MK New Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin Updates Coming to Walt Disney World

[flynnibus]

But how are they overpromising? They're just announcing that Buzz is getting a refurb, and when it goes back online it will have new targets, a new character and new blasters. Overpromising would be if they announced all of this and it reopens missing 1 of those 3 updates.

I point you to the words used in their imagineering video.

Additionally, I think we need to accept that any update we get now will come with a little video for Instagram. That's just the newest marketing tool that all companies are using in this current age. It's no longer the 90s when any Disney parks news was only conveyed through a Orlando Sentinel article of a Disney Channel ad

You've missed the point entirely. No one complained about them putting out a social media post.

 

[flynnibus]

But then what do you tell people when the ride is down for a year?

Same thing they did for decades.

Tell people the attraction is being refreshed, plussed, and stay tuned!

 

[WorldExplorer]

When you think about it, they're making this ride worse by fixing this stuff.

A Buzz Lightyear ride where you think you're saving the galaxy from the evil Emperor Zurg, but actually your little lightbulb laser doesn't work? And the stickers are peeling off?

This was the most immersive ride Disney has ever cooked up. I would dare say it's downright ART. Never before or since have you experienced getting in a character's head so thoroughly.

If anything they should be adding an animatronic Woody at the end yelling "You are a toy!" at you, followed by the ship trying to fly and failing.

Sell Darjeeling tea in the gift shop.

 

[Agent H]

Same thing they did for decades.

Tell people the attraction is being refreshed, plussed, and stay tuned!

That doesn’t sound very satisfying.

 

[Streetway Again]

I point you to the words used in their imagineering video.


You've missed the point entirely. No one complained about them putting out a social media post.

Same thing they did for decades.

Tell people the attraction is being refreshed, plussed, and stay tuned!

I get where you are coming from, but i think you are overreacting how bad this practice is.

 

[Professortango1]

But that wasn't "out of nowhere". They've been attempting to fix them, as far as I'm aware, since mid-2022. I heard directly from a trusted source that Christmas 2022 was when they were planning to have the cannons working again.

I agree, otherwise - Re-opening the ride to, "Surprise! New guns and new targets!" would have been a better plan.

I hadn't heard Disney pushing publicly that they were working to fix the cannons. Most casual fans of Disney and up know that each flashy new E-ticket has at least one effect that proves to be too problematic to keep in place. Indiana Jones' ice drop and eventual door effect, the Yeti, working animatronics in Tiana's...

Jokes aside, most of us just assumed the cannons were dead. And instead of Disney insisting for 3 years that they were looking to get them fixed and shouting that out, we instead got a happy surprise instead of "its about dang time!" Like, we all got tired of Disney/Rhode saying they are still working on the Yeti. At this point, we will assume its broken until we see it working. And if they ever do crack that nut, I would MUCH prefer for Disney to take down EE for an extended refurb and to market the surprise that he's back rather than telling me a year out that they will be fixing him. Because...given their track record, I'm going to be highly suspect and then if they are right, by 12 months of suspicion I won't care nearly as much as I would have been if it was revealed as being back.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Who has said they shouldn’t do the update?

This post is indicative of some of the very deep problems with Walt Disney Imagineering. They wasted money on an elaborate mock-up of largely existing, proven systems. Some of this is just the excess of too many resources. More importantly it is also the broken hierarchy of having to sell people who don’t understand their business, who cannot read things like drawings to understand an experience, and who lack the ability to understand that a test setup is just to test something specific and not the final product. That wastefulness and inefficiency is then packaged up as innovation.

There were posts earlier in the thread where people complained because they don't like the ride and want it replaced or would have rather seen the money spent on other attractions instead. Both of those views fall within the "They shouldn't do the update" camp, no?

When Disney replaces an attraction with something else, people say things line, "They should be ADDING, not replacing," and bemoan the lack of maintenance in the parks. That's soon followed by complaints about the lack of details or progress updates.

When they update a ride with fixes to things people have complained about, they still get complaints. "They should have replaced it instead!" "They should have fixed a different ride!" "Why are they bothering to tell us about this?"

 

[flynnibus]

That doesn’t sound very satisfying.

See...

Anticipation.. surprise.. glee... these are all emotions incompatible with the 30second video generations. They need everything now, so they can jump onto the next thing. And then they wonder why they feel unsatisfied...

 

[Purduevian]

Personally, I feel like this was marketed perfectly. I (and I'm sure almost anyone but bloggers), are not going to book a trip just to see the upgrade buzz. However, it is certainly something I will look forward to for my next trip. Similar to the Hatbox ghost joining HM or the country bears update.

 

[HauntedPirate]

That doesn’t sound very satisfying.

