An anonymous source attended yesterday’s soft opening and was able to send us an audio recording of their ride experience. YES THIS IS A REAL LIVE RECORDING OF STAR TOURS: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE. If you do not want to have your ride experience spoiled do not listen to this recording as it IS the ride. The rest of you ENJOY and stay tuned to WDW News Today as we continue to bridge the gaps between you and a galaxy far far away!
Well as usual WDW News Today is working hard to bring you the up to the date information on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (or 3D, or II depending on what you like to call it). We were able to speak to a number of cast members who have participated in the Cast Member Previews and reconstruct the queue and ride experience from the bits and pieces that we have put together. Note this IS reliable source information but from multiple sources. It reflects info from people who have experienced the attraction but there may be gaps as it is from multiple sources. We will continue to update you as we get more information from our team covering the events in Walt Disney World. Oh and beware I have a bad feeling about the SPOILERS ahead!
Here is what we have so far:
QUEUE
PRE-SHOW
Ride Experince (Updated 5-14 4:30pm)
The Orlando Sentinal and Wsbt.com give us a quick first look inside the new attraction queue and even ran into Tom Corless who is down in Walt Disney World covering all the events for us happening in and around the world the next few days. As always stay tuned right here to WDW News Today as we bring you up to the minute coverage of everything happening in Walt Disney World over the next few weeks.
By Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel12:53 a.m. EDT, May 13, 2011
Inside Disney’s Star Tours, workers are prepping walls, high-definition screens and assorted droids for the attraction’s grand reopening next Friday at Hollywood Studios.
Outside Star Tours, anticipation is building among Star Wars and Disney enthusiasts, so much so that a few fans wait at the attraction’s entrance every day, in case there’s an unannounced preview of the simulator thrill ride.
The revamping of Star Tour represents the highest-profile addition to the Disney World parks in 2011. A version will open at Disneyland in California on June 3.Disney has been selective in what details it reveals, including the price tag for the renovation that took nine months to complete. The floor plan of Star Tours remains the same as when it opened in 1989, but its story and emphasis have changed.
The new Star Tours is designed to immerse guests in the Star Wars universe, said Kathy Rogers, senior show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering. That feeling should be present “as soon as you come in the door,” she said during the Orlando Sentinel’s exclusive guided tour this week.
The ride’s 3-D film is divided into several segments featuring different planets and will be shown in 54 combinations. Once inside that door, visitors have a chance to see:
•A flood of fresh — and familiar — faces from Star Wars lore. The attraction is populated with characters throughout. “You’ve got Darth Vader, you’ve got Princess Leia, you’ve got R2-D2, C-3PO, Boba Fett, Yoda, Admiral Ackbar,” said Tom Fitzgerald, executive vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering. “Jar Jar Binks makes an appearance.”
The idea is to set Star Tours in a definite galaxy far, far away. The new safety video shows only intergalactic beings filing into seats; no one who looks like a tourist, as in the previous version. A window to another concourse shows shadowy outlines of other recognizable characters, royal and interplanetary. There are cameos during the ride.
•A crisp look that reflects a time shift. The new version is set years earlier than the old ride, and familiar objects look newer. “It feels like a brand-new airport
,” Rogers said.
In the first room of the queue, a copper-and-white StarSpeeder 1000 vessel sits where the blue StarSpeeder 3000 used to be. R2-D2 and C-3PO are there again, along with a small IC-360 scouting droid. Overhead is a new high-definition board listing spaceport departures and a galactic Weather
•A clear vision. Once the ride begins, the adventures are presented in 3-D digital projections, as opposed to 70 mm film. The imagery was again produced by Industrial Light & Magic under the guidance of “Star Wars” mastermind George Lucas. (The 3-D “flight glasses” are sleek, shiny and black.)
•Nods to Star Tours past. In the second room of the queue, which is the scanning area of the spaceport, boxed-up droids are ready for shipping. Rex, the hapless pilot from the original Star Tours, is marked “defective” and spews snippets of old dialogue.
