Walt Disney World Review: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Fun target practice game that all ages will enjoy again and again

Cons: Guns bolted to the ride vehicles

The Bottom Line:

Space target practice

A bit hard with bolted guns

But still a fun trip

Zurg Tries to Take Over the Galaxy.  Can You Stop Him?

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is a great example of Disney ingenuity.  It takes a couple characters from the popular Toy Story movies and creates a completely interacting attraction that is changeling enough to be enjoyed on multiple visits to Disney World.  You'll quickly become hooked.

Located in the Tomorrowland area of the Magic Kingdom, it's behind the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and across from the Carousel of Progress.  The entire waiting area and attraction are indoors, so it is a little hard to judge the line for yourself.  Of course, Disney is fairly good about keeping their wait time signs updated.  The line wasn't long at all when I was there, but if it appears to be too long for you, you can always grab a Fast Pass and come back later in the day to join a shorter line.

The premise of the attraction is simple.  The Evil Emperor Zurg has stolen power supplies to build a weapon and take over the galaxy.  Your mission as a new space cadet is to help Buzz Lightyear stop him.  To aid in this, you will enter crafts and head across the galaxy shooting at targets with Z's on them.  Before you are done, you and Buzz (and several other rides) will face off against Zurg himself.

The crafts are really open two person carts.  You could squeeze three small people into the cart, but you don't want to.  See, each cart contains two laser guns you use to hit the targets.  The third person would just sit there and ride through without shooting.  And the shooting is all the fun.  Each cart also comes with a joystick in the middle that can be used to more easily position the front of the car to hit targets.  Depending on how mean you are, you can ruin your neighbor's shots.

The carts are always in motion, so you'll board and exit onto moving sidewalks.  There are always people around you in the attraction, but it really doesn't matter here.

The ride itself is like one of Disney's dark rides.  All is dark except the figures that are black lit.  While most of these rides tell a story, this one doesn't.  It can be rather loud at times.  Couple that with the fact that there are targets everywhere, and you'll find yourself overwhelmed on the first trip or two through.  But once you get used to it, you'll be fine.

As you go through, you'll see some targets light up.  That's when you really want to shoot because they are worth more.  Some are stationary and some move.  Depending on when and where you hit them, they are worth different points.  Your score appears on your vehicle in front of you and at the end, they give you a ranking based on your level of points.

The ride is fun for all ages, and it has no height restriction.  I've been surprised at just how quickly adults get addicted to it and want to ride it again to improve their score.  Everyone has a smile on their face when they leave.

My only complaint about this version of the ride is the guns.  They are bolted to the ride vehicles, limiting their range of motion.  You do get plenty of swivel.  When this ride was transported to Disneyland, however, they just tied the guns to the carts with a chord, giving you much greater freedom.  That was a big adjustment for me.

That's my only complaint on the ride, however.  The revisit value on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is quite high.  Disney truly has a winner here.