Star Wars in Disney Parks!
Walt Disney World: Part III – Hollywood Studios and More!
Today was the day I was to finally ride the original Tower of Terror. I was SUPER excited!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a smaller park that’s more focused on shows and entertainment than attractions but the few attractions they do have really pack a punch and the shows are among the best I have seen at a Disney park. Orlando seems to be a haven for film and stage hopefuls with plenty of roles to go around. Really top notch stuff coming out of these parks!
So we entered through some familiar looking gates — the new Disney California Adventure Park gates, while modeled after the Pan Pacific park theatre are actually modeled after Disney’s own Hollywood Studios park. I had no idea until DCA’s walls were about to come down in front of the new gates and a buddy of mine showed me a picture of the Hollywood Studios gate. I was surprised and thought that DCA’s walls had come down early. It’s striking how similar these parks look from the front!
And that’s not all. There’s even a Carthay Circle Theatre (which is a shop rather than a restaurant) and a lot of the same building replicas DCA has in it’s Hollywood Blvd. area. Even the gas station looks a lot like Oswald’s at DCA. I went to high school in Hollywood and lived there for about 5 years and they really nailed a lot of the tiny details. Their Crossroads of the World replica (information station at the park) is uncanny and their Max Factor building (a shopping plaza) is spot on.
After taking in the main drag Hollywood Blvd., we took a right and headed down Sunset Boulevard toward the Hollywood Tower Hotel known as Tower of Terror.
We took tons of photos of this attraction which seems to house more homages to the show than our DCA counterpart. Traveling through the 5th dimension caused me to laugh out loud in glee the first time the doors opened and we moved forward. It’s really neat and almost too stimulating upon the first ride. There’s just no way to sell how incredibly detailed and awesome this ride is. The day we came home we went to DLR and rode Tower and while it’s still a great ride and superior in a few areas, as a whole, I would have to say that Hollywood Studios’ version of the ride is in a completely different league.
Next it was onto Rockin’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. We had done this at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Paris and I remembered really enjoying it. The queue in Paris seemed a little more detailed but the facade was much better at Walt Disney World.
This ride has some great holograms for the pre-show and a nice story and great theming. We are granted backstage passes to a concert that’s happening in 10 minutes and Aerosmith has demanded that their manager sense a limo our way to get us there. Unfortunately there’s traffic but our “driver” seems to know some back-alley shortcuts. We take off into the dark night past some hollywood landmarks along with some rockin’ tunes. It’s a whirlwind thrill and if I had to compare it to something, it would be a mix of Space Mountain and California Screamin’ at DCA.
We grabbed a quick bite at the farmer’s market area. What was nice was the even though this was standard theme park fare, it’s pretty regional so BBQ baked beans and cole slaw are common hot dog toppings. I loved it! They also had bacon macaroni and cheese toppings. A great treat I have yet to discover at our 3rd and Fairfax farmer’s market.
Our first new-to-us attraction at this park was The Great Movie Ride. While it’s a great ride, it seems to be a lot like Jungle Cruise in the way that your “skipper” can make or break the ride, and you have multiple ones so landing multiple good hosts can be difficult. We had two pretty bad ones but there are some great things to look at. I liked how large the ride vehicles were. They really move a lot of people in there!
The Voyage of the Little Mermaid was a fun show with some cool laser effects and some great puppetry. However, there’s a whole scene where Ariel is live on stage singing a song and animated Ariel is singing and swimming on a projection right next to her. Seemed like a mixed message. It’s also a very truncated version of the film’s story. You should go into this having already seen the film.
Star Tours! While exactly the same as ours in almost every way including the queue (minus a few things), the exterior of this one is superior to Disneyland’s. There’s an AT-AT out front walking through the Endor Moon terrain. Super fun to look at and walk through!
