original star tours video

Disney History

25 Years Ago Today: Star Tours Debuts at Disneyland Park

by George Savvas , Director, Public Relations, Disneyland Resort

Though it may seem like something that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it was actually 25 years ago today at Disneyland park that the very first guests were transported to Endor on a Starspeeder.

This fun photo from 1987 says it all – the creative forces at Disney and Lucasfilm joined together to create something truly groundbreaking. Twenty five years later, that partnership continues as Disney Parks guests travel to even more amazing worlds in the Star Wars galaxy in Star Tours – The Adventures Continue .

Here’s to 25 years of out-of-this-world fun! What are your favorite Star Tours memories?

Destinations: 25 Years Ago Today: Star Tours Debuts at Disneyland Park

Topics: Disney History

I love Disneyland!! It never gets old!! 😀

My husband and I were at Disneyland this day!

It was very cool and I was very cool to go to Magic Kingdom Last year to see how it has evolved!

Thanks Disney and George Lucas!

A friend was an executive at Disneyland and had been on the preview ride. On his recommendation I went on it two days after the opening. The word wasn’t out yet and it was a walk-on. Next day the lines took off. Still love it, even more in the latest incarnation.

Star Tours is one of my favorite rides. I love the improvements of the attraction, and thank the Imagineers for it. I want to know if there are any plans to renew Tomorrow land, I think is on the the lands that needs some changes so it can look more futuristic.

I met my now husband that same year and we dated at Disneyland. I have a great picture of us infront of the ride close to where mickey is now. 25 years,still loving Disneyland, Star Tours and my hubby.

I was disappointed that it didn’t have the destinations showed in the terminal, even as a kid. Finally they put in more awesome places and advenutres. The three-dee is rad. I miss pee-wee though:(

CAN’T WAIT FOR LEAD DAY! ALL NIGHT DISNEY FUN!!!

I remember my best frind and I were in CA for Super Bowl XXII (Giants vs. Broncos) and we went to DLR that weekend. We rode Star Tours and thought it was fantastic – hard to believe that 25 years have passed.

As a 21-year-old annual passholder at the time, I was there for about 40 of the 60 hours that Disneyland was continously operating to celebrate the opening of “Star Tours.” Upon passing through the main entrance turnstiles that weekend, everybody was given a black “Star Tours – Inaugural Flight, January 1987” watch; I STILL have one of the two I received!

Thank you to all the Imagineers for making Star Tours happen, and especially Tony Baxter for all he’s done for the parks! We wouldn’t have so many great rides, not to mention Star Tours, if it weren’t for him. The original Star Tours has always been a favorite!

Wow, this brings back memories! My dad sold Imagineering the Bimba parts they used on the ride. I was still bummed about losing “Travels Through InnerSpace” because it was a ride we could always count on getting on when it was hot. But, having a tie-in to the Star Wars franchise inside of the park, I can remember waiting anxiously to see what they would come up with. Better still, though, was to see my dad’s face after the ride started, as he realized how the parts were, used was priceless.

wow thats awsomee cant wait to go on the new one b ut one word awsome

Now show a picture of the LINE from that week! And see who was at the opening party where Disneyland was open from 10am on January 9 through 10pm on January 11. Forget the One More Day’s 24 hours, how about 60 hours!

I loved this ride when it first came out in the 80’s…I still remember seeing Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on the big screen. . .When word got out that Star Tours would be updated we had a count down started and since I had a year pass my friend and I would take advantage of it. On Friday 01/06/12, I took my two nephews, who had recently saw Star Wars trilogy 4/5/6. They were in awe with what they saw before they even got on the ride. It was the only ride (thanks to Fast Pass) we got on twice! Full circle moment!

Can you explain Mickey’s outfit? Does it have any significance or was it just a snazzy 80s spacesuit?

Happy 25th anniversary Star Tours!

I Love how in the back of the photograph the couple stealing the show in the Disney archives. I do have one question about Star Tours is when are the rumors about extending the attraction include new locations?

My favorite memory of Star Tours was going on it the last weekend it was open. It had been 8 years since I’d been on it last, so it was really cool to go on it one last time.

This ride was exciting and revolutionary in the eighties. We were so excited when it opened and rode it countless times. So excited about the changes and upgrades and the plus it. Still haven’t been on but jumping on in January thanks to our Fast Passes we will be getting while we stay at Paradise Pier.

Wow it been 25 years already. I can still remember going with my family to Disneyland a couple months after the Star Tours opening I was 8 years old, and we had to wait in a two hour line to take a ride on the star speeder. It was well worth the wait.

I recall Mickey’s outfit (or a VERY similar one) from the late 80’s EPCOT Mickey. If I recall correctly, Mickey, Minnie, and a few other had the rainbow-adorned silver suits. Great pic!

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Star Tours: Inside the Secret History of Disney’s Classic ‘Star Wars’ Ride

The Disney Parks attraction’s origin and evolution is an adventure all its own

Earlier in January, Star Tours turned 35.

The groundbreaking attraction has been a favorite of Disney Parks visitors the world over, and it would prove an influential part of the “Star Wars” mythology, even today. In Jon Favreau’s “The Book of Boba Fett” (streaming now on Disney+) a familiar-looking droid has been dealing cards in the cantina/casino hideout The Sanctuary in the Tatooine village of Mos Espa. The droid looks like Rex, the inexperienced pilot of the original version of Star Tours. Predictably, fans went nuts.

In fact, the influence of Star Tours has been felt strongly in the current era of “Star Wars” on both the big and small screen. Rex previously appeared in an episode of animated series “Star Wars: Rebels,” and the Star Tours spaceship the Starspeeder made blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background appearances in J.J. Abrams two sequel trilogy installments, while Rian Johnson admitted a looser influence over his installment, “The Last Jedi.” The sequence where the Millennium Falcon is careening through the crystalline caverns of Crait was inspired by the original ride film’s trip through a craggy comet.

But the story of how Star Tours was developed – how it came to be, what technology was employed, and the profound implications for both the Disney Parks and George Lucas’ Lucasfilm – might be even more thrilling and complex than the actual ride, which was heavily retrofitted in 2010 now goes by the name Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.

So, without further ado, lightspeed to Endor !

A Long Time Ago …

Long before there was any kind of official partnership, Lucasfilm and Disney Parks were linked, thanks mostly to some fortuitous timing. George Lucas’ “Star Wars” hit theaters on May 25, 1977, intoxicating audiences with its depiction of bold heroes, dastardly villains, fussy droids and otherworldly creatures. Those that saw it went back again and again but itched for something more . Thankfully for Southern California audiences, Space Mountain, an adaptation of an attraction that opened at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom two years earlier, opened at Disneyland two days after “Star Wars.” Folks would go see “Star Wars” and then book it to Disneyland for a chance to ride Space Mountain, nestled in the far corner of Tomorrowland. The line for the attraction snaked from that distant part of Tomorrowland all the way up Main Street, U.S.A. Even if their pairing was still a decade away, Lucasfilm and Disney Parks were already strongly bound by the Force.

But if the actual Lucasfilm/Disney enterprise had a point of origin (something that we are painfully aware that George Lucas just loves ), it was when Michael Eisner, then the head of Paramount, decided to green light “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” As Brian Jay Jones recounts in his biography “George Lucas: A Life,” Lucas’ financial terms for the movie were aggressive and mirrored those of the “Star Wars” sequels. Lucas would fund the movie himself and the studio would “distribute the completed film in exchange for profits.” While many of the studios passed right away, Warner Bros., who had clumsily distributed Lucas’ first film “THX-1138,” initially wanted to make it, but they were ultimately usurped by Paramount and Eisner.  “George came over to my house,” Eisner later said, “and he said, ‘Let’s make the best deal they’ve ever made in Hollywood.’”

On November 7, 1979, Paramount announced an agreement with Lucasfilm – they’d agreed to Lucas’ demands and would be making “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Eisner believed in George Lucas, even when other studios didn’t. This is baffling, after the astronomical success of “Star Wars” just two years earlier, but true. “Eisner was no dummy,” Jones says now. “Professionally, they spoke the same language. They got the cultural sensibilities.”

Eisner’s decision to help Lucas out on “Raiders of the Lost Ark” would have far reaching ramifications; for one, it would lead to Paramount releasing one of the most successful franchises (after Lucas’ own “Star Wars”) of all time. It would also ultimately assist in the rehabilitation of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated brands, which by the early 1980s had fallen into disrepair and disinterest.

Rebellion Reborn

In 1984, after greenmail attempts by corporate raiders, the Walt Disney Company got a fresh transfusion of new executive talent in the form of Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and (a few months later) Jeffrey Katzenberg. As CEO and Chairman of the Board, Eisner set his sights on strengthening the company’s bottom line and refreshing the brand, which in the nearly 20 years since Walt Disney had died, became a creaky dinosaur, badly out of step with modern audiences and accompanying cultural shifts. (The year before Eisner became CEO, the top grossing Disney movie was “Never Cry Wolf,” with a whopping $29.6 million .)

Similarly, the Disney Parks had been badly neglected despite accounting for nearly 70% of the company’s annual revenue, in part because of the wobbly, extremely over-budget opening of EPCOT Center in Florida, but more pressingly because Disney wasn’t producing anything that could be adapted into rides, shows, or attractions at the parks. While Katzenberg looked to return the studio’s feature animation unit to its former glory (it existed, in the early 1980s, as a partially mothballed group that was in constant danger of shuttering completely), Eisner looked to the parks. “You couldn’t walk through the theme parks and not recognize that they lacked contemporary development. But when Frank and I walked down Main Street for the first time, Frank turned to me and said, ‘There’s so much here. There’s so much potential,’” Eisner recounted in “The Imagineering Story” documentary on Disney+.

Imagineering had reached out to Lucas before Eisner had been installed. Marty Sklar had set up a meeting between Ron Miller, who was president and CEO of Disney before Eisner (he was also Walt’s son-in-law), and Imagineer Tony Baxter. Baxter was, and remains, a superstar of Walt Disney Imagineering, the kind of persona that Disney fanatics dress up as at Disney fan conventions. (Seriously.) At the time, Baxter wasn’t even 40 and had already contributed to the Disney portfolio in meaningful, some would argue profound, ways. He was behind the Journey into Imagination pavilion at EPCOT Center, which featured some truly next-level technological breakthroughs alongside a whimsical story about the power of creativity; and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland, a runaway train thrill ride that would become instantly beloved and replicated at Disney parks the world over. Miller was still stinging from the failure of “The Black Hole,” Disney’s bid to challenge “Star Wars,” but agreed with Baxter that “Disneyland did need an infusion of new IP for younger generations of visitors” (according to Baxter). Miller suggested that they meet with Lucas at Miller’s Silverado Ranch. In addition to Sklar and Miller, Imagineers Rick Rothschild and Gary Krisel were also at the meeting. “There was no lag time between those initial agreements at the Silverado Vineyard, the subsequent leaving of Ron Miller, and Michael and Frank’s arrival in September 1984,” Baxter said. (Another former Imagineer had told me that after that initial meeting, “those discussions went nowhere.”)

