Top 5 Upgrades at Refreshed ‘Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin’ Attraction & Areas for Improvement

As Cast Member friends and family playtests continue, we’ve had an opportunity to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin ahead of its planned April 8th reopening. The attraction has been closed for more than 8 months as Walt Disney Imagineers rolled up their sleeves to breathe some new life into the 27-year-old attraction. In this article, I want to dig in a bit more to talk about our favorite parts of the attraction updates, and what could use some improvement before it opens to the public.

Top Five Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin Ride Upgrades

For a comprehensive look at the attraction updates, including photos and a full ride-through video, check out our first look review in our article below.

PHOTOS, FULL RIDE VIDEO: Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin Refresh Breathes New Life Into Battle Against Zurg

We have a first look review of the refreshed Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin attraction at Magic Kingdom

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For this article, we’re going to drill down a bit more on the changes, rank our top five favorite upgrades, and discuss where there may be some room for improvement.

#1. HANDHELD BLASTERS

I’m not sure there will be much debate here. The best part of Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin upgrades has to be the handheld blasters. The freedom of the handheld blasters has completely changed the way that I ride the attraction. I actually find myself moving the ride vehicle less than in the previous version of the attraction when the blasters were mounted to the vehicle (pictured below).

In addition, the blasters now feature some haptic feedback, vibrating when you hit a target. They also have new sound and lighting. The end result is a generational leap when compared to the blasters of the past.

#2. ALWAYS-ON LASER

I’m going to separate the handheld blasters and the always-on laser because Disney could’ve done one and not the other. The always-on laser is actually a very close #2, and the argument could be made that it could sit at #1. The always-on laser would’ve been a great standalone update to the ride if Disney were to keep the vehicle-mounted blasters; therefore, it could be argued that it is a more important update than the move to handheld blasters, but I digress.

The combination of the always-on lasers and the handheld blasters makes for a wonderful 1-2 punch in terms of upgrades made to the attraction. Actually, I would say that these two updates have done some heavy lifting in my rankings, accounting for some 60-70% of my enjoyment of the refreshed attraction. It’s hard to overstate just how much better the blaster experience is now.

I think the always-on laser is a huge upgrade, particularly for younger riders, allowing for some hand-eye coordination/connection that wasn’t easy at all in the previous version of the ride. Even so, guests of all ages will love the always-on lasers to better understand where they’re aiming. In fact, there is a brand new opening scene that is perfect to understand how your new handheld blaster works, and to prepare you for the battle against Zurg ahead.

#3. BUDDY & NEW OPENING SCENE

While it would’ve been easy enough for Imagineers to stop at improving the blasters, they took it a step further and introduced a brand new character and a new scene for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. I mentioned it in our initial review of the attraction, but as rides continue to age at Walt Disney World, I hope that Disney uses the Space Ranger Spin refresh as a template for how to breathe new life into a ride. That is, while attraction refurbishments of 3 months can get a lot done, I’d be in favor of an 8-12 month closure that not only acts as a refurbishment, but allows Imagineers to breathe new life into a ride through the addition of new scenes or unexpected updates that require more than just a light dusting and a fresh coat of paint.

To that end, there is a brand new character and opening scene for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Introducing Buddy.

As a support-bot, Buddy makes sure departing Space Rangers are fully prepared for their mission, enthusiastically providing encouragement, final system checks on their Star Cruisers, and a chance to hone their blaster aim.

#4. NEW ESCAPE HATCH THEMING & SPACE BATTLE UPGRADES

Along the same lines as the new Buddy scene, Imagineers added all-new theming to the Escape Hatch and subsequent space battle tunnel. This all looks great, especially when you consider that the Escape Hatch of the past was a mostly black wall hallway with little to no theming. Now, the tunnel features a star field along with other theming, acting as a wonderful transition into the open room ahead where your penultimate battle with Zurg will take place.

While we’re on the topic of the updated space battle, we want to dig in a little bit more here. The space battle tunnel scene has received a wonderful update. Along with new animation and new music, the tunnel introduces actual targets to hit. The end result is a collaborative experience where some 5-10 vehicles move through the space at a time, with all guests working together to take down Zurg.

Honestly, just like #1 and #2 on the list could be interchangeable, so too could this Escape Hatch and space battle sequence and the new Buddy scene. I still think introducing a brand-new character gets the nod and higher positioning, but don’t sleep on this updated space battle scene. It may look similar to the previous version of the ride, but the actual gameplay here is a massive upgrade over the previous version of the ride.

#5. SLEEK NEW ENTRANCE

This particular upgrade is going to come with a caveat: we haven’t seen the final product yet. That said, I’m a big fan of the sleek new sign at the entrance to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. While the wall will get a new splash of green and grey stripes soon, it’s really the sign that is carrying the weight of the #5 position in our top five list.

I’ll revisit this list in a couple of weeks when the final look has been revealed, but I like what I’ve seen so far.

First, all targets look the same…most of the time. So far, we’ve noticed that there are two advanced target states where players receive more points for hitting a target during a specific time period, but more about scoring and how to achieve the rank of Galactic Hero in another article. For now, we’d like to see more diversity in target presentation.

Because each of the targets in the ride has been updated to an LED screen, Disney can dynamically play with the targets in future ride updates. While we would’ve liked to have seen different shapes for the targets, we think that the easiest update that could be made is to simply have targets have different colors based on their point values – all targets may look the same now, but they are not all created equally.

I will say that the targets lighting up red or green based on which color blaster successfully hits it is a nice touch!

Another area for improvement, and maybe this would be solved if there were different color targets, is the expectation versus reality for scoring. I have been on the ride multiple times, and I will say that my score is, on average, much lower than the previous version of the ride. As someone who is competitive, that has led to some frustration. I would say that there is currently a disconnect between the expected score and the final score. Maybe that is user error and will improve over time, but the average guest may only ride this attraction once or twice during a vacation, and if that disconnect leads to a lack of feeling successful, it could lead to lower satisfaction on the ride.

My final bit of early feedback on the ride may be a blaster issue, or it may be a target issue, but I would say that there isn’t a perfect success rate when it comes to firing shots. In fact, with the always-on laser now showing where I’m aiming, there were some rides where the hit would only register maybe 70% of the time. Not only do you need to be more accurate with these new blasters, but I would say that there are some adjustments needed to register hits more accurately.

While the “issues” listed above are easier to fix, there was also a bit of disappointment as it related to the continued use of a projection screen for Buzz Lightyear in the queue and at the end of the ride. While this would be a much more involved change, and not possible at this point without another closure, we would’ve liked to have seen an updated, molded face like the recent upgrades over at Frozen Ever After in EPCOT.

While I would like to say that Imagineering will only make molded faces from now on for their Audio-Animatronics, there is an exciting, next-generation projection-mapped face technology under development at Walt Disney Imagineering that we hear is stunning to see in person.

That said, a molded face would’ve been a great update for Buzz Lightyear during this refurbishment, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Overall, I think that the changes made to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin have been excellent. With some additional adjustments over the next two weeks or so, I think that some of the issues we had with the targets could be addressed. Given the fact that the attraction is currently in a playtesting phase, Imagineers are still actively making adjustments before Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin officially reopens on April 8th at Magic Kingdom.

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!