That's because it's not instant gratification. "What's going on with x/y/z??? I NEED to know!!!"

 

[Professortango1]

There were posts earlier in the thread where people complained because they don't like the ride and want it replaced or would have rather seen the money spent on other attractions instead. Both of those views fall within the "They shouldn't do the update" camp, no?

When Disney replaces an attraction with something else, people say things line, "They should be ADDING, not replacing," and bemoan the lack of maintenance in the parks. That's soon followed by complaints about the lack of details or progress updates.

When they update a ride with fixes to things people have complained about, they still get complaints. "They should have replaced it instead!" "They should have fixed a different ride!" "Why are they bothering to tell us about this?"

That's the problem of the Florida Parks as they expanded to multiple parks long before they had the attractions to bolster one park. In a perfect world, Magic Kingdom would have a fuller roster so that they could replace Buzz with a more modern attraction. Buzz feels like a 90's ride and the first generation of Disney trying a shooter ride. It should be either replaced or completely reimagined as a modern attraction. But I do understand that the park is wanting for more attractions. As are their other 3 parks in Florida.

Its the problem that TL is having in Disneyland as well. It needs to be replaced, but DCA's lack of quality attractions has demanded far more attention and money from WDI, leaving most Disneyland additions or fixes to be far lower priority.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

That's because it's not instant gratification. "What's going on with x/y/z??? I NEED to know!!!"

I'm not sure there's anything "instant" about upgrades that won't be available to the public for another 8-9 months, at least. At least the information provided will curb the urge Disney fans often have to create unrealistic expectations in their own minds and then get upset at Disney when their guesses were wrong. "They gave us information" is an odd complaint to me.

 

[Professortango1]

I'm not sure there's anything "instant" about upgrades that won't be available to the public for another 8-9 months, at least. At least the information provided will curb the urge Disney fans often have to create unrealistic expectations in their own minds and then get upset at Disney when their guesses were wrong. "They gave us information" is an odd complaint to me.

The "when" and "how" is what is being criticized, not that information is being given to us. Let's not attack that strawman.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I'm not sure there's anything "instant" about upgrades that won't be available to the public for another 8-9 months, at least. At least the information provided will curb the urge Disney fans often have to create unrealistic expectations in their own minds and then get upset at Disney when their guesses were wrong. "They gave us information" is an odd complaint to me.

My comment is not a complaint about the ride or the refurb. It's in response to the instant gratification generation, who has to know things NOW and cannot wait for something to open before needing to know everything about it (See also: Starlight thread). I'm fine with what they are doing to the ride.

 

[Gusey]

I point you to the words used in their imagineering video.


You've missed the point entirely. No one complained about them putting out a social media post.

What's wrong with the words they say in the Imagineering video? You're literally complaining about the social media post because the language in it is something you wouldn't say? I do wonder how you would rephrase everything in that video to present the same information?

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

My comment is not a complaint about the ride or the refurb. It's in response to the instant gratification generation, who has to know things NOW and cannot wait for something to open before needing to know everything about it (See also: Starlight thread). I'm fine with what they are doing to the ride.

They can’t even wait to experience it.

There are those whose entire outlook on something is predicated on ride videos and whatever their favorite vlogger thinks.

Don’t confuse them with “personal experience”. They won’t understand.

 

[peter11435]

Same thing they did for decades.

Tell people the attraction is being refreshed, plussed, and stay tuned!

Yes, and that method works great most of the time. That’s still how they handle most refurbs. Heck, they’ve showed more of what to expect at Buzz than they have Test Track.

But with the MK already having one major and one minor attraction closed, three minor attractions about to close permanently, and a couple more major closures to come, you should be able to see why they wanted to package this one with something guests would view favorably.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yes, and that method works great most of the time. That’s still how they handle most refurbs.

But with the MK already having one major and one minor attraction closed, three minor attractions about to close permanently, and a couple more major closures to come, you should be able to see why they wanted to package this one with something guests would view favorably.

The guests who are going to be most inconvenienced by these closures aren’t going to see this or instant that it relates to some future time that doesn’t impact them.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

The "when" and "how" is what is being criticized, not that information is being given to us. Let's not attack that strawman.

It was literally said that it would have been better to let the updates be a pleasant surprise when the ride reopens in 2026. I don't understand why anyone would have a problem with being told what updates are coming. It's a weird thing to get upset about.

 

[peter11435]

The guests who are going to be most inconvenienced by these closures aren’t going to see this or instant that it relates to some future time that doesn’t impact them.

I never said it would result in guests visiting at that time being any less inconvenienced. That’s not the point. It’s about limiting the negativity regarding the announcement of the closures itself.