Interestingly, before Eisner was hired, Disney board members had originally turned to Lucas to run the entire company in the early 1980s. “It wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life,” said Howard Roffman, who was the chief operating officer of Lucasfilm, in The Cinema of George Lucas by Marcus Hearn. Instead, the board offered the job to Eisner, the man who had the guts and the creative ambition to back “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Now Eisner quietly reached out to Lucas about projects with the Disney Parks. Lucas had been a lifelong Disneyland fan (his family had first visited the park on July 19, 1955, two days after it had opened), making annual treks to the resort. And just as Eisner had gotten behind a lucrative deal (in Lucas’ favor) for “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” he offered Lucas an equally eye-popping arrangement for his services: for every Lucas-originated project, the filmmaker would get $1 million per attraction per park per year. Lucas happily agreed. This arrangement even applied to later attractions Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (a fairly off-the-shelf rollercoaster with the Indiana Jones name) located in Disneyland Paris, and Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull (essentially a clone of the Disneyland attraction) at Tokyo Disney Sea.

According to Baxter, during their first week at Disney, Eisner and Wells asked several Imagineers to come in on a Saturday and pitch “everything we had in conceptual design.” For Baxter, that meant he showed off the “Star Wars” project and what would later be known as Splash Mountain. (This is the infamous meeting where Eisner brought along his son Breck. Eisner told Baxter that Breck “loved theme parks” and Michael knew little about theme parks.) Both Star Tours and Splash Mountain were “given the green light” during Baxter’s presentation but according to Baxter executives were “disturbed” by the proposed 3-year production time designated for Star Tours. Famously, Eisner willed the teen-oriented dance club Videopolis into existence at Disneyland in a mere 100 days, partially due to architect Chris Carradine salvaging structural elements from the 1984 Olympics. He wanted things in the parks and he wanted them now .

With Lucas onboard for a Disney Parks “Star Wars” attraction, Imagineering began spit-balling ideas. At a National Fantasy Fan Club meeting in July 1988 legendary Imagineer David Mumford, whose notable work includes the Land pavilion at EPCOT Center and the Mermaid Lagoon section of Tokyo DisneySea, spoke of a cutting-edge “Star Wars” rollercoaster that was originally proposed. In this attraction, guests in the ride vehicle would vote on whether they would follow Yoda and become a Jedi or instead choose the path illuminated by the Emperor, embracing the dark side of the Force. Depending on that decision, you would rocket past show scenes featuring animatronics of your favorite characters (Boba Fett, Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt on one path or Leia, Luke and Han Solo on the other). It was a wonderful idea, utilizing interactivity and good old-fashioned Imagineering magic, but Mumford said that it would take at least five years just to design the complex mechanism that would allow the ride to work. They needed something sooner.

Enter Mark Eades. Eades was a young Imagineer who had moved over from the Walt Disney Studios to work on EPCOT Center. In the days after EPCOT Center’s opening, when Imagineering’s ranks shrank and viable new projects became scarce, Eades was tasked with researching motion simulator technology. He visited army bases and tested out rudimentary versions designed for entertainment purposes (including “one where they basically stuck a camera on a rollercoaster”). At the end of his exploratory journey, he wrote a memo outlining the potential uses of the technology in the parks (he notes that, contrary to much reporting, the technology was never looked at for a “Black Hole” attraction, but rather “The Black Hole” was thought of as a potential overlay for the aging Mission to Mars). “We either a) treat it as a Tomorrowland attraction where we talk about how the pilots of tomorrow are being trained and you get to go train with them,” Eades said of the simulator technology. “Or there could be other stories if we’re willing to not admit that it’s a simulator. One of them could be in the ‘Star Wars’ universe.” At the end of the memo, he even suggested a possible narrative, should the ‘Star Wars’ idea actually be chosen: “Take a ride on the Millennium Falcon and when we get off we can go over to the Mos Eisley cantina.” This exact idea would be recirculated, 30 years later, at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

At the urging of Imagineer Randy Bright, Baxter went to Retifusion London, a test facility, to see if the flight simulator technology could successfully be used “for entertainment purposes.” (According to Baxter, Bright had stopped at the facility following an Abbey Road recording session for some new orchestral elements for EPCOT.) “I took several leaders from Disneyland operations & maintenance along on the trip to validate the practicality,” Baxter said. Imagineers might design the attractions, but operations and maintenance keep it running. Baxter and the small group seem to have watched the same “rollercoaster” ride film that Eades had also seen. “The simulator was limited in what it could mimic, but we were impressed enough to begin the project in earnest,” Baxter said. Disney made a deal to buy one of the simulators. It was housed in a custom-designed building in the parking lot of Imagineering’s Glendale headquarters.  

In Spite of ‘Captain EO’

While work progressed on Star Tours, Michael Jackson had approached the company about joining forces for a new project. Jackson loved Disneyland and Walt Disney World (later he would fashion a Disneyland-style theme park at his home, Neverland Ranch). Eisner and Katzenberg were both dazzled by big name stars and made the Jackson project a priority. At the same meeting where Splash Mountain and Star Tours were greenlit, the executives first brought up the possibility of a Jackson project (according to Baxter). “Imagineering was challenged to give Michael Jackson three concepts to choose,” Baxter said. In his memoir, Eisner describes the concept: “Our notion was to put him in an extended 3D music video.”

One pitch had the entertainer at Disneyland after dark, when various attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean would spring to life. (It was deemed too similar to his beloved “Thriller” music video.) Another version had Jackson inhabiting the role of a Peter Pan-type character who battled an ice queen, eventually melting her heart. And yet another, dubbed the “intergalactic ‘Music Man’” had him visiting a cold, distant planet and bringing music to the people, literally transforming them. Jackson liked the space idea but had a list of demands, including hiring either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg to help oversee what would ultimately become a cumbersome, costly, 17-minute 3D film (a “miracle of a movie” according to Whoopi Goldberg in the “Captain EO: Backstage” episode of “The Disney SundayMovie”). Spielberg was busy with “The Color Purple.” But Lucas had just signed on with Disney and was happy to oblige. At the very least, it would mean another $1 million per year per park.

Instead of helming the project himself, Lucas would install Francis Ford Coppola, one of his oldest friends, in the director’s chair. And Jones pointed out, not only would Lucas be spared the drudgery of daily production (“Return of the Jedi” had nearly killed him), handing Coppola the Disney project meant that he’d be “giving his mentor a much-needed job” (this after the middling response to Coppola’s costly “The Cotton Club”). Since it was technically a film, the production for what was now known as “Captain EO” (named by Coppola after Eos, the Greek goddess of dawn) was handled mostly by the film studio and therefore overseen by Katzenberg. Initially, at least, Imagineering was consulted (they’d be brought back later to design the in-theater effects and motion). “I’d talked to them about it. I’d done an estimate and said it was going to cost $17 million,” Eades said. “The studio people said it would cost $10 million. I said, ‘Make that movie.’ They spent a lot more than $10 million and they spent a lot more than I said it would cost.”

As it turns out, considerably more than what Eades had quoted. The production of “Captain EO” was long and difficult, with original actress Shelley Long dropping out of the role as the evil queen because of the extensive prosthetics (Anjelica Houston replaced her) and Coppola struggling with the complicated requirements of shooting in 3D. (Coppola would lean on Lucas for guidance when it came to the visual effects and creatures.) Behind schedule, the production went over-budget and had to cut corners. On an episode of the “I Was There Too” podcast, comedian Doug Benson talked about his time as an extra on the movie; the production was so over-budget that they couldn’t afford to pay actual dancers anymore. Benson had to stand in the background and gyrate. While most cite the $17 million budget as the final cost, Eades told TheWrap that the actual figure was more than $22.7 million – “and that was in real money in those days.” At the time, per minute, it was the most expensive movie ever produced. Imagineers, still hard at work on Star Tours, printed out custom memo templates that read Star Tours – In Spite of EO .

The Star Tours team was assembled, involving some of Imagineering’s key talents, led by Baxter, and including Eades. Bruce Gordon was the original producer on the project and had, according to Baxter, “as to what you could and could not do in programming events to physically simulate an experience.” “You cannot just write a story and then film it. It’s impossible for many kinetic options to dovetail into one another, due to the limitations of the hydraulic system,” Baxter said. “After we matched the capability of the simulator to a list of ‘Star Wars’ ‘stunts,’ their running order became a dictate of what capabilities were available after the completion of the preceding stunt. The most notable example was being caught in a tractor beam . This motionless backward tilt was the only capability that could be achieved after exhausting the hydraulics in the preceding ice cave sequence.” They had worked out the runtime of the ride: 4 minutes and 35 seconds. “This was the maximum time before an increasing nausea curve would begin ticking upwards,” Baxter said. The Imagineers also learned that they had to put in story pauses every 45 seconds or so, “to let riders regain their bearings.” He also notes that this fact was ignored when developing Body Wars, a sort of “Fantastic Voyage”-type experience that would open with the Wonders of Life Pavilion at EPCOT Center in 1989. Guests got so sick that several seconds of the ride film were removed after Body Wars opened.

For Star Tours, Imagineering had some key collaborators in the form of the wizards at Industrial Light & Magic, the groundbreaking effects house that Lucas had started for the first “Star Wars,” although getting them to grasp the concept of the project (which Eisner wanted to call Star Ride) was difficult. There was a meeting beween Imagineering and ILM, where George Lucas, ILM artists Dennis Muran and Dave Carson (who would serve as the “directors” for ILM), and Imagineering personnel like Tom Fitzgerald, Randy Bright, Marty Sklar and Eades, discussed the project. Eades remembered the scene: “Dennis starts talking to George, ‘We could cut to this angle, cut to that angle.’ And I’m a neophyte at the time. I’m not even 31 years old. I’m the new kid on the block and I’m listening to this and thinking, They’re wrong . I stopped at one point and actually said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. You guys don’t understand. This isn’t a movie. This is a window like in a jet. We can’t cut.’ And I’m looking right at Dennis. ‘However long this is, it’s a continuous take.’ He sat back and looked at me and said, ‘Gee, George. He’s right.’”

