Welcome back to the Drill. So as a special treat today, I am providing for you here a ride proposal that Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilms have for updating the old "Star Tours" ride film @ Disneyland and Disney-MGM Studio park. Keep in mind this is just a proposal and if it ever gets off the drawing board may change dramatically. A special thanks to Mouse Tales author David Koenig for providing this preview. For those of you that want to know about old time Disneyland and several facts about the park, David's "Mouse Tales" series are must reads. OK, lets take a peek at "Star Tours v2.0"
As we enter the existing Star Tours building, we discover that we're no longer headed for Endor. Our new destination: the Lunar Olympics on Yavin.
At first glance, the StarSpeeders we board appear to be the same 20-year-old models. In fact, they've all been replaced with new, state-of-the-art flight simulators featuring the latest in video flatscreens, audio systems, and in-flight effects. (There's even a proposal that passengers strap on helmets fitted with fiber optics and devices for 3-D visual and sound effects.)
In this trip, there's no Rex at the helm. Our pilot is a more seasoned veteran. So as we taxi through the shuttle bay, we see the StarSpeeder 3000 ahead of us suddenly take that familiar wrong turn. “Must be one of those new droids from Sector 7,” our pilot surmises.
We remain on course and launch through the portal straight ahead. We first join a spiral formation with a large number of other StarSpeeders, before kicking into lightspeed. Seconds later, we put on the brakes, caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic. No problem; remember, we have a veteran pilot. “I know a shortcut!” he remarks.
Our pilot veers off to the side, but soon finds himself hopelessly lost. He takes us down to the nearest planet to ask directions of some locals-not realizing that they're one of the pit crews for the pod races. Due to the language barrier, the pit crew mistakes our StarSpeeder for a last minute entry inthe race. They strap boosters to the sides of our craft, cart us to the starting line, and…
Vroooom! Suddenly we're in the middle of the pod race. Withthe added speed and obstacles, our pilot struggles to control our craft. We quickly catch the attention and ire of the The Phantom Menace's villainous pod racer, who seeks to forcefully drive us out of the competition. When his maneuvers don't deter us, the villain resorts to throwing a bomb onto our StarSpeeder. Our windshield explodes as glass appears to shatter into the cabin. Taking off, the villain turns up his afterburners, seemingly casting a fireball through our detonated windshield. For a brief Backdraft moment, guests feel the heat of his discharge.
The scorching destroys one of our engines and we begin to freefall. Fortunately our StarSpeeder's descent is slowed by smacking into the villain's pod racer and sending him barreling into the side of a cliff.
We crash headfirst into the sand, skid forward and smash into the bleachers. As we finally settle amid the smoke and debris, our pilot laughs nervously, “I meant to do that. A little shortcut.”
We exit our beat-up StarSpeeder onto the old rampway, which has been redecorated with debris and smashed-up bleachers. As we walk out, we're heckled by audio animatronic aliens in the bleachers. They mock our unpleasant landing and shout intergalactic profanities at us. The demolished stadium theme carries over to the Star Wars shop section of the Star Traders souvenir store.
Sounds like a blast doesnt it? According to Koenig, this is one of two proposals that WDI will be pitching. Since this one has been in the works since "Episode I" was released, it will be pitched first. The second idea (which is being kept under tight wraps at the moment) would be pitched in late June. Usually the newer ideas win out, but we'll see what happens. Also, the EARLIEST any Star Tours update would be opened would be January 2007. However, with a new CEO taking the reins at Disney and Lucas eager to work on a new ride film, the possibility of this coming to fruition looks brighter than it ever has before.
Hope you enjoyed the preview. Til the next timewe meet.
DQ
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