A Parent's Guide to Disney Infinity - The Disney Infinity Website and Web Codes

Each Disney Infinity character comes with a unique online code you can register. The Disney Infinity website also offers ways to track your in game statistics. It only works if you've already linked your Disney Infinity account on you game console with your profile. After logging into your account at https://infinity.disney.com choose My Profile by clicking your username on the top left.

Game Stats
Here you can see a variety of stats about your Disney Infinity experience including challenges completed, enemies defeated, and stars collected. The more you play and add to your profile the higher the player level will grow.

My Characters
Clicking on the characters you have linked to your profile provides you with all kinds of stats about that character including level, Sparks, enemies defeated, and races won.

Registering Codes
All new characters and play sets come with a 12 character online code. Enter these into the box on the hompage (click Home). Registering these will allow you to play with these characters in the upcoming iPad and PC versions of Disney Infinity.

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A Parent's Guide to Disney Infinity - Toy Box Downloads

If you have and of the HD versions of Disney Infinity (Not Wii or 3DS) you can download extra pre-built Toy Boxes from the Internet. There are currently 5 additional Disney made packs to download. Just follow these steps:

1. Connect your game console to the Internet and set up your Disney account. If you are already a member of another Disney service, such as Disney Movie Rewards, use that login.
2. From the title screen choose "The Toy Box".
3. Choose "Toy Box Share".
4. Choose "Disney's Toy Boxes".
5. Download each of the 5 levels. Once they're downloaded you can play them from this screen, which can also be accessed through the start menu at any time.

Each of the 5 levels offer different gameplay experiences. These were created in Toy Box, which means nothing you see here is something that you could do and all items will eventually be unlocked. The current Toy Boxes are:

WonderlandMaze

This Toy Box is more of a level. Go through the Wonderland themed obstacle course and hedge maze. This stage has a pretty satisfyingly ending too.

Floating Castle

Visit a floating castle in the sky and grind some rails or fly around in a helicopter to see the view.

Medieval Arena

Make your own fun in this pre-built arena. There isn't much to do here but it's a great showcase of the variety of Toy Box.

Tron Sugar Rush

In this small Toy Box explore the elements of Tron or Sugar Rush from Wreck it Ralph. You can also drive a light car (with no trails).

Disneyland

Explore a Toy Box version of e Disneyland park. All the major attractions are there!

Have fun exploring these extra Toy Boxes or use them as inspiration for your own levels! Hopefully Disney releases more soon.

Too bad Perry hasn't been released yet

A Parent's Guide to Disney Infinity - Should I Buy This Game For...?

The game is rated E 10+ by the ESRB for Cartoon Violence. If you are willing to let your child watch the movies the game is featuring then the game should be fine for you. If you're uncomfortable with violence of any kind, including cartoon, I would stay clear.

My Under 4 Year Old
Not unless you're OK with spending a lot of money to let your kid run around or you plan on playing the game yourself. You could play co-op together pretty easily, since only one player needs to complete each mission. It would also be good if your kid was really into the characters featured in Disney Infinity. Young children have a hard time mastering controls in a 3D environment and an even harder time with the camera. The challenges also get too tough for the very young.

My 4-8 Year Old
This is the perfect age for Disney Infinity. These kids will have a blast collecting all the figures and Power Discs. With a little patience they should be able to complete the game on their own and learn how to create simple things in Toy Box mode. They also can play with their friends. If your child is pre-reading they may need a little help.

My 9+ Year Old
This is a tricky age group. If your child hasn't decided Disney is uncool then go for it. This age group is the same crowd that took to Minecraft and should be able to create some pretty spectacular things in Toy Box mode. The single player campaign would still be a bit of a challenge but still pretty simple. They may just want their favorite characters or collect everything themselves to complete the game 100%. With all the extra content to find and online creation sharing there are hours of fun to be had.

Myself
Do you love Disney and video games? Then pick this one up. Great fun for adults to co-op together or play online. The story is not challenging but collecting all the Toy Box unlocks will keep you coming back. Toy Box mode offers so many possibilities and so much more nostalgia!

