Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue is a Disney simulator ride theme park attraction located in Disneyland at Disneyland Resort in California, Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort in Tokyo, Japan and Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris in Paris, France. It officially opened in Florida on May 20, 2011, in California on June 3, 2011, in Tokyo on May 7, 2013 and in Paris on March 18, 2017. Early promotional materials referred to the ride as Star Tours II, while the alternate name Star Tours 3-D was used when the ride first opened.
The attraction replaced the original Star Tours attraction and serves as its prequel, taking place between Episodes III and IV and tying both trilogies together. Additional elements from Episode VII were added in late 2015 to promote the new film, while scenes depicting the planets Crait and Batuu from Episode VIII and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge respectively were added on November 17, 2017. Additions from Episode IX featuring the moon of Kef Bir and Exegol debuted on December 20, 2019. At the Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, it was announced that more destinations would be added to the rides in California, Florida and Paris in 2024, with Disneyland's debut of the those scenes taking place during the Season of the Force event from April 5th to June 2nd.
Some footage from the initial version of the ride appeared years later as part of a flight simulator in the Star Wars: Millennium Falcon themed area of the Disney Dream cruise ship.
==Opening crawl==
This crawl was shown at the attraction's grand opening ceremony.
==Plot summary==
Unlike the original Star Tours, the ride has twenty-one (originally eleven) segments that are randomly chosen during each viewing. In all, the various options resulted in 54 possible combinations.
Two new segments added in 2015 to promote The Force Awakens were locked into place for the duration of the Season of the Force event, after which the randomization was re-enabled. Additionally, variations of existing segments created in 2011 were activated for the first time, increasing variability further during the lock. The 2017 addition of material to promote The Last Jedi brought in more sequel trilogy content to create a full experience focused on the era as a result of criticism of the Jakku segment mismatching the rest of the attraction. The 2019 addition of The Rise of Skywalker material, initially presented as a locked experience, allowed the sequel trilogy to share more of the original unpredictability by providing two additional planets to shuffle through when the lock was removed.
2024 saw the addition of Seatos as a second planet option and additional hologram messages from Cassian Andor, Ahsoka Tano with Huyang and Chopper, and Din Djarin with Grogu. While Ahsoka and Cassian specifically reference the Rebellion, Din's message is more ambiguous. Scenes based on the sequel trilogy and new canon television series are considered non-canon since the original ride is part of the Legends continuity.
===Queue and boarding===
In one feature exclusive to the version of the ride at Tokyo Disneyland, guests first enter a room with a large video billboard advertising various travel destinations and revealing other details of the story, such as identifying the Star Tours terminal as only one part of Spaceport THX1138.
In every version of the ride, guests then enter a hangar where C-3PO and R2-D2 are busy repairing a StarSpeeder 1000 while a large screen displays commercials (some hosted by droid Aly San San), messages, flight lists and exterior views of a space station that presumably the waiting passengers are now inside, just like in the original attraction.
Guests pass by security droid G2-9T X-raying luggage, where a monitor displays various items inside the luggage (including many Star Wars and Disney references). Guests also pass by droid customs, where RX-24 is malfunctioning with a sticker labeled "Defective: return to factory."
After passing another droid screening passengers, G2-4T, guests reach the boarding area and watch video screens that display the outside of the StarSpeeder maintenance area where C-3PO speaks with the ships' pilot droid, AC-38, also known as Ace. C-3PO needs to sit in the pilot's seat to repair the binary motivator. Ace leaves to inspect the outside of the ship and then gets called away from the area. Guests then watch a safety video hosted by Aly San San. Ace does not return before the ship is elevated to the passenger boarding level, leaving C-3PO and R2-D2 on board the flight with passengers. Star Tours Flight 1401 is then cleared for take off despite C-3PO's protests, and R2-D2 takes control of the vessel.
===Spaceport escape===
This segment includes one of six scenes. Sequel-trilogy-era variants are non-canon.
*As the ship prepares to leave the hangar, Darth Vader flies into view on a Hover Platform, flanked by Sky troopers and stormtroopers to prevent the ship from leaving. A video screen identifies one of the passengers as a Rebel spy. Vader uses the Force to stop the ship until R2-D2 fires the laser cannons, and the StarSpeeder exits the hangar backwards and is a chased by TIE fighters. The ship then evades Star Destroyers and escapes into hyperspace. Alternate version: In another version of the scene, Boba Fett joins Vader and the Sky troopers.
