Alien Swirling Saucers just got a brand-new DJ, and she’s a giant frog-shaped tablet who spent time in a Nashville recording studio to pull it off.
If Toy Story Land felt like it was missing a little energy lately, that’s about to change in a big way.
Lilypad, the character introduced in Toy Story 5, officially began her DJ duties at Alien Swirling Saucers on September 25, 2026, transforming the ride into its newly rebranded form: Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams. Lilypad herself is a spirited, frog-shaped smart tablet on a mission to connect friends, and in her new gig, she’s using that same connectivity to pull off something genuinely ambitious for a flat ride’s soundtrack: remixing and mashing up music across wildly different genres. To make that happen for real rather than just in-story, Disney Imagineers actually traveled to Nashville and worked with professional musicians spanning pop, country, EDM, and alt-rock to record the new soundtrack from scratch.
The music lineup blends reimagined classics with songs written specifically for this attraction. Riders can now hear updated versions of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” “We Belong Together,” and “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” alongside brand-new original tracks titled “Pizza Planet Promo” and “Spin It Back, Lilypad.” A Spanish-language version of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” titled “Hay Un Amigo En Mi,” has also been added to the rotation, something that wasn’t part of the ride’s soundtrack before this update. Another new addition is an instrumental version of “I Knew It, I Knew You,” the original song Taylor Swift wrote and performed for Toy Story 5, giving the film’s most talked-about musical moment a second life inside the actual attraction. There’s also a track called “Buzz Beats!” that displays with its own blue record graphic featuring the Star Command logo when it plays. Riders get a random song from the full lineup each time they board, so repeat riders can expect a genuinely different soundtrack experience run to run.
What makes this update stand out is that Lilypad’s presence isn’t limited to guests who actually ride. She’s stationed in a flowerbed just outside the attraction on a large orange toy block, functioning as a full offboard entertainment experience for anyone walking through Toy Story Land. When her music is playing, a record graphic displays on her screen tied to whatever song is currently in rotation. Between songs, Lilypad hosts a rotating set of interactive activities: she doodles on a drawing app and challenges passersby to guess what toy she’s sketching, invites guests to help her solve character puzzles, and plays “home videos” she’s recorded of familiar Toy Story characters. The complete loop of Lilypad’s activities and music runs approximately 32 minutes before repeating, so guests lingering in the area will cycle through a genuinely full set rather than the same few seconds looping on repeat.
The physical overlay extends to the attraction’s signage too. The Alien Swirling Saucers marquee has been updated with a new “Lilypad Jams” banner designed to resemble a giant friendship bracelet, complete with a charm shaped like Lilypad’s own face on one end and a butterfly charm on the other, tying the physical decor directly into the character’s aesthetic from the film. Disney filed permits for both a set installation and the marquee update earlier this year, and Lilypad’s giant tablet form actually arrived on-site about a week before her official September 25 activation, giving fans an early photo-op before she ever started her DJ duties.
Geoff Line, Senior Story Lead at Walt Disney Imagineering, described working with these characters as a genuine joy for the team, noting that many of them grew up playing with these exact toys as kids, which says something about how much thought went into translating Lilypad from screen to attraction rather than just slapping a new coat of paint on the ride. It’s also a smart strategic move on Disney’s part. Alien Swirling Saucers has historically been considered one of the weaker attractions in Toy Story Land compared to Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania, and even its California counterpart, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at Cars Land, has generally outperformed it thanks to a stronger soundtrack and more personality built into the ride experience. Giving Alien Swirling Saucers its own distinct musical identity, tied directly to a character from this year’s biggest animated release, is a fairly low-cost way to breathe new life into a ride that’s needed it since Toy Story Land opened back in 2018.
If you’re heading to Hollywood Studios soon, it’s worth swinging by Toy Story Land even if Alien Swirling Saucers wasn’t already on your must-do list, since Lilypad’s offboard activities alone are shaping up to be a genuine attraction of their own.
We’ll keep tracking Lilypad’s Jams and any further Toy Story Land updates as they roll out, so check back with Theme Park Scope for updates, and follow us on social so you don’t miss it.
Have YOU ridden Alien Swirling Saucers since the Lilypad’s Jams update, and did the new soundtrack change how you feel about the ride?
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