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View Full Version : Is Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters Un-Disney-like?



greenscreenltd
06-05-2005, 01:23 PM
Just wondering what other people's takes on this are: I rode the ride soon after it opened and quite enjoyed it, but a family member (who also rode it) was very upset that it introduced two negative elements to Disney rides: (a) the concept of giving riders what is essentially a gun (admittedly a toy gun), and (b) the element of competition, such that young kids riding it can empirically say who "did better" when the ride is over.

I'm a little torn about the matter. On the one hand, with the right attitude of just enjoying an attraction that's a little more involving than the usual "passive" ride, I think Buzz is a blast (pun intended). I think it's also good that the "shooting" involved is very cartoony in that the gun is a fat abstract laser pistol, and riders aim at still targets or very outlandish aliens as opposed to realistic figures. And for those of us who can ride with friends or family and say "Wow, your score was awesome!" there's even a nice aura of praise afterward -- almost a social element.

But then if I put myself in the shoes of a young kid with a competitive sibling, I wonder if the ride might not be so much fun. I can't quite think of any other attraction (with the exception of the defunct "Millionaire") where some bratty kid could poke their sibling afterward and say "Ha, I beat you AGAIN! You stink!"

My family member enjoys the ride too, but he still insists this isn't the kind of thing Walt would've approved of. I myself think the ride is super-fun, but I also respect his opinions and I'm just curious to gauge what other people's thoughts are.

sambo
06-05-2005, 01:37 PM
Just wondering what other people's takes on this are: I rode the ride soon after it opened and quite enjoyed it, but a family member (who also rode it) was very upset that it introduced two negative elements to Disney rides: (a) the concept of giving riders what is essentially a gun (admittedly a toy gun), and (b) the element of competition, such that young kids riding it can empirically say who "did better" when the ride is over.

I'm a little torn about the matter. On the one hand, with the right attitude of just enjoying an attraction that's a little more involving than the usual "passive" ride, I think Buzz is a blast (pun intended). I think it's also good that the "shooting" involved is very cartoony in that the gun is a fat abstract laser pistol, and riders aim at still targets or very outlandish aliens as opposed to realistic figures. And for those of us who can ride with friends or family and say "Wow, your score was awesome!" there's even a nice aura of praise afterward -- almost a social element.

But then if I put myself in the shoes of a young kid with a competitive sibling, I wonder if the ride might not be so much fun. I can't quite think of any other attraction (with the exception of the defunct "Millionaire") where some bratty kid could poke their sibling afterward and say "Ha, I beat you AGAIN! You stink!"

My family member enjoys the ride too, but he still insists this isn't the kind of thing Walt would've approved of. I myself think the ride is super-fun, but I also respect his opinions and I'm just curious to gauge what other people's thoughts are.

There were guns in many places of Frontierland - especially famous were the ones in the Fort Wilderness watchtowers. You could "shoot" at the passing Indian war canoes... The shooting gallery in Frontierland was a place where you could compete in a neener-neener better shot than you competition with siblings.

In that regard, Buzz Lightyear is not what introduced those two elements to Disneyland - they were there long before. Buzz has other problems in my book - but those are not on the list for me.

Disney Vault
06-05-2005, 02:02 PM
I think that is crazy to even think about. People are always offended by something and it annoys the heck out of me. They are guns and should be seen as no worse then a super soaker. And there is competition everywhere in the word and there is nothing wrong with that.

And as for scoring goes I always thought of it added repeatability to the ride. I would want to go on it to beat my own score and improve.

greenscreenltd
06-05-2005, 02:04 PM
There were guns in many places of Frontierland - especially famous were the ones in the Fort Wilderness watchtowers. You could "shoot" at the passing Indian war canoes... The shooting gallery in Frontierland was a place where you could compete in a neener-neener better shot than you competition with siblings.

In that regard, Buzz Lightyear is not what introduced those two elements to Disneyland - they were there long before. Buzz has other problems in my book - but those are not on the list for me.

Yes, I figured that someone much more knowledgeable about DL than I would point out previous or current attractions which have also included the elements of shooting and/or receiving scores. I'm still curious to hear how people feel about these elements within a DL attraction.

Disneyfun
06-05-2005, 02:18 PM
The OP bring up a point. With todays attatude of everything needs to be PC. Well no the ride is not PC. Fact is you are sticking a gun in kids hands. Now Do I personaly find this offensive. No because of how it is set up with the toy like feature of it. NOthing is exploding into little pieces or anything and I think it is less intrusive than the shooting gallery.
As to wether Walt would apporve or not. I think he would of apporved very much. So many people think tha Walt had this PC way of thinking. When in reality what made him so great was he had a way of knowing what the public wanted. And he had an idea to creat things parents and children can do. He also was always one step ahead of technology. This ride fullfills all of these area. It definetly a crowd pleaser. Have yet to hear anything realy negative. It is a ride that all ages of my family can enjoy. From the tree year old tot he 88 year old who is suffering from alztimer(sP). And it is the first ride to incorparate the internet.

Borgnineus
06-05-2005, 03:01 PM
People are always offended by something and it annoys the heck out of me.

I can't help but laugh at the irony here. :)

Disney Vault
06-05-2005, 04:56 PM
I can't help but laugh at the irony here. :)
Haha, I never thought about that :p . But it's true.

