Our Daughter's Favorite Disney World Ride Is Getting Christmas Music

Our daughter’s #1 ride and her #2 overall attraction at Walt Disney World, Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams, is getting its first-ever Christmas ride overlay. Here’s a rundown of the playlist, everything you need to know, and our thoughts on this attraction, which I’ve ridden more than anything else at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the last month.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, Lilypad’s Jams is the new ride overlay of Alien Swirling Saucers that debuted like a week ago. It also introduces Lilypad to the backyard alongside Woody, Jessie, and Buzz Lightyear. This spirited, frog-shaped smart tablet is on a mission to connect friends, and she’s using her tech to bring toys together for an all-new soundtrack to Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams.

With DJ Lilypad on the 1s and 2s, this fresh new lineup features reimagined Toy Story classics and brand-new songs written just for this attraction that are sure to have you riding again and again. Lilypad is the maestro behind the music, connecting to the internet to remix and mashup different tunes from a variety of music styles and genres.

Disney previously revealed that for this all-new soundtrack, Imagineers went to Nashville and worked with world-class musicians, hopping across genres such as pop, country, EDM, and alt-rock. This is evident in the playlist for Lilypad’s Jams, which features a variety of remixes of familiar and original music in various genres.

Here’s the full song list for current version of Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams, which you can enjoy now through early November 2026:

“Pizza Planet Promo” (original song)
“Spin It Back, Lilypad” (original song)
“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (remix)
“We Belong Together” (remix)
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” (remix)
“Partysaurus Rex Anthem” (remix)
“Buzz Beats!” (remix)
“Hay Un Amigo En Mi” (Spanish remix)
“Woody’s Roundup” (remix)
“I Knew It, I Knew You” (Instrumental of Taylor Swift song)

Aside from the Taylor Swift instrumental (which has gotta be an Easter Egg that plays less than the rest), I have heard every single one of these songs, most more than once.

Overall, they’re a mixed bag. I love some of them and think they’re perfect for the attraction, whereas others fall a bit flat. I also think more could be done to inject energy into Alien Swirling Saucers beyond the music. But like I said, it’s our daughter’s #1 ride and we’ve done it a lot in the last several days. So clearly it’s resonating with the target audience!

Full disclosure, I think that’s entirely due to her love of Toy Story and the Little Green Men as opposed to this specific overlay. When I asked her favorite song on the ride, her answers were actually from “it’s a small world” and Gran Fiesta Tour. But I digress.

Walt Disney World has not shared an end date for the Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams ride overlay or even if there is one. While it’s being tied to the release of Toy Story 5 on Disney+ and probably pulled from that promotional budget, our expectation is that this will be permanent if it’s well received by guests.

At minimum, we know Lilypad’s Jams will continue into early January 2027, albeit with a holiday remix…

Lilypad’s Christmas Jams

This holiday season, DJ Lilypad is debuting a playlist of new holiday tunes at Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams. From November 4, 2026 to January 6, 2027, honorary toys can spin it back with new takes on festive favorites while swirling with everyone’s favorite little green aliens, featuring:

“Deck the Halls”
“Toyland”
“Swirling, Swirling, Saucers”
“Joy to the Swirl”

It’s probably safe to assume the first two songs are remixes of familiar favorites, whereas the bottom two are originals. I’m very excited for these additions, definitely more so than anyone reading this. I might be the most excited person about the changes; I cannot imagine any adult who isn’t on the project team has ridden Lilypad’s Jams as much as me.

Whereas there’s probably a bigger Muppets diehard than me, and definitely a bigger Marvel fan, it’s possible that the bar is low enough that I am the #1 Alien Swirling Saucers enthusiast at this point. It’s not a badge about which I boast, but it is one I will wear proudly given the excitement on my daughter’s face every time she asks “can we do it again?!”

From a personal perspective, the only “downside” about this Christmas overlay is that we planned on taking a break from doing Walt Disney World as a family this holiday season. This is another reason on a growing list that maybe that’s a bad idea. (The whole point of this trip was to beat the clock on her turning three!) Not really relevant to this news, though.

Finally, I’ll close by reiterating my commentary on Lilypad’s Jams, which I feel even more strongly after experiencing the ride in person several times…

Our Take on Lilypad’s Jams

Sharing the song list was only the pretense for revisiting Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad Jam’s, an attraction overlay that most of you have probably already forgot exists (this is now our third post about Lilypad’s Jams, despite neither of the previous two being even remotely popular).

Since there’s not tremendous interest in this in the first place, I’ll try to keep my commentary brief-ish. To the extent that there has been discourse about Lilypad’s Jams, it has mostly revolved around the ride overlay throwing off the timeline of the Andy’s Backyard setting or the scale of Toy Story Land. I’ve been baffled by this.

First, isn’t the clear fan consensus on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that it would benefit from ditching the sacred timeline? The Disneyland version has improved since it took another step away from this by adding Darth Vader and other original trilogy characters, and basically bringing the land in line with guest expectations. And that’s a generally good land that had a coherent storyline in the first place!

