A Must-See Attraction for Any Buzz Lightyear Fan
Written: Oct 13 '04 (Updated Oct 13 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Appeals to vacationers of all ages. Mild enough for young ones, spinning and shooting for older ones.
Cons: The lines can get long because the ride is so popular.
The Bottom Line: change this
|
|
|
| mizgnomer's Full Review: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin |
We just got back from taking my 3-year old son on his first visit to Walt Disney World. It is quite easy for me to pick out his favorite ride -- in fact we rode it so many times I actually lost count. My little space ranger is a huge Toy Story fan, so the ride that captivated him was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.
Ride Description:
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is a ride based upon the Buzz Lightyear, Zurg, and Little Green Men characters from the popular Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies. The general storyline is this: Buzz is recruiting junior space rangers to help defend the "batteries" from the evil emperor Zurg. Zurg has been plotting to steal all toys' batteries to power his ultimate destruction weapon. Your mission is to shoot at various targets scattered throughout the "Gamma Quadrant" to preoccupy Zurg so the Little Green Men can steal back the batteries.
The ride itself is pretty cute. It basically consists of a continuous stream of cars that seat 2-3 people (depending upon how skinny you are). There are 2 "laser guns" on each car, so the riders can aim and shoot throughout the ride. The cars are fairly slow-moving (giving you time to aim properly), and there were no health warnings associated with the ride (I was pregnant when we visited and could not ride many of the big attractions - but I was able to go on the Buzz Lightyear ride just fine). The one bit of "thrill" you do get is the ability to spin the car 360 degrees! Between the 2 guns on the console is the spin control - you can make your ride as violent or gentle as you want, depending upon how much you use the spin control. Each gun also has a point-display beneath it, so you can keep up with how well you are doing based upon the points you accumulate. I would guestimate that the ride takes approximately 3 minutes.
The targets, scenery, and the cars themselves are all painted in brightly fluorescent colors. The ride starts off simply enough -- a Buzz voiceover explains the plan and has you test out your guns and your spin capability, then you're in the middle of a battle zone! Although you could call it dimly lit, the contrast of the fluorescent targets and aliens against the black background makes for quite stunning visuals. Your car will take you (slowly) through a variety of rooms full of aliens of all shapes and sizes (including Zurg eventually). Targets are everywhere -- ones up close will give you fewer points than the ones farther back, and some are even on moving targets. Eventually, after a few different rooms worth of aliens, you get to shoot at Zurg (my son's favorite part). Eventually you go through a tunnel that makes it look like you are zooming through space at light-speed (with stars zooming by) and there is also an alien moving around that you can shoot at for more points. The final rooms show Zurg as his plan is failing (with a Buzz figure up in the air, joining the fight) and the Little Green Men making off with the batteries. The final room has a human-sized animatronic Buzz (complete with a video-projected face) congratulating you on a successful mission, with Zurg behind bars off to the side. A large display allows you to compare your final score and determine your "rank" as a Space Ranger.
Before the Ride (otherwise known as "The Wait") and After the Ride
It would be wrong to talk about a Disney ride without describing the wait involved. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is a FastPass attraction (more on that below), but they do display the waiting time so you can determine whether or not to wait-it-out or get the FastPass. We were lucky enough to go at an off-season time, so out of the many, many times we rode it we only needed the FastPass once. This appears to be one of the most popular rides currently at Disney (because it appeals to guests of all ages), and the line can be quite long outside of the building. The line also continues inside the building, but once inside it is much more interesting. Near the front of the line is a large, human-sized animatronic Buzz Lightyear! He comes complete with a video-projection face, so he looks EXACTLY like the Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies. This Buzz explains the mission with the help of a giant View Master that shows pictures of Zurg, the Gamma Quadrant, etc. Another wall has a giant Magna Doodle with other diagrams and instructions. As soon as we reached this point in-line my son was always enthralled and the wait never bothered him.
FastPass, for the uninitiated, is a convenient way to keep from waiting forever in line for a popular attraction. Simply put, you insert your Disney park ticket into the FastPass machine for the ride you wish to ride. The FastPass ticket will then print out with a time-range of when you can come back. If you come back within the time-range you go to a separate line that bypasses the regular line -- so basically you get to cut in front of everyone! FastPass is a great idea, but there are limitations -- not every ride is a FastPass ride, and you can only get 1 FastPass ticket at a time (or rather, 1 every 2 hours). We got our FastPass for the Buzz ride on a very over-crowded Saturday when the regular wait for the ride was 50 minutes. Our FastPass tickets told us to come back in 2 hours (which actually was much longer than my son wanted to wait, but we rode another ride and ate lunch in the meantime). When we came back there was essentially no waiting - we just went to the front and were on our way.
After the ride ends you do exit through a gift shop featuring merchandise specific to the Space Range Spin ride -- t-shirts, guns that matched those found in the ride, picture frames, etc. There is also a large Zurg statue behind bars -- your kids can climb in beside Zurg for a great photo opportunity. On top of that, your picture is also taken during the ride, so as you exit you pass video screens where you can view your photo and decide whether or not you wish to purchase it. The prices for the photos are outrageous and the "packages" never come with the sizes/numbers I want. If you get the 8x10 they will put a special Buzz/Zurg border around the photo -- my son was fascinated to see himself with Buzz & Zurg so on one of the trips we did break down and purchase one ($16.95 - that's crazy!). It is worth noting that if you get any other size or package, you do NOT get the special border.
Our Thoughts & Experiences:
Did I mention we lost track of how many times we rode this ride? I will admit that some of the ride is dark, the sounds loud, and the super-large alien robot toward the beginning may scare some children. My 3-year old wasn't sure what to make of it all on his first ride, but as soon as the ride was over he wanted to go shoot Zurg again, so it didn't bother him too much.
We were very lucky -- of the 3 days we visited the Magic Kingdom, our wait on the first day was 15 minutes, on the second day (we were in the park early for a character-breakfast) we had no waiting whatsoever and got A LOT of turns on this ride before the crowds arrived and lines started forming, and on the last day it was swamped and we used the FastPass. I strongly advise getting to the Buzz ride early so you can get a few rides in before the crowds arrive. It appeals to everyone -- little kids who like the characters as well as medium-to-older kids who like the shooting and spinning. The ride can be as gentle or action-packed as you want to make it (which made for a nice introductory ride for my just-turned 3 year old). My husband liked trying to improve his score with each ride, whereas my son's favorite topic of conversation for the entire week was "I shot Zurg!" (usually followed by "Let's go shoot Zurg again!").
Final Thoughts:
This ride really was the highpoint of our Disney Trip. My son is a bit Toy Story obsessed anyway, but he wasn't alone judging by the crowds and all of the other happy kids I saw there. It's the first thing my son talks about whenever someone asked him about his Disney vacation. Highly recommended!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
mizgnomer
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Location: Tennessee
Reviews written: 306
Trusted by: 202 members
About Me:
Don't meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you're crunchy and taste good with ketchup
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.