star tours buh bye

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (Disneyland/Disney’s Hollywood Studios)

(Guests board the StarSpeeder 1000 from the Pre-Show Area .)

(Flight begins.)

OPENING SEGMENT #1 DARTH VADER

MALE ANNOUNCER Star Tours 1401, you are cleared for departure.

C-3PO 1401? That’s us! We can’t take off. The captain isn’t onboard.

COMPUTER Auto takeoff sequence initiated.

C-3PO Oh no! Um, excuse me, you don’t seem to understand. I am not the captain. I am C-3PO.

(Viewport opens.)

MALE ANNOUNCER 1401, cleared for takeoff. Contact frequency on four-two-niner.

C-3PO Wait!

SIGNAL DROID Follow me.

R2-D2 (Whistles.)

(SIGNAL DROID directs StarSpeeder 1000 forward.)

C-3PO R2-D2, I am not programmed to fly these things. Now, just turn us around this instant before we get into trouble!

(DARTH VADER flies in, flanked by four STORMTROOPERS. DARTH VADER breathing sound.)

C-3PO I knew it!

(DARTH VADER stops the StarSpeeder 1000 with Force Hold.)

DARTH VADER Halt!

C-3PO Don’t shoot!

DARTH VADER Prepare to be boarded, Captain.

C-3PO I’m afraid there’s been a terrible mistake. I am C-3P —

DARTH VADER We know you have this Rebel spy onboard.

(Picture of random guest is shown onscreen.)

C-3PO I’ve never seen that man/woman/person before. Oh dear. Gotta go!

DARTH VADER Don’t underestimate my power.

(DARTH VADER uses Force Hold to rock the StarSpeeder 1000 back and forth while two TIE fighters enter the takeoff zone.)

C-3PO Oh no! Ah!

DARTH VADER I want that spy!

(StarSpeeder 1000 begins shooting while moving backwards and DARTH VADER deflects the shots with his lightsaber.)

C-3PO Goodness, R2! Someone could get hurt! (StarSpeeder 1000 clears the ship and enters open space, pursued by TIE fighters. StarSpeeder 1000 begins moving forward.) Lightspeed, R2! Now!

(StarSpeeder 1000 makes the jump to lightspeed.)

OPENING SEGMENT #2 STORMTROOPERS 

MALE ANNOUNCER Star Tours 1401, you are cleared for departure. Initiate takeoff sequence.

C-3PO What?

C-3PO R2-D2, what’s going on here? We are not ready for take off.

C-3PO The captain isn’t on board yet.

C-3PO You know I can’t fly this thing.

C-3PO No neither can you. We need a proper pilot!

FEMALE ANNOUNCER Attention: All transports hold for security clearance.

(StarSpeeder 1000 is noticed and stopped by two STORMTROOPERS.)

C-3PO Oh, stormtroopers. We’ll be deactivated for sure.

STORMTROOPER Hold it right there, Captain.

(Imperial PROBE DROID attaches to the viewport and scans the passengers.)

C-3PO Oh, um, I’m not actually the captain.

STORMTROOPER We’re looking for this rebel spy. Have you seen him/her/them?

C-3PO No one on this transport could possibly be a… spy? Oh dear.

STORMTROOPER This is the speeder we’re looking for! Blast ’em!

(STORMTROOPERS begin shooting at the StarSpeeder 1000. PROBE DROID tries to shake free from the viewport.)

C-3PO Bring us up, R2! (StarSpeeder 1000 escapes the ship, following closely behind the Millennium Falcon.) Where are we going?! (After dodging Imperial Destroyers, the StarSpeeder encounters several TIE fighters, firing on the transport.) This is madness! R2, don’t you dare make the jump to lightspeed.

(StarSpeeder 1000 enters lightspeed.)

OPENING SEGMENT #3 KYLO REN

C-3PO Oh no, uh. Excuse me, you don’t seem to understand. I am not the captain. I am C-3PO.

MALE ANNOUNCER 1401, cleared for takeoff. Contact departure on frequency four-two-niner.

(KYLO REN flies in, flanked by four STORMTROOPERS and stops the StarSpeeder 1000.)

KYLO REN Stop right there!

C-3PO Don’t shoot!

KYLO REN I know you have a spy onboard.

C-3PO I’m afraid there’s been a terrible mistake.

KYLO REN He’s/She’s/They’re a spy, and a traitor to the First Order!

(KYLO REN uses Force Hold to rock the StarSpeeder 1000 back and forth while two TIE fighters enter the takeoff zone.)

KYLO REN Don’t be a fool!

KYLO REN You are no match for the power of the Dark Side!

(Star Speeder 1000 begins shooting while moving backwards and KYLO REN deflects the shots.)

(Star Speeder 1000 enters lightspeed.)

PRIMARY DESTINATION SEGMENT #1 HOTH

(StarSpeeder 1000 enters the atmosphere of Hoth and descends toward the snowy mountains.)

(StarSpeeder 1000 hits the snow and bounces.)

COMPUTER Warning. Pull up. Pull up. Thruster malfunctioning.

C-3PO Thrusters? Are they important?

AIR SPEEDER PILOT Star Tours, this is a restricted area. What are you doing here?

C-3PO I have no idea!

AIR SPEEDER PILOT Stay clear of the combat zone.

C-3PO Combat zone? Oh no!  (StarSpeeder 1000 enters the combat zone, full of AT-ATs. AT-ATs shoot canons and hit the StarSpeeder 1000.)  We’ve been hit! Brace yourselves!  (StarSpeeder 1000 lands on the edge of a cliff.)  Nobody move! I mean, everybody move! Lean back!  (StarSpeeder 1000 falls down the cliff.)  Oh dear! Please! R2, do something!

(R2-D2 initiates the thrusters and the StarSpeeder 1000 goes back to orbit.)

PRIMARY DESTINATION SEGMENT #2 TATOOINE

(StarSpeeder 1000 flies across the deserts of Tatooine and is passed by several pod racers.)

C-3PO Now what?

C-3PO A pod race! I’ve always wanted to do this. (StarSpeeder 1000 dodges various pieces of shrapnel, including one that explodes.) Hang on everyone! (StarSpeeder 1000 is nudged by another pod racer.) You ruffian! We’ll show him.

(After a fight with SEBULBA, another pilot loses control of his pod racer, which ends up straddling the StarSpeeder 1000.)

C-3PO We’ve snagged a pod racer, which gives us twice the power!

(StarSpeeder 1000 passes SEBULBA to cross the finish line first.)

C-3PO Ah! We won! Now cut the pod and let’s get out of here. (StarSpeeder 1000 hurtles toward the stands but pulls up just in time.) Watch out!

(StarSpeeder 1000 pulls up and leaves Tatooine’s atmosphere.)

PRIMARY DESTINATION SEGMENT #3 KASHYYYK

(StarSpeeder 1000 enters the atmosphere of Kashyyyk and descends into a forest.)

C-3PO Where are we now?

C-3PO The Wookiee planet.  (The StarSpeeder 1000 follows two STORMTROOPERS on Speeder Bikes.)  Imperial Troopers? What are they doing here?  (CHEWBACCA falls on the viewport.)  I’m afraid you’re not allowed to be there.  (One STORMTROOPER runs into a branch and gets knocked off of his bike.)  R2, hit the brakes!  (The other STORMTROOPER passes the StarSpeeder 1000 and gets destroyed.)  It worked!

C-3PO Not this way, R2!

(WOOKIEES roar.)

C-3PO I’m sorry! Hang on!

(StarSpeeder 1000 pulls up and out of the Kashyyyk atmosphere, passing a WOOKIEE atop a guard tower, who shakes its fist at the ship.)

PRIMARY DESTINATION SEGMENT #4 JAKKU

(StarSpeeder 1000 enters the atmosphere of Jakku and flies above the desert. The Millennium Falcon appears, pursued by a First Order fighter.)

C-3PO R2, I don’t like the look of this. It just got worse!

FINN Star Tours! What are you doing here?!

FINN Well, stay low.

FINN It confuses their tracking. Now, put your shields up — if they work.

C-3PO R2, this is no time for heroics.  (The StarSpeeder 1000 flies inside a crashed Star Destroyer.)  Ah!  (The StarSpeeder 1000 stops and scavengers begin taking parts off of the ship.)  Oh, thank the maker! Shoo! And you! Put that back this instant! R2, let’s go!

(StarSpeeder 1000 exits the Star Destroyer wreckage and flies out of Jakku’s atmosphere.)

HOLOGRAM MESSAGE #1 ADMIRAL ACKBAR

C-3PO What transmission?

(ADMIRAL ACKBAR appears via hologram.)

ADMIRAL ACKBAR This is Admiral Ackbar. By now you know that your StarSpeeder is carrying an agent vital to our Rebel cause.

C-3PO The spy.