5 Tips for Buying Power Disc Packs

1. Know your product.
In series 1 there are 20 Power Discs to collect and 3 of those are rare. Make sure you know which discs you already have and what you're looking for. Consult this list to keep track. Once series 2 and 3 come out, make sure you watch which you're getting by reading the package carefully.
https://infinity.disney.com/en-ca/power-discs#set1

2. Establish a trade circle
You're going to get doubles. Make sure you (or your children) have people to trade with. Keep it small for simplicity but large enough to find what you're looking for. You may have to expand farther if everyone's looking for something specific.

3. Feel the packs for the shapes
You may not be able to tell what's inside by feeling, you can tell if they're round or hexagonal. This can at least narrow it down a tiny bit, although there's only 4 round ones.

4. Don't buy two from the same box at the store!
Unless you're sure they're different (one being two hexagonal, another having a round one) do not purchase two packs from the same box on the shelf. I purchased 3 packs and they were all the same. They're not guaranteed to be the same from the same box or different from a different one, but it does increase the chances.

5. Ebay
Looking for just one or two power discs? Can't trade with anyone? Check Ebay, but be warned. Limited edition Power Discs will make there way onto online auctions and not being able to get them will just lead to disappointment. Unless you don't mind spending $20 on a single disc it's better to stick to the main series. (This goes for variations in figures too!) There will be people selling entire sets for a premium online too, which would be good for those who have money but no time to bother with collecting and trading.

Accessory Review - Power Disc Capsule

The Power Disc Capsule for Disney Infinity is available for $9.99 at most Disney Infinity Retailers.

This little tube holds 22 Disney Infinity Power Discs. It also includes two rubber Power Disc wrappers, one round and one hexagonal, so you can use two Power Discs simultaneously with ease. It has a flat bottom so it sits nicely and is sturdy. The red part that holds the Power Discs slides out for easy access, and locks in place for easy transportation and storage. It also keep them safe from dust and debris and small children.

Pros:

• Doesn't take up much space
• Looks nice displayed next to figures
• Keeps Power Discs safe and clean
• Locks closed and opens easy
• Sturdy
• Comes with rubber Power Disc wraps to use two at once

Cons:

• Only holds 22 Power Discs so you'll have to buy multiple capsules to accommodate series 2 and 3
• Could crack/break if dropped on to a hard surface
• Power discs are side on and it's hard to find what you're looking for

Best used for:

• Nice looking storage of less used discs

A Parent's Guide to Disney Infinity - How Does Disney Infinity Work?

To children it's magic but how does Disney Infinity actually work? Why does adding a new figure to the base unlock a whole character or world?

Disney Infinity figures are embedded with an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) chip. The base is an RFID reader, which transmits data to and from the figures and into your game console. Not only can these chips store information about who the character is, they also store very small bits of data such as the character's level and owner. This is why you can bring them to a friend's and keep the same level.

This same RFID chip tells the game which character, Power Disc, or world is on the base. All of the Disney Infinity characters and playsets that will be released are already on the disc. This means that you are just paying to unlock this content. It also means you don't need to download anything additional when you purchase a new figure our playset - you can jump right into the action.

Where Are All The Girls in Disney Infinity?

My almost 6 year old daughter really struggled with her character selection when we picked up Disney Infinity. Of course we knew Rapunzel was announced for released but didn't launch with the game, so she wanted someone to play with now. Of the 17 characters that launched with the game, only 3 of them are female.

Holly Shiftwell from Cars
Mrs. Incedible/Elastigirl from The Incredibles
Violet from The Incredibles

That means from the 5 series that released with the game, you can only play as a girl in 2. Not a great concept for a princess loving little girl. They really dropped the ball not releasing anything that could be marketed towards the princess crowd at launch. At least we'll be getting Jessie from Toy Story in October.

Who else could have they added?

Cars
Sally Carrera - Although at least Cars already has one female.