The concept of the attraction, where Star Tours was one of several “commercial companies have started business to take people across the galaxy” following the events of “Return of the Jedi,” coalesced quickly and stayed mostly in place. “That way we can give people a ride going through a ‘Star Wars’ movie without giving them a ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Eades explained. Other things remained in flux. The voice of Captain RX-24 (“Rex”), originally described by Lucas as a frazzled Clone Wars veteran named “Crazy Harry,” remained elusive, until Eades (also working as the casting director for the project) saw “Flight of the Navigator.” “Flight of the Navigator” (released by Disney) featured a UFO voiced by Paul Reubens, who had yet to gain fame as Pee-Wee Herman. Eades knew that Reubens was the perfect voice and urged Tom Fitzgerald to see “Flight of the Navigator.” After watching the film, Fitzgerald agreed. Reubens was in production on the first season of what would become the fabled television series “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.” “We got ahold of [Reubens] on set and he agreed in principle, and we sent a recording to George and he said, ‘That’s it,’” Eades said.

At one point, Baxter and Muren went to Las Vegas to watch a demo of HD digital technology. They came back “pushing for the use of HD media rather than 70mm film.” “That decision was predicated on Sony being a sole source supplier of equipment. A safer decision was made to go with 70mm film rather than Sony HD, but it would set the variability of the ride experience back for 20 years,” Baxter said.

The troubled production of “Captain EO” actually gave the Star Tours team some cover. “They were so focused on ‘Captain EO’ and we were doing this thing and working with ILM and we were kind of ignored. Which was great for the team,” Eades said. “We had a budget and we stuck to the budget. We figured out how to get the most bang for our buck.” Somewhat amazingly, Eades explained: “We actually had Star Tours done first but they wanted to open ‘Captain EO’ and open Star Tours the next year. It was great because it gave the simulators some time to get some run time on them.”

After an equally arduous post-production, which saw Disney executives shocked at the number of crotch-thrusts Jackson squeezed into the choreographed dance numbers (amongst other woes), “Captain EO,” the tale of a singing, dancing space fighter (Jackson) and his band of puppet-y confederates, opened on Sept. 12, 1986 at EPCOT Center (then in desperate need of a starry attraction) and Sept. 18, 1986 at Disneyland. It had two new songs by the King of Pop that you could only hear in the movie (one of the songs would be reworked for “Bad”). An hour-long television special dedicated to its opening and featuring a laundry list of celebrities, including such 80s staples as Judge Reinhold (“I want to know how to dance leaving that theater”) and, um, OJ Simpson (with Nicole on his arm), aired nationally. Disneyland stayed open for 60 hours and ran the 3D film continuously just to meet demand. Disneyland was not only popular again; it was also hip .

Before Star Tours officially opened, Eades was joined by a clean-shaven Lucas, Oscar-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom (who told me that he came up with the famous Star Tours “chime”), and many of the Imagineers who had worked on the project, for a soft opening. Eades had a good feeling about it but an attraction like Star Tours was the first of its kind. Nobody knew how guests were going to react. “The first group came off and I heard this guy say, ‘Can you imagine how many miles of track Disneyland had to build under the park for this ride?’” Eades remembered. The guest thought that he was actually moving through space. Eades and the rest of the team knew they had a hit.

A few months after “Captain EO,” on Jan. 9, 1987, Star Tours would open at Disneyland. Lucas and Eisner were on hand, with Mickey and Minnie in their iconic silver space suits (with the rainbow on the chest), joined by C-3PO. Instead of a pair of oversized scissors, they used a lightsaber to cut the ceremonial ribbon. Just like “Captain EO,” they left the park open for 60 hours straight to meet demand. It was a smash out of the gate. But the success of Star Tours ultimately derailed an aspect of the attraction Eades had designed for the project: that every three years, the ride film would change. (That’s right, he said at some point you were actually supposed to get to Endor.)

In the early 1980s, Disneyland management and Imagineering had noticed an uptick in guests visiting multiple times a year, so Eades and his team had a refresh built into their proposal so that Star Tours would never get stale. “But because the damn ride was so popular, the parks said, ‘Why do you want to spend money, because you don’t need it,’” Eades said. ”And they were right.” Undoubtedly the decision to go with 70mm film also set the multiple-planets conceit back, as Baxter previously alluded to. It would be much trickier to switch out the ride film or the projection system. And he was right: it would be decades before that idea would be revisited.

Galactic Expansion

With two successful Lucas-led projects, both Disney and the filmmaker were emboldened. This was especially heartening for Eisner, who was about to open a risky new theme park in Florida dedicated to the behind-the-scenes aspects of the entertainment business.

Disney-MGM Studios, as it was then known, was designed to be many things: a working, world class film and television production facility (complete with a satellite animation studio designed with animators in mind), a theme park, and giant middle-finger to Universal Studios, which was planning to open its own multiday resort in Orlando. (Eisner, while still at Paramount, was supposedly in the meeting where Universal executives revealed the Florida project and by 1985, just a year after he assumed power at Disney, Eisner had begun work on what would eventually be Disney-MGM Studios.) The debut of Disney-MGM Studios would also serve as the opening salvo for an ambitious, 10-year effort to rejuvenate the Disney Parks brand and expand that brand worldwide. Eisner would later publicly refer to this initiative as the Disney Decade.

By the end of 1989, Star Tours would be open at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney-MGM Studios in slightly modified configurations. Instead of the Disneyland version, which took over a pre-existing attraction (Adventure Thru Innerspace) and was converted under the supervision of legendary Imagineer Tom Morris, the Disney World version was a blank slate. This new Star Tours was just around the corner from the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, also based on a Lucas property, which also opened in 1989. A more intricate façade was developed with a full-sized AT-AT walker (that at the time shot water from its moving turrets) and forested Ewok village and a show building that still maintained the “backlot” look of the rest of the park. It’s just an illusion, this new show building said, but what an illusion.

The Japanese version of Star Tours was even more ornate. As Kevin Rafferty recalls in his memoir “Magic Journeys,” he was tasked with Astrozone, a “unique-to-Tokyo Disneyland part of the Star Tours complex.” This new area was to include an “enclosed skyway bridge that connected Star Tours and a new two-level dine-in restaurant,” hosted by an adorable animatronic alien and eventually dubbed the Pan Galactic Pizza Port. In 1992, Star Tours would open, with a full-sized X-Wing, at the Euro Disney theme park (now known as Disneyland Paris). Fun needs no translation.

But the biggest change for the attraction would happen in late summer 2010, when both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions of Star Tours would shut down completely. Years of rumors persisted that the attraction would be shuttered and reopened, this time themed around the pod-racing sequence from 1999’s prequel film “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” As it turned out, the plans were much more ambitious.

Instead of a single new theme, the ride would be re-conceived, with the idea that Eades, Baxter and the other Imagineers had concocted during the blue-sky phase of the attraction’s development. You wouldn’t just be going to one planet, you would be going to all of your favorite “Star Wars” planets, including Tatooine (hello pod-race!), the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, underneath the opulent planet of Naboo, and on the snowy planet of Hoth, made famous by the opening battle sequence from “The Empire Strikes Back.” Incredibly, you don’t visit Endor, the Ewok-filled planet that you were attempting to visit in the first iteration of the ride, despite the fact that early marketing materials suggested the forest moon would be part of the new version of the attraction.

This new Star Tours, now dubbed Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, allowed guests, thanks to a cutting-edge randomization feature, to visit many planets in the course of a single trip aboard your new Starspeeder. The new version of the ride featured additional in-theater effects and C-3PO as your new in-cabin pilot, as well, and the digital projection of the ride film could be enjoyed in 3D.

In 2011, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue opened at Disneyland and Walt Disney World (it would reach Tokyo Disneyland in 2013 and Disneyland Paris in 2017). Further randomization was added when planets and characters from the new “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, including Jakku and Kef Bir, were included. And in a full circle moment, there was a sequence now devoted to Crait from “The Last Jedi,” the planet that was inspired by the original version of Star Tours.

On Friday, May 20, 2011, there was an opening celebration at Walt Disney World for the new Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. The park that was once Disney-MGM Studios was now called Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but Star Tours was just as important to the park. Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger, who had succeeded Eisner, was there to inaugurate the new version of the attraction, as was Lucas. Darth Vader was on stage too, as was the creator of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Dave Filoni, who would go on to shepherd “The Mandalorian.”

“Star Tours is a timeless adventure,” Iger said at the event. “Guests will be immersed in the Star Wars galaxy like never before.” He touted the “over 50” combinations that this new attraction would deliver, plus the fact that the Disneyland version would be open the following month. Lucas called the new attraction “amazing.” “It turned out better than we could ever imagine,” Lucas said. Lucas also cited the original plan to switch out the original ride film every few years. “This time we figured when we did it, we would give you all the reprogramming in one event,” Lucas said. He also referred to “secret cookies,” which were further randomizations (in one version you narrowly miss Jar Jar Binks who is seen swimming underneath Naboo, in another version you hit him dead on). These weren’t turned on until the “Force Awakens” additions in 2015.

After the event in Florida, Lucas and Iger convened to have lunch at the park’s Brown Derby restaurant. According to Iger, this is where he first floated an intriguing idea to Lucas – what if Disney bought Lucasfilm? Lucas listened. A few years later, he agreed. This conversation would lead to, amongst other things, the production of the sequel trilogy and the design and construction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a 14-acre land that would feature the Millennium Falcon simulator attraction Eades had dreamed up all those years ago, along with Rise of the Resistance, one of the most technologically innovative and immersive attractions in the history of Walt Disney Imagineering. There’s even a “Star Wars”-y cantina, which, just as Eades had imagined it, is a few steps from the Millennium Falcon.

That cantina’s DJ might seem familiar. It’s Rex from Star Tours, once again voiced by Paul Reubens. Wonder if he ever made it to Endor.   

Star Tours - The Adventures Continue

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Visit a Galaxy Far, Far Away

When your Starspeeder accidentally starts up without a pilot, tour guide C-3PO takes the controls. Suddenly, the ship is intercepted by menacing Imperial—or First Order—forces searching for a Rebel spy. To avoid capture, you’ll take off on a thrilling, unpredictable flight that rockets you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

Starting April 5, 2024, embark on exciting new Star Wars adventures featuring characters and locations from some of your favorite Disney+ series. Hold on tight as urgent transmissions from Ahsoka Tano, Cassian Andor, the Mandalorian and Grogu may soon be part of your next Starspeeder flight.

With these additions, you’ll have the opportunity to experience one of more than 250 storyline variations, including a visit to the planet Seatos from Ahsoka .

Star Tours Takes Flight

On January 9, 1987, George Lucas and Walt Disney Imagineering brought the Star Wars galaxy to life at Disneyland Park .

The original Star Tours attraction blasted off to Endor. In the years since, the experience has been updated with new worlds and iconic characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens , Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker .

