Snapshots and Impressions of Disney Infinity

NOTE: All the pictures in today's post were snapped with an iPhone pointed at my (very cheap) little television screen. This game looks much, much better in person.

Barbosa finds the Hatter's tea party...and doesn't know quite what to make of it.

Disney Infinity is a huge, sprawling game, so full of possibilities and options that no two people will play it in quite the same way. We'll have a complete review later this week, but here are our impressions after several hours inside Infinity's strange, astonishing world.

Mr. Incredible borrows Mulan's horse. And yes, that's an Autopia Car

The game is brilliant, beautifully animated, and an absolute blast to play with. And that's the key to Infinity: you don't simply play through it like a normal video game. You play with it, tweaking it, experimenting and changing it around as you go.

Resisting Infinity Collector Madness

I love the design of these figures. I've just got to keep telling myself this is enough. This can be my entire Infinity collection. I don't need 'em all.

I don't need 'em all.

I…don’t…nnnnn……

The Gullywhumper Keelboat and Fink's Place

There she is, the best-named watercraft in the history of humankind, Mike Fink's notorious Gullywhumper from Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. The days of braving Disneyland's Rivers of America aboard spunky keelboats are long past, but it's great to see this tribute to the disreputable vessel that inspired the old ride.

She's moored, of course, at the "estate" of Mike Fink himself. Fink's your one-stop frontier markeplace for furs, gunpowder and antlers. And he won't try to cheat you, no sirree!

This was once the famous "burning settler's cabin" that startled many a youngster riding the Mark Twain Riverboat beyond the protection of Fort Wilderness. There are good and bad ways to remove a controversial and costly show element, and I can't think of a better solution than the one seen here: Replace it with a classic Disney scalawag and his trusty boat!

Monsters, Inc. at DCA

Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue is an odd duck of a ride, but a fun experience. Its arrival at Disney California Adventure transformed the site of a short-lived, terrible, embarrassing opening day attraction (Superstar Limo) into a likable retelling of the Pixar film, Monster's, Inc.

As much a patch-job as an original attraction, the Monsters, Inc. dark ride inherited Superstar Limo's vehicles, track layout and flat cutout-style entry facade. Although the stylized front succeeds in helping guests find the ride in its tucked-back corner of DCA's Hollywood Land, I'm not a fan of the "temporary" vibe it creates. If future plans for this area of the park include keeping Monsters, Inc., I hope the Imagineers come up with a different approach for the exterior.

The logical transformation of the old limousines into Monstropolis taxi cabs resulted in a unique quirk for the resort: DCA and Disneyland each now have their own taxi-themed dark ride. Unlike Roger Rabbit's spinning, crazy whirl through a blacklight Toontown noir, however, the Monsters, Inc. dark ride is a slower, gentler journey through a fairly straightfoward narrative, following blue collar monsters Mike and Sulley as they try to return human toddler Boo to her bedroom closet's door. The on-ride "dangers" are very mild, and the film's scariest-looking character, Mr. Waternoose, isn't included at all.

As far as I know, it's also the only Disney dark ride that takes you through a factory restroom, resulting in a true "What the..." moment.