ADMIRAL ACKBAR Precisely. Deliver him/her/them safely to the rendezvous point I am transmitting to your R2 unit. Good luck, and may the Force be with you.

(Hologram disappears.)

C-3PO What are you saying? This is madness!

(StarSpeeder 1000 jumps to lightspeed.)

HOLOGRAM MESSAGE #2 PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA

C-3PO A transmission?

(PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA appears via hologram.)

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA I am Princess Leia of Alderaan. We’ve placed a Rebel spy vital to the survival of the Rebellion into your Star Speeder. You must see him/her/them safely delivered to the coordinates in transmitting to your R2 unit. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Star Tours. You’re my only hope.

C-3PO Her only hope.

C-3PO What do you mean we’ll be making a slight detour?

C-3PO We’ll do no such thing. Wait! Wait!

HOLOGRAM MESSAGE #3 YODA

(YODA appears via hologram.)

YODA Yoda, I am. On your ship, one loyal to our cause, you carry.

YODA Mmm. Deliver him/her/them, you must, or all will be lost. To your R2 unit, coordinates I will send. May the Force be with you.

C-3PO I’m afraid we’ve all just joined the Rebel Alliance.

(Star Speeder 1000 jumps to Lightspeed.)

C-3PO Oh, oh. Where are we going?! Woah!

HOLOGRAM MESSAGE #4 BB-8

C-3PO A transmission? (BB-8 hologram appears.) BB-8!

BB-8 (Beeps.)

C-3PO A mission? What mission?

C-3PO He says he has vital information to deliver and needs our help.

C-3PO Well, we’re not going on any mission — it’s bound to be dangerous.

C-3PO R2, we are not going.

C-3PO Good luck? (Hologram disappears.) Wait! Where are we going?! (StarSpeeder 1000 jumps to lightspeed.)  Woah!

HOLOGRAM MESSAGE #5 MAZ KANATA

(Hologram of MAZ KANATA appears. She is being shot at while she talks.)

MAZ KANATA I am Maz Kanata, and I come to you with an urgent message. The shadow of the dark side is spreading across the galaxy. My friends in the Resistance need your help. Even you! Head to the coordinates I’m sending you. We must face them and fight them. Now, go!

(MAZ KANATA rockets away as the hologram disappears.)

C-3PO R2, we are not going. (StarSpeeder 1000 jumps to lightspeed.) Yes we are!

HOLOGRAM MESSAGE #6 POE DAMERON

(Hologram of POE DAMERON appears.)

POE DAMERON This is Poe Dameron with the Resistance.

C-3PO Commander Dameron.

POE DAMERON 3PO? R2, what are you doing there?

C-3PO Well, sir it all —

POE DAMERON Rhetorical question. Listen up. There’s someone aboard your ship vital to our mission.

C-3PO The spy. Is this mission sanctioned?

POE DAMERON Let’s say it is. Anyway, rendezvous at the coordinates I’m transmitting to R2. Good luck and —  you know the rest.

C-3PO “The rest” sounds rather perilous to me.

C-3PO I don’t even (StarSpeeder 1000 jumps to Lightspeed.) know!

ENDING DESTINATION SEGMENT #1 CORUSCANT

(StarSpeeder 1000 comes out of lightspeed in the midst of a battle above Cosruscant. The ship dodges to avoid fire.)

C-3PO Shields up, R2! ( BUZZ DROIDS land on the viewport and begin tearing the ship apart.)  Buzz droids! R2, get them off before they rip us apart! They’ve severed the controls!

(The StarSpeeder 1000 flies into a fireball from an exploding ship, which dislodges the BUZZ DROIDS, then it goes straight down towards Coruscant.)

C-3PO Pull up, R2! Pull up!!

(StarSpeeder 1000 comes out of the dive and begins flying amidst busy metropolitan traffic.)

C-3PO Well done, R2!

(StarSpeeder 1000 is nearly hit head-on by several ships.)

C-3PO Are you sure this is the right way?

C-3PO They’re not going the wrong way! We are, you nitwit! (StarSpeeder 1000 dodges oncoming traffic and veers toward a platform.) Look R2! A platform! Let’s land there.

(The StarSpeeder 1000 lands at speed and crashes into the SIGNAL DROID.)

SIGNAL DROID (Recovering from collision.) Stop.

(StarSpeeder 1000 descends toward unload area.)

REBEL OFFICER Welcome, Star Tours. I trust our colleague is safe?

C-3PO Safe? Have you any idea what we’ve been through?

REBEL OFFICER We’re in your debt, Captain.

(Dazed SIGNAL DROID bumps into the viewport and flies off in a random direction.)

C-3PO Captain? Oh… glad to be of service. We’re all in the Rebel Alliance now, so may the Force be with us. (Viewport closes.) Oh, and uh, thank you for flying Star Tours!

ENDING DESTINATION SEGMENT #2 NABOO

(StarSpeeder 1000 comes out of Lightspeed above Naboo and encounters a swarm of VULTURE DROIDS.)

VULTURE DROID Incoming vessel: identify yourself or be destroyed.

C-3PO Destroyed?!

REBEL N-1 PILOT Star Tours, follow us down to the Rebel hangar. You’ll be safe there.

C-3PO Thank the maker!  (StarSpeeder 1000 enters Naboo’s atmosphere and descends. VULTURE DROIDS destroy the three N-1 Starfighters and hit the StarSpeeder 1000.)  We’re hit! R2, send out a distress signal!

C-3PO Oh!  (The StarSpeeder 1000 crashes into the water. It almost hits JAR JAR BINKS)  Look out, R2!

JAR JAR BINKS Ah!

C-3PO We nearly hit that poor Gungan.

GUNGAN PILOT Star Tours, follow the ship! It’sa gonna lead you to the planet’s core.

(StarSpeeder 1000 follows Gungan ship into darker water.)

C-3PO Any help would be appreciated.

GUNGAN PILOT Weesa picking up some strange readings. Stay close.  (An OPEE SEA KILLER attacks the Gungan ship.)  Mayday! Weesa under attack! Ah!  (SANDO AQUA MONSTER attacks the OPEE SEA KILLER.)  Good luck, Star Tours. Yousa on your own, now.

C-3PO On our own?!  (COLO CLAW FISH attacks the StarSpeeder 1000.)  Wait! R2, do something!  (R2-D2 electrifies the COLO CLAW FISH and the StarSpeeder 1000 manages to get away.)  And I thought I hated space travel!  (The StarSpeeder 1000 goes above the water and crashes into the Rebel hangar.)  Brakes! Brakes! Where are the brakes?!

(The pointed front of an N-1 Starfighter with a PIT DROID repairing it breaks the viewport of the Star Speeder 1000.)

PIT DROID (Angry beeps.)

C-3PO What do you mean we broke your ship? You broke our viewport.  (PIT DROID falls inside the Star Speeder 1000.)  And I did not give you permission to come aboard. So sorry for the inconvenience. (Viewport closes.) We hope you enjoyed your flight and we look forward to seeing you again soon! Goodbye!

ENDING DESTINATION SEGMENT #3 GEONOSIS

(StarSpeeder 1000 comes out of lightspeed above Geonosis and immediate finds itself amidst a asteroid field. The Death Star is half built in the distance.)

C-3PO This can’t be right.

BOBA FETT You can run, but you can’t hide—not from me.

(BOBA FETT’s Slave I begins shooting at the Star Speeder 1000.)

C-3PO That dreadful bounty hunter… (StarSpeeder 1000 dodges shots from BOBA FETT as it navigates amongst the asteroids.) Woah! Ah! Oh my! Woah! Hang on! Ah!

(Sound of DARTH VADER breathing as his TIE Advanced X1 flies by, flanked by two TIE fighters.)

DARTH VADER I have you now!

(StarSpeeder 1000 starts approaching the Death Star and enters through the trenches.)

C-3PO I have a bad feeling about this… (StarSpeeder 1000 flies through the Death Star, avoiding obstacles.) I’m getting us out of here.

C-3PO I know exactly what I’m doing.

(StarSpeeder 1000 successfully escapes the Death Star. BOBA FETT’s Slave I appears)

BOBA FETT Say goodbye, Rebel spy…

(BOBA FETT’s Slave I releases a Seismic Charge.)

C-3PO A sonic bomb!

(R2-D2 shoots the charge in the right spot and sends it back to BOBA FETT, which blasts him away.)

C-3PO Good shot, R2! Now, get us out of here!

(The StarSpeeder 1000 jumps to lightspeed and exits at a Rebel fleet.)

ADMIRAL ACKBAR Star Tours, we were concerned about you. Is our agent safe?

C-3PO Safe, but perhaps a little shaken.

ADMIRAL ACKBAR We are grateful you made it. You are all heroes of the Rebellion.

