Star Tours: The Adventures Continue Articles
Disneyland's Soundsational Summer Plan
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The Disneyland Resort is hoping everyone loves a paradeand a couple of new ridesthis summer. That's what Walt Disney Co. has on tap to spur summer attendance as the Anaheim resort passes the halfway point on a multiproject, billion-dollar-plus renovation and expansion of its two theme parks and hotels. Mickey's Soundsational Parade is due next month at Disneyland. A Little Mermaid ride at ...
14 Venues, Show Temporarily Close In Disney Parks
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Disneyland Resort parks have 14 venues and one show that are temporarily closed during May, mostly for major makeovers or special events. Many of the projects are ending this month as the two parks -- Disneyland and Disney California Adventure -- prepare for the summer season. Along Disneyland's Rivers of America, four attractions and the Fantasmic! Show are shut down for preparations of the ...
Disneyland Set To Reopen Star Wars-Themed Store
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Disneyland plans Friday (today) to reopen a gift shop with an expanded "Star Wars" section in time for the debut of the upgraded Star Tours ride. Star Trader in Tomorrowland is set to return after undergoing renovations for almost three months, beginning Feb. 14. The remodeled store will have a larger selection of "Star Wars" merchandise and items promoting the Star Tours ride, which is based on the ...
Disneyland Gives 2,400 Chance To Ride Star Tours Early
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Fans can register for the chance to ride Star Tours before the upgraded ride officially opens in Disneyland. Disneyland announced Friday (today) that the park will allow a about 2,400 fans to get on the ride May 20 during a preview event, according to the official Disney Parks blog. The attendees will be the first people who will get to see the new attraction. The ride officially debuts June 3 ...
Star Tours Disneyland Relaunch T-Minus Three Weeks
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To say that Disneyland's old Star Tours ride (which originally opened in the park in 1987) was a little dated doesn't even begin to do it justice. Sure, some of the park's attractions are brought back with an admitted sense of nostalgia attached to them. Occasionally, enough time has passed for them to become kitschy and "cool again." Other times, all it takes is the unexpected death of a pop icon to ...
Star Tours 2.0 Journey Started 14 Years Ago At Skywalker Ranch
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After 14 years in the making, the long-rumored and oft-delayed remake of the Star Tours attraction at Disneyland is about to become a reality. Walt Disney Imagineering's Tom Fitzgerald has been there since the beginning, writing the attraction's original story line back in 1987 and shepherding Star Tours 2.0 since 1997. On June 3, the rebooted simulator ride makes its official debut at the Anaheim ...
Star Tours Jumps To Lightspeed
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Hang on, we're making the jump to lightspeed. Tomorrow the all-new Star ToursThe Adventures Continue, a reimagining of the classic Star Wars-themed ride, makes its highly anticipated debut at Walt Disney World (at Disneyland, June 3), and unless you have a T-14 hyperdrive, it's about as close as you're going to get to that Galaxy Far, Far Away. The entire attraction has been upgradedfrom the ...
Disneyland's New Star Tours Ride Is Light-Years Better Than The Original
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The new Star Tours attraction that will soon debut at Disneyland adds several layers of 3-D realism to the 1980s-era simulator ride, making the experience less like watching a movie and more like being in the middle of the action. I took a few preview rides Friday at Disneyland on the updated attraction, which offers 54 possible storylines, and I found myself wanting to jump back in line after each ...
Previewing Disneyland's Remodeled Star Tours Attraction
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Being a Disneyland Annual Passholder has its perks. In addition to discounts within Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks and hotels, passholders also have access to a variety of special events throughout the year. Most recently, annual passholders were given the chance to win a preview of Disneyland Park's new Star Tours The Adventures Continue attraction before it opens to the public June 3. ...
There Are Ways To Beat The Line At Star Tours
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The revamped Star Tours attraction at Disneyland is subtitled "The Adventures Continue," which is appropriate since right now just getting in is an adventure. Star Tours officially opened last week and has been generating lines that grow like the price of gold or oil. On Monday, the wait in the standby line reached 210 minutes, which makes one wonder what it will be like on Saturday. But ...
