| Star Tours: The Adventures Continue |
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| The new Star Tours promotional logo | |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering Industrial Light & Magic |
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| Attraction type | Motion simulator |
| Theme | Star Wars |
| Vehicle names | Starspeeder 1000 |
| Vehicle capacity | 40 |
| Ride duration | 4:30 minutes |
| Replaced | Star Tours |
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| Disney's Hollywood Studios | |||
| Land | Echo Lake | ||
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| Opening date | May 20, 2011 | ||
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| Disneyland | |||
| Land | Tomorrowland | ||
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| Opening date | June 3, 2011[1] | ||
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| Tokyo Disneyland | |
| Land | Tomorrowland |
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| Opening date | Spring 2013 |
| Cost | ¥7 billion |
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Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (advertised in some promotional materials as Star Tours 3-D) is an attraction located at Disneyland Park and at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is also set to open at Tokyo Disneyland in Spring 2013. Set in the fictional Star Wars universe, The Adventures Continue updates the two parks' original Star Tours attractions. Where Star Tours took place after the events of Return of the Jedi, The Adventures Continue is set earlier in the film series' timeline, between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The attraction opened on May 20, 2011 at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and on June 3, 2011 at Disneyland.[2][3]
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In April 2005, at the Star Wars Celebration III, creator George Lucas confirmed that a Star Tours II was in production. In May 2009, /Film reported that filming for the new version of Star Tours was underway in West Hollywood, California.[4]
At the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, it was announced that Star Tours at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios would be closed in October 2010 for total renovation and would re-open in May and June 2011 as Star Tours II. The updated ride system would consist of a high-definition video, a Dolby 3D[5] high-definition screen, an improved motion simulator, as well as several other newly added special effects. A short teaser trailer was shown at the expo featuring a podracing scene similar to that from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. An accompanying teaser picture depicted a red-colored "StarSpeeder 1000" spacecraft.[6]
In May 2010, Disney announced exact dates for the closure of Star Tours at both parks, both earlier than the originally announced October 2010 date. Star Tours closed on July 27 at Disneyland and closed on September 7 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.[7]
On June 11, 2010, at the "What's Next?" presentation, Disney announced that the re-imagined attraction would take place between episodes III and IV of the Star Wars film series and would be named Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. They also premiered an image showcasing the StarSpeeder 1000 flying through Coruscant.[8]
On August 12, 2010, during Celebration V, Disney showed a preview 'commercial' of what guests may expect to see, including visits to Endor, Bespin, and Alderaan (recently voted safest planet in the galaxy).[9]
On September 24, 2010, two new characters were revealed for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. The first one was Ace, the new pilot, and the second one was the Aly San San spokesdroid, voiced by Allison Janney.[10] During D23's "Destination D" event, Disneyland Resort President George Kalogridis stated that the new ride would feature 54 possible different experiences.
On October 26, 2010, Tom Fitzgerald, Executive VP and Senior Creative Excutive of Walt Disney Imagineering, stated that while "Ace" was supposed to be the pilot of the Starspeeder 1000's, by the time riders actually take off, the pilot would be C-3PO. Fitzgerald also mentioned that Captain Rex, the former Star Tours pilot (but within the series' timeline, the future pilot), would also make an appearance somewhere on the new version of the attraction.[11]
On February 11, 2011, Fitzgerald revealed that more characters would be encountered on the ride including; Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Imperial Stormtroopers, "Skytroopers", Admiral Ackbar, Yoda, Princess Leia and Chewbacca.[12] He confirmed on April 1, locations that guests could visit on the new attraction. Destinations include Tatooine, Coruscant, Hoth, Naboo, Kashyyyk, and the Death Star as it orbits Geonosis.[13]
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue is the seventh collaboration between Disney and Lucasfilm, after the previous Disney attractions Captain EO, Star Tours, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!, Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye, and Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull.
The attraction in Florida began soft openings on May 14, with the official opening on May 20, 2011 at midnight.
The attraction in Anaheim began soft openings on May 20, with the official opening in the morning of June 3, 2011.[1]
On November 16, 2011, the Tokyo Disney Resort announced that Tokyo Disneyland's existing Star Tours attraction would close on April 2, 2012. In Spring 2013, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue will open in its place.[14]
The exteriors of both Star Tours attractions are different in their respective parks. The attraction in Florida is inspired by an Ewok village on the forest moon of Endor, whereas the California version is modeled after a Tomorrowland-esque space port.
