Breaking News: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Open Today 3/4/05

**Importance** · 03-09-2005, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by figment1986

(at least you have detatchable guns... thought WDW's spins... )

BLAB at DL also spins with the joystick.

**Steam Boat Willie** · 03-10-2005, 09:51 AM

Do they teach spelling in school anymore?

**Dirty Martini** · 03-10-2005, 10:57 AM

Any idea if it will be open this Saturday? That is when I'm going...

**Disneykin Kid** · 03-11-2005, 01:33 PM

We went on BLAB last night, Thursday 3/10, the posted standby time was 40 minutes. There were people going into the Fastpass line, but they were not giving out Fastpasses, the CM said it was a special event. Went to the standby line, which went out toward Ariel's Grotto, so we walked around the grotto to the Ariel clamshell, because I thought that's where the end of the line was. Found out that the entrance to the standby line is actually together with the Fastpass entrance, way to the right of the BLAB doors! When we were standing in line, we saw other people making the same mistake. We were wondering if the line inside the building would be long, thankfully it's not. I read alot of the comments here before going, so I had an idea of what to expect (or so I thought). At first you see painted flats, they were ok, but not WOW. Then you see an AA Buzz, it looks good, but the projected face looks kind of weird, sort of out of focus and faint, sort of like the photo on this chat column, I wonder if the effect was working correctly. Then you get on the vehicles. I never rode the ride in Florida or Tokyo, or Uni,'s Men in Black, so I can't compare, but the idea of shooting targets was awesome. We were so immersed in finding and shooting targets that I only caught a glimpse of the environment, which seemed awesome too. I have a feeling that the people who say that it isn't that great aren't into the shooting aspect, and maybe are just riding it through. To me, the shooting is a great additional dimension, and you can enjoy the great sights too. The face on the AA Buzz at the end looked better, maybe it was lit better. The emailing photos at the end was great, I think a great idea to advertise the ride. The store needs more merchandise, but I applaud them for putting money into the ride, not the store decor. In my opinion, this is a solid D ticket, on the level of Roger Rabbit. I don't want to get people's hopes up, because once you say something's great, then expectations are high, but this is the first ride in a long time that I felt excited about going on again.

**mamabot** · 03-11-2005, 01:56 PM

[lame idea]
For those of you who think that the ride will not be exciting enough for you, I have an idea as to how to spice it up. Bring an iPod (or for the low-tech people out there a walkman), complete with an IASW soundtrack. Pretend that the targets are the dolls in IASW and viola! The realization of a dream for every person who has always wanted to take a BB gun on IASW.

Or was this just my brothers that talked about doing this?
[/lame idea]

**Lore** · 03-12-2005, 07:51 PM

I went on BLAB Friday evening and here's my 2 cents.

This is a great use of the space! The once great circle vision is obsolete after Soaring and Buzz is the Future of Toys (so it sort of fits in Tomorrowland). I wonder if they maintained the windows for the People Mover? (how I miss the People Mover..) The Buzz figure does use a projection for the face (presumably rear) and is a bit washed out from the sides and is not as dramatic as a full AA figure, but his general movement is great and he really sets the mood! The rest of the line area is weak, but the ride itself is ok for a C/D ticket. The visuals don't really impart any story and there's a conflict between looking at things and shooting things. As a shooting gallery, it's worse than the one in frontierland, as a dark ride, it's worse than anything in fantasyland, but the combination plus the interactivity, raises it up a notch to make it equal to any C/D ticket ride in the park and a worthy use of the space. As for making it better? Scale, detail, scope, and surpise are all lacking. Each room feels pretty much the same as the last and there's not a lot of detail in the often flat cartoon figures. The monotony is somewhat broken though, by the lightspeed tunnel and the final room.

Next, I hope they retrofit The Small World with Blasters!

**Importance** · 03-12-2005, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by Lore

Next, I hope they retrofit The Small World with Blasters!

I actually kind of like Small World, but man, that would be sweet.

**snookers** · 03-14-2005, 01:02 PM

You do not have to exit into the command shop. There is a small hallway to the right when you leave the email posting station that exits to the street. It helps when I bring my 4 year old off the ride so he does not try to grab every toy on the shelf. I did not notice this the first time I rode, but it actually becomes apparent when the email stations are busy, as you go that way to avoid the crowds.