MickeyBlog Review: Behind the Attraction: Star Tours
Star Tours started as one of the most novel rides in theme park history. Then, in future years, it got better.
In the latest Behind the Attraction, we will look at the development of this unique piece of Star Wars history.
Really, the entire episode is a loving tribute to the Star Wars franchise, though.
Let’s go Behind the Attraction to learn about the development of Star Tours, the first Star Wars ride at a Disney theme park.
Image: Star Wars
The Fate and the Force
George Lucas was born in Modesto, California, in 1944. This bit of history proved seminal for The Walt Disney Company.
Since Lucas was an 11-year-old with a fertile imagination, he persuaded his parents to visit the world’s first theme park.
Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Yes, the creator of Star Wars entered Disneyland for the first time on August 18th, 1955, its second day in business.
This is where I’m supposed to say that he loved everything about it, only he didn’t. Lucas felt that Tomorrowland didn’t match the quality of the other themed lands.
Yes, even as a kid, Lucas targeted the Achilles heel of that land. It struggled to seem futuristic enough. Unfortunately, that’s a criticism that has proven problematic over the years.
I mean, who can build a permanent location that will always seem ahead of its time? EPCOT later faced the same problem with Future World, which is why it’s leaving.
Still, for 30 years, Disney struggled with science fiction, which led to that much more embarrassment when Star Wars debuted.
In 1977, Lucas broke ground with his new sci-fi film franchise. Star Wars proved so successful that Disney aped it with The Black Hole, a failed 1979 project.
As the episode details, the movie’s failure triggered an awkward conversation between Imagineer Tony Baxter and Ron Miller, Walt Disney’s son-in-law.
At the time, Miller was in charge of the film division. Baxter informed Miller that they needed an outsider franchise for Tomorrowland.
Imagine telling your boss that he’s so bad at his job that your company needs an outside vendor. Yeah, that’s a bad day at work.
The Unlikely Union
Disney eyed two targets for filmmakers to bring into the fold, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
As you might imagine, Spielberg proved a non-starter due to his Universal Studios ties. So, they went to Lucas, who was receptive to the idea.
Alas, the unnamed attraction needed a concept beyond Star Wars. What type of attraction should a Star Wars experience entail?
Disney contemplated a roller coaster or other thrill ride. The problem was that a coaster wouldn’t carry the Star Wars theme well.
Baxter came up with an idea of a choice-based roller coaster where the cart might go in different directions each time.
The flaw with this design stems from spatial concerns. You need an additional track for each potential path. That would have required a massive ride building.
Randomly, the problem solved itself during a George Lucas visit to Imagineering.
One of the Imagineers, Randy Bright, had just returned from a trip to England. There, he’d learned of a new apparatus that could work with rides.
Bright created some illustrations of potential applications for the idea, none of which had impressed anybody.
Photo: D23
When Lucas saw them, he instantly gravitated to the premise. To Lucas, the idea signified the possibility of a real-life version of a Star Wars adventure.
Imagineers headed out to test the “rediffusion simulator.” It was effectively a box on stilts. A machine would shake the box.
When Disney workers put the simulator to the test, they…broke it. Imagineers understood that they’d need something that immersed the rider in the sensation.
Of course, this style led to a different series of problems, including motion sickness. Disney could handle that, though.
Photo Credit: Disney
So, Disney went into business with this company and George Lucas. This was the genesis of Star Tours.
Building a Story
By now, we’re all familiar with motion simulator attractions. However, Disney built the first one of its kind in the world.
Whenever you do something new, you must innovate. Some of these ideas stem from the technology. Others come from the story.
For Star Tours, Disney needed to do something that would entice Star Wars fans. Also, they needed a ride building that could solve theme park issues.
Photo Credit: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/File:Star_Tours_Loading_Area.jpg
Throughput matters to park officials. These strange rooms on stilts needed to acquire and then release guests in an orderly fashion. One room at the back wouldn’t have cut it.
With the story, Disney faced a different dilemma. Most of Star Wars involves interstellar battles and more than a few war crimes.
This ride was going to play at the Happiest Place on Earth. It’s not ideal for a war zone saga.
What idea would work? Well, they toyed with something involving Luke Skywalker that would have worked akin to Snow White’s Scary Adventures.
During the ride video, guests would have gradually realized they WERE Luke. But, alas, Imagineers remembered the flaws with Snow White, which confused guests.
Disney went to Plan B, which sounds like something a hippy would suggest. It’s a space tour featuring the Cosmic Winds tour bus. Yes, it’s very Partridge Family.
Somehow, Disney modified the premise enough that it proved viable to Lucas. His only request was that Disney upgrade the ride from time to time.
The new Star Tours approach involved a tour guide who accidentally took his group into a war zone. So, it effectively married the two extremely diverse ideas.
Continuing the Adventures
Lucas loved the idea of a Star Tours guide bumbling and bungling its way through the intergalactic war.
In other words, he loved his own creation, C-3PO, in a new form. Imagineers came up with R-3X, who turned into an iconic part of a first ride.
However, Disney remembered Lucas’ request. He wanted a plussed ride over the years.
So, Imagineers embarked on a multi-year journey to redefine Star Tours to modernize it. Finally, they thought they had an ace in the hole.
Disney knew that Star Wars sequels were coming out in the late 1990s. For this reason, park officials chose to wait on those before plussing the ride.
Of course, you cannot upgrade Star Tours after the first film in the new trilogy. You must wait on all of them. Otherwise, you might miss something important.
This thought process delayed all Star Tours improvements until at least 2005. Then, Disney prepped the Pod Race scene and some other stuff.
By this time, dozens of Star Wars worlds had grown familiar to audiences. Disney had to choose which one as a basis for the next story.
Thankfully, technology had improved by this point. During the genesis of Star Tours, Disney needed a 70mm film projector to exhibit the movie through the space portal window.
With digital film projection now a thing, Disney could create more than one scene. Imagineers referenced it as a “slot machine” approach.
This one modest change reinvigorated Star Tours, as the new version employs randomization. As a result, you’ll never get the same ride twice!
Seriously, the odds are in the thousands at this point, meaning you’d have to spend about a year at Star Tours to get the same experience twice.
That’s next-level plussing right there!
Final Thoughts
This episode doubles as a loving tribute to Disney’s entire relationship with Star Wars. It also explores other attractions and even a themed land.
So, I’ll discuss those elements in a non-attraction article later.
For now, what matters is that Imagineers built a Star Wars ride that made George Lucas proud!
Since 1987, Disneyland has featured a Tomorrowland attraction that never feels dated or derivative.
On the contrary, Disney plussing has turned it into an inimitable experience!
Suffice to say that Star Tours is MUCH better than a Black Hole ride would have been!
