Star Tours reboot coming to Disneyland and Disney World in 2011
The 1980s-era Star Tours attractions at Disneyland in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida will get a complete overhaul by 2011, Disney announced today.
In the new 3-D version of the venerable simulator ride, visitors board a Starspeeder and join a high-speed pod race through the desert canyons of Tatooine in a scene from the “Star Wars” movie series.
A complete reboot of the Star Tours attraction, which debuted at the Anaheim theme park in 1987, has been one of the longest-running rumors on the Internet.
“Star Wars” creator George Lucas, who announced in 2005 that Star Tours would be “getting an overhaul soon,” will work with the Disney Imagineering creative department on Star Tours 2.0.
Over the years, Anthony Daniels (C-3P0) and Frank Oz (Yoda) fueled speculation about a new attraction by letting slip in news interviews that they’d lent their voices to an updated Star Tours.
Star Tours rides in Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris won’t be part of the initial upgrade.
Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland. Follow Funland on Twitter and Facebook.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Image credit: Disney/LucasFilm
4 Comments on “Star Tours reboot coming to Disneyland and Disney World in 2011”
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September 12th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
One neat concept of th Star Tours ride that is finally being realized is how “soft” the entire system is. If hey keep the internal decorations the same with the same audio-animatronic character inside, it’s then simply a matter of loading the correct video and motion sequences to make the ride operate.
I first recall going on Star Tours in 1989, and then most recently in December of 2008. No doubt computer technology has been improved. It would be of no surprise if Disne does upgrad the computer systems that run the attraction. What is nice is that Disney could do the upgrade wiht the new video and motion, and then always having the option of the older ride being available.
September 13th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I think the ride is fine as is. That could be because it is one ride I am very fond of and I haven’t been a fan of several changes made to the Disney parks. I understand there are new movies and that some people have been on the same ride 100 times, but there are those that have not so it’s still new to them. I think the current story of the ride is more interesting than a pod race and is less specific, so it can make sense at more parts of the time line than just one movie.
I don’t know why things have to be so specific now-a-days. For instance, you can’t just buy normal legos anymore. They have to be POTC Legos, or Star Wars legos. Does Jack Sparrow have to be in every scene of the POTC ride?
September 17th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
To Chris’s point, it’s absolutely true that the interiors are fully fleshed out and the overhaul shouldn’t require any more than a canister change and a new simulator sequence. I do think that the pneumatics of the ride are old and “sticky” and will likely need a great deal of TLC, especially if they plan to add that little road turbulence a Pod Race sequence calls for.
And to Danielle’s point, I agree that the original tour is great and needs to be there. How could there not be an Endor Express? Remember though that the rumors about new tours came about because the promos in the queue promised us the options to visit Hoth, Tattoine, Bespin, and more. If Disney and Lucasfilm have the time and money I hope they look for ways to offer tours to as many destinations as possible.
Now the really important question: is it still going to be Capt Rex in the cockpit? If not, who else could possibly look so adept while donning there “remove before flight” tape?
September 28th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I will miss it. I am sure Disney have been wanting to overhaul it for some time since I don’t think Star Tours is that big of an attraction anymore. I go to Disney a lot and there never seems to be more than a 5 minute wait for it anymore. Which is great if you love the ride! But yeah, times and technology change.