Star Tours was a motion simulator attraction at several Disney theme parks, based on the successful Star Wars film series created by George Lucas. Set in the Star Wars universe, the attraction sent guests on an excursion trip to Endor, whilst being caught in an altercation between the New Republic and an Imperial Remnant. The attraction featured Captain "Rex" RX-24 along with series regulars R2-D2 and C-3PO.
At its debut at Disneyland in 1987, it was the first attraction based originally on a non-Disney licensed intellectual property. The first incarnation of the ride appeared in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in 1987, replacing the previous attraction, Adventure Thru Inner Space. The attraction had subsequent openings at Tokyo Disneyland, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disneyland Paris.
The attraction at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios closed in 2010 to allow conversion for its successor attraction, Star Tours - The Adventures Continue. The latter location was completed on May 20, 2011. Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris closed their versions for conversion in 2012 and 2016, marking the classic ride's final run of 29 years.
When I rode this back in 2003, I had no idea it was as old as 1987. It still wowed us in the 2000s.
When I rode this as a kid in 2010 I thought it was something recent! Cant imagine what ppl thought of it in 87!
Physical props are timeless, no CGI
@GTXDash-How, it is in pop culture that it came out in the 80's lol
It really didn't. I also saw it around 2000 and it was tedious. It FELT like you were sat in a rattly old box being forced to watch cliched scenes from the movie.
Not everyone can be a miserable fuck.
I really wish they would remake this and have a limited event with this loop.
Writing a letter and even asking Guest Services about it might help.... though it will be tough with the animatronics.
@@disneyboy3030 Hey, if they don't have still REX animatronic they can still rebuild him, probably update it slightly technology-wise to make him more expresseive and smoother while still do what he did in the original.
Me too. After all, Disney California adventure did the limited events of soarin over California during food 🍱 and wine 🍷 festival from March to late April.
I’d write to guest services too if I know how to reach them
@@thesneakertifosi for Studios they are in the building next to the entrance once you enter. Not the brown building but the one to the left of it.
I'm 61 and I saw this in 1987. I was 25. Thanks.
Was 17, here. This does bring back some good memories.
Twinsies! I’ll be 62 in October. 😂
I was born in 87 ^_^ I still have the poster for this!
@@williamhall2386that’s awesome 😎
I’ve been to Star tours when, I was 6 years old. Only in 2003.
I love how you can tell it's Paul Reubens
I know! His "ha ha" gave it away lol
According to Wookipedia, RX-24 (Rex) was built by "Reubens Robotic Systems"
That classic star wars feel, NOTHING beats it!
This was so incredible in the '80s. There was nothing else like it. So glad I got to see it again!
Me too.
Still incredible a few years ago imo
I masterbated on this ride
@@mr.joshua204 oh, really?
@@nathancruz9172 yes really. Suckah
God, that transition from the matte painting to the miniature trench at 3:36 *chef's kiss*
@@zerastarcatI'm fairly certain it's a matte painting because the view extends all the way to the Death Star's "horizon" and shows a much bigger field of view than the trench model could possibly have encompassed. I assume whoever painted it used a photograph of the first frame after the transition as a reference but only for the center of the painting.
They did the same thing in the original movie!
The whole thing is off the charts in terms of production quality for 1987. They must have used the full ILM rig together with the OG models. Just outstanding.
Mind blowing amount of work for what was basically just a theme park ride. I was blown away by the whole thing when I rode it as a kid back in the 80's, now you've gto these things in every mall with small rigs and cheap CGI reels... nowhere near as immersive.
Yeah they disguised it with the screen flash from the laser towers to make it less jarring, really clever.
Watching it in my VR device at maximum size is really something... Thank you so much for this !!!
Love the part when the rebel pilots are like “STAR TOURS WHAT ARE U DOING HERE?!?” epic.
"...are like"???
Don't worry bill, it's just the retarded robot again
Nice to see X-wings with their proper engine color again.
