"Welcome aboard! This is Captain Rex in the cockpit. I know this is probably your first flight... And it's mine, too. Ha-ha..."

If you think that might be a problem, it becomes more dire when you find out your pilot is Pee Wee Herman. He doesn't quite understand how to fly your StarSpeeder 3000, even after two decades of trying, lol.

(The end picture of Rex is in the new attraction queue...)


Star Tours was conceived not long after George Lucas worked with Disney to create "Captian EO", a "4-D" movie starring a yet to be weirdo Micheal Jackson for the Imagination Pavilion in Epcot. Star Tours debuted in 1987 in Disneyland.

It was wholesaled copied to Disney-MGM studios and opened in December 1989, albeit with 6 ride vehicles rather than the four at Disneyland.

After 21 years, it got old enough to drink, and the rest is a sad story of decline. It probably got further depressed, when it was rumored for years that a replacement was coming. (When George Lucas says there's a replacement in the works, that's a pretty good source for the rumor, lol.) Star Tours closed after Celebration V (being held a few miles away) in Septemeber 2010.


(It's replacement, "Star Tours - The Adventures Continue", opened in mid-2011, and I have to admit, it was spectacular. No video, I didn't take video of any 3-D attraction, but you can read a spoiler free description of how the new attraction operated here:

[ Ссылка ] )


I'm including both the SD and HD versions I have. The SD version is better exposed, but the image bounces more, because the camcorders used were pretty big (relatively speaking) 3-CCD cameras. They're more difficult to control when you're being tossed about in a ride vehicle. (The 40-person ride vehicles had 6-degrees of freedom and could tilt up to 35 degrees in any direction. I have heard the vehicles never pushed their true limits.)

My HD camcorder had a lot less mass, so was more easily controllable, but it does get under-exposed in places. The HD version starts at 5:55 if you don't want to watch it twice. 😁

And yes, I know the opening picture is of the the updated attraction, but it was the only HD quality image I had of the entrance...

Star Tours was a popular attraction all the way to the end, but new tech and it's long life really did make it ready for replacement. Still, it was the only place you could go to jump through hyperspace and ride the trench scene from A New Hope!

And let's face it, it was STAR WARS, lol.

Chapters:
00:00 Queue
01:04 SD Version (2000/2005)
05:54 HD Version (2008)

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