Half of Alien Swirling Saucers is closed. In the spot where a rocket belongs, there are now rolling planters.
Disney has said nothing about it.
Some context.
Guests at Disney's Hollywood Studios found only one side of the Toy Story Land ride running on Tuesday, September 22. No announcement. No reopening date. No explanation of any kind.
And this is happening three days before the biggest change the attraction has seen since it opened.
Wait, Half the Ride?
Look, “one side is closed” sounds minor until you know how the thing works.
Alien Swirling Saucers is built as two parallel sides. Each one has its own rockets, loading and unloading on its own cycle, running at the same time. That is the whole reason a ninety second ride can chew through a line as fast as it does.
Kill one side and you do not trim capacity. You cut it roughly in half.
Toy Story Land has three attractions. Three. So when one loses half its throughput on a busy afternoon, that crowd goes somewhere, and “somewhere” is Slinky Dog Dash, which already owns the longest posted wait in the park most days.
The Planters Are the Giveaway
Here is the detail that actually tells you something.
Planters are Disney's go-to soft barrier. When the company needs to block a spot in a way that looks deliberate instead of looking broken, out come the plants. You see them around construction, around missing pieces, anywhere a hole would otherwise read as a hole.
So putting planters in a rocket's parking spot suggests the vehicle got pulled, not just benched for the afternoon.
Rockets come out for maintenance constantly and nobody blinks. This one just happens to be sitting in plain view with landscaping on top of it.
Why? For how long? Disney is not saying.
One Side of Alien Swirling Saucers Closed, Rolling Planters Replace Ride Vehicle at Disney's Hollywood Studioshttps://t.co/Fk22A1dOlb
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) September 22, 2026
Now About Friday
This is where the timing gets interesting.
Lilypad's Jams debuts at Alien Swirling Saucers on September 25.
Lilypad, the tablet from Toy Story 5, becomes the ride's DJ. Disney says Imagineers cut an entirely new soundtrack with musicians in Nashville, running through pop, country, EDM, and alt rock, mixing reworked Toy Story music with original songs written just for the attraction.
She is also supposed to entertain people who are not even riding. Track introductions, puzzles, drawings, home videos with Toy Story characters.
The physical Lilypad is already standing outside the ride.
So: brand new soundtrack Friday, ride running at half speed today.
To be clear, Disney has drawn no connection between those two things, and saying the closure is Lilypad prep would be a guess with nothing behind it.
But if that side is still down Friday, a debut that pulls extra crowds hits a ride that can only load half as fast.
Four Changes. Two Months.
July 2026. Disney introduces numbered vehicle assignments. You get a number, you stand on a matching star, you board a matching rocket.
Mid September. The whole system gets scrapped. Numbers peeled off the rockets. Pick your own vehicle again.
Mid September. Lilypad appears outside the attraction.
September 22. One side closed. Planters in a rocket's spot.
September 25. Lilypad's Jams debuts.
Disney has explained exactly one of those.
For a ride that sat completely untouched from 2018 to this summer, that is a wild two months.
What You Should Actually Do
Going to Toy Story Land this week? Check My Disney Experience before you walk over, and assume the line crawls slower than the posted wait would suggest.
Boarding is back to the old free for all. Cast members might still line you up on the numbered markers, but those numbers do not assign you a rocket anymore. Platform opens, you pick.
There are just fewer rockets to pick from at the moment.
Source: Firsthand reports from Disney's Hollywood Studios, September 22, 2026, and Disney Parks Blog.