(StarSpeeder lands on a Rebel ship. An applauding and waving group of Rebel fighters greets the transport.)

C-3PO I rather like the sound of that. Be careful out there, all of you. The Empire is watching. (Viewport closes.) Pardon me, but how do we get back to a Star Tours terminal?! Hello?!

ENDING SEGMENT #4 CRAIT

(StarSpeeder 1000 comes out of lightspeed and enters Crait’s atmosphere.)

C-3PO R2, are you sure these are the right coordinates?

(StarSpeeder 1000 rounds a corner into the middle of a battle.)

C-3PO Ah! Hang on everyone! (StarSpeeder 1000 dives into a salt cave.) I wasn’t programmed for this!

(StarSpeeder 1000 dodges stalactites and stalagmites, shooting the ones it can’t avoid.)

C-3PO Watch out! Ah!  (The StarSpeeder 1000 breaks out of the cave enters the Battle of Crait alongside Ski Speeders.)  We’re done for.

POE DAMERON Glad you made it, Star Tours.

C-3PO Here we go again!

POE DAMERON Ok fighters! Keep it tight!

(Red dust covers the viewport.)

C-3PO I can’t see a thing. R2, do something!

(Three squeegees clean off the viewport. StarSpeeder 1000 dodges amidst the legs of AT-M6 walkers.)

GENERAL HUX Star Tours, you shouldn’t have come.

C-3PO I heartily concur.

GENERAL HUX Execute them.

C-3PO We’re leaving this instant! R2, where are you going?

(The StarSpeeder 1000 turns around and fires at an AT-M6, destroying it.)

POE DAMERON Nice job, Star Tours! Alright, we’ll take it from here.

C-3PO Well done, R2. Now, let’s go!

(The StarSpeeder 1000 enters lightspeed and exits at the planet Batuu.)

C-3PO Oh, we’ll be safe here on Batuu. I hope.

C-3PO Yes, R2. I believe this adventure is just beginning.  (StarSpeeder 1000 lands. FLYING DROID looks through the viewport.)  What are you looking at? (Viewport closes.) Go away! Go away!

ENDING MESSAGE

ALY SAN SAN Please remain seated until the captain has opened the exit doors. You may then unlatch your safety restraints by pressing the release button on your left. Make sure you have all your personal belongings as you exit. Thank you for flying Star Tours! Buh-Bye!

(Transcript contributed by Brendan Warski.)

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Our Favorite Iconic Walt Disney World Ride Spiels

While Walt Disney World is filled with magic, I love the little pieces that Disney gives us that we can take home to relive our Disney memories over and over again.

One way Disney does this is with their attraction spiels. I have fallen in love with SO many of these and love not only reciting them when I’m hopping on the attractions at the parks but also when I’m feeling the Disney blues as well. They always make me smile and feel a little closer to “home.”

Here are nine of our favorite Walt Disney World attraction quotes, recordings, and ride spiels!

1. the monorail.

“Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas!” I honestly cannot hop on this ride without talking along as the monorail’s doors begin to close.

Walt Disney World Monorail System

2. haunted mansion.

Many people have a piece of the Haunted Mansion spiel that makes them feel closer to home. But I am quite fond of the ENTIRE thing and have memorized it from beginning to end.

Soooo, I thought I’d highlight a few of my favorite moments.

“And consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows and no doors… which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out!  (Laughs.)  Of course, there’s always my way.”

“There are several prominent ghosts who have retired here from creepy old crypts all over the world. Actually, we have 999 happy haunts here — but there’s room for a thousand. Any volunteers?”

“The happy haunts have received your sympathetic vibrations and are beginning to materialize. They’re assembling for a  swinging  wake, and they’ll be expecting me… I’ll see you all a little later.”

3. Soarin’ Around the World

Patrick Warburton gets me EVERY time when I wait to board Soarin’. Not only do I get all the Kronk feels, but I can’t help but giggle when he says the iconic words: “Nice work, pal.” Does this bit get anybody else?!

4. Spaceship Earth

There’s seriously something so soothing about Judi Dench’s voice on Spaceship Earth . A few of my favorite things that she says on this attraction are “Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time” and “Remember how easy it was to learn your ABCs? Thank the Phoenicians; they invented them.”

With all of the changes coming to Epcot and Spaceship Earth, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that iconic moments like these will stick around.

Learn more about the changes coming to Spaceship Earth here!

Spaceship earth, 5. great movie ride.

While Great Movie Ride is now part of Disney’s history, I am still more than fond of the iconic spiel that happened during this attraction.

For starters, we were taken into the movies, so there are movie quotes galore! And two quotes from the ride itself that I will NEVER forget and that I wish I could again are “Ready when you are, CB” and “That’s a wrap.”

While I’m excited about the new Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction coming to this space in spring 2020, I don’t think it will ever be able to replace the feeling that Great Movie Ride gave me.

Learn more about the attraction replacing Great Movie Ride: Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway!

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6. Dinosaur

Dinosaur is one of those rides that seems to be a hit or miss among guests. Some find it scary, some boring, and others are completely obsessed. I personally love this attraction not only for the ride itself but for the fun attraction safety introduction.

And my favorite part of the whole thing has to be the quote is “and a heck of a paleontologist, if I do say so myself.” Gets me every time!

7. Star Tours

While some guests may overlook Star Tours as an attraction with a fun ride spiel, I personally love the send-off. I often find myself saying, “Thank you for flying Star Tours, buh-bye.” I don’t know why, but the way that the robot buy-byes makes me smile.

Star Tours – The Adventures Continue

8. tower of terror.

Another iconic attraction with an equally iconic ride spiel is  Tower of Terror.

My favorite part is Rod Sterling in the pre-show. And I think my favorite quote from the whole attraction has to be  “Hollywood, 1939. Amid the glitz and the glitter of a bustling young movie town at the height of its golden age, the Hollywood Tower Hotel was a star in its own right; a beacon for the show business elite. Now, something is about to happen that will change all that. The time is now on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Tonight’s story on  The Twilight Zone  is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a maintenance service elevator still in operation, waiting for you. We invite you if you dare to step aboard because in tonight’s episode you are the star and this elevator travels directly to… the Twilight Zone .”

Long, I know. But perfect, absolutely perfect.

9. Jungle Cruise

Last but certainly not least is Jungle Cruise . I have to recognize the incredible job that the Skippers do and the AMAZING script that they deliver day after day. The entire attraction is filled with lovable and quotable moments.

But my favorites have to be “the backside of water” and “There’s old Trader Sam, head salesman of the area. Business has been shrinking lately, so this week only, Sam’s offering a two-for-one special: two of his, for one of yours!”

What’s your favorite Disney attraction spiel? Let us know in the comments below! 

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11 Replies to “Our Favorite Iconic Walt Disney World Ride Spiels”

Great article & great comments from everyone listing what was missing. 🥰

at the end of the spiel on ToT when he says “this elevator travels all the way to….” I always add out loud, “The Gift Shop!” lol

Thanks so much for a great article. I love all those spiels. Especially Soarin, TMR, and the Jungle Cruise still amazes me with new jokes every time we take a voyage. I am sad to see People Mover changed and really hope they don’t lose the spiel from Spaceship Earth. That is one of our favorite attractions. I am going to be saying Buy-bye now for the rest of the day!

I loved the previous WDW Railroad spiel. When approaching the tepees the narrator said, “if you listen carefully, you can almost hear Pocahontas” and then Colors of the Wind came blaring through the speakers at least twice the volume of the narrator. Got me every time.

The old spiel on the people mover was classic, “now approaching, space mountain” in that deep voice That was great.

In Dinosaur our family loves,”We’re not gonna make it!”. Also from Flight of Passage, Avatar, when Sigorney Weaver says, “Siva KO!”. I think it means proceed with courage.

Malestrom “you are not the first to pass this way….nor will you be the last”….well yeah i might be the last Viking man your ride belongs to Elsa and Anna now.

That was one of the best!

Agree on all, and I’d just add this classic Patrick (Soarin’) line “…especially these little beauties”. Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion are both attractions that just would not be the same with their classic spiels. Also, a trip through Spaceship Earth with the family just wouldn’t be complete without a very loud “Thanks, Phoenecians” from our cars!

WDW did totally destroy another classic spiel a few years ago when they redid the PeopleMover. So many classic lines lost and so many boring ones kept have resulted in the ride losing a lot of its charm. Most obvious example…”Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow, your party from Saturn has arrived, please give them a ring!”

You forgot a couple. Matterhorn Bobsleds: “Remain seated please. ¡Permanecer sentados por favor!”

Also, Big Thunder, how could you do this article without Big Thunder?! “If yer wearin’ hats an’ glasses, best hold onto ’em, cause this here’s the WILDEST RIDE IN THE WILDERNESS!!”