George Lucas's New Star Wars Disneyland Ride
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The new 3-D version of the Disney theme park ride Star Tours is a quantum leap above the original. Riders will face the unexpected - thousands of different permutations in the story line. The ride's repeat business should be superb. The original 1987 Star Tours ride "was relatively simplistic," says Star Wars creator George Lucas. "It went through basically an asteroid field and then we ...
New Disneyland Attractions Provide Endless Summer Fun
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Say the word "Disneyland" to any child and you're sure to get a smile. KSL got an inside look at some of the new attractions at one of the world's famous amusement parks. If Minnie Mouse doesn't get you moving, then maybe Pluto, or Goofy, or Donald Duck or Mickey himself will get you all revved up for Disneyland's Soundsational Summer. "The Soundsational Summer is two new attractions and a ...
Looking To The Stars
Hello Friends! Steven here with my latest take on anything Disneyness. I have been taking a break from writing for the last couple of months due to selling my house, buying a new one, and moving closer to town. I really had forgotten how much junk a person can collect being at the same house for 20 something years. I almost thought of calling myself a hoarder when I saw all the boxes we had packed ...
Lightsabers At Disneyland Are Fan Favorite
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Fans of the movie Star Wars now have two places to build their own lightsaber when they exit Star Tours at Disneyland. Before Star Tours re-opened in June, guests leaving the ride were funneled into the Star Trader merchandise shop. The guests would pass by a station where they could purchase and build their own lightsaber in eight or nine easy steps, depending on what kind of lightsaber they built. ...
Disneyland Resort Offers Plenty Of New Attractions
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The self-proclaimed "happiest place on Earth" is about to become a whole lot happier. When Disneyland Resort's new 12-acre Cars Land opens in time for next summer's tourist blitz, it will represent the latest achievement in the world of "imagineering" a word that was coined to emphasize the imagination of Disney engineers. Presently under construction in the Disney California Adventure park, ...
Reflections On My Trip To Disneyland
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I was a little worried about our trip to Disneyland, which took place last week. Last time I went with my older son, then 4 years old, and misjudged the scariness of Pirates of the Caribbean by a factor of about 10. He didn't want to go on rides after that, pegged me as a complete liar (it was going to happen some time ) and stayed in the fetal position for the rest of the month. Adding to ...
Wall-E Perfect Replacement For Captain EO At Disneyland
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Reports are surfacing that Disneyland is actively looking to replace Captain EO in its 3D theatre in tommorrowland. The park brought it back for an encore run after a 13 year run of "Honey, I shrunk the audience" made its home there. Now Captain EO's return has run its course as well and the park is looking for an upgrade. Disneyland brought back Captain EO in January of 2010 after the death of ...
Making Your Own Magic Kingdom
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I just got back to the real world -- from Disneyland. It was fascinating to watch people from all over the world as they were brilliantly funneled through cleverly planned entertainment. (Disclaimer: Call me "old school" but I only like the pre-Fantasia Mickey Mouse with no eye-balls and have never liked Goofy.) But it was also weird -- because nothing is real. And I'm feeling that more and more this ...
Harry Potter Day At Disneyland Turns Hope To Tears With The Wave Of A Wand
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This past Sunday, November 6, marked the fifth unofficial Harry Potter Day at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. According to the organizer's website: "Our event draws Potter fans from all over the Southland and far beyond for a day of mirth, mischief and magic! The elves are hard at work putting together this year's festivities, which will include a scavenger hunt (of sorts) the likes of which ...
Walking In A Winter Wonderland
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Having grown up in Southern California, I can't remember a time when I wasn't aware of Disneyland. I've loved the amusement park and all things Disney since I was itty bitty. I can remember being carried out to the car while it was still dark out when I was a little girl only to wake up again at Disneyland in awe. Now as an adult, I still find the "Happiest Place on Earth" just that. There's no ...
3 Reasons Disney Is More Valuable Than You Think
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Few businesses ever strive for excellence. Advantages, yes. Profits, undoubtedly. But excellence? Not so much. Thanks to a Christmas-break trip to Disneyland in California (not China), I now believe Walt Disney is a notable exception to this rule, and I'm backing my thesis with a CAPScall. Three things I learned on our winter vacation When it comes to Disneyland, I don't surprise easily. I'd been ...