It's because, George Lucas was directly involved in the production.
i went on this ride in the late 80's... i still remember how i felt, i was jumping in and out of my seat, squealing in delight when it was the attack on the Death Star and the trench run... as a 6 year old, in those moments between the attack ont he Death Star and the launching of the proton torpedos into the shaft, i felt like i was actually one of the X-Wing pilots... it was so exhilirating... it actually makes me tear up a little bit thinking back to that time as a child, when my parents were still together, and the fear of melanoma was not in my father's eyes
I think you might get a kick out of this homemade version of the original Star Tours that was built for a birthday party... kzhead.info/sun/lb6Eop2MpKaki2g/bejne.html
I teared up reading this one. Almost exactly the same story, right down to my dad having cancer. Damn
Sorry to hear that, about your parents and especially your dad.
Jeez
When I rode this in the late 90's early 2000's I would squeeze the handles imagining I was deciding when to shoot and all
As much as I've tried to convince myself that Star Tours 2 is better, I have to admit the nostalgia of the original just can't be beat. The current one has some great moments, but there was something raw and special about this one and I miss it so much.
AGREED❤
you missed the whole thing. some person wanted to make money off you and did not care if the game was good or not. just money/time/cost. Get it?
waaay too many trips to Kashyyk on the new version........just give us the Death Star run!!!!!
it’s also because the original was made with *practical* effects, all of the new ones are 100% cgi if i’m not mistaken. there’s a documentary you can watch of the team that made the film for this ride :)
Idk I kinda hate the light speed teleportation thing in star tours 2.
This brings so much nostalgia and sadness, I miss the old real Disney and when Star Wars was Star Wars.
Before the Dark Times... before the (Disney) Empire. 🙂
The license can change hands again, parts can get replaced or struck from canon, you never know. Disney has enough non-Disney stock holdings that it can survive failure as an entertainment / culture-setting company. But even that cushion can vanish with time.
Cry harder and learn to love all SW.
@@futuristica1710 Whatever you say... Kennedy shill.
@@futuristica1710Agreed. What a bunch of men-children.
Pretty sure my ears tell me the droid pilot was voiced by Paul Reubens, aka Pewee Herman.
And you’d be right. 😊
Behind the Attraction agrees with your assessment.
Makes the ride MORE epic.
He did drop his signature "ha ha" somewhere in this short film.
@@mkaplan1383 additional voices from Disney's Hercules the animated series and lock from the nightmare before Christmas
When I was a kid, I remember getting this massive book filled with Star Wars' history, behind the scenes, and concept art of the original trilogy and the prequels, which were still coming out at the time. That book also contained a CD which had a track with an audio recording of this entire ride. Back then, before I had access to any sort of internet, it was incredible to imagine what the actual ride would've looked like and thus I had to use my imagination to fill in the blanks. I swear, I must've listened to that recording a hundred times. It's now incredible to see what the real deal looks like as if I'm fulfilling a longtime childhood wish.
How close is it to what you imagined?
@@gossy79 Shockingly close besides the Death Star trench run. I don't think I could've predicted that for some reason LOL.
That's a sweet story. Thank you for sharing 😊
Did you imagine Pee Wee Herman as the droid tour guide? You can hear Paul's Pee Wee giggle come out at 3:32 in the video here.
I had the big book of spaceships, the one with the droids and the one with the tools and weapons. I wore them thin and imagined endless stories from those pages. These days I can get so much more info on the wiki but my kid's fantasy is no longer what it once was :(
Folks, I saw this in the early nineties and it changed my life. Thanks for sharing.
For better or worse?
@@nullnull3355Great question lmao
I rode that so many times. I actually felt the movements of the ride while watching. So awesome. Back in 87 we went to DL one day and the ride was probably about a week from opening. As we were walking by a worker opened the door and said free preview. We were so stoked. Got to be one of the first to ride it. Back when Disney was magical.
Whatever happened to Disney? It used to be such a strong brand.
omg dude same here!!
🤣🤣🤣 SAME!!
Muscle memory is long term!!
@@gdutfulkbhh7537 what happened? it got suckered into going Woke is what happened.
