For Revamped Star Tours, a Far, Far Better Journey

Back in 1989, when Star Tours opened at
Walt Disney World, it seemed plausibly futuristic. But more than two decades later, the Star Wars-themed attraction had begun to feel like it had been designed in a galaxy far, far less sophisticated than our own.

Clearly, something drastic needed to be done. Recently, it was. While the basic framework hasn’t changed, the redesigned ride now seems, well, if not exactly futuristic, then at least vaguely contemporary.

Star Tours is still a flight-simulator ride; that hasn’t changed. But now, instead of featuring characters from only the first three Star Wars films, it includes creatures from the entire series of six.

Another big change is that the visuals are in 3-D. And I’m here to tell you that if you haven’t seen Darth Vader and Jar Jar Binks in 3-D, you really haven’t seen them.

The ride now has about 50 different scenarios, and you never know which one you’re going to get. I recently sampled three of them, which, respectively, transported me through an undersea kingdom, the Wookiee world and Hoth, the ice planet. (In all three, the Empire was searching for a rebel spy disguised as a tourist.)

I suspect there are some fans who have, by now, sat through all 50 of these scenarios at least twice. The Force has always been with some of us more intensely than with others.

For more information, visit disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks.