Annual Passholder Preview for Star Tours?

WDWNT on March 10, 2011

This just arrived in an email for WDW Annual Passholders:

May 20 is the launch date for new Star Tours thrills!
The adventures continue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios® with some of your favorite Star Wars™ characters, amazing new effects and 3D magic. Star Tours®—The Adventures Continue is where out-of-this-world imagination stretches as wide as the galaxy itself. Plus, keep an eye open for special news for Passholders!

While it doesn’t say that there will be an annual passholder preview, it does hint at something special for them. Perhaps more importantly, we have confirmation of the Boba Fett chase scene, as well as the inclusion of the planet Geonosis & the first Death Star under construction in the attraction (It appears behind the vessels in this small image). Does this indeed mean that you will see destinations from our post last week? Probably, but we’ll just have to wait to find out…

Disney World Website Previews “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”

WDWNT on March 8, 2011

From the Walt Disney World website:

On May 20, 2011, the power of the Force and the magic of Disney combine once again to create an unforgettable new Star Wars experience in Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – in 3-D! This deep-space flight simulator features light-speed travel to galaxies, far, far away.

Join the Rebellion

Climb in to the Starspeeder 1000 with old friends C-3PO and R2-D2, along with new additions Star Tours Pilot “Ace” AC-38 and Spokesbot Aly San San. When you board, several different journeys await. You might take flight in a Tatooine podrace or weave through the city planet of Coruscant. You could find yourself on the run from Boba Fett or meeting Princess Leia. You’ll never know which characters and worlds you will encounter.

But, Beware! Darth Vader could attempt to create a disturbance in the Force. A showdown may be inevitable.

Hopefully, the Force will be with you.

While these details aren’t all new, the possible chase with Boba Fett is confirmed. This correlates with the pin series we discussed last week, which may provide a little more credibility to the other rumored destinations featured. The information above also doesn’t claim that Tatooine and Coruscant are the only two scenarios for the attraction. I guess we will just have to wait to find out… Stay tuned as more information becomes available on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue!

More Destinations Revealed for “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”?

WDWNT on February 27, 2011

WDWNT’s own Cody Smith recently attended the “Love is Magical” pin event at Walt Disney World. How does this apply to Star Tours? Well, there was a pin preview board at the event, and Disney was showcasing some of the pins that will be released when Star Tours re-opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on May 20th and Disneyland Park June 3rd:

Now, the photo is not of the best quality, but we believe it reveals destinations guests will be traveling to in “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”, and maybe even what will happen when they get there. The two announced locations of Coruscant and Tatooine are represented. The Tatooine poster pin even shows the Starspeeder 1000 getting stuck in a podrace, a scenario that has already been revealed. With this in mind, we believe the other 6 pins reveal more destinations and events that guests may experience randomly.

Let’s examine the posters in order from left to right:

  • On Geonosis (a setting from Episode II), guests may be chased by Boba Fett and the Slave I vehicle.
  • The second pin features Darth Vader and the Death Star, so we may be running into some friends from the Empire once again.
  • Coruscant is the third poster, an already revealed location.
  • Kashyyyk is the 4th poster, the home of Chewbacca. Since we noticed concept art that looked like this planet behind George Lucas in a Disney-released publicity shot from many months ago and were then told we will see Chewbacca along the way, this location is really no surprise. However, the poster clearly states that we will visit Treetop Villas, perhaps an inside joke about Disney’s Treehouse Villas?
  • Hoth is the fifth planet poster. This snowy planet from Episode V has a poster featuring a Tauntauns and what we believe is a Wampa (the snow-monster that attacks Luke Skywalker).
  • Tatooine is the sixth planet poster. The already revealed scenario where guests get stuck in the middle of a podrace is featured here, including famous racer Sebulba from Episode I.
  • The seventh poster pin features Bespin, the cloud city from Episode V. You may remember Bespin was featured in the queue-area commercial Disney previewed last summer at Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando.
  • The final poster pin features Naboo from the prequel trilogy. Home to Queen Amidala and the Gungans (including Jar Jar Binks), the Starapeeder 1000 may encounter a giant sea monster like the one featured in Episode I.