*While the StarSpeeder is docked near the Millennium Falcon and Han Solo, a droid scans the ship and one of the passengers is identified as a Rebel spy, while outside Solo gets into a firefight with stormtroopers. The StarSpeeder then follows the Falcon as it flees the hangar and flies past Star Destroyers (causing severe damage to the bridge of one) before entering hyperspace.
*Non-canon: In a scene patterned after the original Darth Vader scene, Kylo Ren and First Order stormtroopers arrive, and Ren uses the Force to prevent the ship from leaving. After he identifies a spy and "traitor to the First Order," R2-D2 opens fires, and the ship flees as in the earlier version. (Added in 2017 to promote The Last Jedi.)
*Non-canon: In a scene similar to the probe droid scene featuring Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon, First Order stormtroopers join the droid while Rey and BB-8 replace Solo as they flee in the Falcon. (Added in 2017 to promote The Last Jedi.)
*Non-canon: In another variation of the probe droid scene, it is Ahsoka Tano's T-6 1974 ship that flees the stormtroopers with the StarSpeeder following close behind. (Added in 2024 to promote the Ahsoka television series.)
===Planet 1===
The ship exits hyperspace above one of five planets. Sequel-trilogy-era variants are non-canon.
*Battle of Hoth (1 BBY): The ship reaches the surface of Hoth and follows snowspeeders in an attack run on an AT-AT. The ship hits the ground and slides down an icy mountain before flying back into space.
*Skirmish on Kashyyyk: On Kashyyyk, the ship is caught in a speeder bike chase through the forest with some Wookiees. Chewbacca is thrown from his bike and hits the ship's windshield. The speeder then leaves the forest and heads for space.
*The ship arrives at Tatooine and drops through the atmosphere into the middle of the Boonta Eve Classic pod race of 1 BBY. After getting stuck to a podracer and having a wrench thrown at it by Sebulba, the speeder crosses the finish line and the podracer attached to it crashes before the speeder heads back into space.
*Non-canon: The ship arrives on Jakku in the midst of a chase between the Millennium Falcon and a squad of First Order TIE fighters through the wreckage. Finn (or Rey in an alternate version of the scene) appears on the screen asking what Star Tours is doing here and tells them to stay low. Diving into a wrecked Star Destroyer and avoiding debris, the ship stumbles into a group of scavengers, who steal the Star Tours seal. The ship then leaves before more damage can be done and heads for space. (Added in 2015 to promote The Force Awakens.)
*Non-canon: The ship drops from hyperspace flying past Endor, which 3PO comments on, and lands in the oceans of the moon of Kef Bir near the ruins of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station. When ocean waves send the StarSpeeder inside these remnants of the Battle of Endor, the ship encounters a pack of Dianoga before R2 gets the ship able to take off and leave the moon. (Added in 2019 to promote The Rise of Skywalker.)
===Hologram message===
Once back in space, the StarSpeeder receives a holographic message from one of ten different characters. Scenes based on the Sequel trilogy and new Canon television series are considered non-canon.
*Legends
**Yoda, Admiral Ackbar, or Princess Leia explains that you must help get the Rebel on board safely to a rendezvous point, and then sends the coordinates to R2-D2.
*Non-canon
**Ahsoka Tano (with her ship, Huyang, and Chopper behind her) greets Artoo and Threepio and explains that they must help get the Rebel on board safely to a rendezvous point she is sending them.(Added in 2024 to promote the Ahsoka series.)
**A hooded figure reveals himself to be Cassian Andor and says he has an urgent mission for the Rebellion and says to head to the coordinates he is sending. (Added in 2024 to promote the Andor series.)
**Din Djarin accompanied by Grogu tells us we can no longer stand in the shadows and asks us to join an unspecified battle while Grogu uses the Force to play with a frog before swallowing it. (Added in 2024 to promote The Mandalorian.)
**BB-8 asks for help with a secret mission to deliver vital information. 3PO refuses, but R2 accepts and makes a hyperspace jump. (Added in 2015 to promote The Force Awakens.)
**Maz Kanata, in the middle of a combat situation, asks the crew to join the Resistance. (Added in 2017 to promote The Last Jedi.)
**Poe Dameron, asking for help, is surprised at seeing R2 and 3PO before getting right to business and sending them the coordinates for their next destination. (Added in 2017 to promote The Last Jedi.)
**Lando Calrissian, happy to see Artoo and Threepio, explains that the First Order is rallying its forces and the Resistance needs their help. He tells them to rendezvous at the coordinates he is transmitting. (Added in 2019 to promote The Rise of Skywalker.)
===Planet 2===
After jumping through hyperspace, the ship reaches one of six destinations. The sequel-trilogy-era scenes are non-canon.
*Incident above Coruscant: The ship ends up in the middle of a battle high above Coruscant, and is attacked by Buzz droids. R2 takes care of one droid, while the others are knocked off in the battle. The ship then flies through the city traffic below before reaching a landing platform, where a number of parked StarSpeeders can be found. An alternate option added later has the Millennium Falcon and Chewbacca appear on the platform instead.
*Skirmish over Naboo: The StarSpeeder reaches Naboo in the middle of a space battle. The ship then follows a group of N-1 starfighters to the surface, and eventually lands in the ocean near a Gungan city, either dodging or crashing into Jar Jar Binks upon arrival. After traveling through the planet core and encountering dangerous sea creatures, the ship launches back to the surface and crash-lands in a Rebel hangar, where it crashes into an N-1. The N-1's tail ends up inside the craft, smashing into the viewport, as a pit droid angrily shouts at Threepio. Alternatively, the StarSpeeder only breaks the tail of the N-1 off, angering the pit droid working on it, resulting in him throwing paint onto the viewport.
*Skirmish at Geonosis: In the Geonosis asteroid belt, the StarSpeeder is chased by Boba Fett in Slave I. The ship escapes but then encounters the incomplete, first Death Star while pursued by Vader and his TIE pilots. The ship escapes by flying right through the unfinished Death Star, but are then met again by Boba, who shoots a seismic charge at the ship. The StarSpeeder shoots it back, evading him and then heads into hyperspace to meet up with the Rebel fleet and land in the Home One hangar bay.
*Non-canon: Battle of Crait: The StarSpeeder arrives on Crait in the middle of the battle between the First Order and the Resistance. After escaping Tie Fighters by going through a cave, the StarSpeeder re-emerges in the midst of a battle with a group of All Terrain MegaCaliber Sixes and after taking down a few, the ship escapes to hyperspace. (Added it 2017 to promote The Last Jedi.)
*Non-canon: Battle of Exegol: The StarSpeeder arrives in the skies over Exegol, where the Resistance is engaging the Sith Eternal forces. As we dodge shots and debris in the chaotic battle, a frightened 3PO tells us he was happy to have us as passengers assuming we won't make it. After knocking a broken Sith TIE fighter off the ship's viewport, the StarSpeeder helps take out a Xyston-class Star Destroyer and then jumps back into hyperspace. (Added in 2019 to promote The Rise of Skywalker.)
*Non-canon: Incident on Seatos: Arriving in the skies of Seatos, the StarSpeeder finds themselves in the middle of a pod of Purrgil while the T-6 1974 is engaged in battle with two RP82 Fiend fighters, with Ahsoka asking for assistance. Weaving through the tentacles and avoiding being swallowed by one of the Purrgils, the StarSpeeder is able to take out one of the fighters and R2 has the ship spin in triumph to imitate Ahsoka's ship. Before the ship jumps away, Ahsoka wishes us safe travels and remarks that it was good to see R2 again. (Added in 2024 to promote Ahsoka.)
*Non-canon: If visiting sequel trilogy locations and Seatos, one of two additional ending scenes occurs. In one version, the ship escapes to Batuu, where C-3PO muses that their adventure is just beginning. Alternatively, the StarSpeeder returns to Spaceport THX1138. After dodging several outgoing ships, we land on a lower level, frightening a group of pit droids and catching the ire of AC-38, who approaches StarSpeeder demanding an explanation before the viewport shield closes.
==Development==
After years of rumors and speculation of an updated version of Star Tours, it was confirmed in April 2005, at Celebration III, where creator George Lucas announced that a Star Tours II was in production.
It was claimed at the 2009 D23 Expo, the official Disney fan convention, that there would not be a second ride introduced, but that instead the existing ride would be updated and improved. The original rides closed in 2010 (July 27 in California and September 8 in Florida) to allow Disney engineers to begin the updates and renovations. This new iteration of Star Tours re-opened on May 20, 2011 at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, and June 3, 2011 at Disneyland in California.
