“Star Tours announces the arrival of the Endor Express, non-stop StarSpeeder service to the moon of Endor...all passengers, please prepare for immediate boarding.”
Advertised as "The Ultimate Star Wars Adventure", the attraction was themed as a galactic travel agency and spaceport set within the Star Wars universe that is employed with droids such as R2-D2 and C-3PO and that you are traveling to the Forest Moon of Endor. However, your inexperienced pilot, RX-24, ends up taking a journey through an asteroid field and a battle with the third Death Star.
Although Star Tours may or may not be considered canon, its StarSpeeder 3000 is referenced in canon Star Wars works. In the PC game TIE Fighter, one ship appears on a certain level, and when the player identifies it, the ship is identified as "StarSpeeder 3000," LucasArts' tribute to the attraction. The StarSpeeder 3000 is also mentioned in the Star Wars Expanded Universe novel Specter of the Past and PC game Star Wars Galaxies.
Anthony Daniels reprised his role as C-3PO for this project. RX-24 was voiced by Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman. (Reubens also voiced a similar role—that is, a wacky alien pilot—in the Disney movie Flight of the Navigator in 1986.)
The ride premiered in Disneyland in 1987, in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise. The ride was placed in Tomorrowland replacing Adventure Thru Inner Space and had to be fit in between other attractions. It debuted at the Disney-MGM Studios in 1989 and was given a much more spacious venue, complete with a large AT-AT walker outside the ride entrance. The attraction also premiered overseas at Tokyo Disneyland that same year and at Disneyland Paris in 1992.
The soundtrack was remastered and remixed in 2004 and can be found on the CD A Musical History of Disneyland.
The ride that became Star Tours first saw light as a proposal for an attraction based on the 1979 Disney film The Black Hole. It would have been an interactive ride simulator attraction, where guests would have the ability to choose the ride car's route, but after preliminary planning, the Black Hole attraction was shelved due to its enormous cost - approximately US$50 million - as well as the unpopularity of the film itself.
But instead of completely dismissing the idea of a simulator attraction, the company decided to make use of a partnership between Disney and George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars franchise, that began in 1986 with the opening of a neighboring attraction, Captain EO in Disneyland. Disneyland then approached Lucas with the idea of Star Tours. With Lucas' approval, Imagineers purchased four military-grade flight simulators for $500,000 each and designed the ride structure.
Meanwhile, Lucas and his team of special effects technicians at Industrial Light & Magic produced the first-person perspective film that would be projected inside the simulators. When both the simulator and film were completed, a programmer then sat inside and, with the aid of a joystick, manually synchronized the movement of the simulator with the apparent movement on the screen.
On January 9, 1987, at a final cost of $32 million, almost twice the cost of the building and the entire Disneyland park in 1955, the ride opened to throngs of patrons, many of whom dressed up as Star Wars characters for the occasion. In celebration, Disneyland remained opened for a special 60-hour marathon from January 9, 1987, from 10 am to January 11, 1987, at 10 pm.
Much was made of this throughout the queue looking like a spaceship boarding terminal with posters advertising voyages to different planets, and a giant screen informed riders of various travel packages. This area was stocked with Audio-Animatronic characters that seemed to speak to the ride patrons (including C-3PO and R2-D2), as well as a life-size mock-up of a StarSpeeder 3000, the spacecraft which riders were about to board.
Guests then entered a maintenance area where an underproductive G2 droid performed repairs on another droid while being distracted by the observing guests, and another droid inadvertently pointed out all the supposed flaws of the StarSpeeder 3000 and its RX pilots. A ride attendant escorted guests to one of several loading stations where they waited for their turn to ride.
A television screen posted a countdown to take-off time and showed images of the Starspeeder 3000 spacecraft being serviced. As launch time approached, a safety video was shown featuring Star Wars aliens, Disney Imagineers, and their families. It instructed guests on how to fasten their seat belts and where to place belongings.
Once the doors to the Starspeeder opened, guests walked across bridges into one of several StarSpeeders, while C-3PO welcomed the riders and repeated the safety spiel. As the doors closed, the bumbling pilot droid of the ship, RX-24 or Rex (voiced by Paul Reubens), chatted up the guests about the trip as R2-D2 was loaded onto the spacecraft.
Rex lowered the cockpit shield, and the hangar crew activated the flight platform. All went well until a slight mistake on Captain Rex's part sent the Starspeeder crashing into the maintenance bay doors, and plummeting into the maintenance yard just barely crashing the control room and colliding with a giant mechanical arm.
