| Star Tours: The Adventures Continue | |
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 | |
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Opened |
May 20, 2011 |
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Designers |
Walt Disney Imagineering & Industrial Light & Magic |
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Ride length |
4:30 |
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Preceded by |
Star Tours |
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (advertised in some promotional materials as Star Tours 3-D) is an attraction located at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Set in the fictional Star Wars universe, The Adventures Continue updates the original Star Tours attraction. Whereas 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.
History[]
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.
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 high-definition screen, an improved motion simulator, and 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.
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 on September 7 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
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.
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).
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. 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.
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. He confirmed locations that guests could visit on the new attraction on April 1. Destinations include Tatooine, Coruscant, Hoth, Naboo, Kashyyyk, and the Death Star as it orbits Geonosis.
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 began soft openings on May 14, with the official opening on May 20, 2011 at midnight.
Ride Description[]
According to the opening crawl 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 they have 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, hasn'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 that 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 (three primary destination segments, three secondary destinations, three hologram message segments, and two alternate openings; all when permuted equal 54) which are presented in the ride:
The Starspeeder 1000 takes off, although C-3PO protests he is not the captain. As the ship is about to leave the Star Tours terminal, two scenes may occur:
1. Darth Vader, Imperial Stormtroopers, and skytroopers arrive to arrest the Rebel spy aboard the speeder. Vader uses a Force-grip to keep the speeder from escaping. The Starspeeder fires its lasers at the Sith Lord, who deflects them with his lightsaber, allowing the shuttle to make a rapid exit backwards out of the hangar, with TIE Fighters chasing after it.
2. An Imperial probe droid detects the presence of the Rebel spy onboard the Starspeeder. At the same moment, Han Solo, facing detention by the Empire, opens fire on a platoon of Stormtroopers and races up the boarding ramp of the Millennium Falcon. The ship lifts off and launches out of the hangar with the Starspeeder in hot pursuit. After a few maneuvers, the Falcon jumps away, the Starspeeder shoots down a couple TIE Fighters, takes a few shots at a Star Destroyer, then jumps to lightspeed.
After jumping into lightspeed, three segments are possible:
1. The Starspeeder almost crashes on Hoth, where a battle between Rebels and Imperial AT-ATs is happening. After entering the combat zone against orders, the Starspeeder crash lands in the snow, teetering on the edge of a cliff. The ship falls over the side and rides the canyon like a luge, launching off another cliff into a deep canyon. R2-D2 re-engages the engines and the Starspeeder rockets back into space.
2. The Starspeeder reaches Tatooine and takes part in the Boonta Eve Podrace, along with the ever-cheating Sebulba. During the race, the Starspeeder collides with a podracer and the two become stuck together. The race concludes with the podracer-enhanced Starspeeder overtaking Sebulba, then jettisoning the podracer and flying back into space.
3. The Starspeeder lands on Kashyyyk, as Imperial jet speeders hunt it down through the lush Wookiee forest.
Then, back into space, a holo transmission of either Admiral Ackbar, Princess Leia, or Master Yoda orders the Starspeeder to take the Rebel spy to a safe location.
Despite C-3PO's protests, R2-D2 takes the speeder to one of three different outcomes:
1. The Starspeeder reaches a besieged Coruscant, where the last forces of the CIS are facing the Army of the Republic's Clone troopers. Weaving through dogfights, Republic Cruisers, and buzz droids, the Starspeeder then plummets through the planet's atmosphere and into the bustling sky traffic of the city planet. After several near misses, the Starspeeder careens to a halt on a landing platform, nearly hitting a fuel tanker before crashing into the traffic control droid.
2. The Starspeeder makes it to Naboo, which is under attack by the last Trade Federation armies. After a fight in the sky over Theed, the Starspeeder plummets into the depths of the planet and arrives near Otoh Gunga (with a brief appearance by Jar Jar Binks). As the speeder travels through the planet's core, carnivorous fish attack it. The Starspeeder then surfaces, skipping off the water and into a repair hangar filled with Starfighter debris. The Starspeeder smashes into the long tail of a Naboo fighter, breaking the windshield and angering the repair droid that falls into the cockpit.
3. The Starspeeder discovers the still uncompleted Death Star orbiting Geonosis. Ambushed in the asteroid field by Boba Fett aboard the Slave I, the Starspeeder dodges laser fire and exploding asteroids before venturing into the Death Star. Escaping through a hanger bay, the Starspeeder is confronted again by the bounty hunter. Fett launches a sonic bomb, which is deflected back by a laser blast from the Starspeeder. The explosion cripples the bounty hunter, allowing the Starspeeder to jump to light speed. It reaches the Rebel fleet, and lands onboard the Mon Calamari Cruiser, where the Rebel Alliance leaders await to offer congratulations.