The attraction now features state-of-the-art technology—including a flight simulator, digital 3D video, Audio-Animatronics characters and “in-cockpit” special effects and music.

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Star Tours: Inside the Secret History of Disney’s Classic ‘Star Wars’ Ride

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Earlier in January, Star Tours turned 35.

The groundbreaking attraction has been a favorite of Disney Parks visitors the world over, and it would prove an influential part of the “Star Wars” mythology, even today. In Jon Favreau’s “The Book of Boba Fett” (streaming now on Disney+) a familiar-looking droid has been dealing cards in the cantina/casino hideout The Sanctuary in the Tatooine village of Mos Espa. The droid looks like Rex, the inexperienced pilot of the original version of Star Tours. Predictably, fans went nuts.

In fact, the influence of Star Tours has been felt strongly in the current era of “Star Wars” on both the big and small screen. Rex previously appeared in an episode of animated series “Star Wars: Rebels,” and the Star Tours spaceship the Starspeeder made blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background appearances in J.J. Abrams two sequel trilogy installments, while Rian Johnson admitted a looser influence over his installment, “The Last Jedi.” The sequence where the Millennium Falcon is careening through the crystalline caverns of Crait was inspired by the original ride film’s trip through a craggy comet.

But the story of how Star Tours was developed – how it came to be, what technology was employed, and the profound implications for both the Disney Parks and George Lucas ’ Lucasfilm – might be even more thrilling and complex than the actual ride, which was heavily retrofitted in 2010 now goes by the name Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.

So, without further ado, lightspeed to Endor !

A Long Time Ago …

Long before there was any kind of official partnership, Lucasfilm and Disney Parks were linked, thanks mostly to some fortuitous timing. George Lucas’ “Star Wars” hit theaters on May 25, 1977, intoxicating audiences with its depiction of bold heroes, dastardly villains, fussy droids and otherworldly creatures. Those that saw it went back again and again but itched for something more . Thankfully for Southern California audiences, Space Mountain, an adaptation of an attraction that opened at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom two years earlier, opened at Disneyland two days after “Star Wars.” Folks would go see “Star Wars” and then book it to Disneyland for a chance to ride Space Mountain, nestled in the far corner of Tomorrowland. The line for the attraction snaked from that distant part of Tomorrowland all the way up Main Street, U.S.A. Even if their pairing was still a decade away, Lucasfilm and Disney Parks were already strongly bound by the Force.

But if the actual Lucasfilm/Disney enterprise had a point of origin (something that we are painfully aware that George Lucas just loves ), it was when Michael Eisner , then the head of Paramount, decided to green light “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” As Brian Jay Jones recounts in his biography “George Lucas: A Life,” Lucas’ financial terms for the movie were aggressive and mirrored those of the “Star Wars” sequels. Lucas would fund the movie himself and the studio would “distribute the completed film in exchange for profits.” While many of the studios passed right away, Warner Bros., who had clumsily distributed Lucas’ first film “THX-1138,” initially wanted to make it, but they were ultimately usurped by Paramount and Eisner. “George came over to my house,” Eisner later said, “and he said, ‘Let’s make the best deal they’ve ever made in Hollywood.’”

On November 7, 1979, Paramount announced an agreement with Lucasfilm – they’d agreed to Lucas’ demands and would be making “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Eisner believed in George Lucas, even when other studios didn’t. This is baffling, after the astronomical success of “Star Wars” just two years earlier, but true. “Eisner was no dummy,” Jones says now. “Professionally, they spoke the same language. They got the cultural sensibilities.”

Eisner’s decision to help Lucas out on “Raiders of the Lost Ark” would have far reaching ramifications; for one, it would lead to Paramount releasing one of the most successful franchises (after Lucas’ own “Star Wars”) of all time. It would also ultimately assist in the rehabilitation of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated brands, which by the early 1980s had fallen into disrepair and disinterest.

Rebellion Reborn

In 1984, after greenmail attempts by corporate raiders, the Walt Disney Company got a fresh transfusion of new executive talent in the form of Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and (a few months later) Jeffrey Katzenberg. As CEO and Chairman of the Board, Eisner set his sights on strengthening the company’s bottom line and refreshing the brand, which in the nearly 20 years since Walt Disney had died, became a creaky dinosaur, badly out of step with modern audiences and accompanying cultural shifts. (The year before Eisner became CEO, the top grossing Disney movie was “Never Cry Wolf,” with a whopping $29.6 million .)

Similarly, the Disney Parks had been badly neglected despite accounting for nearly 70% of the company’s annual revenue, in part because of the wobbly, extremely over-budget opening of EPCOT Center in Florida, but more pressingly because Disney wasn’t producing anything that could be adapted into rides, shows, or attractions at the parks. While Katzenberg looked to return the studio’s feature animation unit to its former glory (it existed, in the early 1980s, as a partially mothballed group that was in constant danger of shuttering completely), Eisner looked to the parks. “You couldn’t walk through the theme parks and not recognize that they lacked contemporary development. But when Frank and I walked down Main Street for the first time, Frank turned to me and said, ‘There’s so much here. There’s so much potential,’” Eisner recounted in “The Imagineering Story” documentary on Disney+.

Imagineering had reached out to Lucas before Eisner had been installed. Marty Sklar had set up a meeting between Ron Miller, who was president and CEO of Disney before Eisner (he was also Walt’s son-in-law), and Imagineer Tony Baxter. Baxter was, and remains, a superstar of Walt Disney Imagineering, the kind of persona that Disney fanatics dress up as at Disney fan conventions. (Seriously.) At the time, Baxter wasn’t even 40 and had already contributed to the Disney portfolio in meaningful, some would argue profound, ways. He was behind the Journey into Imagination pavilion at EPCOT Center, which featured some truly next-level technological breakthroughs alongside a whimsical story about the power of creativity; and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland, a runaway train thrill ride that would become instantly beloved and replicated at Disney parks the world over. Miller was still stinging from the failure of “The Black Hole,” Disney’s bid to challenge “Star Wars,” but agreed with Baxter that “Disneyland did need an infusion of new IP for younger generations of visitors” (according to Baxter). Miller suggested that they meet with Lucas at Miller’s Silverado Ranch. In addition to Sklar and Miller, Imagineers Rick Rothschild and Gary Krisel were also at the meeting. “There was no lag time between those initial agreements at the Silverado Vineyard, the subsequent leaving of Ron Miller, and Michael and Frank’s arrival in September 1984,” Baxter said. (Another former Imagineer had told me that after that initial meeting, “those discussions went nowhere.”)

Interestingly, before Eisner was hired, Disney board members had originally turned to Lucas to run the entire company in the early 1980s. “It wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life,” said Howard Roffman, who was the chief operating officer of Lucasfilm, in The Cinema of George Lucas by Marcus Hearn. Instead, the board offered the job to Eisner, the man who had the guts and the creative ambition to back “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Now Eisner quietly reached out to Lucas about projects with the Disney Parks. Lucas had been a lifelong Disneyland fan (his family had first visited the park on July 19, 1955, two days after it had opened), making annual treks to the resort. And just as Eisner had gotten behind a lucrative deal (in Lucas’ favor) for “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” he offered Lucas an equally eye-popping arrangement for his services: for every Lucas-originated project, the filmmaker would get $1 million per attraction per park per year. Lucas happily agreed. This arrangement even applied to later attractions Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (a fairly off-the-shelf rollercoaster with the Indiana Jones name) located in Disneyland Paris, and Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull (essentially a clone of the Disneyland attraction) at Tokyo Disney Sea.

According to Baxter, during their first week at Disney, Eisner and Wells asked several Imagineers to come in on a Saturday and pitch “everything we had in conceptual design.” For Baxter, that meant he showed off the “Star Wars” project and what would later be known as Splash Mountain. (This is the infamous meeting where Eisner brought along his son Breck. Eisner told Baxter that Breck “loved theme parks” and Michael knew little about theme parks.) Both Star Tours and Splash Mountain were “given the green light” during Baxter’s presentation but according to Baxter executives were “disturbed” by the proposed 3-year production time designated for Star Tours. Famously, Eisner willed the teen-oriented dance club Videopolis into existence at Disneyland in a mere 100 days, partially due to architect Chris Carradine salvaging structural elements from the 1984 Olympics. He wanted things in the parks and he wanted them now .

With Lucas onboard for a Disney Parks “Star Wars” attraction, Imagineering began spit-balling ideas. At a National Fantasy Fan Club meeting in July 1988 legendary Imagineer David Mumford, whose notable work includes the Land pavilion at EPCOT Center and the Mermaid Lagoon section of Tokyo DisneySea, spoke of a cutting-edge “Star Wars” rollercoaster that was originally proposed. In this attraction, guests in the ride vehicle would vote on whether they would follow Yoda and become a Jedi or instead choose the path illuminated by the Emperor, embracing the dark side of the Force. Depending on that decision, you would rocket past show scenes featuring animatronics of your favorite characters (Boba Fett, Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt on one path or Leia, Luke and Han Solo on the other). It was a wonderful idea, utilizing interactivity and good old-fashioned Imagineering magic, but Mumford said that it would take at least five years just to design the complex mechanism that would allow the ride to work. They needed something sooner.

Enter Mark Eades. Eades was a young Imagineer who had moved over from the Walt Disney Studios to work on EPCOT Center. In the days after EPCOT Center’s opening, when Imagineering’s ranks shrank and viable new projects became scarce, Eades was tasked with researching motion simulator technology. He visited army bases and tested out rudimentary versions designed for entertainment purposes (including “one where they basically stuck a camera on a rollercoaster”). At the end of his exploratory journey, he wrote a memo outlining the potential uses of the technology in the parks (he notes that, contrary to much reporting, the technology was never looked at for a “Black Hole” attraction, but rather “The Black Hole” was thought of as a potential overlay for the aging Mission to Mars). “We either a) treat it as a Tomorrowland attraction where we talk about how the pilots of tomorrow are being trained and you get to go train with them,” Eades said of the simulator technology. “Or there could be other stories if we’re willing to not admit that it’s a simulator. One of them could be in the ‘Star Wars’ universe.” At the end of the memo, he even suggested a possible narrative, should the ‘Star Wars’ idea actually be chosen: “Take a ride on the Millennium Falcon and when we get off we can go over to the Mos Eisley cantina.” This exact idea would be recirculated, 30 years later, at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

At the urging of Imagineer Randy Bright, Baxter went to Retifusion London, a test facility, to see if the flight simulator technology could successfully be used “for entertainment purposes.” (According to Baxter, Bright had stopped at the facility following an Abbey Road recording session for some new orchestral elements for EPCOT.) “I took several leaders from Disneyland operations & maintenance along on the trip to validate the practicality,” Baxter said. Imagineers might design the attractions, but operations and maintenance keep it running. Baxter and the small group seem to have watched the same “rollercoaster” ride film that Eades had also seen. “The simulator was limited in what it could mimic, but we were impressed enough to begin the project in earnest,” Baxter said. Disney made a deal to buy one of the simulators. It was housed in a custom-designed building in the parking lot of Imagineering’s Glendale headquarters.