Disneyland Will Let Fans Line Up Early For 24-Hour Party
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Disneyland's special 24-hour party actually will last up to 32 hours for some fans. Disney is allowing visitors to line up starting at 10 p.m. eight hours before a 24-hour party begins at Disneyland. The park is staying open for 24 hours for a special event on Leap Day, Feb. 29, calling it One More Disney Day. Disneyland will open gates at 6 a.m. Feb. 29 and close the park 6 a.m. March 1. ...
7 Tips For Tackling Disneyland In A Day
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I've been to Disneyland hundreds of times over the last two decades and have been writing the Funland theme park blog for about four years now. As a result, people are always asking me how to do everything at Disneyland in a single day. The short answer is you probably can't. It can be a struggle for even hard-core fans with military assault-like strategies. The longer answer is there's lots of ways ...
New Star Tours Is More Transporting Than Expected
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Disney did more than just update the ride to make the ride brand-new again I am not what you would call a Disney nerd. At least, not compared to the truly hardcore. However, I think it's safe to say that Disney's various parks have always been part of my life. I grew up in Florida, and many of my formative memories come from time spent at Walt Disney World. I remember spending the ...
Return Of A New Hope As Star Tours Strikes Back
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Ever since it opened at both the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort in 1987 and 1989 respectively, the attraction "Star Tours" had remained a perennial favorite among guests at both resorts. However, much like the "Star Wars" films, all good things must come to an end and so "Star Tours" closed up shop at both parks in 2010. Flash forward about a year and the new "Star Tours" attraction, ...
Visit Disneyland Every Day This Couple Has So Far
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The turnstile clicked for the 100th day in a row Monday for a couple continuing a streak of visiting Disneyland every day in 2012. Jeff Reitz and Tonya Mickesh met while scuba diving in 2006, and found they shared a love of Disneyland. They got the idea to visit every day in 2012 when the theme park announced it would be open for 24 hours on Leap Day. "I woke up New Year's Day and decided 'I'm ...
Disneyland Hikes Prices Fans Angry
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Disneyland, the self-proclaimed "Happiest Place on Earth," has ignited a strong response from many people angry about the latest price increase on all ticket options. With the new price hike, which took effect on Sunday, it now costs $87 (up from $81) for a one-day ticket to enter just one of the two California parks. For a one-day park-hopper ticket, guests are now paying $125 (up from $105). The ...
Disney Adventure Without The Kids
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When I told a New York friend I was heading to Disneyland to explore its appeal for adults, his immediate retort was that it would be a very brief visit. And when our group, not a person under 35, walked through the gates of Disneyland on a warm Saturday and contemplated the crush of elbow-high humanity before us, I wondered if perhaps he was right. Yet seven hours and eight attractions into my first ...
California vs. Paris: The Lands of The Future - Part One
This month and next, I shall be comparing the Lands of The Future found in the two Disneyland parks closest to my heart (California and Paris). In California, as per Florida, Tokyo and Hong Kong, this land is called Tomorrowland; in Paris this is called Discoveryland. For the benefit of these articles, when I say Tomorrowland, I am only referring to the California one; I am also only writing about the ...
Temperatures Rise And Crowds Drop
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If you're still out of school and have a high tolerance for heat, this might be a good week to visit Disneyland. One of the longest lines of the weekend was at Splash Mountain, which had a 65-minute stand-by wait Sunday afternoon, a good 40 minutes longer than Star Tours. The line for the Dole Whip stand was pretty long, too. Over at Disney California Adventure, there was an hour wait for ...
Learn From Disney And Let Single Riders Have Their Day
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I was in California recently for a wedding and, because I hadn't been since I was a kid, I did something unusual and slightly inappropriate: I went to Disneyland by myself. No one, from the park patrons to employees, wants to see you do that. It defeats the purpose to be alone in The Happiest Place on Earth. The single rider lines to fill out odd-numbered parties for the Matterhorn or Splash Mountain ...
