An iconic Disney theme park ride will soon shut its doors for the last time.
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Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters will permanently close at the end of October at the Tokyo Disney Resort, meaning guests have a little over a month left to enjoy the family-friendly arcade-style attraction.
Tokyo Disney is one of Japan’s leading tourism destinations, featuring a variety of classic Disney dark rides as well as several unique attractions. Tokyo’s Buzz Lightyear ride follows the same formula as the ones seen stateside, tasking guests with shooting a barrage of targets in an attempt to thwart the Evil Emperor Zurg.
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The Oriental Land Company, which owns and operates the Tokyo Disney Resort, announced the popular Toy Story-inspired attraction would close earlier this year, ushering in a new era for the resort as a whole. While Astro Blasters certainly may have not been the most popular attraction at the park, the ride offered younger guests an action-packed experience.
Tokyo Disney hosted a farewell celebration ahead of Astro Blasters’ October 31 closing date to commemorate the attraction’s final months.
Part one of this farewell celebration began on July 2 and concluded on September 18, with part two starting on September 19.
Between September 19 and October 31, guests can obtain a special “Complete the Mission” sticker for Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. This sticker features the titular Buzz, a little green alien, and Emperor Zerg. Guests do not need to ride the attraction to receive the sticker.
After its closure, Astro Blasters will be replaced by another arcade-style shooting experience, this time themed to Wreck-It-Ralph.
The new Wreck-It-Ralph attraction will still be an interactive dark ride, this time placing guests in the world of Sugar Rush, the fictional racing video game featured in the animated Wreck-It-Ralph films. In the new story, the evil King Candy creates “Sugar Bugs,” meaning riders will need to work with Ralph and Vanellope to take them out.
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As stated earlier, Astro Blasters is available at several Disney resorts, including Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney World, and Disneyland. Each version of the ride gives guests a fun challenge, but each offers a slightly different experience.
Guests are awarded the “Galactic Hero” title if they reach the top score of 999,999, but this is no small feat. Most of the targets on these attractions move and turn, making them hard to hit.
Once closed, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters will be the second attraction to permanently shut down this year at the Tokyo Disney Resort, with Space Mountain closing earlier this summer.
This closure is part of the resort’s larger rehabilitation of its Tomorrowland area, a project that is expected to take several years to complete.
What’s your favorite Disney theme park ride?