Buzz Lightyear and the Galactic Alliance need your help! Blast away at enemy targets and save the galaxy in this interactive, ride-through adventure inspired by Disney-Pixar's Toy Story and Toy Story 2! Enlist with Star Command as a Space Ranger to join his brigade. They want to destroy Zurg's army and thwart his evil plan: to steal the batteries from good toys everywhere so he can fuel his Ultimate Secret Weapon!
Enter the briefing room, where you pass a grand map of the Galactic Alliance and come face to face with Buzz Lightyear himself! Buzz communicates the task at hand: save the Little Green Men and shoot Zurg's evil robots who are stealing the batteries. Take a moment to learn how to shoot your Astro Blaster, a toy space gun with an optically safe laser beam. Climb into your Space Cruiser XP-40 on the Flight Deck and grab your Astro Blaster. Leave Star Command and fly into outer space to battle Zurg's Giant Robots! As your cruiser spins, turns and twists through the Emporer's territory for almost 5 minutes, blast away at the evil robots and all kinds of enemy targets. Rack up points to rise up through the ranks of Buzz Lightyear's elite squadron.
The Buzz Lightyear attractions (known as Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlasters, or Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, depending on the park) are a series of Tomorrowland video-game-inspired attractions based on the Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 2 at Disney Parks around the world. Although each ride may have a different name (as seen on the infobox to the right), all share the same plot and major characters. As each form of the attraction appeared, new technology has allowed the guest to better interact with the ride and even connect with personal computer users.
The attractions use a third-generation Omnimover system, and are combination of a shooting gallery and a dark ride. The first ride featured laser guns that were not movable, but later versions featured the guns that are held in a holster and movable with the exception of a cord to keep them in the vehicle after the ride has ended. In 2005, the Walt Disney Company premiered a home version of the ride in the form of an internet video game that allows users to connect with guests at the parks. The scores of each guest from the dark ride are tallied with the internet gamer and increase the points won. There is also an attraction at Walt Disney World Resort's DisneyQuest with the name "Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters", where players ride and control cars while shooting balls at each other. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin was named the 2004 Disney Magazine Reader's Choice Award winner for Best Magic Kingdom Park Attraction for Young Kids.
Disneyland's version of the ride is called Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (or BLAB by Disney aficionados), like the Magic Kingdom version, also uses infrastructure from previous attractions. The space the ride takes up was first occupied by the Circle-Vision 360 degrees theater. The space was transformed in 1997 when Tomorrowland received a major makeover, and the Circle-Vision theater became part of the queue line for the infamous Rocket Rods. The Rocket Rods were prone to breakdowns, and ran from 1998 to 2000. After closing, the queue line stood empty for several years. AstroBlasters occupies the space formerly used by the Rocket Rods' queue. A key difference between Astro Blasters and Space Ranger Spin is that in Astro Blasters, the laser guns can be removed from their mounts to allow for more accurate shooting, while in Space Ranger Spin, they cannot be removed from their mounts and have limited movement.
Plot
The back story of the ride revolves around the attempts of Evil Emperor Zurg (voiced by Andrew Stanton) to steal the "crystallic fusion cells" (i.e., batteries) used to power the space vehicles of the "Little Green Men." (voiced by Jeff Pidgeon) Participants are "Star Command" raw recruits sent to defeat Zurg. The queue area is awash in the chartreuse, white, and bright blue hues of Buzz Lightyear himself (voiced by Pat Fraley, who does voice for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters attraction). Since Buzz Lightyear is a toy, the attraction is cleverly scaled to give the illusion that one has just been reduced to the size of an action figure, featuring such detail as giant, exposed Philips screw heads and an explanation of the interactive phase of the ride that resembles a toy's instruction sheet, only on a gigantic scale. An Audio-Animatronic Buzz Lightyear figure and giant Etch-a-Sketch (Disneyland) and/or Viewmaster (Disney World) provide explanation of the "mission", which is to destroy Zurg's secret weapon with your blasters. While his body is audio-animatronic, Buzz's face is actually a screen with a projection of computer animation, allowing better lipsync and more expressive features, making him look like a more realistic representation of the character from the films.
Ride Experience
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters is located in Tomorrowland next to the Astro Orbitor, across from Star Tours. Most of the queue is outside, and after entering the building you'll pass by a series of colorful murals on the walls. If you look closely, you'll see that some of them provide information on the Galactic Alliance and your upcoming mission. Before reaching the boarding area you'll encounter a life-size audio-animatronic Buzz Lightyear who, with the aid of an animated Etch-a-Sketch, will explain your mission to stop Emperor Zurg: "Aim for the Z's!"
