Easter Eggs and Trivia: Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
As a huge fan of Walt Disney World history, if there is one thing I love to do when visiting the park’s with friends, its pointing out fun facts about Disney’s attractions. So, for this series, I thought it would be fun to go through various Disney rides and point out some Easter eggs and trivia!
Disney Imagineers are known for their attention to detail. They also love to hide subtle nods to the company’s past that they hide in plain sight. So lets get into it.
For today’s installment we are visiting Tomorrowland and entering Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin! Let’s take a tour and see what we can find!
An Imagineer Leaves His Mark
Let’s start our search for Easter Eggs in the Space Ranger Spin queue. The mural of planets you pass while waiting to board the attraction was painted by Imagineer Chuck Ballew.
Ballew even named a planet after himself in the mural! Take a close look and you will see a planet called “Planet Chokbloo” (the planet it labeled in Disneyland‘s Astro Blasters which features the same map).
Remnants of Delta Dreamflight (Or If You Had Wings)
For those of you who don’t know, the space currently occupied by Space Ranger Spin was previously home to Delta Dreamflight. In Space Ranger Spin, if you look closely when visiting Planet Z, you might spot three old friends from that classic Disney attraction.
That’s right, these chickens were held over from Dreamflight and now make their home in Space Ranger Spin!
Speaking of Delta Dreamflight, the attraction’s speed tunnel was also reused in the new Buzz attraction.
On Space Ranger Spin, you enter the tunnel and witness an outer space fight. While you watch Zurg’s defeat, you are actually in the old Dreamflight speed tunnel!
Remember Buzz Lightyear of Star Command?
When the gift shop at the exit to Space Ranger Spin originally opened in 2003, the store was heavily influenced by the Buzz Lightyear of Starcommand television series. In the gift shop guests could see Commander Nebula, Booster and XR from the show!
Both the attraction’s queue mural and the gift shop mural featured also references to places in the animated show. Unfortunately, in 2019 the gift shop mural was redone and references to the cartoon series were removed.
That’s all the Easter eggs and trivia for today, come back next to see where we will explore next!