For all of those who were looking forward to spinning around in Space with Buzz Lightyear at the Magic Kingdom in Tomorrowland sadly you’ll have to wait a little longer as Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is down for refurbishment. 

The popular Toy Story themed ride was closed earlier in the week for refurbishment but Disney did not release any specifics as to why the ride was closed. Some suspect it may be related to the recent brief closure of the People Mover as some attractions in Tomorrowland have been reported to have some issues.

It could also be due to the refreshes Disney is doing on attractions for the upcoming 50th Anniversary.

The Popular attraction opened on November 3rd, 1998. It replaced a previous attraction called “If you Had Wings” that opened in 1972 that was a commercial tie-in with the partnership between Disney and the now defunct Eastern Airlines company. When the license expired all references to Eastern Airlines was dropped and was renamed to “If you could Fly” but closed in 1989. The Space was then retimed to the popular Buzz Lightyear character that made his debut in the 1995 Pixar Film Toy Story. Toy took the role of a Space Ranger to aid Buzz Lightyear on a mission to defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg.



Buzz Lightyear became such a popular character at the time that in 2000 a direct-to-video 2D Animated Film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was made, followed by a Saturday morning cartoon of the same name taking place after the film, introducing us to a number of characters from the world of Buzz Lightyear, including the popular redheaded, blue skinned, female Space Ranger Mira Nova (Who is also a “Princess”. When will SHE be part of the Disney Princess Brand? Huh Disney?)

The Ride is planned to resume operating but he end of the week, so have no fear as you resume your journey to help save the Galaxy with Buzz Lightyear.

Source: WDW News Today