LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Fresh from “infinity and beyond,” Buzz Lightyear received a rocket hero’s welcome home Friday.
The 12-inch action figure that returned last month from a 15-month international space station mission was showered with confetti in a parade through Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
Leading the parade was “the real Buzz” — Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin — the second man to walk on the moon. Aldrin rode atop a 1969 Camaro convertible, followed by former space station commander Mike Fincke. Then came Buzz Lightyear in a small, remote-controlled “Toy Story” movie-type car.
Aldrin said he briefed Buzz Lightyear before the doll was launched into space in May 2008. “I said, ‘Now look, don’t you forget, I’m the real Buzz,’ ” Aldrin said.
Disney is in discussions with the Smithsonian Institution for a permanent Buzz Lightyear exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum. Aldrin, though, thinks Buzz Lightyear should aim for Mars or Phobos, one of that planet’s moons. The Associated Press
