Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin Review
It’s time to shoot some aliens and chew bubblegum. And Buzz is all out of gum.
Buzz Lightyear is good at one thing, and that thing is shooting at aliens all across space. So why not join him and learn how to be an intergalactic hero?
Space Ranger Spin in an interactive shooting gallery similar to Men In Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios. You board a train for two guests, move across a set course and your objective is to use the laser pistol in your vehicle and shoot down every monstrosity that appears before you. Well, the monstrosities in this case are the small optic sensors that can be found on the animatronics or hidden all over the scenery, and that’s what keeps track of your overall score.
Those carnival style rides are always a blast and very popular, especially with kids. Just look at Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios! Space Ranger spin tends to be very crowded during early park hours, especially since it’s located close to Space Mountain and Tron Lightcycle Run. So, yeah, people tend to exit those rides and just join Buzz in his fight against Zurg.
The Good
This ride is overall pretty fun. The scenarios are all colorful, always with something going on in the background. However, compared to the impressive animatronics in Men in Black: Alien Attack, those in Space Ranger Spin fall short. In Men in Black, the animatronics are remarkably lifelike, portraying a bunch of original alien lifeforms of all shapes and sizes. On the other hand, the creatures in Space Ranger Spin seem more like distant cardboard cutouts with oversized sensors as targets, lacking the same level of realism and creativity.
Is it still cool to keep spamming the fire button on that laser pistol? Sure. Your targets don’t have the same interactivity as in other shooting galleries, but it’s still fun to rack up a lot of points. Space Ranger Spin even offers a neat trick up its sleeve with a central joystick on each vehicle, allowing you to rotate your car a full 360 degrees. That makes it possible for you to hit targets at different angles, and even targets that have moved behind you. It’s an awesome gimmick that I’d love to see used more in future rides.
The Bad
Space Ranger Spin takes about four minutes from start to finish, which is two minutes shorter than Men in Black: Alien Attack. You will be shooting at giant robots, giant batteries flying in space, giant space crabs, giant space snakes and more. As I said previously, I wish the creatures were more detailed, but they are still charming. There are a lot of ways that this ride can be updated, and I hope that Disney gives us Space Ranger Spin 2.0 sometime in the future with brand new animatronics and a few twists to the old formula.
Will Kids enjoy it?
Oh, yeah! In fact, I’d say that Space Ranger Spin is the best shooting gallery for young children out there. Men In Black might be too scary and complex for the little ones, while Toy Story Mania requires the use of 3D glasses. In Space Ranger Spin you can just enjoy the charming backgrounds and shoot at anything in front of you without being worried about scary aliens or anything like that.
Even if your kids aren’t into shooting aliens, they can still have a blast checking out all the colorful creatures and spinning the vehicle around. I’ve seen countless kids here just holding onto the joystick, making the car spin endlessly. Actually, scratch that, adults do the same. I’m guilty as charged.