The additions have fans curious about the “new” Star Tours. Scarlett Litton of Davenport is part of a group that waits near the attraction, hoping for an early opening. Members post updates on StarTours2Live.com.
“If they were to have a soft opening today, I want to be able to tell people so they can go on it … although I do actually kind of want to be the first in line,” said Litton, 26. She works for TouringPlans.com, which has developed a mobile application specifically for Star Tours. Among its features will be an alert when the attraction opens.
In the meantime, she and Orlando’s Darcie Vance, 33, watch for clues during daylong shifts. They’ve seen exterior lighting go up, new uniforms for cast members, fresh arrivals to the gift shop and other details that are newsy to big fans.
“So far, no opening,” Litton said.
Increasing the number of Star Tours characters is a good thing, said Tom Corless, founder of the WDW News Today website and host of its podcast.
“I think everyone’s excited that Darth Vader’s in it. I know they wanted Darth Vader in the original one, but it never happened,” said Corless, 22, who lives in Bronx, N.Y., but will be in Florida for the opening.
Corless also likes the idea of the multiple story-line combinations. Going in, passengers won’t be sure which planets they’ll be traveling to and which characters they’ll be encountering. Fitzgerald, the Imagineering executive, describes it as a slot machine with four wheels representing the scene choices.
On the ride, guests may see a 3-D Darth Vader, experience pod races on the planet Tatooine and dodge the tongue of a mammoth underwater creature of Naboo. Odds are the next ride will have a completely different lineup. In the old version, it was always a botched trip to the planet Endor.
“It’s essentially going into the same building and getting a different ride nearly every time you step into it,” Corless said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
The Disney Fans Insider takes a good, long look behind-the-scenes of “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”:
Star Wars™ fans will reel in intergalactic ecstasy when the newly renovated Star Tours – The Adventures Continue attraction storms Disney’s Hollywood Studios May 20 and Disneyland Resort June 3. Lovers of Jedi and Sith lords are in for a double dose of droid-tastic adventure as the first grand opening is scheduled during the first of this year’s four consecutive Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World Resort. Dust off your lightsabers kids … it’s time for take-off!
Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald, who worked on the original Star Tours back in the mid ’80s, talks about re-imagining the new show. “We actually began planning the redesign over 10 years ago … a year before Episode I was complete. Fans were eager to see some changes, but after learning that Episodes II and III were in the works, we decided the update would have to wait. In order to create the ultimate Star Warsattraction for our Parks, George [Lucas] needed to finish his saga so we could include the best of all the films.”Waiting may have been difficult, but transforming six full-length movies into a four-and-a-half-minute, fully-immersive ride presented other challenges for Tom’s team. “Because of time-period differences (the new attraction is a prequel to the original), we had to reverse-engineer our story, as well as the look of the Starspeeders.” The chronologically correct Starspeeder 1000 (formerly 3000) now features upgraded interior dashboards and onboard monitors so everything looks, sounds, and feels better than ever – even the color scheme was updated.
Technology played a crucial part in all the renovations, but Tom points out some of the most significant advances, starting with the branching storyline. “For the very first time, we utilized technology that selects one of 54 different story combinations so each ride’s really a surprise. Guests never know where they’ll go. We created this approach to keep it fresh for our enormous fan base. It’s a huge change from the original show.”
Two other key differences – the 3D factor and increased range of the motion simulator – were also technology driven, as Tom explains. “We wanted to add 3D for years, but had to wait for projection equipment that was robust enough to make it look state-of-the-art. Advanced visual effects make the world totally dimensional and so much more realistic than before. It’s absolutely breathtaking.” Imagineers worked closely with Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic team, who produced all the video footage for the main show as well as most of the pre-show.