This one was really great stuff. Thanks for having a post that’s simply positive. And I do agree with everything you had in there.

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‘Star Tours: The Adventures Continue’ Ride Walkthrough & Analysis

As a fan of the Star Tours attractions on both coasts, I was excited to go to the D23 panel on the making of Star Tours: The Adventures Continue … I crowded into the 1,000+ seat ballroom, not knowing what Imagineer insights awaited me.

In true Disney fashion, the panel was a professionally crafted presentation, with no room for questions..errr, I mean error. In this panel, lead Imagineer, Tom Fitzgerald, spoke with the aid of Powerpoint and took us on the journey to bring this attraction into the future.

Tom Fitzgerald, began his Star Tours story in 1998 when George Lucas summoned the Imagineer team to his ranch to watch the pod race, and only the pod race. After seeing the infamous scene, the Imagineers decided to wait to see the rest of the film, hoping against hope that it would the pod race would be scrapped for something way cooler.

Ok, so Tom said, “In fact, we did think it was a great idea”, but I can read between the lines. Interestingly back in 1998, way before the 3D onslaught, the Imagineers knew the ride was going to be in 3D.

Then the Imagineers created an Episode Matrix, or a flow chart, which featured 13 locations. By summer of 2005 they whittled the list down to the following locations:

• 2 Openings: Launching bay either confronting Storm Troopers or Darth Vader.

• 3 2nd Acts: The Pod Race on Tatooine, Snowy Hoth, Wookie Planet Kashyyyk (John Lasseter suggestion).

• 3 Transmissions: Yoda, Bail Organa (replaced by Admiral Ackbar), or Leia.

• 3 Finales: Government Capitol Coruscant, Water Soaked Naboo (replaced with an underwater version), or the Death Star.

In January 2007 they ventured to the Skywalker ranch again, this time with completely fleshed out storyboards. They showed them to the man with a plan, George Lucas, who looked at them funny, and said, “I don‘t do storyboards anymore”. The Imagineers then stared sheepishly down at the ground and ran back to Burbank (artistic license) to create a CGI animatic version, which they finished in 2008.

This draft included a part where the ship had stolen plans but was replaced with technology that took a photo of a guest and made the guest a rebel spy. Look close enough and you’ll see George Lucas pop up in the scan of photos.

Tom Fitzgerald then showed the animatic version during the panel, which is about as awesome as you could imagine the ride itself being. Take a look:

Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) was next brought into the creative process to intricately design the CGI locations. ILM even wrote off a trip to Alaska to scout out the virtual Hoth.

As this ride takes place between film trilogies and Rex has yet to take his first flight, they had to choose a new robot tour guide. Rex ended up working in the ride queue and they designed an “Ace” robot who knew his way around the galaxy. But, George, ever a fan of bumbling kid-friendly side characters, wasn’t having it. So late in the game, the Imagineers went with the tried, true, and more importantly, already designed, C-3PO.

All in all Star Tours 2.0 is exactly what the doctor ordered. It’s a “Choose Your Own Adventure” for the new age with some lively stops through the Star Wars galaxy. In fact, George Lucas should’ve taken note from the Disney Imagineers and made all Episodes, prior to Han Solo, 5 minutes or less.

Diane Panosian

Today I seek a world in which women from across the land can unite in their geekiness. A land where Princess Lea reigns alongside her ever-rakish Han Solo, a growly Hugh Jackman can’t seem to find his flannel shirt, and Wonder Woman saves the world and comes home to find her man has baked cookies. It took me 20-odd years to figure out I am a writer. Apparently all those years in childhood spent pretending to be Lois Lane and writing mock newspapers never elicited one eureka. In high school I was editor of the school paper, but even then, I sought the path of a graphic artist. In my professional career I wrote numerous proposals for DVD and Blu-ray extra value content. Crafting concepts using Stan Lee-isms felt like play to me and yet I thought of myself as a producer. Not until one very rainy day when the streets were flooded and boredom hit me like Thor’s hammer did I call up Chris and tell him I wanted to write. I guess whatever gets your creative juices flowing while enduring the onslaught of boredom should be repeated. It didn’t take me nearly as long to figure out I was a geek. I was surrounded by my brother’s inked pages of Captain America from a very young age. I would often look for my beloved action figures only to find them captured by my brother for use as “inspiration”. Whenever he took a break I would sneak in and rescue my toys with the stealth of a mutated ninja cat. Strangely the next morning a new rescue mission would have to be hatched. From then on, I watched copious She-Ra and Spider-man cartoons, learned about alternate realities from Back to the Future, and read the soup opera that was X-Men comics in the 90’s.

website that helped me decide where to go

Roam around the mazes of the cobbled walkways sandwiched between tall buildings which lead to delightful courtyards, and then take a break in one of the open air cafes filled with bustling tapas joints in the vicinity. You only have so much time to visit numerous sites and you want to make the most of it. You will almost always save money when you buy the system as a whole.

Also visit my webpage; website that helped me decide where to go

Some rormus that Lucas is coming to the Star Wars week end… Wouldn’t count on it, but he does, then that can only be to announce some new Disney parks/Star Wars project.Can’t wait 🙂

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Disney Did You Know: The Voices Behind the Droids of Star Tours

Yes, you probably have heard the voices of the Star Tours droids before, so no, you’re not going crazy. Let me do a few introductions for you that are long overdue.

Here are the main droids and their famous voices:

C-3PO (and R2-D2) – Both of these original Star Wars characters can be found as Guests first enter the Star Tours Travel Agency. These droids are doing routine checkups on the StarSpeeder that Guests will boarding later on in the attraction. C-3PO is voiced by Anthony Daniels, who provides the original voice for the droid in all six films. This time, Daniels has a larger role when he becomes the unintentional captain, trapped within the StarSpeeder 1000’s cockpit as it takes off.

G2-9T – G2-9T loves to gossip and tell stories, so he doesn’t always pay attention to what comes in on his security scanners: WALL-E, Mickey’s Sorcerer Hat, Stormtrooper armor, a Buzz Lightyear action figure, various droids and Lando Calrissian’s effects are just a few of the items that G2-9T scans in passengers’ luggage (Side note: G2-9T usually absentmindedly lets threatening weapons through, while destroying or quarantining the non-threatening items). Guests may also hear some inside jokes that reference Star Wars or Disney films.

This droid is voiced by Tom Fitzgerald, veteran Disney Imagineer. Disney commonly places their own people in their attractions, often as a nod to their great work. Fitzgerald was the creative executive on the reimagining of this attraction when it reopened in 2011. He is Executive VP and Senior Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, and was recently named Creative Director at Epcot. He is also currently head of WDI at Disneyland Paris, where he is overseeing the upcoming Ratatouille attraction.

G2-4T – Before entering the boarding area, Guests pass through a series of security scanners operated by security officer G2-4T. This droid makes jokes about how much he dislikes his job and the strange tourists who pass through his security gate. Guests may see this droid, as well as G2-9T, get shut down temporarily as these two tend to bicker and gossip quite frequently. G2-4T is voiced by the amazing Patrick Warburton, who also hosts the pre-show for Soarin’ over at Epcot.

His deep voice is instantaneously recognizable and usually accompanied with deadpan delivery. In addition to his theme park roles, he has also voiced Yzma’s henchman Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove , as well as Buzz Lightyear on the Disney Channel’s Buzz Lightyear of Star Command . He has also provided numerous other small roles in Disney films such as Home on the Range , Chicken Little , Sky High , and Underdog . Guests may also recognize him as David Puddy from Seinfeld , Joe Swanson from Family Guy , Jeff Bingham from Rules of Engagemen t and The Tick.

Aly San San – This droid, modeled after the WA-7 droid from Episode II, is known as the “spokesbot” for the Star Tours Travel Company. She provides helpful information about departure times, boarding and safety (in both English and Spanish)! She is voiced by actress Allison Janney.

Janney is an actress who is best known for playing C.J. Cregg on West Wing . She has also acted in films such as American Beauty , Juno and 10 Things I Hate About You . Guests may recognize her unique voice from Disney-Pixar’s Finding Nemo as the starfish Peach, and she can also be heard in this role on the Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot. She has also voiced Charlene Doofenshmirtz (Heinz’s ex-wife) on several episodes of Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb .

Captain Rex (RX-24) – The droid from the original Star Tours attraction can still be found in the current queue line. As Guests enter the cargo bay, to the left, RX-24 can be found in his packaging, with decals that read “DEFECTIVE” and “RETURN TO FACTORY”.

Since the reimagined attraction actually occurs in the timeline before the original Star Tours, some Guests may find this little reference quite humorous, since Captain Rex was the original StarSpeeder pilot (and not a very good one). Guests may hear this RX-24 speak a few choppy lines from the original attraction before he shorts out. Paul Reubens was the voice for this original character and is most famous for his role as Pee Wee Herman.