According to the opening crawl[15] that preceded the attraction's inaugural opening; after the Dark Times began, Captain Antilles had dispatched C-3PO and R2-D2, the series' protagonist droids who were placed in the custody of Antilles by order of Bail Organa near the end of Revenge of the Sith, to assist in the inauguration of the spaceline. The seemingly close relationship between the Rebel Alliance and the Star Tours agency, caused the Galactic Empire to believe that both entities were in a partnership, and thus has since monitored the agency's actions over the years.
Similar to the functionality of the previous attraction, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue places guests in the role of space tourists en route to a pre-determined destination. The queue is designed to resemble a spaceport terminal: posters advertise voyages to different planets, and a large LCD screen informs riders of the benefits of booking flights with Star Tours. The screen displays information in spoken basic language and Aurebesh. The queue is populated with Audio-Animatronic characters, including Mon Calamari officers, C-3PO and R2-D2, that interact with one another and to guests. Also visible in line is Captain Rex from the original attraction, who in accordance with the timeline of the rides hadn't been used yet, is defective and is being sent back to a factory to be fixed. He will occasionally have a power surge and deliver a line from the first Star Tours.
Guests then enter an area where luggage, cargo, and passengers are being thoroughly checked. G2 droids interact with guests as they conduct their tasks. Guests then retrieve their 3-D "flight glasses" and are directed by a flight agent to one of several loading stations where they wait for their turn to board.
Television monitors show C-3PO, who has been assigned to maintenance on the StarSpeeder that guests are about to board, is inadvertently trapped in the cockpit. Following this, Ally San San presents an instruction video (reminiscent of the original) to the guests on how to fasten their seat belts and where to place their belongings followed by the Disney Parks daily safety spiel in English and Spanish. Once the doors to the Starspeeder 1000 open, guests enter one of several ride simulators. After the doors close, C-3PO complains to R2-D2 about the misunderstanding, but is ignored when the StarSpeeder begins to take filght.
The ride sequence is randomized. This type of experience is known as a "Choose Its Own Adventure" because it has a branching narrative, but the system has control rather than the participants. This gives Star Tours the advantages of being both highly repeatable and constantly surprising. Even though guests can experience 54 different journeys, the main priority (delivering the Rebel spy to safety) is accomplished no matter what the sequence is. The Rebel spy's identity is chosen at random from among the guests on the attraction, and their picture is presented during the ride. When referring to the spy, characters will alter their dialogue depending on the gender of the person chosen as the spy (him, her, or them).
There are eleven random segments of the film (two opening segments, three primary destination segments, three hologram message segments, and three ending destination segments; when combined, they allow 54 different possible ride experiences.) which are presented in the ride:
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John Williams, who composed the music for all six of the original Star Wars films, was interested in scoring the attraction, but eventually declined the opportunity to write the new score for it. He had also declined writing the score for the original Star Tours attraction. Instead, Williams and his music editor found pre-recorded passages from the film scores to use in the attraction, and the in-ride music is taken from the original recordings. Michael Giacchino wrote additional arrangements of various Star Wars themes for use in the commercials and pre-show videos in the attraction.[17] Also, the signature Star Tours logo tones (composed by Richard Bellis) remains in the attraction.[21]
The attraction consists a new high-definition video, a Dolby 3D high-definition screen, an improved motion simulator and several newly added special effects. According to the Disneyland website (while the ride was under construction): "Star Tours is temporarily grounded for reimagining, as the Star Tours travel company plans for new interstellar routes in the Star Wars galaxy. When the all-new Star Tours reopened in 2011, it could take you for the first time to other Star Wars destinations — in 3D! Get ready for new journeys and exciting adventures!"
In the original version, passengers rode in a vehicle named the "Starspeeder 3000". Since the new attraction is set before the original film, the new ride vehicle is referred to as a "Starspeeder 1000".[22] The new vehicles are 'piloted' by an animatronic AC-38 droid, though during the show the controls are handed over to C-3PO.[11]
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