In a new video from Good Morning America, along with a social media post, Disney has pulled back the curtain on a completely refreshed scene coming to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin when it reopens this Spring. The focus is on the “Hyperspace” tunnel near the finale scene of the attraction. Here’s what’s new!
Newly Refreshed “Hyperspace” Scene in Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
As announced by Imagineer Wyatt Winter, Disney has completely refreshed the “Hyperspace” scene in the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin attraction at Magic Kingdom. Winter calls the “airlock” scene before the Hyperspace tunnel “new”. While it’s not technically new, it is a completely reimagined scene with new effects!
In addition to the refreshed airlock scene, Imagineers have spent more than a year and a half on a refreshed hyperspace tunnel scene. Just like the airlock, this scene previously existed in the attraction, but it has been changed so much that it may as well be new.
In a video posted to the Walt Disney Imagineering social pages, we have a first look inside the refreshed hyperspace tunnel!
Some new additions to the scene include an appearance of Buzz Lightyear for the first time ever in this room. New media for the scene includes Zurg releasing “space mines”, which are targets that guests will be able to shoot.
As is typical for theme park projects that leverage IPs, Imagineers teamed up with Pixar animators to create all-new animation for this scene. In the video below, you can hear from one of those animators, talking about the difficulties of creating media to be projected onto a tunnel.
Interestingly, the team has been working on this tunnel update for a year and a half. Fans may remember an article that we wrote back in December 2024, talking about projector upgrades for the tunnel scene. In that article, we noted that the work (at the time) was simply described as “routine maintenance”. However, in that same article, we noted that the ride was aging and could use an update.
Just a few months later, Walt Disney World announced that the ride would, in fact, be receiving a refresh.
Here’s a look back at the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin attraction before it closed for a lengthy refurbishment and refresh!
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!