God I loved this ride. It's criminal they didn't bring back Paul Reubens for the updated version, especially now that he's passed away. It was awesome he got a lifetime pass to Disneyland for doing this lol
Well, that's a kick in the nostalgias. My first family trip to Disney was in 88' when I was 11. My dad and I were so blown away by this ride that right after we got off we wanted to get back on the line and do it again. I remember my sister and mom going off to do something else while he and I waited the 2 hours to ride it again. Great memories, I'm glad this is still watchable all these years later.
2 hours? Was the wait that long? Thats like half a day
I've been in the ride so many times in my life that my body felt like it was recalling the ride movements in connection to the scenes
0:16 ❤
I was fortunate enough to attend a 1986 open house at WED in Glendale, CA while the attraction was being developed. We got a preview ride in one of the simulators when the special effects in the film weren't yet complete. Even with everything not being finished yet, everyone knew that this was going to blow people away. On a side note, at that same open house we got a preview of Splash Mountain. It was a miniature built at eye level so you could walk through it as if you were in one of the boats. It was incredibly detailed.
1:23 best part❤
OH MY GOD. they finally released it. I've been wanting to see a high quality scan of the original ride film for years
what great memories. In 1987, Jedi was released 4 years ago, and this was the ONLY Star Wars fix you could get, aside from trying to buy all the harder and harder to get merchandise. I was SOOO excited that day. One of my favorite parts of the ride was the LINE to get in. If others went, you'd remember it was through a hanger bay, surrounded by TONS of Star Wars tech. And there was a big screen above us with "flight departure" information and ADVERTISEMENTS. To THIS day, the one advertisement I remember most is.... "Ski the slopes of Hoth!"
I rode this ride in 1997 i was 13 at Disney world Florida 🎉
You are bang on ! The big ATAT that looked over you as you joined the que. The in flight safety vid had Chewbacca and an Ewok that kept getting it wrong !
Thank you for those memories. Many people forget just how much effort was put into the queue for the ride.
My wife and I went on Star Tours at Disneyland in 1991. The passenger seats were in a giant flight simulator, so you felt acceleration, braking, banks etc. It was extraordinary-the illusion of space flight was so real. A once in a lifetime experience. I’m 62 now and would give anything to ride Star Tours once more.
i was there in 91' maybe we were in the same cabin! it was cool but the motion sickness was real, even though the ride barely moved i can tell it was out of sync by a fraction of a second and it made me sick
I did in in 1993 in Florida… and 2012 again with my kids with the new footage. Now I get to fly full motion flight simulators for a living. But it’s mostly hours of boredom interspersed with seconds of sheer terror.
This is brilliant. It's is so good to see it in good quality.
Agreed 🎉
Stood in line for hours in 1987 to ride this. Thank you for posting.
I'll never forget the OG Star Tours, especially since Captain RX-24 still gets quoted sometimes around my family. I rode this several times starting at the first time I went to Disneyland in October 2005 (I was 5, being born in 2000). This was one of the things that got me into Star Wars altogether.
You might get a kick out of this homemade version of the original Star Tours... kzhead.info/sun/lb6Eop2MpKaki2g/bejne.html
Yeah and now Star Wars is fucking trash now thanks to Disney.
@@andrewcabral963 Part of its your opinion. I can sympathize with you partly, but Mando was great, and so was the Kenobi series.
@@rainbowrunner1550 Mando is just a pointless show that is going absolutely no where Mando and Grogu are not even relevant in the very long run in the shitquel trilogy and all Kenobi did was make more fucking retcons by saying oh yeah Obi Wan fought Vader again before A New Hope and he had the chance to kill him which was his one fucking job in the first place given to him by Yoda but he just let's him go and gives that job of killing him to Luke instead Obi Wan should've just killed Vader right there he could've saved millions of lives that Vader would slaughter throughout the next 9 years.
@@andrewcabral963 Whatever. Say what you want about the recent Star Wars content. I didn't intend for my simple comment about admiring the OG Star Tours to stir up a debate like this.
I still get goosebumps when you enter the trench run. It felt just like the film. I do enjoy the new Star Tours but this was just a perfect encapsulation of what Star Wars felt like. Not even just the ride itself but the line queue as well. I remember luggage was being moved around on the ceiling by metals baskets and a bunch of protocol droids slacking off in the work space it had real feeling of being lived in.
they need to bring this back. without the 3D. it was perfect.
