Theme Park Scope

Toy Story Land is about to sound completely different, and the timing is almost suspiciously perfect:

a brand-new character debuts in the backyard just two days after her movie actually premieres.

Starting Friday, September 25, Imagineers are adding new music to Alien Swirling Saucers in Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios with the debut of Lilypad, a character introduced in Toy Story 5. Lilypad is a spirited, frog-shaped smart tablet whose whole deal is connecting friends through technology, and in the parks, that translates into her taking over as the attraction’s DJ for an entirely new soundtrack called Lilypad’s Jams.

The timing here isn’t a coincidence — Toy Story 5 starts streaming on Disney+ on September 23, just two days before Lilypad shows up in the actual backyard. If you want to know exactly who this new character is before riding, there’s a very easy way to catch up before your trip.

Lilypad’s whole gimmick is connecting to the internet to remix and mash up music across genres, and Imagineers leaned all the way into that concept for real. The new lineup blends reimagined Toy Story classics with brand-new original songs, and to make it happen, the creative team actually traveled to Nashville to work with professional musicians across pop, country, EDM, and alt-rock styles.

Classic Toy Story songs getting the remix treatment include “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” “We Belong Together,” and “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away.” On the original side, the new soundtrack also includes tracks written specifically for the attraction, like “Pizza Planet Promo” (Toy Story Land’s version of an in-universe jingle for everyone’s favorite pizza arcade) and “Spin It Back, Lilypad,” a tribute to the newest toy in the yard.

Thomas Niederhiser, Senior Creative Producer at Walt Disney Imagineering, described the goal as writing original songs that are “singable, sincere and a little cheesy”…which, if you know anything about the tone Toy Story has always struck, is exactly the right note to aim for.

Here’s a nice touch for anyone who isn’t into spinning rides: Lilypad’s DJ set isn’t limited to guests riding Alien Swirling Saucers. She’s performing for the entire backyard, meaning guests who skip the ride can still sing along, watch her hype up tracks between songs, guess what toy she’s doodling on her drawing app, help her unscramble puzzles, and catch “home videos” she’s recorded of familiar Toy Story characters. Partysaurus Rex is also getting more presence in the mix thanks to Lilypad’s influence, for anyone who’s been hoping that character gets a bigger spotlight in the parks.

Geoff Line, Senior Story Lead at Walt Disney Imagineering, put the collaborative spirit behind the project simply: working with Pixar to expand these characters’ stories, after growing up playing with these exact toys, is about as good as it gets for the team behind it.

Alien Swirling Saucers has run the same soundtrack since Toy Story Land opened back in 2018, so a full musical refresh tied directly to a new movie release is a genuinely meaningful update rather than a minor tweak. Pairing a park debut with a streaming release just two days apart is also a smart bit of cross-promotion — anyone who watches Toy Story 5 over the weekend of its Disney+ debut could realistically be riding Alien Swirling Saucers with Lilypad’s actual songs still fresh in their head within the same week.

We’ll have more once Lilypad’s Jams officially debuts on September 25, so check back with Theme Park Scope to hear how the new soundtrack actually sounds in person.