Disney’s Buzz Lightyear Ride Closing for Long Overdue MASSIVE Overhaul!

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is a nostalagic ride in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World. The Toy Story films are an iconic part of Disney’s catalog and this ride has been long overdue for a much needed update!

Kids love the arcade style attractions at the Disney Parks and I’d be ecstatic to see Buzz Lightyear be on par technology wise with Toy Story Midway Mania. This is also good news for Disneyland fans. It’s not unreasonable to think these changes will also come to Disneyland’s Tomorrowland attraction too.

Well, we just got a surprising announcement that Disney is planning for a major overhaul of the attraction which includes new ride vehicles, animatronics, and more! Keep reading for all the details of this new announcement including when the ride will close.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin Improved Gameplay

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One of the biggest areas that needs improvement is the gameplay on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland. The technology is so outdated that it’s difficult to tell how successful you are at hitting the targets.

This is one big area that Imagineers will be updating! The static Z targets will be upgraded with new technology that will cause them to light up when hit. This is a small change but a major one to improve the experience on the ride. Disney also teased that this “opens the door for a few other ideas” for Imagineers.

Imagineers are already hard at work on these updates as they recently participated in a playtest of the new targets, blasters and other gameplay ideas. In fact, Disney revealed that Imagineers have been working hard on this project for some time already which I hope means a speedy turnaround!

Updated Buzz Lightyear Ride Vehicles

In addition to enhanced gameplay, the ride vehicles will also be updated with a new design inspired by the colors of Buzz Lightyear and Star Command. The ride vehicles will be equipped with new video monitors that provide real-time scoring updates and other features.

New blasters will also be included on the Star Cruisers which allow for better aim so scoring points is far easier to do! This will also fix a problem we’ve long complained about… currently, you have no idea where you are aiming. The new blasters will include an “always-on” laser with two different colors per ride vehicle. The blasters features will include new lighting, sound, and vibration effects. This is going to be a major improvement in itself!

The blasters shown in the play test look far more like the Disneyland version of the attraction than the current Walt Disney World one.

New Animatronic and Ride Scene

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Disney Imagineers aren’t just updating the ride, they’re adding a new character and ride scene. The new character called “Buddy” was created by Walt Disney Imagineering and Pixar Animation Studios.

Buddy is a “support-bot” making sure that guests are equipped to be Space Rangers on their mission, providing encouragement, and final system checks on the Star Cruisers. This scene will also give guests a change to practice aiming with their blasters which sounds similar to the practice round of Toy Story Midway Mania.

When Does Buzz Lightyear Close?

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin will close in August and reopen next year. There is no official closing date or reopening timeline just yet.

I am hopeful the turnaround of this refurbishment won’t be too long since Disney revealed the Imagineers have been working on it for some time now. This is good news especially since playtesting of the game itself has already been taking place.

You can see all the current planned Disney World ride closures and refurbishments here. There are lots of closures currently on the schedule and in the near future as we get ready for the slate of new Disney World rides.

There’s even more to look forward to this summer as Disney has announced the opening date for two new shows in Hollywood Studios, a new limited-time experiences for young kids in the theme parks and hotels plus a new summer discount offer. 

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