Star Tours ~ I am the Rebel Spy ...
The new Star Tours is epic. Rode it twice and both times it was completely different. As someone who knew the old one's script by heart ("I know that its probably your first flight... and its mine too...") I was skeptical about revamping it, especially w/3D as I usually loathe 3D but I gotta say as time went on and everyone said how good it was I grew more and more excited to experience it....
It did not disappoint.
This is only a small fraction of the line... which ended up being ... *ahem*... four hours long. Yeeeeah. Let's just say the estimated wait time was, well, wrong, and by the time two hours had gone by (and yours truly had to take some Advil for a headache ) I realized that I was already invested and would hold out for the rest of the wait. however I didn't realize then it would be another two hours. Looking back I can't believe I did that. Luckily I brought my Nook with me and had my phone... heh. *shifty eyes* I may have actually read some fanfic while in that line. *coughs* ;-)
More of the line... they had the AC on full blast and it was not a hot day by any means (in the mid 70's) and that room still smelled like sweat from all those bodies crammed together)
Ok these next pics are kind of spoilers (though nothing major) so if ya don't wanna know... don't look, I guess. (I feel a bit odd warning for ride spoilers but I know some folks like to be totally surprised...)
Remember the old Star Tours travel posters on the wall? IIRC they had Endor, Hoth, Tatooine, Bespin, Yavin and ... I can't remember the others now. Anyway, they've been replaced by these. There is another for Naboo and one other that I can't recall off the top of my head. (I think I got a pic on my SLR camera but I haven't looked at those yet...)
I love the attention to detail like Star Wars writing style under Coruscant. that writing is all over the 'pre-show' line, too. I have a pic of it on my SLR that I can add to this post later but basically its one of those giant ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE screens for the Star Tours Travel company. I noticed there were some listings for several SW planets (Endor, Hoth, Tattooine, Naboo, Coruscant, Ord Mantell, Chalindria, and several more. The most clever (not to mention sad if you think about it) was the listed ALDERAAN; GATE: please see agent.
Like I said love the details.
There's also a homage to Captain Rex, not the character from Clone Wars, but the old pilot from the original Star Tours.
Awwww he's been marked defective!
R2 and 3P0 still man the starspeeder in the front gate queue area and they show "commercials" for various travel destinations. funny but even though I knew they changed things I was still a bit taken aback that they weren't the same commercials (I can recite those old ones in my head, man. "Star Tours announces new discount fares to Tatooine ..." & "there you can ride a tauntaun before taking a visit to Jabba's palace..." ) There's also a supposed "live shot" of various space craft outside the Anaheim "space port" which I thought was rather clever as well.
The ride itself is a lot of fun. As said above I generally loathe 3D (usually because it gives me headaches) but this didn't bother me at all as it was very well done. They still have the simulators so that's basically the same but the story is different. Instead of Captain Rex 3P0 gets to pilot and he's (in typical fashion) not too thrilled about it.
There's several different versions of the ride and the first time my "flight" took me to Coruscant and Kashik. At the beginning there was a scene where a hologram of Vader appears accusing 3P0 of having a rebel spy on board. My memory of everything is hazy. I do recall buzz droids attacking and Star destroyers but most of what stays with me is the reaction of the crowd. Everyone loved it.
And the Disney employee checking to make sure we were all fastened in correctly was pretty amusing. He made a pun about Star Tours being brought to you 'by Wookie Cookies - they're Chewie!' *rimshot* Heh.
