A closer look at Disney’s Slinky Dog Dash coming to Toy Story Land

Disney gave more details about Toy Story Land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios including a better look at the new roller coaster Slinky Dog Dash.

An initial video rendering of the coaster’s planned track was revealed last August at a D23 event in California, but at the media preview at Walt Disney World held last week, Disney rolled out an updated rendering that gives you a detailed view of how the roller coaster will flow through the park expansion.

“Andy’s built a coaster track all over his back yard using his Mega Coaster Play Kit, but as you know he’s got a pretty amazing imagination so he’s combined it with some of his other toys,” said Kathy Mangum, a Walt Disney Imagineering executive. “You’ll see Slinky of course, who’s so cute, which Andy has made into the coaster train that you get to ride in.”

Magnum says riders will see various “Toy Story” characters around the track including Rex, Jessie, Wheezy, Mr. Spell and Mr. Mike. Rex, the toy tyrannosaur, shows most prominently atop a falling Jenga tower along the track and looks to be the highest point in all of Toy Story Land. In the video you can also see Jessie and Green Army Men prominently.

“You will zip, dodge and dash around many planned turns and drops that Andy has created to really make Slinky and his coils stretch to the limits,” Magnum said. “It’s a fun and exhilarating family coaster attraction and it will be one that you’ll want to do over and over again.”

Renderings show that it covers nearly all of the planned expansion, the opening date of which has not been announced, but ground has already been broken at the park. From the ride, you’ll pass by the back end of the other new planned ride in the land, the Alien Swirling Saucers, which is themed after the little three-eyed, green alien toys from the claw machine at Pizza Planet. Riders will spin around while avoiding the claw. It’s a double ride set up in a similar approach to the expanded Dumbo rides at New Fantasyland.

The two rides will join the existing Toy Story Mania! ride, known for its extremely long waits, that is getting a third track that might alleviate the crowds. That track is set to open this Memorial Day weekend.

The entire expansion is made so visitors will feel like they are shrunk down to the size of toys, which will be nice for those that already miss the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” play area that’s being bulldozed in favor of both the 25-acre Toy Story and Star Wars expansions.

Toy Story Land itself will be 11 acres. The landscape will be dominated by the Slinky Dog Dash track and from the renderings, oodles of Tinker Toys, play blocks and other toys stuck in the ground.

From the rendering, it looks like riders will leave the building at the rear of the park expansion and proceed on a flat track pretty far before climbing up an initial incline that immediately turns 180 degrees and down into a complete 360 degree twist that then runs into another 180 degree inclined turn before heading straight over the walking path that parkgoers take to get to the entrance. With no initial climb, the ride may have a propulsion launch to get riders enough speed to enter into that first turn. Once over the bridge, there’s a blue-and-red track that could give Slinky Dog another push into a small incline that then sends riders into a five-turn zig and zag finale before returning to the building from whence they started.

As far as views go, most of Disney’s other park roller coasters are housed in their own thematic structures, meaning not much change to look out over the park, like Space Mountain, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and even Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This one will be more like Goofy’s Barnstormer, although bigger and longer from the look of the renderings.

No specifics on roller coaster speed, time or length have been released, though.

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