oday In Disney History ~ May 14th
In May 2010, Disney announced exact dates for the closure of Star Tours at both parks, both earlier than the originally announced October 2010 date. Star Tours closed on July 27 at Disneyland and closed on September 7 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
On June 11, 2010, at the “What’s Next?” presentation, Disney announced that the re-imagined attraction would take place between episodes III and IV of the Star Wars film series and would be named Star Tours–The Adventures Continue. They also premiered an image showcasing the StarSpeeder 1000 flying through Coruscant.
On August 12, during Celebration V, Disney showed a preview ‘commercial’ of what guests may expect to see, including visits to Endor, Bespin, and Alderaan.By September 24, two new characters were revealed for Star Tours–The Adventures Continue. The first one was Ace, the new pilot, and the second one was the Aly San San spokesdroid, voiced by Allison Janney.[16] During D23’s “Destination D” event, Disneyland Resort President George Kalogridis stated that the new ride would feature 54 possible different experiences.
On October 26, Tom Fitzgerald, Executive VP and Senior Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, stated that while “Ace” was supposed to be the pilot of the Starspeeder 1000’s, by the time riders actually take off, the pilot would be C-3PO. Fitzgerald also mentioned that Captain Rex, the former Star Tours pilot (but within the series’ timeline, the future pilot), would also make an appearance somewhere on the new version of the attraction.[17] Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO in all the Star Wars films, returned to portray the character in three mediums; live-action suit, motion capture and Audio-animatronic voice.
Fitzgerald revealed on February 11, 2011, that more characters would be encountered on the ride, including Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Imperial Stormtroopers, “Skytroopers”, Admiral Ackbar, Yoda, Princess Leia and Chewbacca. He confirmed on April 1, locations that guests could visit on the new attraction. Destinations include Tatooine, Coruscant, Hoth, Naboo, Kashyyyk, and the Death Star as it orbits Geonosis.
The attraction in Florida began soft openings on May 14, with the official opening at midnight on May 20, 2011. The attraction in Anaheim began soft openings on May 20, with the official opening in the morning of June 3, 2011.
At the 2015 D23 Expo, it was announced that an adventure themed to Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be added to the attraction.The new adventure became available beginning November 16, 2015.
TMSM Today in Graphic by Sherry Rinaldi DeHart; Wiki
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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