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The ‘Toy Story 4’ Summer Road Trip’s Lehi stop is in the rearview, but film-centric fun and more remain

By Kari Kenner, Daily Herald - | Jul 1, 2019
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From left: Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key), Bunny (Jordan Peele), Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) appear in a scene from "Toy Story 4."

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Fans line up for a chance to play games and win prizes during the "Toy Story 4" Summer Road Trip.

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From left: Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) appear in a scene from "Toy Story 4."

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Fans play a ring toss game to win prizes during the "Toy Story 4" Summer Road Trip.

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Fans spin a wheel to win prizes during the "Toy Story 4" Summer Road Trip.

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Fans line up for a chance to play games and win prizes during the "Toy Story 4" Summer Road Trip.

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Fans take a photo during the "Toy Story 4" Summer Road Trip.

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From left: Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts) appear in a scene from "Toy Story 4."

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From left: Forky (Tony Hale) and Woody (Tom Hanks) appear in a scene from "Toy Story 4."

Friday morning dawned bright and warm at the Megaplex at Thanksgiving Point, where hundreds of eager fans swarmed around a “Toy Story 4”-themed RV for a chance to play carnival games, nab film-themed prizes and learn a little more about one of Disney and Pixar’s most popular franchise continuations.

The “Toy Story 4” Summer Road Trip rolled into Lehi over the weekend for a four-hour stop, the second to last on a coast-to-coast tour including 20 total cities across the United States from Chicago to Boston, Denver to Miami, Philadelphia to Los Angeles, all with the goal of generating excitement for “Toy Story 4,” which hit theaters June 20 with an official premiere date of June 21.

Tour manager and “Toy Story 4” Film Ambassador Brian Gurrola took a few minutes during the Lehi stop to chat with the Daily Herald regarding the road trip, as well as the new movie.

According to Gurrola, “Toy Story 4” is all about life on the road, and kicks off when Bonnie takes her toys on a family road trip. Things take a turn when Woody ends up on an unexpected detour and winds up running into his old friend Bo Peep. All sorts of drama and shenanigans ensue as the crew encounters new friends and toys, including a spork-turned-toy named Forky, a Canadian stuntman named Duke Caboom, toy cop Giggle McDimples and a doll named Gabby Gabby, not to mention carnival toys Ducky and Bunny, who were in ample supply as prizes at the Lehi event Friday.

“There’s a big RVing aspect with it,” Gurrola said of the film. “Go RVing became a big partner with Disney so they wanted to do a promotional campaign to get people aware of RVing and promote ‘Toy Story’ as well.”

That led to a collaboration for the Summer Road Trip, bringing promotional content and fun to cities across the United States.

“It’s been pretty overwhelming,” Gurrola said of the response to the tour. “When we got here (to Lehi), there was an hour wait with a huge line of people. There were some cities where we’ve had three-hour waits. The lines just kept going and going and going.”

The biggest feedback Gurrola said he’s received on the tour, though, is not about the wait, which lessened as the event continued, but positivity toward the new film.

“People are telling us how they love the movie, how they grew up with the movies and how they’re showing their kids, a new generation, the ‘Toy Story’ movies and they’re falling in love with the movies.”

The stop included several carnival games: a ring toss, bean bag toss and prize wheel; with a balloon artist on hand crafting miniature masterpieces in the shadow of a giant Buzz Lightyear balloon figure, a fun, themed photo booth and a chalk artist bringing the “Toy Story” characters to life on the sidewalk near the Megaplex entrance.

After a month on the road, the “Toy Story 4” Summer Road Trip provided Utah residents with ample family-friendly fun, some details on the new film and the fun of RVing and plenty of prizes.

“Toy Story 4” is now showing at theaters across the area.

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