Walking straight into the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, we had no idea what to expect. We walked into a very large set so we figured there’d be a lot of col stuff to see while the actors made their way from section to section in what may be a 15 minute show, or so. However, after the entire set gets used in the first scene, I was worried there wasn’t going to be much more to see. Then, the set change happened. This has to be some of the most incredible set design I have seen at any Disney park! The scenes are HUGE and the stunts are great. I highly recommend this show!
On our way back to Tower (I know, I know…), we stopped into the Beauty and the Beast show. Yet again, if you’re an out of work actor, make your way to Orlando because these shows are just top notch! Absolutely terrific performances all around and this show is a little longer than The Little Mermaid show although there’s still some plot holes if you have not seen the film.
Next was more of a showcase of all things Walt. Put together by D23, One Man’s Dream is a huge love letter to Walt with props from his boyhood desk with his name etched into the wood to his Glendale, CA office as it would have been seen on the lot. It’s a wonderful museum of Walt Disney treasures with an amazing film at the end that’s sure to bring tears to your eyes. Well done!
After this, we wandered the park awaiting Fantasmic! at 7pm. We planned on grabbing good seats at the amphitheater so a 5:30 arrival was key. We walked thru the Pixar area where their Toy Story Midway Mania was. We skipped it as the lines were just outlandish and we aren’t huge fans of the DCA version so we figured we weren’t missing anything. We saw Pizza Planet (having my birthday there next year for SURE! (I kid…)), a huge Muppet store (we skipped MuppetVision 3D), the backlot area (the backlot tour was down for the duration of our trip there), and skipped the Lights! Motor! Action! stunt show as we had seen it in Paris. After some sightseeing, it was time to go see the East Coast version of the Disneyland classic.
I took a little nap while waiting for the show but we certainly had GREAT seats! While it’s different, it was cool to see some added scenes with rarely seen characters like Pocahontas. Their dragon is like our old dragon and they have a smaller and sort of dinky version of the Mark Twain for the finale. All in all, it’s still a magical show but in the amphitheater setting, it seems a little too far away. I was still able to grab some awesome pictures. See if you can spot the Mickey with the weird eyes. What’s THAT about?
Tons more Fantasmic! pictures below! After leaving Hollywood Studios for the night, we headed over to The Magic Kingdom to take advantage of the extra magic hours. We headed over to the Tiki Room but they closed early so we went to Tomorrowland to check out Space Mountain which wasn’t bad. It’s very different and more like the pre-1998 DLR version. I really liked the star effect inside the queue — it was very convincing. Unfortunately we were not able to play with the interactive queue. Has anyone done it? Is it any good?
Before we left for the night, we went on TTA’s Peoplemover. It moved a lot faster than I expected and was visually different from our old Disneyland version but it was still a great ride with some incredible park views!
Another perfect day at WDW in the books! Nice touch upon exiting the Magic Kingdom for the night and retiring to our hotel room once again.
25 Years of Star Tours
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the popular Disneyland attraction Star Tours.
Below is a fan tribute video of the original Star Tours attraction created in computer graphics to every last detail. It’s a job well done!
http://youtu.be/_iv-FYZD6eE
Some Star Tours Facts:
Star Tours opened in January 1987, replacing another popular Disneyland attraction: Adventure Thru Inner Space.
The Mighty Microscope from Adventure Thru Inner Space can be found in the Star Tours video.
Star Tours quickly become one of Disney’s most popular attractions and versions were added to Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris.
The voice of Captain Rex is provided by Paul Reubens aka Pee-wee Herman!
In 2011, a new version of Star Tours opened with new destinations, updated effects, and 3D.
Look for hidden Disney and Star Wars references in the luggage which a robot is inspecting in the newly updated queue.
Happy Anniversary Star Tours!
Trip Report: November 27, 2011
Here’s a roundup of this past Sunday’s trip.
We got to the park early and had lunch at Storyteller’s Cafe. We were bummed we missed breakfast (they don’t offer Sunday brunch, we discovered) but lunch is SUPER inexpensive here. Just over $20 for my wife and I. Highly recommended for those on a budget.
We then headed straight to the new Grand Circle Tour exhibit at the Disney Gallery. Incredible! I wanted everything on the walls in that exhibit! I loved everything from the signage out front (with the working smoke stack!) to the train going around the back gallery. A must-see!
We then got to meet one of the Fab-5 in their holiday garb — Donald! He was a great character but had no wrangler! Strange but makes for good talking-to-your-neighbor-in-line time to get your picture just right!
We thought that today would be a fun time to try riding some things we never ride. Today started with the Matternhorn. After a month+ refurb, nothing has changed. Still rough and still with the old cars. Unfortunate.
Next was Small World Holiday! I only ride this twice a year so this was a nice treat! Looked and sounded great although one of the clowns that ride their bike on the wire was not working and one of the many suns had an eye (read: light) out. Other than that, it was perfect timing for us to get out of the heat and skip the Christmas parade madness. One day I’ll check that out.
On our way to our next ride, we saw the Tangled meetup had a short line (only 20 minutes compared to the normal 45+). We met Rapunzel and Flynn but it was pretty weird. Usually meeting characters is fun because they are big smiling faces that you mime with. These were kids our age and it seemed just — weird. Not sure what that was about.
We also checked out the Reindeer Roundup! We are never in the park early enough and we noticed that Santa Claus is also available for photos at the roundup! Even better, the BBQ restaurant was open pretty late in the day which made me excited to come back for dinner soon! It’s my favorite restaurant at Disneyland so dinner there would be killer!
We then put on our mining hats and headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We saw the queue was pretty long but the sign said only 10 minutes. After about a 5 minute wait, we saw that the queue was only going to the stairs and straight up. What a day for Disneyland — no lines!!! We had a great ride.
I went to take a picture of a beautifully autumn-red tree and accidentally punched myself in the eye with the camera. It was a beautiful tree! We also noticed that the collapsing mine projection looked new — although the rocks were not falling. You win some, you lose some.
After making our way through the NOS crowds, we grabbed some HMH fastpasses and made a b-line for DCA. We met up with fellow RSP-er Robert to ride his favorite DCA attraction: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It, too, had a short line and we were also the line-time-takers (we were given this lanyard).
However, I was not sure who to give the lanyard to, so I gave it to the person I thought best to get it — the bellhop loading us into the elevator. Not sure how that went down but let’s be honest, that’s the gauge for how long the line is. The ride looked and sounded great but unfortunately the mirror effect was not working correctly. I wonder what goes into that effect to make it so unreliable?
Robert here: I wanted to point out one other thing about our trip on Tower. Usually when you enter the library, the door closes, a flash of lightning strikes, and the TV turns on. At that precise moment, the lights go off. However, on this particular trip, the lights stayed on. They slowly started to dim and they were shut off about half way through the preshow video. I wonder if that was intentional or not. It was neat, but I think I prefer the lights to go out with the lightning strike.
We then headed back to Disneyland (sans Robert) to utilize some Star Tours fastpasses we got from a friend. Unfortunately, as great as the queue was, that’s all we saw. Our starspeeder was halted by a cast member so that we could sing Happy Birthday to another cast member and this seemed to break the entire spaceport. We did receive some neat re-admits that included Star Tours (they’re red) and planned on returning or utilizing for another ride. We ultimately did not.
Instead, we went to Haunted Mansion Holiday and lucky for us, we had fastpasses. This was the longest line of the day at 45 minutes! We sped onto the ride and everything looked, sounded, and smelled great! We even got into the lobby before the narrator began, into the stretching room as he began, and into the hallway right on time! I love when that all works out — but I also don’t think we should hope for that. It should be consistant.
After, we went to check out Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. I have to admit, this is one of the best looking rides in the park. But something is always a miss for me and I believe I found it. I don’t buy the movements of the vehicle. I get that they programmed human reactions into the ride vehicle but it takes me out of the experience. Also, all I see is a smooth track but all I feel is a bumpy ride. I spend most of the time trying to figure out what’s going on. I don’t like that I don’t enjoy the ride, but I also know I am in the minority here so I’ll ride with friends that enjoy it and think to myself that I am super flexible for my friends. Ha!
It’s Robert again! So while, David was getting stuck on Star Tours and riding some E Ticket attractions, I was with my girlfriend and a few friends at Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland Hotel. Boy I love that place. There are so many intricate details that I notice every time I go. While we were there, we witnessed a bunch of special effects including an erupting volcano, a sinking ship in a bottle, indoor rain, and a sinking bar stool! If you haven’t been there, please go. It’s one of my favorite places to be.
It was then time to check out the newly re-opened Pirates of the Caribbean with Robert, Inthia, and Dawn. We will cover the changes in a future post but wow, I thought there were some great changes! There were also some things missing and some things added. Fun ride all-in-all and no mermaids! Where would they put them anyway that would make any sense?
We split from Robert, Inthia, and Dawn to use our re-admit at Space Mountain while they went to ride HMH but again, the line was so short, we saved out re-admit for later! Another thrilling ride through the galaxy with a fun photo to boot. I noticed that they no longer utilize the TV screens at the top of the inside queue as no one waits up there anymore. I wish they’d update the videos/screens all together and maybe that’s next.
Robert again: So while they were on Space Mountain, Inthia, Dawn, and I got fastpasses for the Haunted Mansion Holiday. While waiting, we ate a delicious dinner at the French Market. I had a great sandwich in miniature Jack Skellington Coffin!
We then had a bad bout with attractions. We planned on trying to ride Star Tours with our group all back together but the fastpass line was 25+ minutes. We tried to ride HMH a second time but it was closed! We were, however, able to take a buzz through the Hundred Acre Woods with Winnie the Pooh. I really love that ride and am saddened every time I see the line so short. I really hope people make their way to that attraction enough!
While making our way back to HMH, we noticed that Splash Mountain had a holiday layover on its facade that looked really great! I guess it’s been around for a few years but I had never seen it before. Nice touch — wish it was lit at night.
Suzi and I left to try to make it to Tortilla Joe’s at DTD before the rest of the group went on HMH. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed for the night and we went home. What I did notice throughout the whole experience: the Davy Crockett Canoes are still open! I have to get on that before they shutter up for the winter!
It will be me, Robert, for the rest of this report:
After David and Suzi left, we finally made our way to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was great except, Madame Leota was no longer a floating ornament. She was stationary and there was no sign to her ornament pieces. Also, her face was being projected, which they never do anymore. It’s evident that they don’t use the projection often as they were not able to perfect it. The projection was not aligned with the bust inside the crystal ball and her eyes were very small and pinched in the middle. It really looked bad. I assume that was the reason the ride was closed earlier. When David went on it earlier in the day, he said that she looked good and was a floating ornament. Oh well… I’m sure they’ll fix her up soon.
We headed over to Fantasyland after the Mansion, and took a bunch of photos of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle while it was all decked out for Christmas. It is really beautiful. While over there, we walked through the Castle to view the Sleeping Beauty scenes. I love that it’s back. It brings great childhood memories.
After the Castle, we went on Snow White’s Scary Adventures. It was a great ride and everything looked amazing.
A trip to Casey Jr. came next. We sat in our favorite spot, the caboose. There’s nothing like a trip on Casey Jr. at night. It is something that is so special and uniquely Disneyland.
We ended our night with a late night ride of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day at Disneyland.
See you at the parks!
Trivia Tuesdays
Welcome to another Trivia Tuesday. Before we get on to our trivia question, let’s answer last week’s question, shall we? Remember the question?
“Name two of the many references to the Twilight Zone found in the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.”
Some answers are: A broken stopwatch, a thimble, an invader, the fortune telling machine, a pair of broken glasses, a trumpet, an envelope with Rod Serling’s name on it, a chalk outlined door…
Congratulations to those of you who knew the answer!
And now on to today’s question:
Which attraction did Star Tours replace?
Leave your answers in the comment section below and look out for future prizes!