Knowing this is all optical with motion control miniatures, it kind of boggles me to think about just how complex everything is. I don't think there are many model shots in the original trilogy with such a complex camera move. So much bluescreen work, so many calculations to make everything move together as if it were all in the same 3D space. I'm blown away
The beginning part was CGI, right? It looks incredible for 1987
Rode this ride in 1990 on my 5th birthday… most amazing experience ever
Love how casual the x-wing pilot is about the tour being in a combat zone. Every time I went on this as a kid I always wondered why Pee-Wee Herman was piloting a starcraft.
😎same here love pee wee
@@mikesilva3868 X-Wing Luke Skywalker
I'm puzzled as to why an Imperial remnant (according to the blurb up top) would have a Death Star. Still fun ride...
I like how the description says, “based on the successful Star Wars film series created by George Lucas”.
I rode this ride a 20 to 30 times. Always loved it, and also the Journey Through Inner Space ride that used to be in this building before Star Tours. Thank you Paul Reuben (Pee Wee Herman) for the voice. Great job. So much fun to see it again.
I actually got tears in my eyes. The only other version for years was sub-SD. This made me very happy :)
Agreed 😊
I was stationed at Norton AFB, San Bernardino from 87 to 93. My son and I knew Disneyland like the back of our hands and could run through the park in about 90 minutes. One of our favorites was Star Tours. This brings back great memories. I’m now 65 and my son is now 40 yrs old with 3 sons of his own. R.I.P. Paul Reubens. Thank you so much for this z ⭐️ c
Saw this in 1991 with 6 years in Paris the Force Feedback was insane. Half this Simulator, half rest of the Park. Then again with 11 years in 1996. I never thought anyone in 1000 years would be able to dislike Star Wars, but Disney can do it.
This is better than the Disney sequels. I'm not even being sarcastic, I enjoyed this more, on KZhead, not even on the real ride.
This five minute clip was indeed better than the entirety of the prequels and sequels.
@@IssanCaliRefugee This five minute clip is dogshit lmao
This ride was a ton of fun. They really pushed the technology to provide a thrilling and fun ride. Big grins on everyone on the way out.
Never thought i'd see this look this good!
RIP Paul Reubens. :(
me too we went to the same cinema he always was shaking and left after 5 minutes???????
Man I knew that was him!! Can't mistake that "hahah" laugh!
Seeing this make me cry…. The good old day in Disney
There was no better experience at Disneyland in the late 80s & early 90s than this. Absolutely loved it. Obviously Pirates & Haunted Mansion are perfect, but this was so fun. When Indy opened in 95 it took the top spot for me.
I’m old enough to remember when this replaced Journey Through Inner Space. It was beyond amazing. My mother got an upset stomach the first time and has never ridden it again. Brings back great memories.
I remember journey through inner space.
I remember this was the very first version of the ride I rode with pee-wee herman voicing the robot! Aww man I miss bein' a kid...thanks so much for uploading this!
Just went on the Star Tours in 2022 and this 1987 version looks way more realistic...
I have not been on any of the new Star Wars rides. Let me guess, they all use a massive amount of CGI right?
@@mr.robokat7993 Smuggler’s Run and the new Star Tours use CG, but Rise of the Resistance actually uses mostly animatronics.
@@cheeseburgerowl937 🎉cool info
I remember seeing this as a kid with my grandfather back in 97, what an amazing memory.
The last time I visited a Disney park was California Disneyland back in 1990. I only really have memory of 4 rides: Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Eo and Star Tours. I enjoyed Star Tours so much that I went on it twice. So good to see this film again after all these years.
RIP Paul Reubens
For those who didn't get to ride this attraction, imagine the torso of a robot pilot on the left side of the view screen, moving around during this entire ride, made it feel very real seeing your droid rookie pilot.
At 4:32, a lovely cameo featuring Teek from the 1985 Ewok TV movie “The Battle for Endor.” ✨
There was actually a stuffed animal of Teek that they put in the wait line for the ride as well. They put it in a basket that hung down from the overhead conveyor that was in the main area. I always made it a point to look for him while I was in line. If I recall it was still there the last time I was there in 2001.