Which brings me to my second point: Toy Story Land is not a good land! It is a popular land, sure. But why are we suddenly acting like this is the pinnacle of themed design or Imagineering when, in actuality, it very much is not. Walt Disney World has the best iteration of Toy Story Land, but that isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, as all of the others are even cheaper looking and more mediocre.

The “problem” with fan evaluations of Toy Story Land is that it has hugely popular and enjoyable attractions, and its underlying concept is brilliant. The foundation exists for this to be one of the all-time greatest family-friendly theme park lands. But the budget-cut, Bob Chapek-special version of this land (that was still incredibly expensive to build) is as much a story of squandered potential as anything else.

There already multiple instances of the scale being inconsistent, the land feels flatter than it should, and although there are clever nods in the design, it just generally feels lacking as compared to truly immersive lands. Toy Story Land was designed without regard for Florida weather, little thought was put into its dining offerings, and it’s been in a near-perpetual state of construction since opening 8 years ago to address its original shortcomings.

People love Toy Story Land because they love the film franchise and enjoy the attractions, two of which are pretty good. That does not make Toy Story Land great. The land is popular because it leans heavily on preexisting nostalgia; that built-in emotional resonance plus the rides are largely the basis for its “success.”

I am fairly confident that if you removed the Toy Story intellectual property and this was just a generic toy land, it would be the exact opposite of popular. As it stands, the land itself isn’t exactly a pleasant place. It’s busy because of the hugely popular IP and two good-to-great attractions.

Honestly, I didn’t really think any of the above was all that controversial or hot of a take, but rather, was the clear consensus! Our original Toy Story Land Review from 2018 was highly critical of the area, asserting that it made no serious effort at suspension of disbelief, was “phoned-in” and “more like an amusement park area with a layer of extra polish and clever details thanks to a healthier Disney budget.”

A decade later, there isn’t just nostalgia for the film franchise, but some has formed for Toy Story Land, too. Even so, Alien Swirling Saucers has been the odd attraction out that never developed the fan following of Slinky Dog Dash or Toy Story Mania. I hope we can all agree that it is the weak link and needed help!

Alien Swirling Saucers is a cute and fun attraction, but it’s nothing special. It lacks the quirkiness and personality of Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree or the Happy Ride with Baymax, and falls a bit flat as a result. Both of its counterparts capture lightning in a bottle and are something special. Despite being flat rides using the same system, they punch above their weight and are worth the elevated waits.

They do that almost exclusively via their music, which creates an infectious energy. Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams has the potential to reach their level. The Little Green Men are fun characters and this could be a fun, dance party on wheels with just a bit more personality and pizzazz.

All of this is to not defend Lilypad’s Jams as some brilliant idea for a ride overlay. Instead, it’s to say Toy Story Land is nothing special in the first place, and every effort should be undertaken to address that.

I couldn’t care less about the timeline; I just want the land to live up to its full potential. Maybe I’d feel differently if Toy Story Land were an exemplar of themed design; but it’s not, so I don’t. I also recognize the constraints of a retrofit, and the reality that the land doesn’t have a completely consistent scale to begin with.

After riding it several times, I do not think that Lilypad’s Jams is the game-changer that transforms Alien Swirling Saucers into the Happy Ride with Baymax. That is very transparently what Imagineering had in mind, but guests and Cast Members are just different in Florida vs. Japan. It’s apples and oranges.

As for the Lilypad outside the attraction, it does not impact the scale or sacred timeline of Andy’s backyard for me. It is reasonably well isolated from other toys, so I don’t really get the scale complaints. Those just fall completely flat for me.

My biggest complaint would actually be one that I haven’t seen anywhere else: it is obnoxiously bright at night. There used to be this infamous billboard in Los Angeles that could be seen from miles away–it reminds me of that.

It’s like the monitor doesn’t have an auto-adjust feature, so it’s always just on the daytime brightness level. Lilypad actually looks out of place and calls undue attention to itself because of the brightness. I assume this can be adjusted, and it really should be.

Ultimately, Lilypad’s Jams is a fun overlay, with about half of the songs being high-energy earworms that I love. The rest are just fine. Admittedly, I hadn’t really done Alien Swirling Saucers much over the years prior to this, so I can’t really speak to the music before. Even the best new songs are not transformative for the attraction or its appeal.

Given that Alien Swirling Saucers is our daughter’s favorite ride and the memories we’ve made on it just in the last week, I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Lilypad’s Jams. It’s difficult for me to objectively rank the ride as a result. It’s easily top 80, but for the emotional connection, it probably wouldn’t crack my personal top 60. Maybe the Christmas music will change that!

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Your Thoughts

Excited for the Christmas music coming to Lilypad’s Jams? Does this ride overlay move the needle for you on Alien Swirling Saucers? Is it a must-do or must-avoid for you? Thoughts on the themed design, scale, or overall quality of Toy Story Land? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!