In Spite of ‘Captain EO’

While work progressed on Star Tours, Michael Jackson had approached the company about joining forces for a new project. Jackson loved Disneyland and Walt Disney World (later he would fashion a Disneyland-style theme park at his home, Neverland Ranch). Eisner and Katzenberg were both dazzled by big name stars and made the Jackson project a priority. At the same meeting where Splash Mountain and Star Tours were greenlit, the executives first brought up the possibility of a Jackson project (according to Baxter). “Imagineering was challenged to give Michael Jackson three concepts to choose,” Baxter said. In his memoir, Eisner describes the concept: “Our notion was to put him in an extended 3D music video.”

One pitch had the entertainer at Disneyland after dark, when various attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean would spring to life. (It was deemed too similar to his beloved “Thriller” music video.) Another version had Jackson inhabiting the role of a Peter Pan-type character who battled an ice queen, eventually melting her heart. And yet another, dubbed the “intergalactic ‘Music Man’” had him visiting a cold, distant planet and bringing music to the people, literally transforming them. Jackson liked the space idea but had a list of demands, including hiring either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg to help oversee what would ultimately become a cumbersome, costly, 17-minute 3D film (a “miracle of a movie” according to Whoopi Goldberg in the “Captain EO: Backstage” episode of “The Disney SundayMovie”). Spielberg was busy with “The Color Purple.” But Lucas had just signed on with Disney and was happy to oblige. At the very least, it would mean another $1 million per year per park.

Instead of helming the project himself, Lucas would install Francis Ford Coppola, one of his oldest friends, in the director’s chair. And Jones pointed out, not only would Lucas be spared the drudgery of daily production (“Return of the Jedi” had nearly killed him), handing Coppola the Disney project meant that he’d be “giving his mentor a much-needed job” (this after the middling response to Coppola’s costly “The Cotton Club”). Since it was technically a film, the production for what was now known as “Captain EO” (named by Coppola after Eos, the Greek goddess of dawn) was handled mostly by the film studio and therefore overseen by Katzenberg. Initially, at least, Imagineering was consulted (they’d be brought back later to design the in-theater effects and motion). “I’d talked to them about it. I’d done an estimate and said it was going to cost $17 million,” Eades said. “The studio people said it would cost $10 million. I said, ‘Make that movie.’ They spent a lot more than $10 million and they spent a lot more than I said it would cost.”

As it turns out, considerably more than what Eades had quoted. The production of “Captain EO” was long and difficult, with original actress Shelley Long dropping out of the role as the evil queen because of the extensive prosthetics (Anjelica Houston replaced her) and Coppola struggling with the complicated requirements of shooting in 3D. (Coppola would lean on Lucas for guidance when it came to the visual effects and creatures.) Behind schedule, the production went over-budget and had to cut corners. On an episode of the “I Was There Too” podcast, comedian Doug Benson talked about his time as an extra on the movie; the production was so over-budget that they couldn’t afford to pay actual dancers anymore. Benson had to stand in the background and gyrate. While most cite the $17 million budget as the final cost, Eades told TheWrap that the actual figure was more than $22.7 million – “and that was in real money in those days.” At the time, per minute, it was the most expensive movie ever produced. Imagineers, still hard at work on Star Tours, printed out custom memo templates that read Star Tours – In Spite of EO .

The Star Tours team was assembled, involving some of Imagineering’s key talents, led by Baxter, and including Eades. Bruce Gordon was the original producer on the project and had, according to Baxter, “as to what you could and could not do in programming events to physically simulate an experience.” “You cannot just write a story and then film it. It’s impossible for many kinetic options to dovetail into one another, due to the limitations of the hydraulic system,” Baxter said. “After we matched the capability of the simulator to a list of ‘Star Wars’ ‘stunts,’ their running order became a dictate of what capabilities were available after the completion of the preceding stunt. The most notable example was being caught in a tractor beam . This motionless backward tilt was the only capability that could be achieved after exhausting the hydraulics in the preceding ice cave sequence.” They had worked out the runtime of the ride: 4 minutes and 35 seconds. “This was the maximum time before an increasing nausea curve would begin ticking upwards,” Baxter said. The Imagineers also learned that they had to put in story pauses every 45 seconds or so, “to let riders regain their bearings.” He also notes that this fact was ignored when developing Body Wars, a sort of “Fantastic Voyage”-type experience that would open with the Wonders of Life Pavilion at EPCOT Center in 1989. Guests got so sick that several seconds of the ride film were removed after Body Wars opened.

For Star Tours, Imagineering had some key collaborators in the form of the wizards at Industrial Light & Magic, the groundbreaking effects house that Lucas had started for the first “Star Wars,” although getting them to grasp the concept of the project (which Eisner wanted to call Star Ride) was difficult. There was a meeting beween Imagineering and ILM, where George Lucas, ILM artists Dennis Muran and Dave Carson (who would serve as the “directors” for ILM), and Imagineering personnel like Tom Fitzgerald, Randy Bright, Marty Sklar and Eades, discussed the project. Eades remembered the scene: “Dennis starts talking to George, ‘We could cut to this angle, cut to that angle.’ And I’m a neophyte at the time. I’m not even 31 years old. I’m the new kid on the block and I’m listening to this and thinking, They’re wrong . I stopped at one point and actually said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. You guys don’t understand. This isn’t a movie. This is a window like in a jet. We can’t cut.’ And I’m looking right at Dennis. ‘However long this is, it’s a continuous take.’ He sat back and looked at me and said, ‘Gee, George. He’s right.’”

The concept of the attraction, where Star Tours was one of several “commercial companies have started business to take people across the galaxy” following the events of “Return of the Jedi,” coalesced quickly and stayed mostly in place. “That way we can give people a ride going through a ‘Star Wars’ movie without giving them a ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Eades explained. Other things remained in flux. The voice of Captain RX-24 (“Rex”), originally described by Lucas as a frazzled Clone Wars veteran named “Crazy Harry,” remained elusive, until Eades (also working as the casting director for the project) saw “Flight of the Navigator.” “Flight of the Navigator” (released by Disney) featured a UFO voiced by Paul Reubens, who had yet to gain fame as Pee-Wee Herman. Eades knew that Reubens was the perfect voice and urged Tom Fitzgerald to see “Flight of the Navigator.” After watching the film, Fitzgerald agreed. Reubens was in production on the first season of what would become the fabled television series “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.” “We got ahold of [Reubens] on set and he agreed in principle, and we sent a recording to George and he said, ‘That’s it,’” Eades said.

At one point, Baxter and Muren went to Las Vegas to watch a demo of HD digital technology. They came back “pushing for the use of HD media rather than 70mm film.” “That decision was predicated on Sony being a sole source supplier of equipment. A safer decision was made to go with 70mm film rather than Sony HD, but it would set the variability of the ride experience back for 20 years,” Baxter said.

The troubled production of “Captain EO” actually gave the Star Tours team some cover. “They were so focused on ‘Captain EO’ and we were doing this thing and working with ILM and we were kind of ignored. Which was great for the team,” Eades said. “We had a budget and we stuck to the budget. We figured out how to get the most bang for our buck.” Somewhat amazingly, Eades explained: “We actually had Star Tours done first but they wanted to open ‘Captain EO’ and open Star Tours the next year. It was great because it gave the simulators some time to get some run time on them.”

After an equally arduous post-production, which saw Disney executives shocked at the number of crotch-thrusts Jackson squeezed into the choreographed dance numbers (amongst other woes), “Captain EO,” the tale of a singing, dancing space fighter (Jackson) and his band of puppet-y confederates, opened on Sept. 12, 1986 at EPCOT Center (then in desperate need of a starry attraction) and Sept. 18, 1986 at Disneyland. It had two new songs by the King of Pop that you could only hear in the movie (one of the songs would be reworked for “Bad”). An hour-long television special dedicated to its opening and featuring a laundry list of celebrities, including such 80s staples as Judge Reinhold (“I want to know how to dance leaving that theater”) and, um, OJ Simpson (with Nicole on his arm), aired nationally. Disneyland stayed open for 60 hours and ran the 3D film continuously just to meet demand. Disneyland was not only popular again; it was also hip .

Before Star Tours officially opened, Eades was joined by a clean-shaven Lucas, Oscar-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom (who told me that he came up with the famous Star Tours “chime”), and many of the Imagineers who had worked on the project, for a soft opening. Eades had a good feeling about it but an attraction like Star Tours was the first of its kind. Nobody knew how guests were going to react. “The first group came off and I heard this guy say, ‘Can you imagine how many miles of track Disneyland had to build under the park for this ride?’” Eades remembered. The guest thought that he was actually moving through space. Eades and the rest of the team knew they had a hit.

A few months after “Captain EO,” on Jan. 9, 1987, Star Tours would open at Disneyland. Lucas and Eisner were on hand, with Mickey and Minnie in their iconic silver space suits (with the rainbow on the chest), joined by C-3PO. Instead of a pair of oversized scissors, they used a lightsaber to cut the ceremonial ribbon. Just like “Captain EO,” they left the park open for 60 hours straight to meet demand. It was a smash out of the gate. But the success of Star Tours ultimately derailed an aspect of the attraction Eades had designed for the project: that every three years, the ride film would change. (That’s right, he said at some point you were actually supposed to get to Endor.)

In the early 1980s, Disneyland management and Imagineering had noticed an uptick in guests visiting multiple times a year, so Eades and his team had a refresh built into their proposal so that Star Tours would never get stale. “But because the damn ride was so popular, the parks said, ‘Why do you want to spend money, because you don’t need it,’” Eades said. ”And they were right.” Undoubtedly the decision to go with 70mm film also set the multiple-planets conceit back, as Baxter previously alluded to. It would be much trickier to switch out the ride film or the projection system. And he was right: it would be decades before that idea would be revisited.

Galactic Expansion

With two successful Lucas-led projects, both Disney and the filmmaker were emboldened. This was especially heartening for Eisner, who was about to open a risky new theme park in Florida dedicated to the behind-the-scenes aspects of the entertainment business.

