Buzz Lightyear - Irrelevant or Still Solid If Maintained?

George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
I hate Midway Mania because it's just a bunch of TV screens and you have to stroke it to shoot, which is tiring.

Buzz Lightyear was dated as soon as it opened. It's 80s lazer tag. It's something that could have actually existed in Tomorrowland in the 80s in a similar form, but then they just retrofitted it to be Toy Story. Okay, I know that's basically true, but I'm talking about the lazer tag.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Endor Sightseer said:
I hate Midway Mania because it's just a bunch of TV screens and you have to stroke it to shoot, which is tiring.

Buzz Lightyear was dated as soon as it opened. It's 80s lazer tag. It's something that could have actually existed in Tomorrowland in the 80s in a similar form, but then they just retrofitted it to be Toy Story. Okay, I know that's basically true, but I'm talking about the lazer tag.
Click to expand...

I don't know if that's really fair. Dark rides have been around for about a century, and laser tag indeed was big in the '80s, but the technology to make an interactive shooting-gallery ride work reliably wasn't in place until a good deal later.
Space Ranger spin wasn't the first shooting gallery dark ride (right?), but it was certainly the most polished example when it debuted and has lead to a trend in the things being installed which continues to this day.

 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Did a bit more research.
So, the oldest shooting gallery/dark ride combo I can find reference to is Sally Corp's The Great Pistolero Roundup, from 1995.
That's only 3 years older than Space Ranger Spin.

Is anyone aware of an older one?

Silver Dollar City's Flooded Mine opened the year after Pirates of the Caribbean, but it wasn't retrofitted to be interactive until decades later.
 
Matt_Black

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
Did a bit more research.
So, the oldest shooting gallery/dark ride combo I can find reference to is Sally Corp's The Great Pistolero Roundup, from 1995.
That's only 3 years older than Space Ranger Spin.

Is anyone aware of an older one?

Silver Dollar City's Flooded Mine opened the year after Pirates of the Caribbean, but it wasn't retrofitted to be interactive until decades later.
Click to expand...

Well, I do know that the Imagineers had originally planned a [Slang name for Richard*] Tracy shooting ride for DHS, but that was scrapped. When the time came for Buzz, they no doubt dusted off the notes and changed the details.

*Seriously, that auto-filter/ censor is getting OLD.
 
Kit83

Kit83

Active Member
I say solid if maintained and a future classic . The people we should ask are the kids my 9 yo still loves it, my 12 yo thinks it's a bit meh . How many here would ride it without their kids ? not many ! Its a great ride but for me in the kiddie ride class .
 
S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
My husband, son and I enjoy both Buzz and TS equally. We always snag 3 'first thing in the morning' rides on Buzz and can usually get 2 on TS before its too crowded.
 
ChesterKiwi

ChesterKiwi

Well-Known Member
I love Buzz Lightyear way more than Midway Mania. My family rode Space Ranger Spin like ten times in the same when it rained and everyone left MK. It was so much fun watching them try to max out. My mother and I developed lots of different strategies and whatnot. I much prefer a ride based on tangible objects over one that utilizes huge screens, personally.

I also believe my mom rode a couple more times after I went somewhere else trying to best me.
 
Last edited:
Brad Bishop

Brad Bishop

Well-Known Member
Buzz is the best of the retreads. Most of them fail miserably.

That being said, I've stopped riding it because of the shape it's in.

Problems off of the top of my head:
- The cars look grungy. They need to be cleaned up.
- The guns sometimes don't work/ broken
- The spinning feature sometimes doesn't work or won't stop spinning in a particular direction.
- Buzz (AA) needs to be cleaned up. The face, unless they've fixed it recently, is out of focus/dirty or something on that order.

It's also a ride that'd be better suited for Pixar Place over in DHS as it doesn't belong in "Tomorrowland" (neither does Monsters or Stitch). That's another topic, though.

I do like the ride, when it's in better condition.
 
WDWoptmist

WDWoptmist

Well-Known Member
Buzz isn't anywhere near the quality of attraction as TSMM and could absolutely use some TLC, but that being said Buzz is a very solid ride and there are so many other rides that need love or need to be removed and replaced far before Buzz. Would love to see the detachable hand cannons though!
 
ChesterKiwi

ChesterKiwi

Well-Known Member
When people says the cars spin in the wrong direction, do you mean how they list because of weight difference on the two sides or do you mean when you push the lever left it turns right?
 
DManRightHere

DManRightHere

Well-Known Member
Chef Mickey said:
Toy Story is among Disney's top franchises. With the success of Toy Story Midway Mania, has Buzz Lightyear become irrelevant?

After riding the DL version, I truly think some updated firing system system similar to Astroblasters at DL would give this the facelift it needs. The "trigger" system is so much more comfortable at DL than the thumb mashing required at WDW's version. You get fatigued and among other maintenance issues, the experience isn't as fun. Midway Mania has an ingenious "tug" system that never get tiring and is more controllable.

For you, does Midway Mania ruin the Buzz experience? Do you like it as is? Or, like me, do you feel it just needs to love?

With the proper maintenance and updated laser delivery system, I feel it's still a solid attraction on its own.
Click to expand...

From a Disney World only view..

Truthfully, I usually forget about Buzz until we're in tomorrowland. I like both. I prefer a real trigger to tugging a string (which I thought they decided to use so people wouldn't say it is violent and teaches kids to use guns) and I also prefer real props as opposed to a screen. I really don't get the hype of TSMM, except it is about the best family ride in HS. If Buzz Lightyear was built to a similar scale, location, and technology of TSMM, Buzz Lightyear may have been the better ride.
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Still love this ride. I haven't been able to max both guns yet. But definitely needs the DL removable guns and some cleanup.
 
DisneyJunkie

DisneyJunkie

Well-Known Member
Buzz Lightyear will always be a favorite, but I definite think the lazer cannons should NOT be mounted on the vehicle itself. I also think some re-organizing of the targets (or their values) should be done every so often to keep things somewhat fresh. On top of it all, it needs to be fixed so scores can be higher than the 999,999.......because it doesn't take long to reach it and leave you just sitting through the rest of the attraction.
 
Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The "secrets" should be dynamic and different goals should be important depending on the situation. This would keep players guessing and entertained.

Removable shooters would be a step in the right direction.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom