Tip Tuesday: The shake, rattle and roll of Star Tours

It's time for another Tip Tuesday!

With Star Wars rumors flying around right now (including on this blog), I thought I'd share a quick tip about how to either reduce (or get more of) the shake, rattle and roll on Star Tours. 

First, a bit of a recap for those of you who might not have experienced Star Tours yet -- Star Tours is a motion simulator-based attraction.  Guests board a simulator car that tilts up and down and rotates from side to side in concert with the on-board movie to create the illusion that guests are riding in a star speeder to different destinations with all sorts of adventures.

Star Tours can be a very jostling attraction, especially for those who do not tolerate sharp motions all that well.  On the flip side, it can be a thrilling attraction for those who like the sense of being out of control.

So depending on which side of the, er, "force" (sorry for the bad pun, it was too tempting) you're part of, you can take some steps to either take some of the jostling out of Star Tours, or get the biggest thrill you can -- and it all depends on where you sit.

The first thing to remember is that the seats for the simulator take up the back half of the ride vehicle, as you can see from the diagram above.  The center of motion is located right about at the fourth seat from the left on row 1 - that's the pivot point.  All up/down and left/right movement is centered on this pivot point.  The closer you can be to the pivot point, the less shaky your overall ride will be because you won't be moving as much.  So if you want a smoother ride, try to sit on the front row, preferably in the center of the row - there's also a bit more leg room for those who are taller.

Conversely, if you want the most thrilling experience with the most movement, then you want to get as far away from the central pivot point as you can.  That means sitting in the back row on the far right or left side - those seats will experience the greatest range of motion and offer the biggest thrills.

So if you've been reluctant to take an adventure to a galaxy far, far away because you were concerned about getting a bit shaken up along the way - there are ways you can cut down on the jostle.  Or, if you're wanting to get the most of Star Tours, now you know where to sit.