Disney-MGM Studios, as it was then known, was designed to be many things: a working, world class film and television production facility (complete with a satellite animation studio designed with animators in mind), a theme park, and giant middle-finger to Universal Studios, which was planning to open its own multiday resort in Orlando. (Eisner, while still at Paramount, was supposedly in the meeting where Universal executives revealed the Florida project and by 1985, just a year after he assumed power at Disney, Eisner had begun work on what would eventually be Disney-MGM Studios.) The debut of Disney-MGM Studios would also serve as the opening salvo for an ambitious, 10-year effort to rejuvenate the Disney Parks brand and expand that brand worldwide. Eisner would later publicly refer to this initiative as the Disney Decade.

By the end of 1989, Star Tours would be open at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney-MGM Studios in slightly modified configurations. Instead of the Disneyland version, which took over a pre-existing attraction (Adventure Thru Innerspace) and was converted under the supervision of legendary Imagineer Tom Morris, the Disney World version was a blank slate. This new Star Tours was just around the corner from the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, also based on a Lucas property, which also opened in 1989. A more intricate façade was developed with a full-sized AT-AT walker (that at the time shot water from its moving turrets) and forested Ewok village and a show building that still maintained the “backlot” look of the rest of the park. It’s just an illusion, this new show building said, but what an illusion.

The Japanese version of Star Tours was even more ornate. As Kevin Rafferty recalls in his memoir “Magic Journeys,” he was tasked with Astrozone, a “unique-to-Tokyo Disneyland part of the Star Tours complex.” This new area was to include an “enclosed skyway bridge that connected Star Tours and a new two-level dine-in restaurant,” hosted by an adorable animatronic alien and eventually dubbed the Pan Galactic Pizza Port. In 1992, Star Tours would open, with a full-sized X-Wing, at the Euro Disney theme park (now known as Disneyland Paris). Fun needs no translation.

But the biggest change for the attraction would happen in late summer 2010, when both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions of Star Tours would shut down completely. Years of rumors persisted that the attraction would be shuttered and reopened, this time themed around the pod-racing sequence from 1999’s prequel film “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” As it turned out, the plans were much more ambitious.

Instead of a single new theme, the ride would be re-conceived, with the idea that Eades, Baxter and the other Imagineers had concocted during the blue-sky phase of the attraction’s development. You wouldn’t just be going to one planet, you would be going to all of your favorite “Star Wars” planets, including Tatooine (hello pod-race!), the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, underneath the opulent planet of Naboo, and on the snowy planet of Hoth, made famous by the opening battle sequence from “The Empire Strikes Back.” Incredibly, you don’t visit Endor, the Ewok-filled planet that you were attempting to visit in the first iteration of the ride, despite the fact that early marketing materials suggested the forest moon would be part of the new version of the attraction.

This new Star Tours, now dubbed Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, allowed guests, thanks to a cutting-edge randomization feature, to visit many planets in the course of a single trip aboard your new Starspeeder. The new version of the ride featured additional in-theater effects and C-3PO as your new in-cabin pilot, as well, and the digital projection of the ride film could be enjoyed in 3D.

In 2011, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue opened at Disneyland and Walt Disney World (it would reach Tokyo Disneyland in 2013 and Disneyland Paris in 2017). Further randomization was added when planets and characters from the new “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, including Jakku and Kef Bir, were included. And in a full circle moment, there was a sequence now devoted to Crait from “The Last Jedi,” the planet that was inspired by the original version of Star Tours.

On Friday, May 20, 2011, there was an opening celebration at Walt Disney World for the new Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. The park that was once Disney-MGM Studios was now called Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but Star Tours was just as important to the park. Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger, who had succeeded Eisner, was there to inaugurate the new version of the attraction, as was Lucas. Darth Vader was on stage too, as was the creator of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Dave Filoni, who would go on to shepherd “The Mandalorian.”

“Star Tours is a timeless adventure,” Iger said at the event. “Guests will be immersed in the Star Wars galaxy like never before.” He touted the “over 50” combinations that this new attraction would deliver, plus the fact that the Disneyland version would be open the following month. Lucas called the new attraction “amazing.” “It turned out better than we could ever imagine,” Lucas said. Lucas also cited the original plan to switch out the original ride film every few years. “This time we figured when we did it, we would give you all the reprogramming in one event,” Lucas said. He also referred to “secret cookies,” which were further randomizations (in one version you narrowly miss Jar Jar Binks who is seen swimming underneath Naboo, in another version you hit him dead on). These weren’t turned on until the “Force Awakens” additions in 2015.

After the event in Florida, Lucas and Iger convened to have lunch at the park’s Brown Derby restaurant. According to Iger, this is where he first floated an intriguing idea to Lucas – what if Disney bought Lucasfilm? Lucas listened. A few years later, he agreed. This conversation would lead to, amongst other things, the production of the sequel trilogy and the design and construction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a 14-acre land that would feature the Millennium Falcon simulator attraction Eades had dreamed up all those years ago, along with Rise of the Resistance, one of the most technologically innovative and immersive attractions in the history of Walt Disney Imagineering. There’s even a “Star Wars”-y cantina, which, just as Eades had imagined it, is a few steps from the Millennium Falcon.

That cantina’s DJ might seem familiar. It’s Rex from Star Tours, once again voiced by Paul Reubens. Wonder if he ever made it to Endor.

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The unmissable addition to Disneyland’s Star Tours ride? Space whales

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Disneyland’s Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has proved to be one of the theme park’s most versatile attractions.

Though perhaps no longer the groundbreaking technological marvel that it was when it debuted in 1987, the flight simulator ride has shifted with the franchise, withstanding cultural trends and aligning with whichever version of “Star Wars” is popular at the moment — or in need of a marketing boost.

The latest update to Star Tours brings the ride into the Disney+ era, with nods to series such as “The Mandalorian,” “Ahsoka” and “Andor.” More noteworthy, at least for Disneyland guests, is that the centerpiece of the latest upgrades is a scene that provides a slight tonal shift for the attraction, one focused, albeit briefly, on slowing down and giving so-called starspeeder riders a look at one of “Star Wars’” more majestic creatures. Star Tours will now rocket guests straight to a moment that boasts a close-up with the purrgil, essentially large, mysterious space whales that move with a galactic grace.

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For the 3-D attraction, it’s a moment that provides a breather. The motion simulator lingers for a few seconds, and our makeshift animatronic captain, the golden droid C-3PO, turns to face riders. C-3PO shifts into tour guide mode, appearing in awe of the purrgil and commenting on how serene the animals are.

“This will be different from other sequences, to have a moment,” said Tom Fitzgerald, a senior creative executive with Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s secretive arm devoted to theme park attractions, when asked about taking a patient approach to the scene. “You don’t get many moments. It’s so compact. But it’s a moment to let people look at the beauty of this, and the 3-D gives you the scale of those creatures.”

The additions to Star Tours are arguably the centerpiece of Disneyland’s all-things- “Star Wars” promotion Season of the Force , which debuted this past weekend and runs through June 2. The “Star Wars” festival also sees new droids making their way to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge through the duration of the event, as well as the return of Space Mountain overlay Hyperspace Mountain and a new free scavenger hunt that aims to get players to pay close attention to the minute details of Galaxy’s Edge.

Fitzgerald has been with Star Tours since the ride’s beginning, and oversaw the latest Star Tours additions, which further deviate the attraction from any strict “Star Wars” timeline and instead focus it on being a sort of “greatest hits” for the brand. The purrgil scene also features Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano and the character’s svelte, fast-rotating starship above the planet of Seatos. Tano’s ship inspired Imagineers to see if they could add some new tricks to the attraction, mainly in the way the simulator can move. When Tano’s vessel twists and spins, for instance, the starspeeder attempts to mimic it, endeavoring to create the feeling of a 360-barrel roll. At other times, the starspeeder glides among the purrgil.

Key to Star Tours’ longevity, and what makes it the rare motion simulator that doesn’t feel rooted in the 1980s, is its ability to create new sensations via its movements. The ride now has more than 250 storyline variations, and when adding to the attraction, Imagineers are looking for ways to heighten the contrast among its various scenes, both tonally and in its maneuvers. Though Star Tours is typically randomized — for the foreseeable future, and definitely throughout Disneyland’s spring Season of the Force promotion — all riders are guaranteed to visit the new location and receive an early-flight transmission from one of the recently added characters.

“How do we make each of the places we go have a different color palette?” says Fitzgerald, who then recalls different “Star Wars” planets that can be featured in the attraction’s random programming. “Mustafar is all lava. Kashyyyk is all green jungle. So they feel very different when you get the combos. And then motion-based. Could we do a barrel roll? That’s the fun of doing it, and programming it and trying it. And we needed something else. What have we not done? So with the purrgils, what if we do skiing through the tentacles? We had never done that. So those are the two big motion changes.”

The attraction is also livened up by appearances from Dawson’s Tano, Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor and a masked Din Djarin from “The Mandalorian.” While the latter is played and portrayed by Pedro Pascal on the Disney+ series, many have noted that the Djarin on “Star Tours” features a slightly different vocal cadence than Pascal, and an Imagineering spokesperson says the company is not revealing its voice actors for the attraction. Nevertheless, “The Mandalorian” moment features some comic relief — and clever 3-D usage — courtesy of Grogu, colloquially refered to as “baby Yoda,” and his penchant to use Force powers to toy with and eat frogs.

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The three appear as transmissions that help define the suddenly urgent narrative of Star Tours. “Each one is different,” Fitzgerald says. “Mando and Grogu we played for comedy. And Andor is mysterious. You don’t see his face. You see this thing coming toward you. Is that a friend or foe? And then he pulls his hood and the music changes.” Tano, meanwhile, arrives like an old friend who knows C-3PO and fellow droid R2-D2. Riders are advised to pay close attention to the opening cinematic in a ship’s hangar, as there is a new randomized opening that features Tano in a lightsaber battle with Stormtroopers.

As for why the new additions perhaps lean a bit more heavily on “Ahsoka,” as it is that series that features the planet of Seatos and the purrgil, Fitzgerald had a simple answer: Yes, it’s the space whales.

With access to early scripts from Lucasfilm, Fitzgerald says he singled out the purrgil scenes. “Reading about that, not knowing what they looked like initially, I was going, that’s going to be really cool.” And, at least for a few seconds, relatively calming.

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Star Tours – The Adventures Continue

• Replay Star Tours – The Adventures Continue

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Explore a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Board your Starspeeder 1000 and prepare for takeoff! When a series of mishaps unwittingly causes your starship to launch too soon, protocol droid C-3PO takes the controls.

Suddenly, the ship is intercepted by Imperial—or First Order—forces searching for a Rebel spy. To avoid capture, you’ll embark on a thrilling, unpredictable flight that rockets you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

Featuring a flight simulator, digital 3D video, Audio-Animatronics characters and “in-cockpit” special effects and music, this attraction immerses you in the Star Wars mythology for an unforgettable intergalactic adventure.

Will your Starspeeder elude capture and make it back to the base? May the Force be with you—always.

