed in a toy world. The 2010 copyright date on the PlaySkool walkie-talkie is a nod to when Toy Story Playland opened (August 2010), and I especially love the fences in the queue, built to look like something you'd snap together with a Green Army Man play set.

There are bits of Hidden Disney to be found in the queue here as well. Fort Emery, the name of the post where we're doing our parachute training, is a nod to Pixar Animation Studios' hometown of Emeryville, California. The ID number on the Jeep in the outdoor area of the queue, 112295, is actually the date the original Toy Story opened in theaters (Nov. 22, 1995).

Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop is essentially the same kind of shoot-up-and-gently-drift-down ride found in countless amusement parks around the world. What makes this attraction unique and so much fun is the story being told through the details. Here, the load station is a Quonset hut, the landing zones are marked with Army stars and a plastic soldier keeps an eye on us from an observation tower. Parachuting our way through boot camp has never been so much fun!

A Taste of Radiator Springs

Opened in 2007 as part of the Toon Studio expansion that added Crush's Coaster to Walt Disney Studios Park, Cars Quatre Roues Rallye (Cars Race Rally) brings to life favorite elements from the 2006 Disney-Pixar animated film. Although a relatively small attraction, Cars Race Rally packs hundreds of details into this little corner of the park. From the "Welcome" sign, featuring placards for The Knights of Combustion and the Loyal Order of the Lugnuts, to the car part-influenced architecture, the town of Radiator Springs is well represented.

In a window near the entrance are some wildly painted hoods, fine examples of Ramone's handiwork at the House of Body Art, while Flo's V-8 Cafe provides a backdrop for the ride itself, housing the loading area of the queue.

Facades along the outside of the queue building include nods to Tow Mater Towing & Salvage and Luigi's Casa Della Tires. You'll even find Luigi and Guido posing for photos alongside their legendary Tower of Tires!

A peek inside the window at Luigi's reveals he's having a sale on Fettuccini Alfredo brand whitewall tires, available in such styles as Latte or Blanco Maximo. Of course, to truly appreciate the details at Cars Race Rally, you'll need to head inside... and hope for a line so you'll have time to pause and enjoy.

The first stop in the queue is Doc Hudson's place, now the Radiator Springs Doc Hudson Museum. Look for Doc's mechanical degrees from places of higher learning like the Institute of Ignition Studies and Pnorthern Pneumatic Polytechnic. There are also copies of newspaper articles, touting the Hudson Hornet's racing wins back in the '50s, and even one of his Piston Cups on display.

All your favorite Cars characters are represented here in some fashion, from Fillmore and Sarge to Red and Sally, and one entire section of the queue is dedicated to Lizzie's Radiator Springs Curios shop.

Some of the bumper stickers on offer here advertise local businesses, like the Cozy Cone Motel or Sarge's Surplus Hut, while others feature the sort of kitschy expressions you might find on products like this from a typical roadside souvenir stand:

"I'd Rather Be Cruisin'!"

"Got My Kicks"

"Nice Butte... Radiator Springs"

"Life Begins at the Off Ramp"

"Built for Comfort, Not for Speed"

"Honk If Your Horn Works"

"You Tailgate, I Backfire"

The attraction itself, set amid the mesas of Ornament Valley, is a triple turntable ride in which cars spin riders around and around, sliding from one turntable to the next (similar to Francis' Lady Bug Boogie at Disney California Adventure).

Cars Quatre Roues Rallye is lots of madcap, zany fun in very cute, Cars-inspired vehicles. Of course, the vehicles are a bit cozy, but I especially enjoyed the graphic (above) pointing out the fact that the cars are much happier carrying a mix of adults and children, rather than four full-grown passengers.

As the Race Rally gets underway, who's there to cheer us on but Lightning McQueen himself, along with his best friend Mater.

Before taking off for other points along Route 66, look for these fun little details from the movie: drums of Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment and Mater's A-113 license plate (a reference to the animation classroom at Cal Arts where John Lasseter and others learned their craft).

Lights, Camera... Toons!

At the other end of Production Courtyard from the action-packed Backlot is the largest area of Walt Disney Studios Park, Toon Studio. This is the place where Disney animated films are brought to life and your favorite characters can be found on the lot, shooting iconic scenes from the movies or just greeting their fans.

One of the original attractions here is the Art of Disney Animation, a Streamline Moderne-styled building capped off with a giant Sorcerer's Hat. Visitors to Walt Disney World might recognize the golden statues of Peter Pan, Wendy Darling and Tinker Bell flying around the hat. They graced the turrets of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom during the "Happiest Celebration on Earth" event in 2005 and were moved here afterward.