Enhanced motion programming makes for a more unique experience as Guests are whisked off to a variety of new locations, including Tatooine, Hoth, Naboo, Coruscant, the mysterious Wookiee planet Kashyyyk and even a Death Star under construction. “It’ll feel very different from the first show, which only featured space flight. We’ve added a desert pod race, underwater travel, sliding on ice, and careening through forests while smashing into trees. Some adventures will be planet-based, some space, but each ride will feel distinct because Guests won’t know which story combination they’re getting.”
Many more characters have been incorporated into the new show, with appearances by fan favorites like Darth Vader, Admiral Ackbar, Princess Leia, Boba Fett, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Yoda, C-3PO and Jar Jar Binks. “Darth Vader’s voiceover was recorded by the original actor. It was also great working with Anthony Daniels and Frank Oz, who reprised their roles as C-3PO and Yoda respectively.”
Tom goes on to tell us how one of the brand-new characters – a spokesbot seen in the pre-show commercials and safety video – was named. “Aly San San came about because we couldn’t think of anything and knew George [Lucas] was amazing with names. When we told him actress Allison Janney was doing the voiceover work, he instantly said, ‘Aly San San.'”
In fact, collaborating with the creator of pop culture’s greatest phenomenon presented numerous benefits. “I spent more time with George than we were able to on the original show, which was absolutely wonderful for me. Meeting with him every few weeks to review the sequences, help us tune up the show, and learn from his experience was priceless. It was like taking a master class from George Lucas.”
Musical history was made when the Imagineers worked with Academy Award®-winning composer John Williams, who wrote the original Star Wars film scores. “John and his music editor found passages from the scores to use in our show. The cabin music is taken from the original recordings!” Composer Michael Giacchino lent his Academy Award-winning talent to create additional arrangements of various Star Wars themes for the commercials and pre-show videos.
With so much to see and hear, Disney and Star Wars fans alike will be thrilled to discover all the little homages hidden throughout the show. Tom says, “We packed as much of the films as we could into the new show. It’s really a salute to the best of Star Wars, so whether you’re a fan of the original or the newer trilogy, there’s something for everyone.”
Mark your calendars and check out Star Tours – The Adventures Continue when it opens May 20 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park and Disneyland Resort on June 3!
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Pop Century Resort on Wednesday, and luckily for us, he took a TON of newsworthy photos:
Sounds Dangerous has made the board, but Star Tours is still closed too
WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Walt Disney World theme parks on Monday and has a few newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:
Welcome to Hollywood
From Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald on the Disney Parks Blog:
Today, May 4, we unveiled a stunning new piece of Star Tours art which serves as the attraction poster at Disneyland park and the marquee at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Designed by Imagineer Scot Drake, the piece features the new Starspeeder 1000 surrounded by many of the planets, vehicles and characters from the show. Look for Darth Vader lurking in the shadows.
The photo below shows the new marquee as it was being installed just this morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The Adventures Continue – only weeks away!
WDWNT Reporter Brandon Struve visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Sunday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:
Some new Kiliminjaro Safaris shirts
The Star Tours page on the official Walt Disney World website was updated recently with a new flash-based preview (Sorry iPhone) of the destinations we’ll be traveling to when Star Tours: The Adventures Continue opens on May 20th at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. For those of you without a flash-capable device, here’s a look at the scenarios (and C-3P0’s response to them) you can scroll through on the page:
We’re podracing on Tatooine
Underwater on Naboo
The icy tundra of Hoth
Chased by the Empire near an under-construction Death Star
Just moments before arriving at this picture, some speeder bikes with scout troopers rush by, implying we will be chased by them on Kashyyyk
We tried to grab a snapshot of the scout troopers, but they move pretty quickly
Finally, Coruscant
For those without flash capabilities, here is what you’ll see
While not newsworthy, the background of the page has two pretty cool images as well:
So, nothing earth shattering to report, but anticipation is certainly building for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue! Stay tuned as more information becomes available…
Adam Roth visited both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney on Friday and has plenty of newsworthy photos to share with us:
Welcome to Hollywood