Featuring Favorite Star Wars Characters

Always a new adventure.

Hold on tight as urgent transmissions from Ahsoka Tano, Cassian Andor, the Mandalorian and Grogu may soon be part of your next Starspeeder flight.

Starting April 5, 2024, embark on exciting new Star Wars adventures featuring characters and locations from some of your favorite Disney+ series. With these additions, you’ll have the opportunity to experience one of more than 250 storyline variations, including a visit to the planet Seatos from Ahsoka . Because the many story twists are random, you never know where you’ll go or who you may encounter along the way!

©Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.

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The New Star Tours Update: Everything You Need, and Want, to Know

Characters from the mandalorian, ahsoka, and andor are now part of the legendary disney attraction..

Before Disney bought Star Wars , the two brands began their courtship with a ride . Star Tours opened in 1987 and has seen many new upgrades and additions over the years . This week, for its Season of the Force event , Disney gave the ride another refresh. And this time, for the first time, it’s with characters from Disney+.

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So, starting today, if you are at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, or Disneyland Paris, Star Tours now features characters from Ahsoka, Andor and The Mandalorian . But what’s new? How does it work? io9 was among a group of journalists Disney invited to an early preview of the new Star Tours at Disneyland in Anaheim, so we’ll explain.

How many new Star Tours locations are there?

Though you may have assumed otherwise, only one new, full planet has been added to Star Tours this time around: Seatos from Ahsoka. However, there are three different variations going into that. One featuring Ahsoka (with Rosario Dawson reprising the role), one featuring Cassian Andor (with Diego Luna reprising), and one featuring both the Mandalorian and Grogu.

What can happen on the new Star Tours ?

So, you get on the ride and start to pull out of the spaceport. Here’s where, potentially, your first new change will be. In the past, riders would usually see the Millennium Falcon sitting there as the ship was stopped by Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, or a Probe Droid. And while that’s still more likely to happen than not, if you happen to see a new ship there, you know exactly where this particular ride will take you.

Yes, in some Star Tours rides not only is Ahsoka Tano’s T-6 Jedi Shuttle in the first scene, you can see Ahsoka herself there in the frame. She’s talking to Stormtroopers and, when they discover the Rebel spy, Ahsoka turns on her lightsabers and battles off the troopers before jumping in the ship.

If you see that, you can impress your friends and tell them what’s going to happen next. After you visit one of many, many planets that were previously on the ride (I did it twice on Friday and both times it was podracing on Tatooine from Episode I ), you’ll then get one of the three new transmissions. However, if you got Ahsoka’s ship at the start, you are guaranteed to get Ahsoka in this moment. She’ll say “Hi” to C-3PO, and be excited to see her friend R2-D2 again, before asking to deliver a very important person—the Rebel spy. As she’s talking, we see Chopper and Huyang in the background, getting into shenanigans.

What are the two other transmissions?

These transmissions is the part of this new Star Tours that will be the most random. If you don’t get Ahsoka, maybe you’ll get the Mandalorian and Grogu. As Mando (who does not sound like it’s Pedro Pascal but we’ve asked Disney for confirmation) talks about a dangerous mission and fight, Grogu is eating one of his frogs. He then spits it out and it floats toward your face in 3D. It’s very cute and funny and just as the one-eyed creature gets close enough to almost touch it, Grogu sucks him back in. “This is the way,” Mando says, and you’re off to the final part of your mission.

Note: unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Cassian’s transmission but, from what we were told, it’s very different tonally than the other two, on purpose. While Ahsoka’s is friendly and Mando’s is funny, Cassian’s is mysterious. He comes out in a hood, lurking in a shadow, then reveals himself to the audience and asks for help with the spy. The key was that each one feels completely unique.

What happens on Seatos?

No matter what transmission you get though, everything is the same after that. Star Tours is off to Seatos, the planet from the final episodes of Ahsoka where they showdown with Thrawn. You arrive in some kind of shadow, only to emerge from the clouds flying among the majestic Purrgil (aka Space Whales). Ahsoka hails you on the side monitor and asks for help with the two ships attacking her, which R2 is more than happy to do. You fly up and around the Purrgil, along their backs, weaving in and out of its fins, and at one point almost even getting sucked in and eaten. Finally, there’s a perfect moment, which R2 uses to land the perfect shot and save the day. Ashoka thanks you, has a special goodbye for her old pal R2, and it’s back home.

Are the new additions to Star Tours good?

Yes and no. Yes, because anytime you can get to sit down and experience a new piece of Star Wars , especially on a ride that’s been around for almost 40 years, that’s a good thing. However, do I think Seatos as a planet is one of the better destinations in the ride? No. In fact, it may be one of my least favorites. It’s drastically lacking in drama compared to, say, Geonosis, Coruscant, or Naboo. But Ahsoka is great and it’s fun to follow a different ship around.

Oh, and the new transmissions (at least the ones we saw) were phenomenal. Much more detailed and eventful than the previous ones.

How long is the new ride happening?

“For a limited time” everyone who boards Star Tours will get the new planet of Seatos every time, as well as one of the new transmissions. Whether or not that’s just through the Season of the Force event or longer is unclear, and Disney wouldn’t commit to specifics. It might be a park to park decision. But, for at least a few weeks or months, if you go on Star Tours , you’ll get the new stuff.

Then, eventually, the three new transmissions and one new planet will be slotted into the ride’s randomizer. When that happens, it takes the number of possible combinations up to over 250.

Why Seatos over anything else?

In the last few years, thanks to Disney+, Star Wars has seen more new planets, characters, and creatures than ever. So why Seatos and the Purrgil? Well, Tom Fitzgerald, one of Star Tours ’ original Imagineers—who also worked on this one —said it was all about picking a planet that was different from all the others. Something unique. Maybe that’s colors or maybe, in this case, it’s a unique creature. So by choosing Seatos, not only do you get to see these massive, new, unique creatures, but those creatures allow the ride to do moves it’s never done before. That’s how we get the first barrel roll ever in Star Tours as well as a sequence he refers to as the “slalom ski run.”

How long did the new upgrade take?

Fitzgerald said he and his team first started working on these new additions sometime between 18 months and two years ago.

Could another ride get this treatment?

Since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, Star Tours has been updated about every two or three years. This update is the first since 2019 though—so it makes you wonder, what’s next? And, will it even be Star Tours ?

When Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019, Disney said that the Millennium Falcon ride, Smugglers Run , was designed in a similar fashion to Star Tours and that the actual visuals in the ride could be changed to take guests on new adventures. But now, that ride has been the same for five years. Could a change be coming? Unfortunately, no one from Imagineering or Lucasfilm would comment, confirm, or deny—but, fingers crossed.

The Ahsoka, Andor and Mandalorian additions to Star Tours: The Adventures Continue are now running at Disneyland, Hollywood Studios, and Disneyland Paris as part of the Season of the Force event. For more on that, check out this link.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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White house environmental official tours pfas-site in lake elmo.

A member of President Biden's administration stopped in the city of Lake Elmo on Monday to talk PFAS with local officials, visiting an area that's been at the forefront of contamination just three weeks after the Biden administration released the first-ever drinking water standards for the so-called "forever" chemical.

Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, also met with students and staff at Tartan High School in Oakdale before visiting the fishing pier at Lake Elmo.

"This is so striking," Mallory said, speaking to reporters and local officials while standing on the lakeshore. "This is a beautiful site, and the idea that there's this gigantic toxic lake that people aren't able to actually fully take advantage of is sobering."

The city of Lake Elmo has reported PFAS contamination in several of its drinking water wells, like the nearby communities of Oakdale, Cottage Grove, Woodbury, Stillwater and others. The drinking water standard announced last month by the Environmental Protection Agency sets a legally enforceable requirement for utilities to reduce PFAS levels to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. The administration says it will protect 100 million people from PFAS exposure.

Mallory said it will take "a longstanding engagement" to clean PFAS from the environment, but that designating it a hazardous substance is a start. The government has also worked to create PFAS alternatives, she said.

"Ultimately, we need to be in a place where we are not using PFAS any place that we don't need to use PFAS."

Mallory said the Defense Department has said there are some uses that touch on issues of national security that for now have no viable alternative, however.

Her tour of Lake Elmo at the Lake Elmo Park Reserve was guided by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Katrina Kessler and attended by local officials from Lake Elmo and Washington County.

"Any attention that can be brought to it — so people can understand it and hopefully get behind cleaning it up — is great," said Lake Elmo Mayor Charles Cadenhead.

"This is not a political issue, it's a logistical and timeliness issue," said Jeff Holtz, a member of the Lake Elmo City Council.

The county has been supporting the cleanups in several cities in the area, said Washington County commissioner Fran Miron, but funding remains a huge concern, especially for smaller communities.

"We're dealing with it with the funds that we have, with the knowledge that we have," Miron said. "And [we] continue to advocate for more funding either through the state or the federal government."

Mallory also met with the family of Amara Strande, the Oakdale resident whose advocacy helped lead to last year's passage of Amara's Law, which bans the use of PFAS in all products except those deemed by regulators to be essential. Strande, a Tartan High School graduate, died one year ago of a rare cancer her family blames on PFAS contamination near the school, although the connection can't be proven.

"I think Amara would have been wowed by this," said her mother, Dana Strande, speaking of a federal official visiting Lake Elmo to talk about the contamination. "She would have been like, 'Oh, they're listening. They've listened, and they understand it's my community.'"

Matt McKinney is a reporter on the Star Tribune's state team. In 15 years at the Star Tribune, he has covered business, agriculture and crime. 

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Fans are following Taylor Swift to Europe after finding Eras Tour tickets less costly there

L ONDON (AP) — Thousands of ride-or-die Taylor Swift fans who missed out on her U.S. concert tour last year or didn't want to buy exorbitantly priced tickets to see her again found an out-of-the-way solution: Fly to Europe.

The pop star is scheduled to kick off the 18-city Europe leg of her record-setting Eras Tour in Paris on Thursday, and planeloads of Swifties plan to follow Miss Americana across the pond in the coming weeks. The arena where Swift is appearing said Americans bought 20% of the tickets for her four sold-out shows. Stockholm, the tour's next stop, expects about 10,000 concertgoers from the U.S.

A concert might sound like an odd raison d’etre for visiting a foreign country, especially when fans can watch the Eras Tour from home via the documentary now streaming on Disney+. Yet online travel company Expedia says continent-hopping by Swift’s devotees is part of a larger trend it dubbed “tour tourism” while observing a pattern that emerged during Beyoncé's Renaissance world tour .

Some North American fans who plan to fly overseas for the Eras Tour said they justified the expense after noticing that tighter restrictions on ticket fees and resales in Europe made seeing Swift perform abroad no more costly — and potentially cheaper — than catching her closer to home .

