This week, news of a permit filed by Walt Disney Imagineering for the aging Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin attraction seemed to set off a mini frenzy on social media. The permit, which was limited in scope to the installation of projectors, pointed to a larger ride overhaul, according to fans on social media. I’ll admit, when I first wrote the article, the idea of a larger ride overhaul didn’t even cross my mind. It seemed like a pretty simple case of Disney filing a permit to address one specific part of the 26-year-old ride. That said, hope filled the air on social media when fans heard of the permit and assumed there was a larger ride overhaul on the horizon.
No Closure or Ride Overhaul Planned for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
According to reporter Scott Gustin, the permit is not indicative of a larger ride overhaul or reimagining for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. The work to be done at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is “routine maintenance of projectors… and the ride will not need to close for refurbishment for the work to take place”.
Pretty cut and dry: the work will take place during overnight hours and any improvements from the “routine maintenance” will simply appear one day.
While the fan reaction appears to be premature, it certainly isn’t unwarranted. The last work on the ride was back in 2022 when Disney refreshed the mural at the load station. Before that, the attraction had a quick 3-day refurbishment back in July 2021. In early 2020, Walt Disney World completed a queue reconfiguration project, but no work was done on the ride. In short, the ride hasn’t received many updates during the nearly 3 decades that it has been at Magic Kingdom.
The ride is certainly old, with the layout and ride systems able to be traced back to 1972 when the attraction was called “If You Had Wings”. By 1989, the attraction was renamed and rethemed to “Delta Dreamflight”. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin opened in Fall 1998 and has remained largely unchanged since then.
In terms of average wait times, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is sort of upper-middle-of-the-road, certainly behind the headliners like the nearby Space Mountain, but also popular enough to usually demand a 30-60 minute wait time.
When it comes to Intellectual Property, Toy Story continues to be an important franchise for The Walt Disney Company. Toy Story 5 is set to be released in Summer 2026, and the films have made more than $3.3 billion at the global box office. The most recent installments, Toy Story 3 and 4, each made more than $1 billion at the global box office.
The Toy Story franchise is the most-viewed animated film franchise on Disney+, and the IP does over $1 billion in annual retail sales. Suffice it to say that the IP is strong, and it would likely take a really good idea to replace Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom.
That said, versions of the Buzz Lightyear ride have closed in international parks in (somewhat) recent years. In Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney replaced Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! More recently, Tokyo Disneyland closed its version of the ride, called Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, and they will be replacing it with an unnamed Wreck-It Ralph-themed attraction (opening in 2026). That’s not to say that the writing is on the wall for Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom, but there is an appetite for something new and exciting.
Long story short, there are no imminent changes planned for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom right now, but it is a 90s-era attraction that could certainly use some updating.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
