Unless you’ve been living in an asteroid with a space slug, you’ve probably heard Disney parks have revamped the Star Tours ride. The ride first appeared at Disneyland in Anaheim in 1987, and it later showed up at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando. It didn’t change for over 20 years. Everything changes though. The Star Wars universe is expanding, and I think the ride was overdue for a touch up. Star Tours was closed last summer so it could be made over to continue the adventure. Fans have been watching sites like Star Tours 2 Live to get constant updates about the re-opening of the attraction.
For Disney’s Hollywood Studios park-goers, the wait is over. The Star Tours on the East side of the country opened on May 20th to coincide with the first of several Star Wars Weekends. The Disneyland version of the attraction doesn’t officially open until June 3rd. Cast members and lucky annual passholders have got to preview the ride early. Apparently they are doing soft openings for park visitors; you just have to walk past at the right time.
Why is it worth getting excited about? Besides the combination of Star Wars and Disney (which should be enough), Star Tours was getting dusty. The technology was behind the time, and it was drab. It was fun to ride for the sake of nostalgia, but everyone knew it could be better. For a long while I have enjoyed shopping at the adjacent Star Trader much more than actually going on the ride. And I sort of like Star Wars. The makeover brings necessary changes. The timeline shifts to the era between Revenge of the Sith and before A New Hope. Travelers on the Starspeeder 1000 will not only visit different planets, they can experience 54 different variations when they board. This Rebel can’t wait to go.