GrumpyUTboi
06-05-2005, 05:16 PM
Isn't everything life a competition? Get better grades than anyone else so that you can go to the best school, or in the business world if you fail you go out of business and so forth. I can't stand schools and sports now that don't give grades or keep score, kids today are being taught that there are no winners and losers because the losers might get their feelings hurt. I have already told my 10 year old that it is "game on" when we ride Buzz! I told him that I am going to school him in the art of racking up points! :D

Pat-n-Eil
06-05-2005, 05:31 PM
I think it is all in good fun. What about those carnival attractions where you shoot water into a clowns mouth which blows up a balloon and the first one to pop the balloon wins? I think it should be thought of more in this light.

Lots of Disney movies have guns - and not just animated ones. Look at Davey Crockett. Indiana jones doesn't put a gun in your hand, but arrows and violence are represented. Pirates of the Carribbean has guns, cannons, bullets and such. The history of America includes guns and Disneyland is rooted in America's history. Therefore I think it makes sense when the cartoon future includes weapons too.

SCUBAbe
06-05-2005, 06:19 PM
there's guns in frontierland right now. They use to have guns on tom sawyers island. As far as comparing scores...yeah, I don't see the issue. there's nothing wrong with being competitve, btu there is something wrong with sheiding a child from it their whole life, because in the "real world" it's everywhere and if they don't know how to deal with it then they get a culture shock as an adult.

disney jones
06-05-2005, 06:42 PM
Zurg must be destroyed, and there is only one way i know of - astro blasters.

if anyone has a better idea on how to take him down, please share.

HorizonsA
06-05-2005, 06:49 PM
Then why don't you think about it this way. "Every attraction has a story." Usually there is a villain, or an antiprotagonist and usually at the end of the attraction, you have a happy ending.

But from the original poster; I'm sorry, but the fact that your friend thinks that Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters is not "suitable" for children is just lame. What happens when you take a child on Splash Mountain, I guess that attraction is bad for children too because you're teaching your kid that it's ok to run away from home and eat rabbits. Pirates of the Caribbean must also be bad because you're exposing such violence. Cannon fire, guns, chasing FOOD! Don't forget Jungle Cruise, those skippers use pistols, kids shouldn't be exposed to that either as it promotes guns to be used for defense against Hippos. Oh yes, Mr. Toad must also be bad because you're making your child experience hell! Don't ever take your child to the Frontierland Shooting Exposition! Don't even get me started on "it's a small world!"

I guess you shouldn't take your child to any attraction, there's just too much promotion of violence. You might as well not bring your child to Disneyland at all, it'll just put too many ideas in his/her head.

CoasterChickie
06-05-2005, 06:52 PM
It's a given that my son will beat all of us when we go on that ride. We tell the kids to compete against themselves...in other words , try to top their own scores every time. If the ride stalls in front of any of the targets , they will get a better score than usual!!

Also, they're shooting at targets, not people. I wouldn't worry unless Disneyland installs guns on IASW, which will never happen!!

disney jones
06-05-2005, 06:55 PM
I guess you shouldn't take your child to any attraction, there's just too much promotion of violence. You might as well not bring your child to Disneyland at all, it'll just put too many ideas in his/her head.yeah, just stay on the freeways in Southern California, where it's "safe". :rolleyes:

just make sure you follow the rules of the road there - a friend of mine recently got a ticket for carrying a 44 in a 22 caliber zone.

Opus1guy
06-05-2005, 07:15 PM
yeah, just stay on the freeways in Southern California, where it's "safe". :rolleyes:

just make sure you follow the rules of the road there - a friend of mine recently got a ticket for carrying a 44 in a 22 caliber zone.

LOL! :)

A few months ago I posted the following in the Lounge Forum in a thread about freeway shootings:


This is what the future holds in store for us, folks.

Why do you think they put Buzz Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland!

Gotta "condition" those kids to be able to accurately fire their handguns from a moving vehicle!

;)

uvsc_wolverine
06-05-2005, 07:39 PM
It's a given that my son will beat all of us when we go on that ride. We tell the kids to compete against themselves...in other words , try to top their own scores every time. If the ride stalls in front of any of the targets , they will get a better score than usual!!

Also, they're shooting at targets, not people. I wouldn't worry unless Disneyland installs guns on IASW, which will never happen!!

Ya gotta admit...that would definitely increase ridership on small world! I'd ride it! :~D

RobRoz
06-05-2005, 07:39 PM
you must be nuts!

tod
06-05-2005, 10:37 PM
It's a shooting gallery in motion. If that doesn't appeal to you there must be something that does.

I don't care much for Fantasmic. That doesn't mean I think it should be shut down.

Although I do miss nighttime rides on the Mark Twain.

--t

KeithOfTerror
06-05-2005, 11:54 PM
Part of family is being able to have a bit of friendly competition. I mean, if tots are getting pistol-whipped over who blasted the Zurg ship, then we have a problem.

I've been waiting for the complaints on this one for a while, actually, not because it should be complained about but because I knew it would be...

etixnostalgia
06-06-2005, 06:07 AM
One of my fondest memories of early trips to Disneyland was waiting for the shooting gallery attendants to load the rifles for me at the shooting galleries, which used to feature air guns instead of infrared/laser units. IIRC, the Adventureland rifles even had low-power rifle scopes instead of iron sights. So Buzz has only a tiny fraction the "gun factor" of the old galleries, which I doubt that Walt had any problem with, and for all I know enjoyed using.

To say that Buzz is un-PC is one thing (and I disagree entirely) but to suggest that it introduces new violent concepts to Disneyland fails to put the attraction into historical context. Today's Disneyland (with Buzz) is far less violent than yesterday's, even with the return of the guns to Jungle Cruise. And "ha ha, my Astro Blasters score is higher" is little different from "ha ha, I hit four targets and your BBs all splashed in the water."