Once in space, Rex asked R2-D2 to make the jump to lightspeed as well, but accidentally overshot the ship's hyperdrive, and passed the Endor moon, and instead got caught inside a comet cluster. The ship got hit by several comets before getting trapped in one of the larger comets. The Starspeeder weaved its way through the comet and escaped by crashing through one of the thinner walls. Upon escaping the comet, however, the ship encountered a Star Destroyer.
The ship got caught in its tractor beam but managed to get loose when an X-Wing fighter of the Alliance of Free Planets assisted by destroying the tractor beam's generator. With the tractor beam deactivated, the Starspeeder escaped the Star Destroyer. Soon the ship accompanied the Alliance on a massive assault on the third Death Star.
Rex used the StarSpeeder's lasers to eliminate several TIE fighters while a rebel pilot destroyed the Death Star in the same manner Luke Skywalker did, by firing two proton torpedoes into the exhaust port. The X-Wings jumped to lightspeed to avoid the Death Star's explosion, and a final lightspeed jump sent the StarSpeeder back to the spaceport, but not before a near collision with a fuel truck in the hangar. C-3PO then instructed the passengers on the existing procedure before thanking and bidding them farewell.
Cast[]
(In order of appearance)
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO (voice only, audio-animatronic in the queue area, onboard video)
Brian Cummings as the Vid-Screen Announcer (voice only, planetary destinations)
Stephanie Taylor as the Safety Instructor
Paul Reubens as Captain RX-24, aka Rex (voice only)
Steve Gawley as the Red Leader (cameo, onboard video)
At the inaugural D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, on September 12, 2009, Jay Rasulo and Darth Vader (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)[1][2] announced that Disneyland's Star Tours attraction would be closing in October 2010 to make way for an updated version, which will open in 2011. Tatooine was announced as one of the new destinations in Star Tours II, with footage released of the StarSpeeder 1000 speeding through a podrace.
The original Star Tours attraction at Disneyland saw its final day of operation on July 26, 2010, and Star Tours: The Adventure Continues is now open in its place. The Disney's Hollywood Studios version of the attraction closed on September 8, 2010, now updated to Star Tours II.
The weekend Star Tours first opened, Disneyland gave all of its guests a digital watch. All guests were also given a wristband that would let them come back to Disneyland the next day for free.
The G2 droids are the animatronic skeletons of two Geese from the defunct Tomorrowland attraction America Sings.
According to the book Disneyland Detective by Kendra Trahan, the figures of C-3PO and R2-D2 in the Disneyland attraction are actual props from the original film, modified to operate via Audio-Animatronics.
Though the attraction is set in the Star Wars universe sometime after Return of the Jedi, the events of the ride are not officially considered canonical.
Shortly before the ride was declared non-canon, Leland Chee, Keeper of the Holocron for the official Star Wars website, stated that the Death Star depicted in the ride was indeed the third Death Star, but was not an actual Death Star. Rather, it was a fake made from an unfinished Worldcraft by warlord Ennix Devian to be used as a diversion while his men hijacked ships belonging to the Rebel Alliances' successor state, the Alliance of Free Planets.
It was featured in The Muppets at Walt Disney World, where Beauregarde forced Miss Piggy to go on the ride with him.
The original Star Tours featured an announcer calling for one Tom Morrow, as a reference to the character from the defunct Rocket to the Moon attraction.
The Walt Disney Story • Aladdin's Oasis • Swiss Family Robinson • Big Thunder Ranch • Mike Fink Keel Boats • Nature's Wonderland • Mickey Mouse Club Theater • Autopia • Skyway • Ariel's Grotto • Disney Afternoon Avenue • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea • Rocket Rods • Circle-Vision 360° (America the Beautiful • Wonders of China • American Journeys) • Rocket to the Moon • The World Beneath Us • House of the Future • Submarine Voyage • Flying Saucers • Adventure Thru Inner Space • Carousel of Progress • America Sings • Innoventions • Super Hero HQ • Star Tours • Rocket Jets • Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage • The Magic, the Memories and You • PeopleMover • Starcade • Magic Journeys • Captain EO • Honey, I Shrunk the Audience • Star Wars: Path of the Jedi • The Disney Gallery • Disneyland Dream Suite • Country Bear Jamboree • Toon Park • Main Street Electrical Parade • Light Magic • Paint the Night • America on Parade • Flights of Fantasy Parade • Aladdin's Royal Caravan • The Lion King Celebration • Hercules Victory Parade • Mulan Parade • Motor Boat Cruise • Viewliner Train of Tomorrow
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage • Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy • Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith • The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Seasonal:Unleash the Villains • Rockin' Fourth of July Celebration • Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!