As always, these droids perform to the best of their capabilities to provide a safe and positive experience for all Guests flying Star Tours, so give them a nod next time you see them!

Don’t forget, Paul Reubens also voiced Max in the Disney movie Flight of the Navigator!

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Star Tours: Inside the Secret History of Disney’s Classic ‘Star Wars’ Ride

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

Earlier in January, Star Tours turned 35.

The groundbreaking attraction has been a favorite of Disney Parks visitors the world over, and it would prove an influential part of the “Star Wars” mythology, even today. In Jon Favreau’s “The Book of Boba Fett” (streaming now on Disney+) a familiar-looking droid has been dealing cards in the cantina/casino hideout The Sanctuary in the Tatooine village of Mos Espa. The droid looks like Rex, the inexperienced pilot of the original version of Star Tours. Predictably, fans went nuts.

In fact, the influence of Star Tours has been felt strongly in the current era of “Star Wars” on both the big and small screen. Rex previously appeared in an episode of animated series “Star Wars: Rebels,” and the Star Tours spaceship the Starspeeder made blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background appearances in J.J. Abrams two sequel trilogy installments, while Rian Johnson admitted a looser influence over his installment, “The Last Jedi.” The sequence where the Millennium Falcon is careening through the crystalline caverns of Crait was inspired by the original ride film’s trip through a craggy comet.

But the story of how Star Tours was developed – how it came to be, what technology was employed, and the profound implications for both the Disney Parks and George Lucas ’ Lucasfilm – might be even more thrilling and complex than the actual ride, which was heavily retrofitted in 2010 now goes by the name Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.

So, without further ado, lightspeed to Endor !

A Long Time Ago …

Long before there was any kind of official partnership, Lucasfilm and Disney Parks were linked, thanks mostly to some fortuitous timing. George Lucas’ “Star Wars” hit theaters on May 25, 1977, intoxicating audiences with its depiction of bold heroes, dastardly villains, fussy droids and otherworldly creatures. Those that saw it went back again and again but itched for something more . Thankfully for Southern California audiences, Space Mountain, an adaptation of an attraction that opened at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom two years earlier, opened at Disneyland two days after “Star Wars.” Folks would go see “Star Wars” and then book it to Disneyland for a chance to ride Space Mountain, nestled in the far corner of Tomorrowland. The line for the attraction snaked from that distant part of Tomorrowland all the way up Main Street, U.S.A. Even if their pairing was still a decade away, Lucasfilm and Disney Parks were already strongly bound by the Force.

But if the actual Lucasfilm/Disney enterprise had a point of origin (something that we are painfully aware that George Lucas just loves ), it was when Michael Eisner , then the head of Paramount, decided to green light “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” As Brian Jay Jones recounts in his biography “George Lucas: A Life,” Lucas’ financial terms for the movie were aggressive and mirrored those of the “Star Wars” sequels. Lucas would fund the movie himself and the studio would “distribute the completed film in exchange for profits.” While many of the studios passed right away, Warner Bros., who had clumsily distributed Lucas’ first film “THX-1138,” initially wanted to make it, but they were ultimately usurped by Paramount and Eisner. “George came over to my house,” Eisner later said, “and he said, ‘Let’s make the best deal they’ve ever made in Hollywood.’”

On November 7, 1979, Paramount announced an agreement with Lucasfilm – they’d agreed to Lucas’ demands and would be making “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Eisner believed in George Lucas, even when other studios didn’t. This is baffling, after the astronomical success of “Star Wars” just two years earlier, but true. “Eisner was no dummy,” Jones says now. “Professionally, they spoke the same language. They got the cultural sensibilities.”

Eisner’s decision to help Lucas out on “Raiders of the Lost Ark” would have far reaching ramifications; for one, it would lead to Paramount releasing one of the most successful franchises (after Lucas’ own “Star Wars”) of all time. It would also ultimately assist in the rehabilitation of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated brands, which by the early 1980s had fallen into disrepair and disinterest.

Rebellion Reborn

In 1984, after greenmail attempts by corporate raiders, the Walt Disney Company got a fresh transfusion of new executive talent in the form of Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and (a few months later) Jeffrey Katzenberg. As CEO and Chairman of the Board, Eisner set his sights on strengthening the company’s bottom line and refreshing the brand, which in the nearly 20 years since Walt Disney had died, became a creaky dinosaur, badly out of step with modern audiences and accompanying cultural shifts. (The year before Eisner became CEO, the top grossing Disney movie was “Never Cry Wolf,” with a whopping $29.6 million .)

Similarly, the Disney Parks had been badly neglected despite accounting for nearly 70% of the company’s annual revenue, in part because of the wobbly, extremely over-budget opening of EPCOT Center in Florida, but more pressingly because Disney wasn’t producing anything that could be adapted into rides, shows, or attractions at the parks. While Katzenberg looked to return the studio’s feature animation unit to its former glory (it existed, in the early 1980s, as a partially mothballed group that was in constant danger of shuttering completely), Eisner looked to the parks. “You couldn’t walk through the theme parks and not recognize that they lacked contemporary development. But when Frank and I walked down Main Street for the first time, Frank turned to me and said, ‘There’s so much here. There’s so much potential,’” Eisner recounted in “The Imagineering Story” documentary on Disney+.

Imagineering had reached out to Lucas before Eisner had been installed. Marty Sklar had set up a meeting between Ron Miller, who was president and CEO of Disney before Eisner (he was also Walt’s son-in-law), and Imagineer Tony Baxter. Baxter was, and remains, a superstar of Walt Disney Imagineering, the kind of persona that Disney fanatics dress up as at Disney fan conventions. (Seriously.) At the time, Baxter wasn’t even 40 and had already contributed to the Disney portfolio in meaningful, some would argue profound, ways. He was behind the Journey into Imagination pavilion at EPCOT Center, which featured some truly next-level technological breakthroughs alongside a whimsical story about the power of creativity; and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland, a runaway train thrill ride that would become instantly beloved and replicated at Disney parks the world over. Miller was still stinging from the failure of “The Black Hole,” Disney’s bid to challenge “Star Wars,” but agreed with Baxter that “Disneyland did need an infusion of new IP for younger generations of visitors” (according to Baxter). Miller suggested that they meet with Lucas at Miller’s Silverado Ranch. In addition to Sklar and Miller, Imagineers Rick Rothschild and Gary Krisel were also at the meeting. “There was no lag time between those initial agreements at the Silverado Vineyard, the subsequent leaving of Ron Miller, and Michael and Frank’s arrival in September 1984,” Baxter said. (Another former Imagineer had told me that after that initial meeting, “those discussions went nowhere.”)

Interestingly, before Eisner was hired, Disney board members had originally turned to Lucas to run the entire company in the early 1980s. “It wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life,” said Howard Roffman, who was the chief operating officer of Lucasfilm, in The Cinema of George Lucas by Marcus Hearn. Instead, the board offered the job to Eisner, the man who had the guts and the creative ambition to back “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Now Eisner quietly reached out to Lucas about projects with the Disney Parks. Lucas had been a lifelong Disneyland fan (his family had first visited the park on July 19, 1955, two days after it had opened), making annual treks to the resort. And just as Eisner had gotten behind a lucrative deal (in Lucas’ favor) for “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” he offered Lucas an equally eye-popping arrangement for his services: for every Lucas-originated project, the filmmaker would get $1 million per attraction per park per year. Lucas happily agreed. This arrangement even applied to later attractions Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (a fairly off-the-shelf rollercoaster with the Indiana Jones name) located in Disneyland Paris, and Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull (essentially a clone of the Disneyland attraction) at Tokyo Disney Sea.

According to Baxter, during their first week at Disney, Eisner and Wells asked several Imagineers to come in on a Saturday and pitch “everything we had in conceptual design.” For Baxter, that meant he showed off the “Star Wars” project and what would later be known as Splash Mountain. (This is the infamous meeting where Eisner brought along his son Breck. Eisner told Baxter that Breck “loved theme parks” and Michael knew little about theme parks.) Both Star Tours and Splash Mountain were “given the green light” during Baxter’s presentation but according to Baxter executives were “disturbed” by the proposed 3-year production time designated for Star Tours. Famously, Eisner willed the teen-oriented dance club Videopolis into existence at Disneyland in a mere 100 days, partially due to architect Chris Carradine salvaging structural elements from the 1984 Olympics. He wanted things in the parks and he wanted them now .

