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.

Photo Friday: R2D2's Bad Day

Time for another Photo Friday!

I was going through some of my photos from June of this year and I ran across this shot of R2D2's dome from the new Droid Factory at Tatooine Traders.  As I thought about this shot, I noticed that R2 is having a really bad day.  First his head has been pulled off.  Second is main eye is gone and finally he's been blasted!

Poor R2.

Tip Tuesday: Star Tours 2 - Skip the FastPass

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

A few weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure to travel to a galaxy far, far away thanks to Star Tours! Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has been open at Disney Hollywood Studios for more than a month now and the crowds are still lining up for this incredible experience.

Now, with the old Star Tours, I often told people not to worry with FastPass. The reason was fairly obvious - except for the busiest of times during the year, Star Tours usually was a walk on, so there was no need to waste a FastPass on it.

Now, however, it's common to see 30, 40 even 50 minute wait times, making FastPass an option worth considering. Even with these greatly increased wait times, making FastPass much more attractive, I still say skip the FastPass. There's a very good reason for this tip.

Part of the charm of Star Tours is not the attraction itself. It's the queue. The major problem with using FastPass is that you go through the queue so fast, you don't have time to take in all the great details and pure entertainment the queue has to offer.

Some of the best parts of the Star Tours 2 experience can be found in three different scenes in the queue area. The first is the repair bay as you initially walk into the attraction building. Here you will find two very familiar characters, C-3PO and R2-D2. The banter that happens between these two droids is something not to be missed. In addition, a very large monitor over your head presents promos for various Star Tours destinations and different announcements.

As you pass by C-3PO, you enter the baggage claim area. As you enter this area, look to your left to see if you recognize an old friend from the original version of Star Tours. Take a moment and listen to catch a few familiar phrases. On your right, you will meet a very unusual and interesting G2-4T droid who is scanning pieces of luggage - think of him as the droid version of TSA.

Anyway, you'll want to take several minutes to watch what happens as this droid scans different items and reacts what he finds. There are several tributes to other attractions and characters and at least one hidden Mickey.

Turning the corner, on your left you will meet another G2-4T droid. This less-than-cheerful droid is scanning you! If you watch the panel directly in front of the droid, you will notice a thermal image of the guests waiting in the queue. Like the baggage droid, pay attention to the droid's spiel, which reminds me, for some reason, of Patrick Warburton (the flight attendant in the Soarin' safety video for you Disney geeks out there).

Once you line up to board your Starspeeder 1000, pay close attention to the safety video. There are a bunch of hidden details and gags that are very funny.

So there you go -- that's why I say for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, skip the FastPass and enjoy the wait.

Until next time, May the Force be With You!

The Force is strong with these...

2009 © Lucasfilm Ltd.TM and Disney © All Rights Reserved. Photo by Greg Grusby.

I happened to run across this photo today on the Disney Web site and had to pass it along!

Caption:

Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Executive Tom Fitzgerald joins Industrial Light & Magic Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George and Star Wars creator George Lucas to review show concepts for the new Star Tours adventure.

Star Tours 2.0 finally in the works?

According to a post over at SlashFilm.com, LucasFilm currently is shooting scenes for the ever-so-long awaited update to Star Tours at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Supposedly Anthonly Daniels (C-3PO) will be shooting later this week. Assuming this is true, I'm glad to hear that Daniels will again lend his voice to the update to Star Tours. Apparently this new film (again according to the SlashFilm post) will feature Boba Fett, which leads me to think that the new film will still be based on the classic series (Episodes 4-6) as opposed to the prequels (though the article does mention that some prequel characters will be seen). Jawas and a Tusken Raider were apparently seen on set as well, which could mean a trip to Tattooine is in the works. Supposedly in the new ride, we will be chased by Boba Fett.

If this is the case, I wonder if there will be changes to the queue as well, since it talks more about the Endor Express than flights to Tattooine.