I have fond memories of Star Tours, the motion-simulated spaceship ride through the “Star Wars” galaxy. I went on the ride with my parents when I was a child and took my own kid as an adult. It was always my favorite ride, dodging meteors and enemy fire, and feeling the jump into hyperspace. But the last few times I’ve visited Disneyland, Star Tours appeared a little lackluster compared with the newer rides across the park at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

While Star Tours’ flight simulator may have been cutting-edge when it opened to long lines 37 years ago, it doesn’t have the same impact today as technology has advanced. The shorter lines and wait times, hovering around 30 minutes, are also a sign that its popularity has waned. It all makes me wonder whether Star Tours is reaching a point when its space travels will come to an end. Or if it should at least be moved out of Tomorrowland and into Galaxy’s Edge with the other “Star Wars” rides.

“I personally have noticed a severe downtick in its popularity, and even more so at Hollywood Studios [in Florida],” Mark Brickey, a Disneyland YouTuber since 2014, told SFGATE. He recently posted a video also wondering if it’s the end of Star Tours on his YouTube page.

“I’m not a Star Tours hater, but you know, it does feel a little outdated and antiquated,” Brickey said. “The problem with technology rides, like I said in my video, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion are never going to go out of style because they’re based on story, and you know, classic theatrical storytelling. But when you base a ride on technology, there’s always going to be a shelf life.”

When Star Tours opened on Jan. 9, 1987, the demand was so huge that it stayed open for three days and three nights. “Star Wars” creator George Lucas worked with Disney engineers to make the ride. It was the first time Disney and “Star Wars” came together, and it was the first time Disneyland had used a non-Disney film as a source of imagery for an attraction, the Los Angeles Times said.

“I had been talking for years with the Disney company about doing a project together,” Lucas told the Associated Press when it opened. “…Imagineering (the Disney research and development arm) came up with a concept of a (flight) simulator. I immediately said, ‘Yeah, that’ll be easy.’ Imagineering then developed the ride, and Industrial Light and Magic (Lucas’ special effects factory) made the movie.”

Since then, Star Tours has had updates, such as 3D technology and more storylines in 2011. Last year, Disney updated Star Tours again with Disney+ characters from “The Mandalorian,” “Andor” and “Ahsoka.” With these additions, the attraction has amassed 250 different storylines that guests could potentially experience.

Brickey doesn’t think that the recent promotion worked. “I was there, I believe, on the second day or the first day it opened, and the ride was basically 5 to 10 minutes [wait time] all day long,” he said. “They added transitional scenes, where the blue, sort of hologram communication device was characters from the three biggest shows on Disney+ … and it just didn’t seem that it made a difference at all.”

Meanwhile, Disney announced in April that Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Galaxy’s Edge is getting an update that is similar to one of the features that makes Star Tours so great.

Beginning in May 2026, Smugglers Run will be letting guests choose their own adventure, so each new ride could mean a new storyline. “For the first time ever, the crew will be in control of their destination, leading to potential adventures on Bespin, the wreckage of the second Death Star around Endor, or the just-announced bustling city-planet, Coruscant,” Disney wrote on its blog last month.

It’s turning the two rides into competitors. “Now we’re in a weird thing where there’s a similar version of it on the other side of the park, and I’m not by any means saying Smugglers Run Millennium Falcon is like a home run of an attraction, but I think Disney’s in an interesting spot where they have two rides, they’re very similar to each other and neither one of them is super popular,” Brickey said. “It feels very odd that they would want to hold on to both.”

He thinks that with the new movie, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” Disney’s promotions will drive even more people to Galaxy’s Edge, while Star Tours sits alone in Tomorrowland.

I would miss Star Tours, should Disney decide to eventually close it down. Even though it’s an older ride, I find Star Tours to be more fun than Smugglers Run. It’s immersive, the drops and jumps to hyperspace are still entertaining, and no matter where you sit, everyone has the same experience. But unless it keeps up technologically by introducing a major upgrade, rather than just storylines, I’m not so sure it will last.