With Lucas onboard for a Disney Parks “Star Wars” attraction, Imagineering began spit-balling ideas. At a National Fantasy Fan Club meeting in July 1988 legendary Imagineer David Mumford, whose notable work includes the Land pavilion at EPCOT Center and the Mermaid Lagoon section of Tokyo DisneySea, spoke of a cutting-edge “Star Wars” rollercoaster that was originally proposed. In this attraction, guests in the ride vehicle would vote on whether they would follow Yoda and become a Jedi or instead choose the path illuminated by the Emperor, embracing the dark side of the Force. Depending on that decision, you would rocket past show scenes featuring animatronics of your favorite characters (Boba Fett, Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt on one path or Leia, Luke and Han Solo on the other). It was a wonderful idea, utilizing interactivity and good old-fashioned Imagineering magic, but Mumford said that it would take at least five years just to design the complex mechanism that would allow the ride to work. They needed something sooner.

Enter Mark Eades. Eades was a young Imagineer who had moved over from the Walt Disney Studios to work on EPCOT Center. In the days after EPCOT Center’s opening, when Imagineering’s ranks shrank and viable new projects became scarce, Eades was tasked with researching motion simulator technology. He visited army bases and tested out rudimentary versions designed for entertainment purposes (including “one where they basically stuck a camera on a rollercoaster”). At the end of his exploratory journey, he wrote a memo outlining the potential uses of the technology in the parks (he notes that, contrary to much reporting, the technology was never looked at for a “Black Hole” attraction, but rather “The Black Hole” was thought of as a potential overlay for the aging Mission to Mars). “We either a) treat it as a Tomorrowland attraction where we talk about how the pilots of tomorrow are being trained and you get to go train with them,” Eades said of the simulator technology. “Or there could be other stories if we’re willing to not admit that it’s a simulator. One of them could be in the ‘Star Wars’ universe.” At the end of the memo, he even suggested a possible narrative, should the ‘Star Wars’ idea actually be chosen: “Take a ride on the Millennium Falcon and when we get off we can go over to the Mos Eisley cantina.” This exact idea would be recirculated, 30 years later, at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

At the urging of Imagineer Randy Bright, Baxter went to Retifusion London, a test facility, to see if the flight simulator technology could successfully be used “for entertainment purposes.” (According to Baxter, Bright had stopped at the facility following an Abbey Road recording session for some new orchestral elements for EPCOT.) “I took several leaders from Disneyland operations & maintenance along on the trip to validate the practicality,” Baxter said. Imagineers might design the attractions, but operations and maintenance keep it running. Baxter and the small group seem to have watched the same “rollercoaster” ride film that Eades had also seen. “The simulator was limited in what it could mimic, but we were impressed enough to begin the project in earnest,” Baxter said. Disney made a deal to buy one of the simulators. It was housed in a custom-designed building in the parking lot of Imagineering’s Glendale headquarters.

In Spite of ‘Captain EO’

While work progressed on Star Tours, Michael Jackson had approached the company about joining forces for a new project. Jackson loved Disneyland and Walt Disney World (later he would fashion a Disneyland-style theme park at his home, Neverland Ranch). Eisner and Katzenberg were both dazzled by big name stars and made the Jackson project a priority. At the same meeting where Splash Mountain and Star Tours were greenlit, the executives first brought up the possibility of a Jackson project (according to Baxter). “Imagineering was challenged to give Michael Jackson three concepts to choose,” Baxter said. In his memoir, Eisner describes the concept: “Our notion was to put him in an extended 3D music video.”

One pitch had the entertainer at Disneyland after dark, when various attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean would spring to life. (It was deemed too similar to his beloved “Thriller” music video.) Another version had Jackson inhabiting the role of a Peter Pan-type character who battled an ice queen, eventually melting her heart. And yet another, dubbed the “intergalactic ‘Music Man’” had him visiting a cold, distant planet and bringing music to the people, literally transforming them. Jackson liked the space idea but had a list of demands, including hiring either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg to help oversee what would ultimately become a cumbersome, costly, 17-minute 3D film (a “miracle of a movie” according to Whoopi Goldberg in the “Captain EO: Backstage” episode of “The Disney SundayMovie”). Spielberg was busy with “The Color Purple.” But Lucas had just signed on with Disney and was happy to oblige. At the very least, it would mean another $1 million per year per park.

Instead of helming the project himself, Lucas would install Francis Ford Coppola, one of his oldest friends, in the director’s chair. And Jones pointed out, not only would Lucas be spared the drudgery of daily production (“Return of the Jedi” had nearly killed him), handing Coppola the Disney project meant that he’d be “giving his mentor a much-needed job” (this after the middling response to Coppola’s costly “The Cotton Club”). Since it was technically a film, the production for what was now known as “Captain EO” (named by Coppola after Eos, the Greek goddess of dawn) was handled mostly by the film studio and therefore overseen by Katzenberg. Initially, at least, Imagineering was consulted (they’d be brought back later to design the in-theater effects and motion). “I’d talked to them about it. I’d done an estimate and said it was going to cost $17 million,” Eades said. “The studio people said it would cost $10 million. I said, ‘Make that movie.’ They spent a lot more than $10 million and they spent a lot more than I said it would cost.”

As it turns out, considerably more than what Eades had quoted. The production of “Captain EO” was long and difficult, with original actress Shelley Long dropping out of the role as the evil queen because of the extensive prosthetics (Anjelica Houston replaced her) and Coppola struggling with the complicated requirements of shooting in 3D. (Coppola would lean on Lucas for guidance when it came to the visual effects and creatures.) Behind schedule, the production went over-budget and had to cut corners. On an episode of the “I Was There Too” podcast, comedian Doug Benson talked about his time as an extra on the movie; the production was so over-budget that they couldn’t afford to pay actual dancers anymore. Benson had to stand in the background and gyrate. While most cite the $17 million budget as the final cost, Eades told TheWrap that the actual figure was more than $22.7 million – “and that was in real money in those days.” At the time, per minute, it was the most expensive movie ever produced. Imagineers, still hard at work on Star Tours, printed out custom memo templates that read Star Tours – In Spite of EO .

The Star Tours team was assembled, involving some of Imagineering’s key talents, led by Baxter, and including Eades. Bruce Gordon was the original producer on the project and had, according to Baxter, “as to what you could and could not do in programming events to physically simulate an experience.” “You cannot just write a story and then film it. It’s impossible for many kinetic options to dovetail into one another, due to the limitations of the hydraulic system,” Baxter said. “After we matched the capability of the simulator to a list of ‘Star Wars’ ‘stunts,’ their running order became a dictate of what capabilities were available after the completion of the preceding stunt. The most notable example was being caught in a tractor beam . This motionless backward tilt was the only capability that could be achieved after exhausting the hydraulics in the preceding ice cave sequence.” They had worked out the runtime of the ride: 4 minutes and 35 seconds. “This was the maximum time before an increasing nausea curve would begin ticking upwards,” Baxter said. The Imagineers also learned that they had to put in story pauses every 45 seconds or so, “to let riders regain their bearings.” He also notes that this fact was ignored when developing Body Wars, a sort of “Fantastic Voyage”-type experience that would open with the Wonders of Life Pavilion at EPCOT Center in 1989. Guests got so sick that several seconds of the ride film were removed after Body Wars opened.

For Star Tours, Imagineering had some key collaborators in the form of the wizards at Industrial Light & Magic, the groundbreaking effects house that Lucas had started for the first “Star Wars,” although getting them to grasp the concept of the project (which Eisner wanted to call Star Ride) was difficult. There was a meeting beween Imagineering and ILM, where George Lucas, ILM artists Dennis Muran and Dave Carson (who would serve as the “directors” for ILM), and Imagineering personnel like Tom Fitzgerald, Randy Bright, Marty Sklar and Eades, discussed the project. Eades remembered the scene: “Dennis starts talking to George, ‘We could cut to this angle, cut to that angle.’ And I’m a neophyte at the time. I’m not even 31 years old. I’m the new kid on the block and I’m listening to this and thinking, They’re wrong . I stopped at one point and actually said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. You guys don’t understand. This isn’t a movie. This is a window like in a jet. We can’t cut.’ And I’m looking right at Dennis. ‘However long this is, it’s a continuous take.’ He sat back and looked at me and said, ‘Gee, George. He’s right.’”

The concept of the attraction, where Star Tours was one of several “commercial companies have started business to take people across the galaxy” following the events of “Return of the Jedi,” coalesced quickly and stayed mostly in place. “That way we can give people a ride going through a ‘Star Wars’ movie without giving them a ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Eades explained. Other things remained in flux. The voice of Captain RX-24 (“Rex”), originally described by Lucas as a frazzled Clone Wars veteran named “Crazy Harry,” remained elusive, until Eades (also working as the casting director for the project) saw “Flight of the Navigator.” “Flight of the Navigator” (released by Disney) featured a UFO voiced by Paul Reubens, who had yet to gain fame as Pee-Wee Herman. Eades knew that Reubens was the perfect voice and urged Tom Fitzgerald to see “Flight of the Navigator.” After watching the film, Fitzgerald agreed. Reubens was in production on the first season of what would become the fabled television series “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.” “We got ahold of [Reubens] on set and he agreed in principle, and we sent a recording to George and he said, ‘That’s it,’” Eades said.

