Review: Slinky Dog Dash is the smoothest ride at Disney World
The Slinky Dog Dash rollercoaster at the new Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios is one of the smoothest rides you will experience at Disney World.
The coaster, themed to look like it was built from a Dash & Dodge Mega Coaster Play Kit in Andy’s backyard, has a number of fast turns and camelback humps. You even stop in the middle of the ride only to be launched again along the track.
If you are looking for a fast, crazy speed demon with inversions, you are going to be disappointed and should head to Rock n Roller Coaster on the other side of the park. This is a ride designed for kids; the height restriction is just 38 inches. If Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are your speed, you will love this new addition to the lineup of Disney coasters.
The ride vehicles are a bit roomier than the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the Magic Kingdom. While the lap bar is tight, you have a bit more leg room.
It looks a little deceptive. While watching from the ground, the coaster does not look that fast; but you feel a lot more speed when you’re riding it.
This might be because of how smooth the ride is. Slinky Dog silently glides along the track with hardly a bump or a shake. While there are twists or turns, you are not jostled around.
This is a somewhat unique coaster at Disney. All of the other coasters either are indoors, where you can’t see the track or where you are going. Or, they are outdoors, where the track is part of a landscape, climbing hills and rounding mountains. This track is independent, and you can see where you are going as you rise into the sky and take sharp turns.
And the view is great. You get clear views of construction at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and, after one turn, you get to see the Tower of Terror. Along the way, you pass Jessie rescuing Rex, the toy dinosaur, from the top of a Jenga tower.
At the midway point of the ride, Slinky Dog stops, hesitates slightly and then launches through multiple rings pulsing with sounds, spinners and flashing lights into the second act of the ride.
As the ride ends, you come upon Wheezy, the squeaky toy penguin from the Toy Story films, breaking into a rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
Now, the troubling part. The ride does not have a queue long enough to accommodate a two-hour line. We got in line not far from the entrance to the land — far outside where the queue to the line really begins — and were told to expect a 90-minute wait, without people going through a Fast Pass line. Our wait turned out to be a bit less than an hour.
In addition, much of the line is outdoors with no cover. While there are umbrellas along the path that might help block the sun and rain, expect to bake in the heat and get wet in the rain. Andy’s backyard wasn’t supposed to be in Florida.
While Disney has been building interactive queues lately, this one doesn’t have anything to play with along the way; instead, it relies on the new Disney Parks Play app to keep you entertained. This is because the queue is open to the elements. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of design elements, like giant toy boxes, to keep you amused as you hunt for hidden Mickeys and other little Easter eggs.
As you approach the launch area, you do see Andy’s plans for his toy coaster sketched out in Crayola crayon on notebook paper, including a hidden Mickey. Glue bottles, empty toy boxes and stray coaster parts and pieces are strewn about.
After the ride, as you roll back into the station, you’ll find another surprise: You don’t exit through a shop. While there are a couple of souvenir kiosks in Toy Story Land, the main store is on Hollywood Boulevard, outside the bounds of Andy’s backyard.