Review: “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”
I. Love. Star Tours. The thought of them touching it 5 years ago would have scared the bejesus out of me. Sure, there have always been rumors circling about the outdated ride technology and a possible update to the attraction but isn’t that nostalgia what we love most about the parks? The Pepper’s Ghost effect has been around for hundreds of years and the Fantasyland rides are always among the longest of the lines in the park. Plus, we all know how badly Lucas and Co. messed up the Star Wars world by CG-ing (we coin terms here at Remain Seated Please) everything in lieu of practical effects.
Yet, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue NAILS IT. I was so sad on my final trip to the Endor moon but when the RSP crew got to ride the new attraction for a passholder preview, all of us were stunned. The story varies from ride to ride but at the ride’s core, you are at a Star Tours port awaiting your flight to an undisclosed location. They prep you for your flight on the Star Speeder 1000 by issuing you galactic flight goggles and then send you on your way.
The preflight sequence gives you a glimpse into the workings behind your port’s door. While your ship is being fueled, cleaned, and maintained, C3-P0 follows R2-D2 to your vehicle for a systems check. While our R2 unit is loaded, 3-P0 releases our pilot, Ace, in order to repair our navigation systems prior to takeoff. We then get the normal schpiel about galactic flight regulations and as soon as our star speeder is prepped and has approached the launch platform, the doors open and a steel flight path takes us into our ship.
A flight person gives us our final check and sends us on our way… but without our pilot! C3-P0 is now at the helm and no one at Star Tours is paying attention to his distress calls. This is where the differring stories begin.
There are rumored to be 54 different story combinations, all of which I will not give away but it seems that the stories are broken up into 5 different sections. Each segways into the next seamlessly through clever storytelling by the WDI team. We rode about 10 times over the course of a few days and can say that while it is exciting to have randomized flight sequrnces, there does not seem to be 54 sequences.
Now, a cast member did tell us that during previews not all destinations were being previewed and more destinations like the Endor moon and Geonosis. We have not, however, taken another flight since the ride’s greand re-opening June 3rd of this year and I have not seen anything new come up on any Disney blogs or Twitters. Have you seen them yet?
Even so, the good sequences and destinations are GREAT. Unfortunately, the bad ones are just boring. The CG, however, looks incredible thoughout (sans the preflight sequence. They really bought the farm on that one.) I had to go to Hoth 4 times before I even thought to look for CG environments or elements. For someone as finnicky as I am about such things, that’s a great sign. Fake environments are so distracting and for them to be 3D on top of that is just icing on the cake of diappointment (great band name, by the way). But this ride breaks that mentality. They pulled off great CG, great 3D, and a great story.
I highly recommend this ride for children of all ages. It’s interactive (one of your fellow passengers is a Rebel spy, as it turns out!), funny, gorgeous, and thrilling! There are numerous nods to the original attraction, there are special guests from the Star Wars films that visit you during the ride, and a great randomized ride sequence. The rumors of other destinations like Geonosis and the Endor moon are glimmers of hope that this ride will be more well taken care of by WDI and Lucas this time around (Remember when star tours motion simulator format was sold upon the idea of easy updates and enhancements?)
I loved Star Tours but Star Tours: The Adventures Continue pulls off the greatest feat of all – replacing an amazingly popular E-ticket attraction with something better.
Hidden Treasures
I love all of the hidden gems in the parks. From Europe to Anaheim or Mickeys to restrooms, there are so many small details and special touches that really drive the vision of Walt Disney into genius.
This gem is one I was shown by a cast member inside the brand new Star Trader in Tomorrowland. It’s a hidden Mickey do you see it?
It took me a while to find it but sure enough it was there. i actually thought this was the one she was talking about.
This also made me re-think my skepticism about the one on the planet at the Space Mountain exit. These hidden Mickeys are so well hidden that some can just be glanced over without a thought.
What are some of the most illusive “hidden trasures” you have found at the parks – be it hidden Mickey or otherwise? I cant wait to tell you about all of the freemason symbols throughout the park.