At one point, Baxter and Muren went to Las Vegas to watch a demo of HD digital technology. They came back “pushing for the use of HD media rather than 70mm film.” “That decision was predicated on Sony being a sole source supplier of equipment. A safer decision was made to go with 70mm film rather than Sony HD, but it would set the variability of the ride experience back for 20 years,” Baxter said.

The troubled production of “Captain EO” actually gave the Star Tours team some cover. “They were so focused on ‘Captain EO’ and we were doing this thing and working with ILM and we were kind of ignored. Which was great for the team,” Eades said. “We had a budget and we stuck to the budget. We figured out how to get the most bang for our buck.” Somewhat amazingly, Eades explained: “We actually had Star Tours done first but they wanted to open ‘Captain EO’ and open Star Tours the next year. It was great because it gave the simulators some time to get some run time on them.”

After an equally arduous post-production, which saw Disney executives shocked at the number of crotch-thrusts Jackson squeezed into the choreographed dance numbers (amongst other woes), “Captain EO,” the tale of a singing, dancing space fighter (Jackson) and his band of puppet-y confederates, opened on Sept. 12, 1986 at EPCOT Center (then in desperate need of a starry attraction) and Sept. 18, 1986 at Disneyland. It had two new songs by the King of Pop that you could only hear in the movie (one of the songs would be reworked for “Bad”). An hour-long television special dedicated to its opening and featuring a laundry list of celebrities, including such 80s staples as Judge Reinhold (“I want to know how to dance leaving that theater”) and, um, OJ Simpson (with Nicole on his arm), aired nationally. Disneyland stayed open for 60 hours and ran the 3D film continuously just to meet demand. Disneyland was not only popular again; it was also hip .

Before Star Tours officially opened, Eades was joined by a clean-shaven Lucas, Oscar-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom (who told me that he came up with the famous Star Tours “chime”), and many of the Imagineers who had worked on the project, for a soft opening. Eades had a good feeling about it but an attraction like Star Tours was the first of its kind. Nobody knew how guests were going to react. “The first group came off and I heard this guy say, ‘Can you imagine how many miles of track Disneyland had to build under the park for this ride?’” Eades remembered. The guest thought that he was actually moving through space. Eades and the rest of the team knew they had a hit.

A few months after “Captain EO,” on Jan. 9, 1987, Star Tours would open at Disneyland. Lucas and Eisner were on hand, with Mickey and Minnie in their iconic silver space suits (with the rainbow on the chest), joined by C-3PO. Instead of a pair of oversized scissors, they used a lightsaber to cut the ceremonial ribbon. Just like “Captain EO,” they left the park open for 60 hours straight to meet demand. It was a smash out of the gate. But the success of Star Tours ultimately derailed an aspect of the attraction Eades had designed for the project: that every three years, the ride film would change. (That’s right, he said at some point you were actually supposed to get to Endor.)

In the early 1980s, Disneyland management and Imagineering had noticed an uptick in guests visiting multiple times a year, so Eades and his team had a refresh built into their proposal so that Star Tours would never get stale. “But because the damn ride was so popular, the parks said, ‘Why do you want to spend money, because you don’t need it,’” Eades said. ”And they were right.” Undoubtedly the decision to go with 70mm film also set the multiple-planets conceit back, as Baxter previously alluded to. It would be much trickier to switch out the ride film or the projection system. And he was right: it would be decades before that idea would be revisited.

Galactic Expansion

With two successful Lucas-led projects, both Disney and the filmmaker were emboldened. This was especially heartening for Eisner, who was about to open a risky new theme park in Florida dedicated to the behind-the-scenes aspects of the entertainment business.

Disney-MGM Studios, as it was then known, was designed to be many things: a working, world class film and television production facility (complete with a satellite animation studio designed with animators in mind), a theme park, and giant middle-finger to Universal Studios, which was planning to open its own multiday resort in Orlando. (Eisner, while still at Paramount, was supposedly in the meeting where Universal executives revealed the Florida project and by 1985, just a year after he assumed power at Disney, Eisner had begun work on what would eventually be Disney-MGM Studios.) The debut of Disney-MGM Studios would also serve as the opening salvo for an ambitious, 10-year effort to rejuvenate the Disney Parks brand and expand that brand worldwide. Eisner would later publicly refer to this initiative as the Disney Decade.

By the end of 1989, Star Tours would be open at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney-MGM Studios in slightly modified configurations. Instead of the Disneyland version, which took over a pre-existing attraction (Adventure Thru Innerspace) and was converted under the supervision of legendary Imagineer Tom Morris, the Disney World version was a blank slate. This new Star Tours was just around the corner from the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, also based on a Lucas property, which also opened in 1989. A more intricate façade was developed with a full-sized AT-AT walker (that at the time shot water from its moving turrets) and forested Ewok village and a show building that still maintained the “backlot” look of the rest of the park. It’s just an illusion, this new show building said, but what an illusion.

The Japanese version of Star Tours was even more ornate. As Kevin Rafferty recalls in his memoir “Magic Journeys,” he was tasked with Astrozone, a “unique-to-Tokyo Disneyland part of the Star Tours complex.” This new area was to include an “enclosed skyway bridge that connected Star Tours and a new two-level dine-in restaurant,” hosted by an adorable animatronic alien and eventually dubbed the Pan Galactic Pizza Port. In 1992, Star Tours would open, with a full-sized X-Wing, at the Euro Disney theme park (now known as Disneyland Paris). Fun needs no translation.

But the biggest change for the attraction would happen in late summer 2010, when both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions of Star Tours would shut down completely. Years of rumors persisted that the attraction would be shuttered and reopened, this time themed around the pod-racing sequence from 1999’s prequel film “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” As it turned out, the plans were much more ambitious.

Instead of a single new theme, the ride would be re-conceived, with the idea that Eades, Baxter and the other Imagineers had concocted during the blue-sky phase of the attraction’s development. You wouldn’t just be going to one planet, you would be going to all of your favorite “Star Wars” planets, including Tatooine (hello pod-race!), the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, underneath the opulent planet of Naboo, and on the snowy planet of Hoth, made famous by the opening battle sequence from “The Empire Strikes Back.” Incredibly, you don’t visit Endor, the Ewok-filled planet that you were attempting to visit in the first iteration of the ride, despite the fact that early marketing materials suggested the forest moon would be part of the new version of the attraction.

This new Star Tours, now dubbed Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, allowed guests, thanks to a cutting-edge randomization feature, to visit many planets in the course of a single trip aboard your new Starspeeder. The new version of the ride featured additional in-theater effects and C-3PO as your new in-cabin pilot, as well, and the digital projection of the ride film could be enjoyed in 3D.

In 2011, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue opened at Disneyland and Walt Disney World (it would reach Tokyo Disneyland in 2013 and Disneyland Paris in 2017). Further randomization was added when planets and characters from the new “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, including Jakku and Kef Bir, were included. And in a full circle moment, there was a sequence now devoted to Crait from “The Last Jedi,” the planet that was inspired by the original version of Star Tours.

On Friday, May 20, 2011, there was an opening celebration at Walt Disney World for the new Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. The park that was once Disney-MGM Studios was now called Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but Star Tours was just as important to the park. Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger, who had succeeded Eisner, was there to inaugurate the new version of the attraction, as was Lucas. Darth Vader was on stage too, as was the creator of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Dave Filoni, who would go on to shepherd “The Mandalorian.”

“Star Tours is a timeless adventure,” Iger said at the event. “Guests will be immersed in the Star Wars galaxy like never before.” He touted the “over 50” combinations that this new attraction would deliver, plus the fact that the Disneyland version would be open the following month. Lucas called the new attraction “amazing.” “It turned out better than we could ever imagine,” Lucas said. Lucas also cited the original plan to switch out the original ride film every few years. “This time we figured when we did it, we would give you all the reprogramming in one event,” Lucas said. He also referred to “secret cookies,” which were further randomizations (in one version you narrowly miss Jar Jar Binks who is seen swimming underneath Naboo, in another version you hit him dead on). These weren’t turned on until the “Force Awakens” additions in 2015.

After the event in Florida, Lucas and Iger convened to have lunch at the park’s Brown Derby restaurant. According to Iger, this is where he first floated an intriguing idea to Lucas – what if Disney bought Lucasfilm? Lucas listened. A few years later, he agreed. This conversation would lead to, amongst other things, the production of the sequel trilogy and the design and construction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a 14-acre land that would feature the Millennium Falcon simulator attraction Eades had dreamed up all those years ago, along with Rise of the Resistance, one of the most technologically innovative and immersive attractions in the history of Walt Disney Imagineering. There’s even a “Star Wars”-y cantina, which, just as Eades had imagined it, is a few steps from the Millennium Falcon.