Pirates of the Caribbean
Elizabeth Swann - although maybe they couldn't use Keira Knightley's likeness? She's done voice acting in games before though.

Angelica - no more an antagonist then her father, Barbosa, who's in the game already. Again though, it could be a likeness use issue for the actor.

Monsters University
Dr. Abigail Hardscrabble - although she may not completely fit with the story of pranks in the Monsters University playset, could be a strong female character. There are already other characters who don't quite match their stories anyway.

Celia Mae - she wasn't in Monsters University but a picture of her was. Why not put a younger version of her in the game? It doesn't follow the movie's story anyway.

The Incredibles
The whole family is there (Except Jack Jack) so this is perfect!

The Lone Ranger
Rebecca Reid - not a lot of options in this movie!

Yes,  the above series are all male focused, but that's no excuse to provide no female options to gamers. Men are still the majority of the market but that is changing quickly, especially among younger gamers. It seems silly to make us wait months for even one princess option.

A Parent's Guide to Disney Infinity - What Is Disney Infinity Anyway?

Disney Infinity is a video game for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo WiiU, Nintendo 3DS, and soon the PC. It was made by Avalanche, an in house Disney game studio. The game was released on August 18th, 2013 for all systems except PC, which should be out in October, 2013.

The game comes bundled with three figures of different Disney characters: Sully from Monsters University, Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles, and Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. You also get one INFINITY, one world unlocking statue, and one power disc. So what do all of these do?

INFINITY BASE
Place figures, statues, and power discs on this for different effects. This is connected by USB or infrared depending on the system and works with RFID to read what's on it. It also lights up. You need this to do anything else in the game.

Characters
The game comes with everything you need for one person to finish the game, however, if you want to play two players locally you will need to purchase a second player from each game series, since in story mode characters are confined to their world. (More on this later.) The game launched with 17 characters from 5 different Disney series. Purchasing a figure in the store and placing it on the base will allow you to play with that character in game. Experience is tied to the figure which allows you to bring it to a friend's house and play. The figure must remain on the base at all times to be playable.

Different Worlds
The game comes with a statue to place on the base that unlocks the worlds of the three starter characters - Monsters University, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Incredibles. Each of these stories are about 5 hours long for a average player, although younger children could spend much longer. There are also side missions and hundreds of collectibles to keep you coming back for more. At launch there are two extra worlds you can purchase that unlock their own story - Cars and Lone Ranger. Each of these sets include two figures from those series.

Power Discs
Possibly the biggest money grabbing "feature" of Disney Infinity is the power disc. These plastic discs allow for various power ups and unlocks in the game, depending on which you use. Sometimes you place them in the non-character space on the base to unlock items or skins for Toy Box modes. Round ones can be placed under the characters to provide power ups like bonus health or invincibility. There are 3 series planned but only the first one has been released at launch which is 20 power discs. These are sold in blind foil packs of 2, so there is a good chance you'll get doubles. This does allow a unique trading aspect.

Main Game Modes for HD Consoles (WiiU, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3):

Story Mode
Each world features a unique story that can be played by one or two players. The gameplay of each story is completely unique and themed to that Disney series. You can only play with the characters from that series in this mode. There are chests that can only be opened by certain characters and vaults that require everyone from that series. In each world there are many capsules hidden around that unlock world-specific items in Toy Box mode.

Toy Box Mode
This is huge. In this mode you basically have free reign to create your own worlds using the items you've unlocked. Drive into the mouth of the Cave of Wonders with Lightning McQueen or place a field of pink flamingos to shoot with Captain Jack Sparrow. You're only limited by your imagination... Or the available items and item count. There is a limit to how much you can place, but it's a lot. There are so many items it'd be hard to not have your vision realized in this mode. You're not limited by which characters can play here either.

3DS and Wii modes to come in another update. The 3DS version is a mini game collection and the Wii version has no co-op in story mode.

Check back for more posts in this series "A Parent's Guide to Disney Infinity" for more detailed explanations of game mechanics.