This was about 1000000000x better than their current videos. What a travesty to lose this masterpiece.
Some of them are quite good, even if they are mostly CG.
This is a real treat because star tours was closed when I intended to see it in February 1991 with my family thank you I also wanted to say that I have an oculus go and I’m looking forward to seeing it in virtual reality.
i saw this in disneyland in 2012 and even then i was still immersed wow, they did not need to replace it
It was actually designed with being able to change the films/adventures in mind, but I wish they had kept the original adventure along with the new ones they have now.
… if it ain’t broke- FIX IT, right? 🤦🏻
@@MrBrian-pr6jk The adage of "If its not broke dont fix it" is dumb. We'd still be living in caves if we stuck to that attitude. Gotta try new things, and fail fast and often, its the only way to improve.
When I experienced this in 2006 I had no idea it was made in 1987. It was very well done and even waiting in line was a fun experience as C3PO and other cast were there
Thank you so much for this. This blew my mind in the mid 90s with my parents and sister going to Disneyland at the age of.. 9?. Best memories of my childhood. Honestly, thank you.
Brings back memories too 🎉
The star wars tours was way ahead of its time
they have a better written story than the sequel trilogy
Came here to say that. This feels like Star Wars.
That guy who says that-comment.
@@futuristica1710Why do you hate truth?
Is the empire or the rebels warning the ship to get out of harms way? Why is the ship (civilian?) firing at a death star (presumably, their own govt's-be like an american Cessna with tourists following and joining al qaeda fighter jets to attack an American aircraft carrier). Confusing, but fun. * no offence intended. Couldn't think of another non-state actor besides terrorist groups.
wtf are you talking about lmao. This ride looks like dogshit. They do what? Go through a comet, then go through a mock mini deathstar fight? The movies clearly beat this.
I rode this ride when it first came out in '88. As a "Die Hard STAR WARS Fan", this is the greatest thing ever to me.!!!
Rode this in 1995, blew my mind back then, still kinda does today watching this, thanks!!!
@0:55 look at the "Mighty Microscope" at the right, which is an homage to the "Journey Through Inner Space" attraction that Star Tours replaced.
It was only recently that i reallized that Paul Rubens (Peewee Herman) did the voice of the robot. I got to ride this while visiting disney world in 1993. It was pretty awesome getting to relive the experience from more than 30 years ago.
Still remember this experience as a youngster. Quite exhilarating. .
I remember riding on this as a little kid and it pretty much being the most amazing thing in the entire world. Doing the deathstar run was the pinnacle of my existence at that point lol
In my heart, this will always be more canon to me than anything Disney has made in the last ten years.
this was one of my fav rides at Disneyland...i saw this in the late 80s-mid 90s
My father turned 50 on New Years in 1991 - 1992. We flew to America from Finland. I was on this exact same ride back then. It was exactly the same! Thank you for sharing.
Bring this back permanently.
I like when the guy gets on the 80s telephone at the end
Look at that beautiful traditional model work. That's the Star Wars I remember.
Rode it for the first time on my seventh birthday in 1989 and was blown away. Nothing else like it back then. RIP Paul Reubens, aka Captain Rex
This is probably the clearest I've ever seen this footage! Very nice!
Dang, all the feels. Grew up in SoCali in the 80s and 90s, and this was always our favorite ride. Love the new one, too, but this is great nostalgia. Thanks for posting!
Nice! It's really cool hearing Pee-Wee doing a droid voice! I remember my miserable day of Disney World, this and the 3D Michael Jackson film were the coolest things next to Space Mountain!
Agreed 🎉
My first trip to Disneyland, since I grew up on the east coast, was in 1987 with a friend. This was brand new and we waited in a line that wrapped up and down Main Street twice before going into Tomorrowland and into the attraction. And we loved every minute of it. Of course Captain EO was also a new attraction and my friend was a huge Michael Jackson fan so we had to see that, too.
Paul, we love you.
