March 26th was a BIG news day for Disney World! We learned that both “The Little Mermaid — A Musical Adventure” and Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After will be opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on May 27th, 2025. Disney also announced a new FREE Dining Plan Offer.
Magic Kingdom
Plus, we found out about new discounts and new character experiences coming to Disney World. But that is not all! We also learned about some BIG changes coming to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and we are sharing some of our readers’ thoughts about these changes.
Disney has announced that the popular Magic Kingdom attraction will be getting a new show scene, updated ride vehicles, and gameplay enhancements. However, that means that in August, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will be temporarily closing. These new features are expected to debut in the attraction sometime in 2026.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
The new scene will feature an all-new character joining Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin: a friendly robot named “Buddy.” The attraction will also be getting new, interactive targets that will react and light up when hit.
©Disney
Additionally, there will be new handheld blasters that can be freely moved around and will include an always-on laser. They will also have new lightning, sound, and vibration effects. PLUS, the ride will be getting new ride vehicles that will be equipped with video monitors to provide scoring information.
©Disney
Our readers already have some thoughts about these announcements for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and we wanted to share some of them with you!
Queue of Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Claire wrote that she was “looking forward to this update at our beloved Magic Kingdom!” David also agreed, writing that “This is kinda cool! It’s really starting to show its age, and this will definitely freshen up the experience.” Amber and Jack were also in agreement saying it is a needed update for this attraction.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
However, Thomas voiced some concerns writing, “Is there anything open?” Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will be closing in August, and it will be joining a long list of attractions that are currently closed for refurbishment in Magic Kingdom. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be closed until 2026. The Hall of Presidents is closed and expected to reopen sometime in 2025, but we don’t have a date yet. As well, Astro Orbiter is currently closed but expected to reopen in summer 2025.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is currently closed
Agatha also wondered “when are they actually going to do something with the old stitch ride?” It seems like they are working on refurbishing a lot of attractions, but the old stitch ride space still has not been reimagined into something else.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
We are excited to see these new changes in Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, although we are not looking forward to losing another attraction in Magic Kingdom temporarily. We will be sure to keep you up to date with any new information.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
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I think it’s great! Buzz is long overdue for an upgrade! Especially being in Tomorrowland, these attractions should feel futuristic. The current version of Buzz is definitely NOT giving that ?
For those who complain, that’s just the nature of the beast! If you want improvements, you gotta go without for a while. Which does kind of stink for us that only get to go every so often, but it also gives us something to look forward to in a future visit.
Myself for example, I’m really sad that I won’t be making it down there this year. But with all the new things coming to MK, AK & HS I may just sit back, be patient, save my pennies and wait for all these new lands and attractions to be ready before we go back
Disney waited too long for some of these updates. Buzz and Bug Thunder are many years overdue. Rather than nicely staging them, they all come at one time. Park admission should be based on number of attractions that are open. It’s starting to feel that Magic kingdom is a park to avoid 2025-2026.
We have a planned vacation for our Grandchildren in early 2026. I learned about all these closures afterwards. Had I known when we were planning, I would have looked at Universal instead. Sorry but as expensive as Disney is, and it is outrageously expensive, it is infuriating toexpect customers to be understanding (unless of course they send out rebates)
I definitely have mixed feelings about the Buzz announcement. I agree that the ride could definitely do with some upgrades, but even as it is/was, it was still a must-do for us. And the ride the way it has been is very important to the younger generation in our group, who are losing yet one more thing about how it was when they were kids already. We somewhat older people ?have had to accept that we are going to lose much (if not almost everything) that we’ve known and loved from our childhood visits. But to hear people too young to have kids talk about what they’re never going to get to do with their kids just shows that Disney is not necessarily always on the right track with their changes. They’re not building the loyalty that they write off and deride as (somehow bad) “nostalgia.” No wonder they’re pushing DVC so hard. They know they’re not winning the ‘hearts and minds’ like they used to, so they figure with DVC you’ll be roped into visiting, whether you even want to go to the parks or not. I guess I should just be glad Buzz will still be Buzz, but not every made-over ride gets better…