Again, these destinations are not confirmed, but the appearance of the Starspeeder 1000 in these scenes and the fact that several already announced locations & character encounters are featured leads us to the conclusion that these are spoilers for the new attraction. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information on “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue” becomes available.

More New Star Tours Characters Revealed in New Toys

WDWNT on February 13, 2011

From StarWars.com:

Two new packages of Star Wars figures exclusive to the Disney Parks should be arriving just in time for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue!

The top row of action figures is the Star Tours Ambush Pack. Among the figures are two of the new Skytroopers, Darth Vader on a platform, and bounty hunter Boba Fett. This is representing the run-in with the Sith Lord guests will have in the attraction.

The bottom line is the Star Tours Travel Agency Pack. Among the figures are pilot C-3PO, Aly San San and the pilot guests are supposed to have, ACE. The figures also give us an early look at two new characters, a luggage droid and another pilot, possibly from one of the rival Starspeeder services. If that’s not enough, there’s even some space luggage!

A “Star-Studded” Cast for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

WDWNT on February 11, 2011

From the Disney Parks Blog:

One of our goals for the new Star Tours show was to pack as much Star Wars into the attraction as possible. That meant traveling to different planets, and meeting up with classic characters from the saga.

Of course you already know that R2-D2 and C-3PO are back, reprising their roles in the pre-show, and taking on bigger roles (especially C-3PO) in our Starspeeder adventures. And some time ago, we introduced you to two new droids in our show…Star Tours Pilot Ace (AC-38) and Spokesbot Aly San San.

So who else is joining the cast?

Admiral Ackbar

Well, it wouldn’t be a Star Wars adventure without Darth Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith will be accompanied by legions of stormtroopers and some new “skytroopers,” designed especially for our show. Boba Fett, everyone’s favorite bounty hunter, also will be after us, as well as an assortment of nasty droids and creatures.

Balancing out the villains are some classic good guys – and even a princess! Master Yoda, Admiral Ackbar (pictured above in a still image from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi) and Princess Leia will appear in the show to help guide our adventures. We may even run into Chewbacca along the way!

First Look at Your New Star Tours Pilot

WDWNT on February 2, 2011

From Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald on the Disney Parks Blog:

It was a big day for Star Tours recently, as Star Wars creator George Lucas, joined by producer Rick McCallum, paid a visit to Disneyland Park to take a few test rides on the attraction with our Walt Disney Imagineering team. After experiencing adventures to several of the Star Wars worlds aboard the Starspeeder 1000, George and Rick gave the team a big thumbs up on their progress. George even took a moment to pose with the Audio-Animatronics figure of C-3PO in the Starspeeder cockpit!

Stay tuned for more Star Tours updates.

C-3P0 to Pilot the Starspeeder 1000, Captain Rex will Return!

WDWNT on October 26, 2010

From Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald on the Disney Parks Blog:

It was great to read your comments about the pilots of Star Tours on my last post. Some people really want to see Rex again in the new show. Others are excited about the introduction of the new character “Ace.” And then there are those who are speculating about a bigger role for Threepio. So, I thought it was time we set the story straight about just who will be in the cockpit in the new show. And guess what? You’re all right!

C-3PO and ACE

As explained earlier, all Star Tours Starspeeder 1000s are flown using the latest AC-series Tour Droids. And in fact, our initial plans were for our flight to be piloted by AC-38 better known as “Ace.” However, in discussions with George Lucas during the course of our production, we decided to take the story in a very different direction.

So…while AC-38 is supposed to be our pilot, by the time we actually take off, the droid sitting in the pilot’s seat will be none other than…C-3PO!

It’s one of the biggest changes and surprises in the new show. “Professional grit stopped me from yelling the glorious new storyline from the rooftops,” said Anthony Daniels recently. “It’s fun having secrets like this, waiting to share them at the right time.”

You’ll see just how Threepio becomes our pilot when the adventures continue next year.

This week, our Imagineering team begins installation of the Audio-Animatronics figures into the Starspeeder cabins at Disneyland park, and next month at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Oh, and for all you Rex fans, don’t worry – we have a spot for him in the new show!