Disneyland Review: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Interactive laser fun for all ages

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Save the galaxy

But shooting all the targets

Fun every time

Helping Buzz Lightyear Save the Galaxy from Evil Emperor Zurg One Target at a Time

The first time I ever rode the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, I was with a group of friends who didn't seem too sure about the ride.  But I insisted.  After all, it was a new ride at Disneyland and I had never done it before.  Every single one of us came out of the ride with huge smiles on our faces and we made reriding it a priority.

This ride is located just inside and to the left of the main entrance to Tomorrowland right across from Star Tours.  It's popular enough the line can get long in the afternoon.  Even then, I don't think it gets to an hour.  Fast Pass is available to shorten your wait time by letting you come back during a specified hour to wait in a shorter line.

When it comes your turn to ride, you'll be getting into continually moving cars.  You never really separate from your neighbor, so you can see your friends as you go through.  You can squeeze three people in a car if you have a couple small people with you and one of you doesn't want a gun.  I highly recommend keeping two to a vehicle, however, since the fun of this ride is the shooting.

The premise is simple.  The Evil Emperor Zurg has stolen a power source and is building a weapon to take over the galaxy.  Your mission, as new space rangers, is to stop him.  You do that by taking the laser gun on the front of your vehicle and firing at the targets as you float through the ride.  The targets occasionally light up, making them worth bonus points for the first person to shoot them.  And yes, score is kept as you go through, so you can compare against your friends and find out just how well you did (or didn't do if you have a crack shot with you).  At the end, they rank you based on your score as well.

The ride itself is classic Disney dark ride.  Everything is black with the characters and targets black lit.  There is very little story to the ride, just lots of targets for you to shoot.  It can be noisy and chaotic, but after one or two trips through, you get used to it.

The guns are attached to your vehicle by a chord.  This gives you freedom to aim wherever you want.  If you can see the target, you can hit it.  I love that freedom because occasionally something comes up you want to hit that would be impossible if the gun were bolted to the vehicle.

You do need to play nice with your partner.  See, there is also a joystick in the middle that lets you rotate your vehicle.  It can allow you to get a better shot, but it can also mess up the friend you are riding with and hurt their score.  Frankly, you can usually leave it alone and still get a great score.  This also keeps you from having fights afterward.

There is no height restriction on this ride, so you can enjoy it with your kids.  They might not get the scoring aspect of the ride, but they will certainly enjoying see Buzz, Zurg, and the Little Green Aliens from the Toy Story movies this ride is based on.

I've only ever gone on this ride with adults, but it is always a hit.  Everyone always gets into it and must compare scores at the end.  It may not have quite the reride level of nearby Space Mountain, but it is still quite popular among my friends.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters are a must do every time I visit Disneyland.  (Okay, so most everything is, if you want the truth.)  Due to the challenge of getting a high score and beating your friends, it's just as fun as the first time every time you ride.