Welcome, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue!
We will have a much more lengthy review of this incredible and amazing ride soon, but for now, enjoy this little gem we captured last week!
As well as this ABSOLUTELY GENIUS piece of marketing done by the folks at TDA!
Something New in the Star Trader!
On our last visit to Disneyland, we noticed that we could peek inside the Star Trader which is getting a new make-over for the opening of Star Tours. What we saw inside was so cool. It makes me that much more excited for the new Star Tours.
Look what’s above the Star Trader! The area where we used to see the Peoplemover go by is now a Star Tours queue for aliens and other Star Wars characters. It’s really just a scrolling sheet with outlines of the characters, but it is such a great and simple touch. Details like this really sell the story. We believe that those aliens are on their way to a distant planet guided by Star Tours.
Now look at the top of the photo… Do you see anything familiar? Why it’s the X-Wing that has been hidden in the Starcade for so many years! It has now returned to the Star Trader! Here is a photo of the X-Wing in its previous Starcade home:
Star Tours opens June 3, 2011!
Star Tours
I love Star Tours and I believe that I will love the new Star Tours, The Adventures Continue, but can we talk about some of the rumors and some of our issues with this new incarnation?
Potential Pros:
- Multiple Destinations: I hope with my heart of hearts that we will be able to choose a gate when approaching the launch platforms. While a slightly longer trip with multiple destinations would be fun, I would also love it to act as more of a space port offering travelers choices.
- Glasses-less 3D: I am not a fan of 3D at all but for some reason, I am way into this. One of the biggest problems the old ride had was the aging film projection. Nostalgic? Absolutely. Distracting? You bet’cha! This technology will probably be the most futuristic thing in Tomorrowland.
- Seeing Rex Being Built in Queue: I haven’t seen this anywhere but with the hints that we are getting from TDA, I theorize that my favorite post-bird-animatronic droid will be working on Rex while listening to the radio and chatting it up with guests. A boy can hope!
Potential Cons:
- Pod Racing: with as much backlash as there has been, how were they able to justify a pod racing scene? I can’t wait to see how they integrate this into the story.
- No Classic Endor Moon Trips: Now, travelers are supposed to see Endor, Bespin, and Alderaan, but I am assuming that this will be within the new (older) timeline. I suppose I could bring my iPod and put on Rex’s old ride-through over one of the new trips, but it won’t be the same. Perhaps there might be a loading platform for a new “prototype” Starspeeder 3000 that is testing flights to the Endor Moon?
Hazy Areas:
- Ace or C3PO? People seemed to be outraged that they chose a “new” pilot droid for the Starspeeder 1000 and soon after, it was revealed that C3PO would be the pilot upon takeoff. Was this a last minute addition? I am excited for C3PO, though — just seemed to be a weird way to announce it.
- Updated Trips? One of the biggest selling points for Star Tours was that new trips could be added as necessary. It has only taken 23 years to follow up on that promise and that’s just too long. Might we see new trips every 5-or-so years?
Things I’d Like To See:
- Adventure Thru Inner Space: I am sure that I went on it as a kid, but at best I would have been a year old. I would love for there to be a nod at the classic attraction somewhere. There may have been before — to be honest, I never thought to look. But, a nod to the past in a building that hasn’t changed much would be a lot of fun.
- Starspeeder 2000: We will have gone from the modern (yet still run down) Starspeeder 3000 to the “old” (somehow more modern and souped up) Starspeeder 1000, I wouldn’t mind seeing a Starspeeder 2000 being worked on by R2 in the queue. Might not happen but would be a cool touch.
All-in-all, I couldn’t be more stoked for the new Star Tours. Already, the facade is getting an awesome facelift, the ride system has been updated, and there’s glasses-less 3D. With a potential to add trips to other Star Wars locales, I back it!
UPDATE: Robert just told me about the huge nod to Adventure Thru Inner Space in the old Star Tours. Please keep the heckling to a minimum. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest dodging right while avoiding a close call.