Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin…video game and ride all in one Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
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I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into when I got in line for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. My daughter wanted to try it out and it didn’t say it was restricted in any way on the park map so we decided to go for it. It is a ride based on Disney’s Toy Story 2 movie so I figured it couldn’t be too bad.
This ride is located in the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World. It is in the Tomorrowland section of the park, across from the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor.
When to Ride
This ride gets crowded very quickly and is crowded most of the day. It seems that people don’t seem to mind waiting in line for this ride over and over again. Several people in the lines commented that they had already ridden the ride 3 and 4 times and more. It is a somewhat addictive ride, I suppose! People want to increase their scores on subsequent rides.
The only time I did not see a huge crowd at this ride was very early in the morning. I am also told that it does thin out during the later parts of the evening, but I did not get to observe this first hand. I got to the park at it’s opening and went straight to Tomorrowland. The ride sign said a 15 minute wait but really, I don’t think we waited that long.
While Waiting
I have seen the line for this ride extend outside of the building in which it is housed. That means the wait time is LONG! Once you get inside the building, you are still in line but there are fun things to look at. You are made to feel small, like a toy, by the giant things around you. There is a Buzz Lightyear as well as a giant Viewmaster. You can see instructions for your ride on the giant Viewmaster. Once you reach the loading area, you must step quickly onto a moving car. Since this is a continuous motion ride, you must move with it! The cars for this ride will hold 2 people or possibly 3 people but since there are only 2 laser guns, it is best to have only 2 to a car.
The Ride
This is part ride and part arcade game. Once your car enters the ride arena, your laser gun is activated and you can shoot at the targets that are all over the scenes around you. The idea is that you are shooting targets to keep Zurg, the evil emperor busy so that the Little Green Men can steal back the batteries that they need for their space vehicles. At the end of the ride, you face Zurg himself, and, of course, you defeat him!
Riders can shoot the laser guns at different targets for varying point values. Targets that are farther away are worth more points. A neat thing about the ride is that the car you ride in can turn 180 degrees so that you can get a chance to fire at various targets. In addition, my son and I found it fun that we could see my husband and daughter who were riding in the car right behind us.. You can turn your vehicle around as much as you want, making your ride a bit more exciting.
Right in the car, you have a digital read out that shows your score, based on the number of targets that you have hit. It is neat to be able to see your score going up each time you hit something. The first time through, it really is learning experience as you figure out what is what anyhow many points you will get. At the end of the ride, there is a board of high scorers. I did not come anywhere even close to those!!
This ride has a camera that will take your picture as you are riding through. It is kind of neat to look at when you get to the end. Ours came out pretty bad, in my opinion so we didn’t purchase it. I think 1 8×10 photo cost about $18 which I also thought was unreasonable. I’m not sure how much other packages were but they also seemed quite unreasonable to me. The little gift shop that the ride ends in is cute though, especially for the Toy Story fan. There are all sorts of memorabilia here.
Our experience
My 2 year old son was not thrilled with the gun available to him on the ride vehicle. So, I took both guns and aimed at the targets. Needless to say, I was not very successful in either attempt and then it was also hard to grab the joystick to turn the vehicle around. Nonetheless, my son seemed to enjoy the ride itself. He seemed amazed at all the things he was seeing around him. He did not want to get off of the ride at the end!
Additional Information
FastPass is available for this ride. FastPass allows visitors to put their park ticket into a machine near the ride and get a “reserved” time to ride the ride. You are given an hour time slot and if you return to the ride any time within the given time frame, you can get in a special line and ride the ride with a very minimal wait. We did this for our second ride and it worked out quite well. We were able to take in two other attractions while we waited for our time slot so we made good use of our wait time. I would not suggest using FastPass for your first ride through because you will miss out on the entry attractions and information.
Recommendations
This is a ride that you should not miss. Even if you are not a huge Toy Story fan, this is a fun ride and one that everyone can enjoy. It is not fast nor scary in any way so it is appropriate for just about everyone. It is a bit loud so beware of that but otherwise, it is just plain fun. I know that many people rode on this several times, trying to beat their previous scores. It can get quite addicting if you are a gaming fan.
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