I lucked out and got to go again as someone who said she had to leave early gave me her Fastpass. the second time my ride took me to Hoth where we flew around AT-AT walkers and (IIRC) crashed into a snow bank) and then we went to Naboo where we went underwater with Jar Jar. (heh, yeah. I don't care if I am going to be labeled as someone who can't think for herself, (even tho I can thank you very much,) but I AM one the people who loathe Jar Jar... ugh... that said he very much did NOT ruin the ride for me because seriously? it was AWESOME. ) This time Leia was our hologram and she has one line that is pretty amusing but that I will not spoil. XD
All in all it's a great ride ... I think Indiana Jones is still my all time favourite ride (heh, dirty puns about how I'm sure Dr. Jones is a great ride *wink, wink* nonwithstanding ... ;-)) but this new version of Star Tours is high on the list. :D
Though I do kind of miss the nostalgia of the original Star Tours. "It was my first flight and I'm still getting used to my programming" ... Aw, I'll miss you, Captain Rex. Defective or not!
I can't wait to go back and ride it again. and again. :) Locals? I got my AP renewed. Anytime ya wanna go... :D
Heh, I also had fun playing the "Overheard at Disneyland" game... I so enjoy people watching. Heh. I overheard an older man asking these girls if they were Team Edward or Team Jacob and what exactly did that even mean. He got an earful- next time I saw him he looked kind of pained and I can only imagine he was wishing he hadn't asked. LMAO
Oh before I close this ...
Also - yes. I actually did go to Disneyland by myself. I've done it before but usually to meet someone so my time alone was always limited to small bits of time. This was the first time I spent all day by myself... Believe it or not i was actually challenged to do so by my counselor. I have this thing about doing certain things alone. Like for example I'm not one of those people who mind going to movies alone - hey we're all sitting in the dark anyway - but at places like Disneyland where you're usually with a group - or at least one other person - it's a bit intimidating for me. But I knew I could keep myself entertained and when my counselor asked me why I didn't feel comfortable and then challenged me - I decided to prove it to myself. And for the most part I did. There were a few times I felt a little twinge of wishing I was with a friend (or a SO - especially with all of the cute couples around) but overall I proved to myself that I do enjoy my own company. And I have to say it's great for someone who loves photography to be alone because you don't have to worry about slowing anyone down while you stop to take photos of everything. YEs, even after years of going to Disney I still find things to photograph. What can I say? I'm a photographer. It's part of me. :D (These cell phone pics don't count - they suck in quality but are provided to give an idea of the ride ... )
I'm rambling. I'll shush now. :D
Please forgive any typing errors -- Posted via LiveJournal app for Android.
It did not disappoint.
This is only a small fraction of the line... which ended up being ... *ahem*... four hours long. Yeeeeah. Let's just say the estimated wait time was, well, wrong, and by the time two hours had gone by (and yours truly had to take some Advil for a headache ) I realized that I was already invested and would hold out for the rest of the wait. however I didn't realize then it would be another two hours. Looking back I can't believe I did that. Luckily I brought my Nook with me and had my phone... heh. *shifty eyes* I may have actually read some fanfic while in that line. *coughs* ;-)
More of the line... they had the AC on full blast and it was not a hot day by any means (in the mid 70's) and that room still smelled like sweat from all those bodies crammed together)
Ok these next pics are kind of spoilers (though nothing major) so if ya don't wanna know... don't look, I guess. (I feel a bit odd warning for ride spoilers but I know some folks like to be totally surprised...)
Remember the old Star Tours travel posters on the wall? IIRC they had Endor, Hoth, Tatooine, Bespin, Yavin and ... I can't remember the others now. Anyway, they've been replaced by these. There is another for Naboo and one other that I can't recall off the top of my head. (I think I got a pic on my SLR camera but I haven't looked at those yet...)
I love the attention to detail like Star Wars writing style under Coruscant. that writing is all over the 'pre-show' line, too. I have a pic of it on my SLR that I can add to this post later but basically its one of those giant ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE screens for the Star Tours Travel company. I noticed there were some listings for several SW planets (Endor, Hoth, Tattooine, Naboo, Coruscant, Ord Mantell, Chalindria, and several more. The most clever (not to mention sad if you think about it) was the listed ALDERAAN; GATE: please see agent.
Like I said love the details.
There's also a homage to Captain Rex, not the character from Clone Wars, but the old pilot from the original Star Tours.