That cantina’s DJ might seem familiar. It’s Rex from Star Tours, once again voiced by Paul Reubens. Wonder if he ever made it to Endor.

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Themed Ideas, Artwork, Histories, and Storytelling

STAR TOURS – The Intergalactic E-Ticket Simulator That Changed Disney Parks Forever

Timeline troubles.

When the new Star Tours – The Adventures Continue debuted in 2011, the “randomized” encounters throughout the  Star Wars  universe were, of course, among the ride’s most talked-about features. But despite the new version of the ride officially establishing itself between  Episode III  and  Episode IV , things were about to change.

18 months after the ride’s debut – in October 2012 – Disney announced that it had acquired Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise for just over $4 billion. With complete creative control over the property, the universe was about to expand in a big way.

In 2015, Disney’s first official entry into the  Star Wars  canon debuted: Episode VII,  The Force Awakens . Set 30 years after the Galactic Civil War and the fall of Darth Vader, the film introduces a  new  totalitarian government (the First Order and its mysteriously masked knight, Kylo Ren) battling against a new ragtag trio of heroes (Rey, Poe, and Finn) representing the Resistance. Along the way, they reunite with the original triology’s Rebel heroes (Han, Luke, and Leia, all living legends whose stories are told throghouout the galaxy), now in their 60s and 70s.

As promised, a new destination was added to Star Tours’ ports-of-call: Jakku, the expansive desert planet and homeworld of  The Force Awakens  hero, Rey. As the Starspeeder blasts its way through Jakku and its graveyard of ships, it’s joined in flight by the Millennium Falcon! But it’s not Han Solo at the controls; it’s Finn, the defected First Order Stormtrooper. But consider this: Finn and his cinematic flight through Jakku couldn’t happen until  thirty years  after Darth Vader’s death… when Darth Vader might’ve been featured on the ride’s first scene!

Similarly, after our tussle on Jakku, we’ll jump to lightspeed and receive a transmission from a young Princess Leia, as she appeared before Finn was even  born . See the problem? Disney and Lucasfilm – two indisputable masters of continuity in storytelling – accidentally blew up the timeline they’d carefully crafted for the new Star Tours. 

Another new scene was added in 2017 to promote  Episode VIII, The Last Jedi , featuring the red mineral planet Crait (then cleverly landing on Batuu, the forested planet on which  Star Wars : Galaxy’s Edge is set as a “preview” before its opening). Soon after, Kylo Ren – conflicted villain of the sequel trilogy – became a possible opening act, as well as new hologram messages from BB-8, Poe Dameron, and other modern characters.

For a while, those new options theoretically provided for four opening segments, four primary destination segments, six hologram message segments, and four ending destination segments, yielding an amazing  384  possible combinations. Unfortunately, almost all of those options, by design, would inevitably send your Star Tours flight jumping back and forth over 30 years with no explanation… a mortal sin in the hyper-studied world of  Star Wars  mythology, timeline, and canon.

Thankfully, though, Disney seems to have cooled the randomizer’s time-jumping abilities such that rides are  still randomized , but stick to either the original trilogy or sequel trilogy’s characters and destinations. That’s especially important due to the final update (for now) in December 2019. To promote Episode IX,  The Rise of Skywalker , the newest Star Tours destination is Kef Bir, the ocean moon and wreckage site of the destroyed Death Star… (The very one guests can see  under construction  in another Star Tours scene!)

While the separation of timelines is probably the lesser of two evils, it does mean that if your first scene is from the sequel trilogy, you can be sure that the rest of your ride will be limited to the few scenes that have been added one-by-one as film tie-ins, meaning far more repetition than the fully-stocked library of origial trilogy scenes. Altogether, that’s probably still better than the time-hopping alternative.

After the debut of the new version in Florida and California in May and June of 2011, international Disney Parks followed suit and took their existing Star Tours rides to the next level with “The Adventure Continues” overlays, each with its own flavor.

The refreshed ride opened in Tokyo Disneyland’s Tomorrowland on May 7, 2013. (In place of the standalone Rex cameo in the queue, Tokyo’s version features three droids who look suspiciously familiar to fans of the Haunted Mansion, above.)

The last holdout of the original Star Tours rides – Disneyland Paris’ ­– finally closed on May 16, 2016 – five years after the change in Florida! –officially making Star Tours a global Lost Legend. France’s Star Tours – The Adventures Continue opened March 26, 2017, bringing all four rides into sync. 

We’re unabashedly proud of the refreshed Star Tours. It ranked high on  our countdown of the best “plusses” to Disney rides , and many seem to agree! Sure, some fans lament the loss of the original and its iconic trench run, and a generation who grew up with 1987’s Star Tours could hardly be bothered with the notion that its film was grainy and its effects dated. And we understand and appreciate the deserved enthusiasm that those fans have.

But to put it simply, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue is the  right  way to plus a beloved attraction. It represents the tremendous leap forward in filmmaking and storytelling that technology has provided while referencing the original and keeping the wonderful spirit of an intergalactic misadventure with cameos by characters you know and love. The ride redefined re-ride-ability more than 20 years after the Modern Marvel: Indiana Jones Adventure brought the practice into immersive storytelling with the three Gifts of Mara.

That said, fans can’t help but wonder what will become of the reimagined classic given that – at Disneyland and especially Disney’s Hollywood Studios – it’s physically cut-off from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge… somewhat like if Universal had hyper-immersive Wizarding World… and an old Harry Potter ride in a soundstage a couple hundred feet outside of it. We’ll see…

Living Legacy

STAR TOURS wasn’t just an E-ticket. It fundamentally changed Disney Parks forever. If you don’t believe us, you’ve got some ready to do… After all,:

• It introduced non-Disney characters into Disneyland, modernizing Imagineering and ushering in the “Ride the Movies” era ;
• It established the long-running partnership with George Lucas that would also produce Captain EO , Alien Encounter , and Indiana Jones Adventure ;
• It singlehandedly gave rise to the Age of the Simulator , introducing a new technology that’s been adapted into… welll… nearly every E-Ticket across Disney and Universal parks since.

So when we saw STAR TOURS is the ride that changed Imagineering, we mean it. This sensational attraction born in a galaxy far, far away didn’t just bring George Lucas’ Star Wars universe to Disney Parks; it brought guests of Disney Parks into the Star Wars universe, setting the stage for the simulators, cinematic rides, and “living lands” we know today. de may be over, its legacy lives on…

As we find ourselves back at the terminal, it’s time to make a connecting flight to another exciting destination in our Lost Legends collection. Until next time, thank you for flying Star Tours. Buh-bye.

Thank you so much for reading. Now, it’s your turn to join the story. If you enjoy spending time falling down the “rabbit hole” of Park Lore’s in-depth, ad-free, member-supported stories, consider becoming a Member for as little as $2 / month. Members can unlock rare concept art in every tale, reveal attraction audio streams in select stories, gain access to over a hundred exclusive articles in our quick-read Extra Features and in-depth Special Features collections, gain exclusive podcast extras , and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail! (Plus, y’know, supporting research-based, ad-free, clickbait-free, in-depth theme park writing!)

Where does Star Tours fit within our library of Lost Legends? Was it truly an industry-changing gem that defied time? Or was it a tired, dated remnant of the 1980s whose time had come? Is The Adventure Continue a worthwhile replacement? Or does the jumbled new-age version lack what made the 1980s original so special?

Read on...!

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Star Tours – The Adventures Continue

• Replay Star Tours – The Adventures Continue

• 40in (102cm) or taller
• Small Drops

Explore a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Board your Starspeeder 1000 and prepare for take off! When a series of mishaps unwittingly causes your starship to launch too soon, protocol droid C-3PO takes the controls.

Suddenly, the ship is intercepted by Imperial—or First Order—forces searching for a Rebel spy. To avoid capture, you’ll embark on a thrilling, unpredictable flight that rockets you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

Featuring a flight simulator, digital 3D video, Audio-Animatronics characters and “in-cockpit” special effects and music, this attraction immerses you in the Star Wars mythology for an unforgettable intergalactic adventure.

Will your starspeeder elude capture and make it back to the base? May the Force be with you—always.

Featuring Favorite Star Wars Characters

Always a new adventure.

Find yourself in a unique story again and again—including one inspired by Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Anytime you ride, you might fly into the middle of a furious battle on Crait, dodge blaster fire from TIE fighters on Jakku, swoop into the dreaded Death Star or dive deep under the oceans of Naboo. 

Plus, to celebrate Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker , Star Tours now features an all-new destination from the movie—the ocean moon of Kef Bir.”

Because the many story twists are random, you never know where you’ll go or who you may encounter along the way! 

©Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.

Know Before You Go

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Star Tours (1987)

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