Former Attractions and Entertainment
The Great Movie Ride • The Magic of Disney Animation • Sorcery in the Sky • Aladdin's Royal Caravan • The Sorcerer's Hat • Mulan Parade • Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away • Here Come the Muppets • Disney Junior - Live on Stage! • The American Idol Experience • Star Tours • Star Wars: Path of the Jedi • Monster Sound Show • Sounds Dangerous! • Jedi Training Sign Up • Muppets Courtyard • Streets of America (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure • Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show • Studio Backlot Tour) • Hercules "Zero to Hero" Victory Parade
Seasonal:A Merry Stitchmas • It's Good To Be Bad With The Disney Villains • La Parade de Noël Disney • Mickey et le Big Band de Noël • Mickey's Halloween Celebration
Seasonal:Chantons La Reine des Neiges • Disney's Maleficious Halloween Party • Disney's Showtime Spectacular • Dr. Facilier's Carnival-Loween • Following the Leader with Peter Pan • Goofy's Skeletoons Street Party • Frozen Summer Fun! • The Forest of Enchantment: A Disney Musical Adventure • Le Voeu de Noël de la Princesse Aurore • Mickey's Magical Celebration • Mickey's Winter Wonderland • Mickey and his Magic Halloween Night • La Parade d'Aladdin • Wishes
Resorts
Disneyland Hotel • Disney's Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel • Disney's Sequoia Lodge • Newport Bay Club Hotel • Disney's Hotel Cheyenne • Disney's Hotel Santa Fe
Television:Star Wars: The Clone Wars • Star Wars Rebels (videography) • Star Wars: Forces of Destiny • Star Wars Resistance • The Mandalorian • Star Wars: The Bad Batch • Star Wars: Visions • The Book of Boba Fett • Obi-Wan Kenobi • Andor • Tales of the Jedi • Star Wars: Ahsoka • The Acolyte • Star Wars: Lando • Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic • Skeleton Crew • Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Video Games:Club Penguin Star Wars Takeover • Star Wars Battlefront • Star Wars: Tiny Death Star • Star Wars: Assault Team • Angry Birds Star Wars • Angry Birds Star Wars II • Star Wars: Scene Maker • Star Wars: Commander • Disney Infinity: 3.0 Edition • Star Wars: Uprising • Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions • Star Wars: Mobile App • LEGO Star Wars:The Force Awakens • Star Wars: Force Arena • Star Wars Battlefront II • Disney Magic Kingdoms • Roblox • Star Wars: Squadrons • The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey to Batuu • Star Wars Jedi: Survivor• Kingdom Hearts IV Books:Star Wars The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight • Ahsoka • Star Wars: Bloodline • The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story • Battlefront II: Inferno Squad • Lost Stars • Star Wars: The High Republic Comics:Marvel Comics • Star Wars Adventures • Star Wars: Forces of Destiny Cancelled projects:Star Wars: Attack Squadrons
Imperial/First Order:Imperial Shuttle • Imperial Star Destroyer • TIE Fighter • TIE Advanced x1 • TIE Bomber • TIE Interceptor • TIE Advanced v1 • TIE Defender • First Order TIE fighter • First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter • TIE Striker • TIE Silencer • TIE Whisper • TIE Brute • Kylo Ren's command shuttle • AT-AT • AT-ST • AT-ACT • AT-DP • First Order AT-ST • First Order AT-AT • AT-M6 • Super Star Destroyer • Imperial Speeder Bike • 614-AvA Speeder Bike • Imperial Landing Craft • Imperial Freighter • First Order Star Destroyer • Imperial Interdictor • Zeta-Class Cargo Shuttle • Supremacy Miscellaneous:StarSpeeder 3000 • Slave I • Nightbrother • Colossus
Locations
Tatooine • Death Star • Yavin 4 • Hoth • Dagobah • Yoda's Hut • Cloud City • Bespin • Death Star II • Endor • Ryloth • Naboo • Coruscant • Jedi Temple • Kamino • Geonosis • Kashyyyk • Mustafar • Mandalore • Lothal • Lothal Jedi Temple • Bracca • Jakku • Starkiller Base • Takodana • D'Qar • Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple • Ahch-To • First Jedi Temple • Tree Library • Mirror Cave • Atollon • Garel • Malachor • Malachor Sith Temple • Wobani • Ring of Kafrene • Eadu • Scarif • Jedha • Dathomir • Dantooine • Cantonica • Canto Bight • Crait • Batuu • Exegol
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