Awwww he's been marked defective!
R2 and 3P0 still man the starspeeder in the front gate queue area and they show "commercials" for various travel destinations. funny but even though I knew they changed things I was still a bit taken aback that they weren't the same commercials (I can recite those old ones in my head, man. "Star Tours announces new discount fares to Tatooine ..." & "there you can ride a tauntaun before taking a visit to Jabba's palace..." ) There's also a supposed "live shot" of various space craft outside the Anaheim "space port" which I thought was rather clever as well.
The ride itself is a lot of fun. As said above I generally loathe 3D (usually because it gives me headaches) but this didn't bother me at all as it was very well done. They still have the simulators so that's basically the same but the story is different. Instead of Captain Rex 3P0 gets to pilot and he's (in typical fashion) not too thrilled about it.
There's several different versions of the ride and the first time my "flight" took me to Coruscant and Kashik. At the beginning there was a scene where a hologram of Vader appears accusing 3P0 of having a rebel spy on board. My memory of everything is hazy. I do recall buzz droids attacking and Star destroyers but most of what stays with me is the reaction of the crowd. Everyone loved it.
And the Disney employee checking to make sure we were all fastened in correctly was pretty amusing. He made a pun about Star Tours being brought to you 'by Wookie Cookies - they're Chewie!' *rimshot* Heh.
I lucked out and got to go again as someone who said she had to leave early gave me her Fastpass. the second time my ride took me to Hoth where we flew around AT-AT walkers and (IIRC) crashed into a snow bank) and then we went to Naboo where we went underwater with Jar Jar. (heh, yeah. I don't care if I am going to be labeled as someone who can't think for herself, (even tho I can thank you very much,) but I AM one the people who loathe Jar Jar... ugh... that said he very much did NOT ruin the ride for me because seriously? it was AWESOME. ) This time Leia was our hologram and she has one line that is pretty amusing but that I will not spoil. XD
All in all it's a great ride ... I think Indiana Jones is still my all time favourite ride (heh, dirty puns about how I'm sure Dr. Jones is a great ride *wink, wink* nonwithstanding ... ;-)) but this new version of Star Tours is high on the list. :D
Though I do kind of miss the nostalgia of the original Star Tours. "It was my first flight and I'm still getting used to my programming" ... Aw, I'll miss you, Captain Rex. Defective or not!
I can't wait to go back and ride it again. and again. :) Locals? I got my AP renewed. Anytime ya wanna go... :D
Heh, I also had fun playing the "Overheard at Disneyland" game... I so enjoy people watching. Heh. I overheard an older man asking these girls if they were Team Edward or Team Jacob and what exactly did that even mean. He got an earful- next time I saw him he looked kind of pained and I can only imagine he was wishing he hadn't asked. LMAO
Oh before I close this ...
Also - yes. I actually did go to Disneyland by myself. I've done it before but usually to meet someone so my time alone was always limited to small bits of time. This was the first time I spent all day by myself... Believe it or not i was actually challenged to do so by my counselor. I have this thing about doing certain things alone. Like for example I'm not one of those people who mind going to movies alone - hey we're all sitting in the dark anyway - but at places like Disneyland where you're usually with a group - or at least one other person - it's a bit intimidating for me. But I knew I could keep myself entertained and when my counselor asked me why I didn't feel comfortable and then challenged me - I decided to prove it to myself. And for the most part I did. There were a few times I felt a little twinge of wishing I was with a friend (or a SO - especially with all of the cute couples around) but overall I proved to myself that I do enjoy my own company. And I have to say it's great for someone who loves photography to be alone because you don't have to worry about slowing anyone down while you stop to take photos of everything. YEs, even after years of going to Disney I still find things to photograph. What can I say? I'm a photographer. It's part of me. :D (These cell phone pics don't count - they suck in quality but are provided to give an idea of the ride ... )
I'm rambling. I'll shush now. :D
Please forgive any typing errors -- Posted via LiveJournal app for Android.