Photo Gallery: Lotso Meet & Greet at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

[SinglePic not found]Lotso from Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 began greeting guests at Walt Disney World’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park this morning and we were pleased to be amongst the first to welcome him to the World. Although we were warned that he would make his first appearance at 10:30, several guests showed up as close to the park’s 9 am opening as possible to stake their place in line. In fact, it wouldn’t be until around 9:45, when the queue already began wrapping around the corner that it would even see its first guest under the age of 15 (or so).

The time cushion gave us plenty of time to explore the queue which was transformed into Sunnyside Daycare, a strong departure from the traditional display of artwork from the film. Instead, one is treated to artwork by the students along one wall with bulletin board notices against another, pseudo-windows looking out to the playground and the front of the building, technicolor handprints along the wall’s border (and the occasional footprint) and video monitors alerting parents to the latest school news.

The set itself — the school’s Butterfly Room — also features some enhancements beyond the typical fare. Like the UP set that preceded it in which one could spot Kevin popping in from either side or could pick up a real hose to pretend to be holding down the house, the Toy Story 3 Sunnyside Daycare set features a couple of animated elements including a green army man going up and down on a yo-yo like a .. well, a yo-yo.

But perhaps the greatest innovation here is one that can’t be readily seen. Sources have advised us that Lotso is able to switch the position of his eyebrows to go into an angry mode but other sources have informed us that he’s under strict orders to not flaunt this skill until at least the release of the film (despite the fact that Lotso is readily advertised by the banner outside as both smiling and frowning).

Sources have also informed us that Disney costuming had in fact been working on a method of working in a strawberry scent but this appears to have not made the cut. Lotso informed us directly that he simply doesn’t smell. This is probably for the best anyway since one might suspect that by the end of the day, Lotso may end up drool and sweat-scented anyway. So consider this your warning and keep your sniffing to a minimum.

He is very soft however. Which makes sense since he’s a hugger after all (but he won’t object to the occasional handshake either).

We inquired about any PhotoPass enhancements available for his arrival and were unfortunately able to secure an answer, so if anyone does find out, please let us know. We did confirm that he does autograph however so we’ve included his love-filled sample below as part of the gallery.

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