10 Tips to Get High Score on Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Beat Your Friends

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters is a classic dark shooting ride in Disneyland Park where guests will aim at various targets to help Buzz Lightyear defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg, who has stolen batteries to power a weapon of mass destruction. At the end of the ride, your score will align with one of 7 different levels, ranging from the lowest “Star Cadet” to the highest “Galactic Hero.”

Today, we will share the secrets of how to get a much higher score on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Use these tips to amaze your friends and blow their scores out of the water! You may even make it onto the high score board located at the exit of the attraction.

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Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Tips

This immersive dark ride is filled with vibrant set pieces around every turn, and it can definitely feel a little overwhelming figuring out where to aim if you don't know what to look for! That's why you'll want to familiarize yourself with the high-value targets and other helpful strategies for getting a high score that we will detail below.

Throughout your mission, you can maneuver your “space cruiser” using the joystick to spin a full 360 degrees so you can better aim at the targets. During the ride, you can track your score on the electronic dashboard in your ride vehicle.

Let's dive into our top tips for maximizing your score…

10. Know the Different Target Values

Each of the targets in the attraction has a different value depending on its shape and whether it is lit or unlit. There are four different target shapes in the ride.

The value of the targets is as follows:

• Circle – 100
• Square – 1,000
• Diamond – 5,000
• Triangle – 10,000

When the lights are lit, they are worth 10x the point values listed above for the first person to hit them. Previously, the lit targets were connected to an online game themed to Buzz Lightyear, but now the targets are lit randomly.

If you are really serious about getting a high score during your next visit, take a look at the video of the attraction beforehand so you can get a feel for where the high-value targets are throughout the ride.

9. Ride Alone, and Choose Your Gun

No, I don't mean go to the parks alone. Just get your own vehicle when you are boarding the attraction. That way, you eliminate any distractions, and you don't have to worry about two people controlling the movement of the ride vehicle.

Another advantage of riding alone is that you can choose which gun is better. Right when your guns are first activated, test the accuracy by firing at the wall. Most of the time, the guns are pretty accurate, but occasionally, you will want to switch to the second gun in the vehicle.

8. Ride on the Left: Left Side, Best Side!

Generally, the left side gun is much better situated to achieve the highest score possible. You'll have a more direct shot at the high-value targets from this side. This is another reason to ride in your own vehicle, so that you don't end up at a disadvantage on the right side.

7. Keep Firing Once You Find a Target

Once you discover a target, make sure to keep firing at it repeatedly. The target values are worth the same amount every time, and you don't waste time refocusing.

6. Put the Second Gun on the Seat

Each of the guns has a flashing red light scope that goes off every second. The lights of other shooters' guns can be quite distracting when you are looking for your own.

If you are riding alone, the lights on the second gun in your car will still go off, even if no one is firing the gun. To reduce the level of distraction, place the unused gun in the vehicle on the seat.

5. Keep Firing When the Ride Stops

This particular ride stops frequently in order to accommodate those who need more loading time or for Cast Members to retrieve something that a guest left in a vehicle. When the ride stops, your gun is still active, and you're granted more time to accumulate points without having to worry about the motion of the ride vehicle.

This is the time to rack up the points! My highest scores have always come from times when the ride has been stopped. Make sure to look all around you and focus on repeatedly hitting the highest-value targets when this happens.

4. Keep Firing. Period.

You receive 100 points for every five times that you fire and miss a target, which is jokingly called the “better luck next time bonus.” Use this to your advantage! Just keep on firing, and you will continue to accumulate points even if you don't hit the target.

3. Find the Highest Value Targets

The most important thing is to have intention while shooting. In almost every room, there is a valuable target hidden in plain sight. It's helpful to know where these are ahead of time so that you are not searching for them in the moment. Below, see our list of the locations of the valuable triangle targets.

1. The backside of the robot's hand in the first room
2. Behind the moving saw blade of the spaceship in the first room
3. In the alien planet room, find the triangles on the back of the circle of moving aliens, right as you enter the room.
4. Shoot the target on the outside of the jack-in-the-box to open the box, then hit the triangle on the alien that pops out.
5. On the walls of the dark, starry tunnel, there are three hidden triangles that occasionally have lights glimmer across them.
6. Inside a box on the opposite side of the room from Zurg in the final scene. You must hit the circle to make the target pop out of the box.
7. See our next tip for the locations of the two most valuable targets in the attraction.

2. Shoot at Emperor Zurg's Chest

This is the highest valued target in the attraction, worth 50,000 points. There is a tiny, unmarked hole in the middle of Emperor Zurg's chest armor in the first scene where he is featured, as well as the last big scene where he appears.

When you enter the first room with Zurg, aim for the large green square on the bottom of his gun. The figure will turn towards the gun that has hit the square. At this point, switch over to shooting at the little hole on his chest that is worth 50,000 points. This is one of the best ways to achieve a high score on this ride!

1. Register Your Score and Receive Your Photo

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When you get an earth-shattering score because you utilized the tips in this article, be sure to register your score. After getting off the attraction, you can put in your name and email to be sent a copy of your score and a photo of yourself. Then, if your score is one of the highest of the hour or an all-time high score, your initials will be featured on the scoreboard for all the world to see.

If your score says 999,999 on the ride vehicle, then you have maxed out the score screen. To see your real score, you must visit the kiosks at the exit of the attraction to see your full score underneath your photo. While scoring this high sounds impossible to most, myself included, the high scores for the attraction are over 7 million.

Finally, take a look at the score value chart below.

• Level 1 Star Cadet: 0 – 1,000
• Level 2 Space Ace: 1,001 – 10,000
• Level 3 Planetary Pilot: 10,001 – 100,000
• Level 4 Space Scout: 100,001 – 300,000
• Level 5 Ranger 1^st Class: 300,001 – 600,000
• Level 6 Cosmic Commando: 600,001 – 999,999
• Level 7 Galactic Hero: 1,000,000 +

This attraction continues to be quite popular with the Disneyland community. In fact, former Disney Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter was once spotted racking up tons of points on Buzz Lightyear before attending the Disneyland Candlelight Processional. Even with the popularity, the line for the attraction moves quite quickly. Generally, we will not wait to ride the attraction unless the queue is shorter than a 15-20 minute wait.

Bonus Tip! Look Out for Hidden Mickeys

Just for fun, be on the lookout for Hidden Mickeys in the attraction. Here's a close-up on a great one in the queue. Do you know where you can find this?

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