Your Star Cruiser can spin 360 degrees by using the joystick in the middle, and is equipped with two hand-held laser cannons. As you move through the different rooms, spin your Star Cruiser as needed to have better access to the various "Z" targets. The targets are of different shapes - triangles are worth more points than diamonds, which are worth more than squares, which are worth more than circles. Many targets have lights around them, and when they are lit they are worth more points. After helping to capture Zurg your score will flash, followed by your Space Ranger level - L-1 through L-7. Consult the Space Ranger chart at the unloading area to determine your rank - are you a Star Cadet or a Galactic Hero?
Technical Aspects
"Astro Blasters" and "Space Ranger Spin" are equal parts shooting gallery and dark ride. Visitors board an Omnimover space vehicle featuring two laser pistols and a joystick. The pistols are used to shoot laser beams at targets of varying point values. Targets that are hit while lit up will produce much higher scores. A digital readout on the dashboard shows the player's score. The joystick allows full 360-degree rotation of the vehicle to assist in aiming. During the ride, if the ride slows down or completely stops (this is a result of either a handicapped guest or a ride breakdown) during the ride, this allows for "bonus points" as the pistols and targets do not turn off. There are 4 different shaped targets which are worth different amounts of points: round (100 points), square (1,000 points), diamond (5,000 points), and triangle (10,000 points).
At the conclusion of the ride, the digital score flashes L1, L2, ... L7 displaying the ranking or level achieved for the below scores :
- Level 1 Star Cadet: 0 – 1,000
- Level 2 Space Ace: 1,001 – 10,000
- Level 3 Planetary Pilot: 10,001 – 100,000
- Level 4 Space Scout: 100,001 – 300,000
- Level 5 Ranger 1st Class: 300,001 – 600,000
- Level 6 Cosmic Commando: 600,001 – 999,999
- Level 7 Galactic Hero: 1,000,000 +
At one point in the attraction, each visitor is photographed during game play and, at "Astro Blasters", has the option of sending an electronic postcard via e-mail at the exit queue. "Astro Blaster's" photos include the player's score. If the score is in the top 100 highest of the day, the player's ranking is also included in the photo. The Top 10 players' scores are shown on the scoreboard at the exit queue, along with 3 letters that the person chooses to identify themselves. The top person gets their face posted on the screen. The new Disneyland attraction features at-home play tied directly to the attraction itself via the Internet. The home game enables players to help Disneyland visitors by lighting up special targets that allow both sides to win more points.
Touring Tips
- This is a Fastpass attraction. The Standby line moves quickly, but can get very long. Standby lines of 30 minutes or longer are common.
- This ride is fun for all members of the family and there are no height requirements. Young children should be accompanied by an adult.
- There's an on-line component to the attraction now - if you play "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Online" you can light up special targets that are inside the theme park attraction. Hitting those generates more points for the on-line and "real life" guests.
- At the attraction exit are kiosks where you can email your photo and your score to other people.
- The queue is used to explain the backstory for what will be happening during the ride and include a very well done Buzz Lightyear animatronic. When long, the queue will extend outside in a simple chain corral towards the Ariel's Grotto meet-and-greet area.
Facts
- Opened March 17, 2005.
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters is located in the building that was the home of the former Circle-Vision attraction. After Circle-Vision closed it was part of the queue for the short-lived Rocket Rods attraction.
- This is the third version of this attraction, the others are Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom, and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters at Tokyo Disneyland.
- Characters from the TV series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command make cameos. In Florida, XR and Commander Nebula are in the hallway after the ride ends. In California, a ranger that almost resembles Mira Nova is on the wall in the fastPass line.
- While Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters does not have a sponsor itself, the previous resident did. Circarama was sponsored by American Motors and then later Bell Systems. When it became World Premiere Circle-Vision it was sponsored by PSA from July 4, 1984 to July 17, 1989, when Delta Airlines began a sponsorship that lasted until the end of 1995.
History
For most of the history of Disneyland, this space was occupied by theaters showing films that used various incarnations of the Circarama proccess. The Circarama theater opened with the park in 1955 showing "A Tour of the West" and then switched to "America the Beautiful" in 1960. A new version of that film was filmed using the new nine-camera (as opposed to the original 11) Circle-Vision 360 process and began showing in 1967. This show lasted until 1984 when the theater was renamed World Premiere Circle-Vision and began showing "American Journeys." Later, "Wonders of China" from Epcot would also be shown in rotation and for a period "America the Beautiful" made a return. The theater was closed for construction of the New Tomorrowland in 1997 and much of the building was turned over to the surprisingly popular though short-lived Rocket Rods attraction. The front portion of the building was turned over to an exhibit on NASA and space exploration.