Meet The Newest Toy Story Character ‘Buddy’: The New Face of Star Command at Walt Disney World. Disney fans received an out-of-this-world surprise this holiday season. During the 2025 Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade, Walt Disney Imagineering and Pixar Animation Studios unveiled a first look at a brand-new character coming to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin: a friendly support-bot named Buddy.
As the transformation of this Tomorrowland staple continues, Buddy is set to become the ultimate ally for recruits. Designed with a “youthful kid energy” inside a large robot body, Buddy’s role is to ensure every Space Ranger is ready for the heat of battle.
A Brand New Scene: Training with Buddy
The adventure now begins with an entirely new opening scene. Before heading into the depths of the Gamma Quadrant, guests will be greeted by Buddy, who plays a key role on the Star Command team. As a support-bot, Buddy makes sure departing Space Rangers are fully prepared for their mission, enthusiastically providing encouragement, final system checks on their Star Cruisers, and a chance to hone their blaster aim.
In the exclusive Christmas Day reveal, Imagineers shared the heart behind this new addition:
“Buddy is the most optimistic and encouraging friend that you can imagine having. She’s here to make sure that we are as confident in our skills as she is in us. We’re here inside of Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin next to Buddy, our newest friend here inside the attraction. She is a support bot at Star Command. She’s helping us get ready for our mission, making sure our blasters are fully calibrated, making sure our Star Cruisers are ready to go, and giving us an opportunity to get a little target practice in before we head out.
Buddy going into this attraction means that she’s going to be part of Toy Story, which is obviously really exciting. We’re thinking about the fun of this attraction, we’re thinking about families coming in, and then lastly, we think about what we want people to feel. We put all that together—in this case, we came up with this idea of this sort of youthful kid energy trapped in this big robot body.
So Buddy has this feeling of play, this feeling of make-believe, this feeling of going on an adventure with your hero at the very beginning of the attraction because that’s what she’s doing—just like you guys are. I can’t wait for guests to meet her!”
Upgraded Tech for Future Galactic Heroes
This new training sequence isn’t just for show—it’s a high-tech “warm-up” for the mission ahead. The scene features new, interactive target features that allow guests to test out the attraction’s major hardware upgrades.
When the attraction returns, across Magic Kingdom in Tomorrowland, guests will be ready to take on Evil Emperor Zurg with the help of Updated Ride Vehicles: Refreshed Star Cruisers with a sleek new aesthetic. Onboard Digital Scoring: Real-time monitors to track your progress toward Galactic Hero status. New Handheld Blasters: Improved ergonomic designs with better precision. Interactive Targets: Responsive technology that reacts when hit, making every shot feel impactful.
While the attraction has been closed for these extensive renovations since August 2025, the wait for the new mission is almost over. Guests of all ages won’t need to wait too long to try for that elite rank, because the attraction reopens in spring 2026!
