Star Tours

Star Tours (1987, D: Richard Edlund) A fantastic ride which seems to be just as good every time. The ride does age, as does everything and could do with an upgrade. The projection system for instance is currently a Laserdisc based unit through an LCD system. It needs to be upgraded! But the ride in itself is just as great as ever. The ride is placed in all Disneyland parks, you cannot go to any of them without going on this ride!

In an effort to update their image, the Disney Theme Parks, with permission from George Lucas, produced the world's first motion simulator ride, Star Tours, which has been often copied, but never topped.

As opposed to a ride that goes somewhere or follows a track, Star Tours is a small theater that is bounced and jostled around in synch with a P.O.V. special effects film made by ILM where the craft flies through maintenance bays, meteors, and the famous death star trench. The effect is far more believable than it sounds.

The story is that guests are a commercial spaceport, boarding a flight to the moons of Endor, the que goes past several robots, including R2-D2 and C3-P0, repairing one of the shuttles.

The Shuttle is piloted by a first-time pilot robot, Rex who is physically there in front of the screen/window. The ship takes off to a rocky start, taking a wrong turn at the launch tunnels and flying through the maintenance bay, followed by light speed and a detour through a crystalline meteor shower. Then the craft stumbles into the middle of a battle between the Empire and the Rebellion, including Star Destroyers and the trench flight of the Death Star, then quickly returns home so the guests can be herded into the nearest souvenir shop to buy things.

I must say that I was a little surprised to find out that an amusment park ride was listed under IMDB. But, it does use film, so I guess. For those who have never expereinced Star Tours, you are missing out. This is one of the best rides at Disneyland park. Even though there is always a line, it is worth the wait.

Well, without the flight simulator cabin (at EuroDisney), this might not be as good - as it is, it's kind of like being in one of the battles in Star Wars. Can't comment on the dialogue, it was in French, but it's worth seeing if you happen to be there.

Found at both Tommorow Land (Disneyland) and MGM Studios (Disney World). This is one of the best rides in Disney. No kidding. You start out in line. Do not get a fast-pass. In WORLD, you get to go through Droid rooms, and all that fun stuff. A singing droid. The skeleton of the first Audio-animatronic. Egroeg Sacul.You will not want to miss this. Then you get in your Star-speeder. That's right, the same technology used for the military. You start out in liftoff. Oops, your captain, Rex, went the wrong way. Then he takes you on a ride to the Emperial Ship. Uh-oh. Anyway, I highly recomend this ride. Keep a look out for the Mighty Microscope, THX-1138, and a certain tag on Rex. Adieu