My grandmother promised to take me to Disneyworld when I turned 8. I chose to go to MGM Studios because I was THAT big of a Star Wars nerd. Went again several times in the intervening decades, most recently last month to check out Galaxy’s Edge. Smuggler’s Run was cool and Rise of the Resistance blew my mind, but Star Tours still held a special place in my heart. Does anyone else remember actors in Ewok costumes in the gift shop? I can still recall going down that ramp and thinking it was a life-sized stuffed toy until it moved!
Yes!
@@deadmeat8754 Thank you!! You confirmed it wasn't just my childish imagination!
My family and I once’s witnessed an electrician or maintenance person get electrocuted at Disneyland maybe 30 plus years ago. We and others thought it was part of the show, although this was new since we never saw it before. We were like whoa such realism and clapped when paramedics arrived (good show guys) Only after the ride when we saw paramedics and firefighters outside of Star tours we realized it was not part of the show. Hope that guy was okay.
I remember as a kid ridding it, and this is giving me great flash backs. It would be fun if they did retro night and brought this back.
Great restoration! I've seen the similar original footage videos on KZhead, but they never looked quite right.
Oh, the nostalgia! I went on this at Disney World the year before it was closed for the big update!
I was SOOOO disappointed that Star Tours was closed for maintenance the one time my parents took me to Disneyland back in the mid-90's. I still get upset when I think about it, I would have LOVED this!
Interesting info 🎉
Rode it a hundred times back in the day… one of my favorites
This or the Indiana Jones one was the first ride I ever went on. When I was a kid I didn’t realize Disney didn’t make Star Wars, because of this ride. They still don’t, but now they have the rights.
I remember meeting Paul Rubén’s (Pee Wee Herman) back in the early 90s, and in our talk he mentioned how he had voiced the robot for this ride. I always thought it sounded like him, but someone was just trying to sound like him. But it WAS actually him. I always thought that was so rad. He also did the robot for Flight of the Navigator, which I thought someone had done the exact same thing. Ha.
I remember seeing this for the first time when I was about 6 years old. It was an incredible experience. Internet is a wonderful technology!
That was a nice treat. I'm a lifelong Star Wars fan and had never seen this before. Thank you for the trip down memory lane and the great feeling of nostalgia
was there in 1996! I wish I could get back in time and redo it all over again! Was an expensive vacation
Oh the memories! Back when i was 8 years old, my brother took me to Disneyland and we stopped by at tomorrowland. What got me stunned in awe was that there was a star wars themed ride called star tours. I got into star wars ever since i was in elementary school. I watched the original trilogy on VHS and i loved it! So it was the first time for me when we went on the ride.
OH that filled my heart with Joy! First rode in 1987 when I was eight...
This is the first time I've been able to keep my eyes open for the entire ride without getting sick!
Ah, back when they didn't just throw a bunch of CG at the screen. Actual models. It make a difference.
I love this original version, but it's kind of strange that there's a Death Star III. You'd think the Empire would've learned their lesson by now.
The empire at that point wasn't even thinking about the consequences of another financial disaster of a disco ball of death
It was just how it was for a while, build a new death star, it gets blown up, build again.
The backstory there is that it was a habitation sphere station converted to look like a Death Star by an Imperial warlord as a distraction. Though we don't know what its full capabilities were in terms of the superlaser, since it was blown up before it was finished.
This is legitimately the best version of Star Tours. The new scenes are more thrilling, but because they’re randomly stitched together they’re also less engaging from a storytelling perspective. I wish they brought back some version of the classic layout.
Makes me cry a little I went on this in 1989 for the first and last time with my Grandmother...
I've only ever been to Disneyland once, July 12, 1988, and I was lucky enough to be on this ride, very fun. Captain EO was great too. Pity what Disney has become today.
Those comets are straight out of Superman The Motion Picture
They’re shapped exactly like Superman’s escape pod:)
It's the same filming model, pulled from storage to do all the MoCo work
I rode this in the 90's, one of the highlights of my childhood being a massive Star Wars fan as a kid
R.E.X nous manque ! Cette boucle nous manque ! Cette atmosphère vieillote nous manque !!!
0:48 ❤
I remember going on this ride countless times through the 80s and 90s. I really miss this version.