Taylor Swift Song Makes Toy Story Land Debut at Disney World: Full Playlist for Lilypad’s Jams Ride Overlay

Taylor Swift makes her return to Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, this time with an on-ride song at Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams, which is now open. Here’s the full playlist, including “I Knew It, I Knew You” and our take on that song. Finally, our rant about fan criticism of the ride overlay, Toy Story Land as a whole, and why Imagineering should keep tinkering with the mediocre area.

Taylor Swift coming to a Walt Disney World attraction has been a hot topic here for a while. It’s something we previously discussed at length with the once seemingly-inevitable Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster: Taylor’s Version. Instead, that reimagined ride features the Muppets, and it is fantastic.

Until her involvement with Toy Story 5 was announced, a Captain EO style theater attraction seemed like the most likely possibility. There are obvious parallels between Swift and Jackson, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola have extra time on their hands, and plenty of vacant venues or ‘underutilized’ spaces where such a film would be a smash success.

Earlier this year, the performer had her first in-park presence at Walt Disney World with the limited-time Taylor Swift Eras Tour exhibit at Walt Disney Presents inside Hollywood Studios. That gallery invited fans to see three costumes worn by Taylor during The Eras Tour, providing an exclusive look at the craftsmanship and detail that brought each era in the show to life.

It was insanely popular. Even before Walt Disney World officially announced it, the exhibit drew huge crowds. Almost entirely via word of mouth and social media, it was one of the more popular offerings in the park, especially by exhibit standards, during its brief run.

Now, Swift is back with a song in the Lilypad’s Jams ride overlay of Alien Swirling Saucers, which officially opened on September 25, 2026…

One of the songs in Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams is an instrumental version of “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which is written and produced by Taylor Swift and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, and appeared in Toy Story 5. “I Knew It, I Knew You” is inspired by the rootin’ tootin’ cowgirl Jessie‘s ongoing journey in Toy Story 5 that began back in Toy Story 2.

The new overlay of Alien Swirling Saucers 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.

This new playlist features reimagined Toy Story classics and brand-new songs written just for Alien Swirling Saucers. 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.

Here’s the full song list for Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams:

• “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)

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.

Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You” now plays on Alien Swirling Saucers in Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! pic.twitter.com/QcGJlubFXu

— Drew Smith (@DrewDisneyDude) September 25, 2026

Above is a video of the instrumental “I Knew It, I Knew You” playing on Lilypad’s Jams from friend of the site Drew the Disney Dude. Let me preface my reaction by saying that “I Knew It, I Knew You” is a good song. I like it a lot.

Nevertheless, opting for an instrumental version was a dubious decision, and one that I can only assume was made on the basis of rights or royalties. It seems like the whole goal with Lilypad’s Jams was to make the attraction more energetic and upbeat, getting guests to dance along a la The Happy Ride with Baymax.

I know people are going to be excited that “I Knew It, I Knew You” is in the attraction, because Taylor Swift, but this strikes me as achieving the opposite of the overlay’s goal. The instrumental version is too mellow and laid back, sapping the energy from the attraction.

If they could only play an instrumental version of the song for whatever reason, maybe it shouldn’t have been used at all? Perhaps the expectation is that the association with Taylor Swift will alone give Alien Swirling Saucers a boost, but in this case, I actually agree with the skeptics.

One instrumental song isn’t the same as a Taylor Swift attraction overlay, and I wouldn’t expect Lilypad’s Jams to capitalize much on the connection to Swift. Whether or not it’s a hit with guests will depend entirely on other factors.

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.

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 fans will otherwise forget and move on from by next week (before I’ll have a chance to fully “review” it). 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. Bluntly, 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 just love Toy Story Land because they like the film franchise and they like the attractions, two of which are pretty good. That does not make Toy Story Land great. Nor is it particularly relevant when it comes to revisiting Alien Swirling Saucers, which is the weak link among the trio of rides.

Toy Story Land 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 just busy, again, 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 fan 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.”

To be fair, many fans felt we were being too critical even at the time, but a lot of that also seemed to be the result of nostalgia for the movies or delight at having a trio of new attractions. A decade later, there isn’t just nostalgia for the film franchise, but 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 needed help!

As explained in Why We Skip Several Popular Rides at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, 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 Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and the Happy Ride with Baymax 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 with a more energetic playlist. 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.

Ultimately, all of this is to not defend Lilypad’s Jams as some brilliant idea for a ride overlay. The jury is still out on that for me.  Instead, it’s to say Toy Story Land is nothing special in the first place, and I’m fully on board with Imagineering continuing to tinker with the land until it gets to that point.

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 it were an exemplar of themed design; but it’s not, so I don’t. And the Lilypad tablet may not be perfectly to scale, but I recognize the constraints of a retrofit, and the land doesn’t have a completely consistent scale to begin with.

Beyond all of that, we’re looking forward to Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams. We are very squarely the target audience for this attraction right now, but the two adults in our family haven’t exactly been enamored with the attraction. In fact, just last week, we were discussing how much of a letdown it was relative to the fun versions elsewhere.

Our hope is that Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams changes that. If it’s anywhere on par with Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree or (especially) the Happy Ride, this has the potential to measurably increase wait times. At the same time, it has the potential to make those longer lines more worth it, too. Here’s hoping that happens!

I’m sure we’ll inevitably experience every song selection on Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams in a couple of weeks, and we’ll report back with definitive “rankings” in early October. So stay tuned for that–I’m sure you’re already on the edge of your seat!

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Your Thoughts

What do you think of playlist for Lilypad’s Jams? Does this ride overlay potentially move the needle for you on Alien Swirling Saucers? Is it a must-do or must-avoid for you, regardless? 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!