The new ride is in 3-D, and features the StarSpeeder 1000, bursting into the Boonta Eve Classic pod race. In a high-resolution image of the scene provided to various media outlets, the 1000 designation on the speeder could be seen. It was also confirmed that the new ride would take passengers to Coruscant among other destinations, and there were rumors that the Endor flight would be reworked as well so that passengers would actually go to Endor this time. A new queue video "commercial" for the attraction was released in August 2010 at Celebration V which showed the StarSpeeder traveling to Bespin, Endor and Alderaan, though it was not confirmed that these would be destinations within the ride. In April, the final destination list was released, adding Naboo, Geonosis with the Death Star I under construction, Kashyyyk, and Hoth joining the already announced Tatooine and Coruscant.
Due to timeline concerns by the Imagineers, they changed the plan for the Hoth sequence from featuring Imperial walkers to focusing on wampas and tauntauns. However, when the plans for this version of the sequence were presented to George Lucas, he insisted on using the walkers and offered a continuity explanation that the Rebels and the Empire had a skirmish there before, and the reason the Rebels went back to establish Echo Base was that they believed the Empire would never suspect they would return there.
In September, the official Disney Parks Blog revealed two droids from the new attraction: a pilot droid from the AC series named Ace (a predecessor to RX-24 from the original) and a "spokesbot" named Aly San San, voiced by actress Allison Janney. The blog also revealed that the ride's story takes place between Episode III and Episode IV (19 BBY and 0 BBY). The Destination D23 event that announced these new droids also revealed that there would be 54 different experiences of the attraction.
In October, it was revealed that, although Star Tours uses AC Droid pilots, C-3PO would pilot the StarSpeeder 1000 in the attraction, through some chaotic mistake. The article also revealed that RX-24 would return, due to his popularity with thousands of fans.
The score of the ride was composed by Oscar winner Michael Giacchino, who, according to some reports, was a big fan of the original attraction.
In January, it was announced that Star Tours: The Adventures Continue would open on May 20, 2011 at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. In February, it was announced that the ride would open on June 3, 2011 at Disneyland in California. That same month, the Disney Parks Blog revealed that ride passengers would encounter Darth Vader, Boba Fett and Imperial jumptroopers. A May 2011 interview with Tom Fitzgerald revealed that Jar Jar Binks would also appear, and that James Earl Jones and Frank Oz would reprise their roles as Vader and Yoda. The interview also revealed that the StarSpeeders would travel underwater and slide on ice. On May 14, almost a week before its official opening, early previews of the ride began at Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida.
Similar to the original Star Tours, the ride varied depending on the theme park location. In November 2011, it was announced that a new ride would open at Tokyo Disneyland in Spring of 2013. Tokyo Disneyland featured most of the characters and aspects of the original American version of the rides at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. However, it also featured some additional content, such as an in-depth explanation of the spaceport shown in the queue area and rides, including the name of the spaceport in question (Spaceport THX1138). It also showed additional info about the location advertisements, as well as additional characters and droid models. It also featured three language settings: Aurebesh, English, and Japanese. At the end of the ride, three droids—F-25-OJSx, F-24-AMTx, and HHG-RX—were in poses mirroring that of the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Disney ride Haunted Mansion.
On November 16, 2015, a new segment set on Jakku debuted as part of Disneyland's "Season of the Force" event in order to promote The Force Awakens, then premiered at Disney's Hollywood Studios on December 1 of that year. Additionally, variants of existing segments created for the original 2011 show were activated for the first time, such as a version of the Vader opening featuring Boba Fett, an altered Naboo segment where the StarSpeeder hits the Gungan while visiting Otoh Gunga and the windshield is splattered with paint at the hangar, and a version of the Coruscant ending where Chewbacca greets guests from the Millennium Falcon cockpit.
On March 18, 2017, the Disneyland Paris version opened. While similar to its counterparts, Paris expanded on the "old droids in shipping containers" idea and relocated ROX-N and the original Goose Droids to additional shipping containers, with new builds of the upgraded GT droids taking over those spots.
On April 15, 2017, it was announced at Star Wars Celebration Orlando that a new segment set on Crait would be added in order to promote The Last Jedi. The segment was activated on November 17, 2017, and also included Batuu, a planet created for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The update also included a scene of Kylo Ren and the First Order, patterned after the similar Darth Vader scene that opened earlier ride variations. On October 23, 2019, it was announced that The Rise of Skywalker content would be added on December 20.
On March 5, 2024, it was announced that segments based around The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Andor would be added to the attraction, and the new segments debuted on April 5. This brought the number of sequence combinations up to 250.