Other statuary nearby pays homage to Disney animated creations both classic and contemporary, from Fantasia's Bacchus and Jacchus (1940) to the title character of 1999's Tarzan.

Inside, the Art of Disney Animation experience is similar to the interactive exhibits found at Disney California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios. There's even an Animation Academy (using assets from the now-defunct Chicago DisneyQuest location), where Guests can learn how to draw a favorite character.

Across the plaza from Art of Disney Animation is the Studio 3 Theatre, home to the live entertainment spectacle "Animagique." The "Animagique" show opens with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck working in an animation studio. Mickey warns Donald (and us) not to open a door at the far end of the studio. As soon as Mickey steps out, though, guess what happens. Donald finds himself sucked into the Disney film vault for wild, musical encounters with characters and "black light" sequences from The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Dumbo and The Little Mermaid, all before Mickey returns to save the day.

Outside Studio 3, we find a bit of a set from the Disney-Pixar film Monsters, Inc. Mike Wazowski is standing alongside Boo's door, ready for his close-up. From time to time, even big blue James P. Sullivan stops by for some photos and hugs. What's great, though, is there are so many fun details and things to see in this little corner, Guests are entertained even when the characters aren't around.

This security gate is where toons from Hollywood or nearby Toontown check in to go to work on the lot. It also marks something of a delineation between the production facilities of Toon Studio and the Toon Backlot area, where outdoor sets can be found from films like Cars and Toy Story.

There are several films in production at Toon Studio at the moment. We'll be taking an in-depth look at them next week, so be sure to check back.

It's the End of the World As We Know It

Positioned right at the entrance to the Backlot from Production Courtyard is Studio 7, housing the special effects workshop and shooting stages of Walt Disney Studios Park, and it's clear that today's demonstration of "Les Effets Speciaux" will center on scenes from the 1998 blockbuster film Armageddon. The Michael Bay-directed Armageddon, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures division, became an international hit grossing more than half a billion dollars. In fact, the movie did even better abroad than it did in the States, so it's no surprise to see it featured here.

Positioned just outside Studio 7 is one of the full-scale Armadillo vehicles built for Armageddon. It's an impressive prop and a pleasure to see it here (as opposed to the Boneyard of the Studio Tram Tour), where you can spend time appreciating it in detail.

The Armadillo definitely adds some testosterone to this corner of the park. Of course, just as it would be in a real studio, the aesthetic of the Backlot is very utilitarian, with exposed pipes and steel and plenty of equipment around.

From the grip truck parked in the street to the action genre movie posters used on the light & sound towers, it's an area of Walt Disney Studios Park that, by design, is heavy on edge and light on Pixie Dust. There are still plenty of Disney touches, though. Just take a look at the license plate on that truck: WED 1901 (for Walter Elias Disney, born in 1901).

There are also some really cool props to be found on the Backlot. Appropriately standing outside the special effects stage is this giant wind machine.

Getting back to the attraction, Armageddon: Les Effets Speciaux is positioned at the entrance to the Backlot, just beyond the security gates. According to the story, there's production taking place inside Studio 7 today, so it's a Hot Set. As we'll soon learn, that designation on the barriers delineating the queue has more than one meaning.

We head past the podium and toward the building, where signs warn unauthorized personnel of the dangers inherent with the sort of special effects being used on set today.

Luckily, we've been deemed honorary members of the Special Effects Crew, so we're granted access. We gather in a small room to be introduced to the story of Armageddon and our role in the upcoming scene. One of the stars of the film, Michael Clarke Duncan, even "stops by" to give us some encouragement.

With that, we're off to either Stage 7-A or 7-B (the same show is mirrored on each stage for added attraction capacity), where we find ourselves on the set of the Russian space station from one of the action sequences in the movie. Windows open onto a view of outer space, and when the director calls "Action!" we're suddenly thrust into the middle of the meteor storm.

Meteorites begin hitting the station. Lights flicker. Pipes burst, sending clouds of gas into the room. Flames erupt, closer and hotter than you can imagine would be safe. Ultimately, a vacuum opens into space, and everything gets sealed and shut down just as we hear, "Cut!"

Armageddon: Les Effets Speciaux is an intense experience, thrusting Guests into the middle of some of the real special and physical effects used in the making of this action movie extravaganza.