==Merchandise==
As with the original version, upon exiting the ride, passengers are led to a store which sells merchandise based on Star Wars and the ride itself. This includes action figures, clothing, etc. At Disneyland the store is The Star Trader. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, the store is Tatooine Traders, themed to resemble the buildings of Mos Eisley and Mos Espa. Both stores include some exclusive merchandise sold only at Disney theme parks, including action figures of the various droids seen in the ride and queue, and StarSpeeder 1000 toys.Star Wars: Star Tours toy line
==Easter eggs==
===In the queue===
The G2 repair droids in the queue line (also found in the original version of the queue) are actually the skeletons of Audio-Animatronic geese from an old Disneyland show, America Sings. They were removed from the show during the last 2 years of its run. The droids can be heard singing variations of "I've been working on the railroad, all the livelong day," a reference to the song sung by the geese. The New Essential Guide to Droids nicknamed the G2s "Goose droids" as a nod to this show.
In the ride queue, after G2-9T somehow starts causing alarms to go off and gets a call from his supervisor, the droid at one point says "Uh, everything's perfectly alright now, w-we're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. Uh, how are you?," a paraphrase of a line spoken by Han Solo in A New Hope. He also says "Boring conversation, anyway" after cutting his supervisor off mid-sentence, which was also in the scene from the film.
One of the items scanned in the luggage by G2-9T was a Goofy doll, prompting him to say that the design was "really goofy." When finding a Goofy hat in another luggage set, G2-9T will mistake it for a Jar Jar Binks styled hat. A Chip and Dale doll set seen in scanned luggage has G2-9T calling them clones. Upon discovering the magic lamp from Aladdin, he mentions that the Star Tours' non-smoking policy extends to luggage as well.
WALL-E, from the Pixar film of the same name, can also be seen in one of the scans, attempting to get G2-9T's attention. G2-9T fails to see this, and clears the suitcase without noticing. Other luggage cameos include Madame Leota from the Haunted Mansion, a Stitch plush, Sorcerer Mickey's hat from Fantasia, Mike Wazowski's teddy bear from Monsters Inc., Indiana Jones's hat and whip, the Mighty Microscope and a snowflake from Adventure Thru Inner Space, and V.I.N.CENT from The Black Hole.
===On the ride===
The idea of going to Kashyyyk was suggested by John Lasseter, principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, and chief creative officer at Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. During the droid's scan in the stormtrooper opening, one of the images that flash by in the video hologram are photos of George Lucas.
In the scene on Coruscant, a video billboard can be seen advertising "Tomorrowland" in Aurebesh. Disneyland's Star Tours attraction is located in that park's Tomorrowland themed area.
References to the original ride are included when Threepio echoes a line from RX-24, saying, "I've always wanted to do this" (referring to a pod race, instead of the original's Death Star trench run), and again when he yells, "Brakes! Brakes! Where are the brakes?!" while careening through the Naboo hangar. A third quotation was added in 2019 when the StarSpeeder arrives at Kef Bir, where Threepio comments, "R2, we've passed the Endor moon!"
==Continuity==
According to "The Incredible Journey," an article in Star Wars Insider 127, the events of Star Tours: The Adventures Continue occurred at some point between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. While the attraction itself did not provide precise data about its chronology,Star Tours: The Adventures Continue Admiral Ackbar's appearance set it after his rescue from Imperial slavery in 1 BBY, and droid G2-9T's comment about the Yavin 4 Rebel headquarters also places it after that date. The Star Wars Blog article Convenient Daily Departures: The History of Star Tours finally placed the ride's date at about 1 BBY.
The seasonal Season of the Force version of the attraction, which included a scene set on Jakku, characters Finn and BB-8 and the First Order, was anachronistic with the timeline presented throughout the rest of the attraction. In one scene, riders were confronted by Darth Vader, and encountered Finn in the next. It can be assumed that the events presented in these scenes are non-canon. Further Sequel trilogy additions in 2017 smoothed out some of these issues by creating a new Kylo Ren intro and a reworked version of the scanning droid intro featuring First Order stormtroopers. The attraction is still randomized, but each flight includes either original content entirely based on Episodes I to VI, or entirely based on Episodes VII to IX. This avoids the most glaring continuity issues.
==Media==
===Poster gallery===
File:StarTours_II_poster.jpg|Original poster
File:Star_Tours_The_Rise_of_Skywalker_art.jpg|Advertisement for 2019 additions
File:Star_Tours_2024_art.jpg|Advertisement for 2024 additions
==Credits==
==Appearances==
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Miscellaneous films
Category:Star Tours (real-world)