“They said, ’Wait a minute, I can either spend $1,500 to go see my favorite artist in Miami, or I can take that $1,500 and buy a concert ticket, a round-trip plane ticket, and three nights in a hotel room,” Melanie Fish, an Expedia spokesperson and travel expert, said.

That was the experience of Jennifer Warren, 43, who lives in St. Catharines, a city in the Niagara region of Ontario. She and her 11-year-old son love Swift but had no luck scoring what she considered as decently priced tickets in the U.S. Undeterred, Warren and her husband decided to plan a European vacation around wherever she managed to get seats. It turned out to be Hamburg, Germany.

“You get out, you get to see the world, and you get to see your favorite artist or performer at the same time, so there are a lot of wins to it,” said Warren, who works as the director of research and innovation for a mutual insurance company.

The three VIP tickets she secured close to the stage — “I would call it brute-force dumb luck” — cost 600 euros ($646) each. Swift subsequently announced six November tour dates in Toronto, within driving distance of Warren's home. "Absolute nose-bleed seats" already are going for 3,000 Canadian dollars ($2,194) on secondary resale sites like Viagogo, Warren said.

Hard-core fans trailing their favorite singer or band on tour is not a new phenomenon. “Groupie” emerged in the late 1960s as a somewhat derogatory word for the ardent followers of rock bands. Deadheads took to the road in the 1970s to pursue the Grateful Dead from city to city.

More recently, music festivals like California’s Coachella and England’s Glastonbury, and concert residencies in Las Vegas by the likes of Elton John, Lady Gaga and Adele, have attracted travelers to places they wouldn’t otherwise visit, Fish noted.

Travel and entertainment analysts have also spoken of a pent-up consumer demand for “experiences” over material objects since the coronavirus pandemic. Some think the willingness of music lovers to broaden their fandom horizons is part of the same mass cultural correction.

“It does seem like it’s more than a structural shift, maybe a personality transformation we all went through,” said Natalia Lechmanova, the chief Europe economist for the Mastercard Economics Institute.

As Swift hopscotches across Europe, Lechmanova expects restaurants and hotels to see the same boost that Mastercard observed within a 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) radius of concert venues in the U.S. cities she visited in 2023. The U.S. dollar's strong value against the euro may also increase retail spending on apparel, memorabilia, beauty products and supplies for the friendship bracelets fans exchange as part of the Eras Tour experience, the economist said.

Former college roommates Lizzy Hale, 34, who lives in Los Angeles, and Mitch Goulding, 33, who lives in Austin, Texas, already had tickets to see the Eras Tour in L.A. last summer when they decided to try to get ones for Paris, London or Edinburgh, Scotland, too. They saw a Europe concert trip as a makeup for travel plans they had in May 2020 to celebrate Goulding’s birthday but had to cancel due to the pandemic.

Goulding managed to secure VIP tickets for one of Swift's three Stockholm shows. He, Hale and two other friends scheduled a 10-day trip that also includes time in Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

“As people who enjoy traveling and enjoy music, if you can find an opportunity to combine the two, it's really special,” said Hale, who is pregnant with her first child.

The local economic impact of what the zeitgeist has termed “Swiftonomics” and the “Swift lift” can be considerable . It’s no wonder the exclusive arrangement Singapore’s government made with Swift to make the city-state her only tour stop in Southeast Asia earlier this year aroused regional jealousy .

No European governments have complained of their countries not being among the dozen selected for the Europe leg of the Eras Tour, although some fans have expressed surprise that Gelsenkirchen, a city with a population of about 264,000 is one of the three cities in Germany that made the cut.

Airbnb reported Tuesday that searches on its platform for the U.K. cities where Swift is performing in June and August — Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London — increased an average of 337% when tickets went on sale last summer.

Not to be outdone when it comes to trend-spotting, the property rentals company cited the demand as an example of “passion tourism,” or travel “driven by concerts, sports and other cultural events.”

In Stockholm , 120,000 out-of-towners from 130 countries -- among them 10,000 from the U.S. — are expected to swarm Sweden's capital this month, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Carl Bergqvist said. Stockholm is the only Scandinavian city on Swift's tour, and airlines added extra flights from nearby Denmark, Finland and Norway to bring people to the May 17-19 shows, he said.

The city's 40,000 hotel rooms are sold out even though prices skyrocketed for the tour dates, Bergqvist said. Concert visitors are expected to pump around 500 million Swedish kroner, or over $46 million, into the local economy over the course of their stays, an estimate that does not include what they paid for Swift tickets or to get to Sweden, he said.

“So this is going to be huge for the tourism sector in Sweden and Stockholm in particular,” Bergqvist said.

Nightclubs, restaurants and bars are seizing the opportunity to cater to fans with Taylor Swift-themed events, such as karaoke, quizzes and after-concert dance parties.

Houston resident Caroline Matlock, 29, saw Swift more than a year ago when the Eras Tour came to the Texas city. Now she's making more friendship bracelets and trying to learn a few words of Swedish as she prepares to see the 3 1/2-hour show in Stockholm. The idea of seeing Swift in Europe was her friend's, and Matlock needed some persuading at first.

“I was like, ‘I only want to go if it's a country I haven’t been to. I’ve seen Taylor Swift,'” she said.

Visiting the Scandinavian cities of Oslo and Gothenburg is on their itinerary. The concert is the last night of the trip and Matlock looks forward to interacting with Swifties from other countries: “Americans tend to have a very obsessive culture, especially Taylor Swift-related, so I'm curious if the crowd will be more toned-down.”

It remains to be seen if the music tourism trend has legs as long and strong as Swift's and Beyoncé's, and if it will carry over to Billie Eilish, Usher and other artists with world tours scheduled next year. Expedia's Fish thinks other big-name artists in Europe this summer will prove that booking a foreign trip around a concert is catching on.

Kat Morga, a travel consultant based in Nashville, isn’t so sure. Morga saw Swift perform in Nashville last year and helped two clients with school-aged children book European family vacations this summer that include seeing Swift in concert. But she thinks the difficulty of navigating ticket purchases through language barriers, currency conversions, international banking regulations and the risk of cancellations will limit the appeal of regular gig getaways.

“I think this is an anomaly,” Morga said. “People aren’t typically going to build their $20,000 huge family vacation only because Taylor Swift is there. She’s the one-off. She’s special.”

Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel, whose company operates Booking.com, priceline.com, agoda.com, Kayak and OpenTable, is even less enthusiastic about concert tours as a tourism instigator. The Swift Effect causes a “little blip” when the superstar goes to smaller destinations, but for the worldwide travel industry, “one star touring around does not make a difference,” he said.

“It may just shift it a little bit. A person was going to go to the Caribbean for a week vacation. Instead that person (says), ‘Let’s travel to the Taylor Swift thing,'" Fogel said. "It doesn’t increase it. It just moves it from here to there.”

AP journalists Colleen Barry in Milan, Chisato Tanaka in Stockholm, Anne D'Innocenzio in New York, David Koenig in Dallas, Thomas Adamson in Paris and Brian Melley in London contributed reporting.

Neil Young reunites with Crazy Horse after a decade, performs double encore

On Thursday night, magic happened in Tennesseee.

Singer-songwriter Neil Young and rock band Crazy Horse came together to perform their hits over a two-hour show at FirstBank Amphitheater on their first tour together in a decade.

The 2024 "Love Earth Tour" features the now 78-year-old singer alongside the Los Angeles rock band yet again.

Canadian singer-songwriter Young, best known for songs "Heart of Gold," "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man," released the album "Fu##in' Up" with Crazy Horse on April 25, featuring nine rock 'n' roll tracks. The two have released 15 studio albums together.

Young and Crazy Horse kicked off their brief 16-stop tour on April 24 in San Diego and will continue with upcoming stops in Virginia, New Jersey, New York and more.

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Thursday's concert in Franklin was originally slated for Wednesday evening, but was postponed by a day due to  inclement weather .

But Thursday night brought the calm after the storm; the evening was serene.

Neil Young returns to Spotify after 2-year hiatus following Joe Rogan controversy

After opener Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping , a musical performance art experience that draws from religion, Young hit the stage.

The set-up featured a backdrop with a galloping horse and giant speaker cabinets and road cases, the same ones Young took on the road with him for his "Rust Never Sleeps" tour in 1978.

Young appeared in a striped cap, a denim work shirt that featured paint splatters and a Spartan Truck Equipment patch, black pants, black shoes and of course, his guitar, Old Black .

He mentioned the venue's beauty multiple times — a stage nestled in the woods of Graystone Quarry in Thompson’s Station.

"How you doin out there? Nice to see you," Young said to the Franklin crowd.

"What a beautiful place. You guys are very lucky to have this place."

Alongside Young was the band, comprised of 80-year-old Billy Talbot on bass and 80-year-old Ralph Molina on drums. They also have a new member, Micah Nelson on guitar.

Nelson, Willie Nelson 's 33-year-old son, took over for the band's previous guitarist Nils Lofgren earlier this year.

Throughout the show, Neil Young and the band played a 17-song set, full with jam sessions and occasional harmonies. Young was energized and playful, captivating the crowd with his trademark nasally, emotional voice.

The set list was mostly comprised of older hits, like 1969's "Cinnamon Girl" and 1972's "Heart of Gold."

The band didn't play any songs from their recent album; the most recent song was 1996's "Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')." Nelson's big moment came during the tune; he traded his guitar to play a swinging keyboard that descended from the ceiling.

Young's guitar playing—both electric and acoustic—was adept and agile. Though Young shared in January he has been playing guitar with arthritis in his hand for years, audience members wouldn't have guessed.

He played the blues on song "Vampire Blues," hitting guitar licks with a precision like Stevie Ray Vaughan's. He also performed drawn-out, warping guitar solos on songs like "Like a Hurricane" and "Powderfinger."

Between songs, Young would hand his guitar off to his techs (who all wore white lab coats), but was audibly uncomfortable until he had a guitar in his arms yet again.

The night's concert walked the line between a Young that leaned into classic, grunge rock 'n' roll with Crazy Horse and a Young that gently cooed with Crosby, Stills & Nash in '69, strumming an acoustic.

Young pulled off the balancing act.

Here are some of the top moments from the night.

Neil Young opens with 'Cortez the Killer,' sings newly released verse

On a purple-lit stage, Neil Young and Crazy Horse kicked off the show with the 1975 song "Cortez the Killer."

The first lyrics from Young brought cheers from the audience as he sang, "He came dancing across the water / With his galleons and guns."

Young surprised fans at the first concert of the tour by singing unreleased lyrics to the song, ones he said did not record due to a power outage on the recording console in 1975.

Young found the lyric manuscript, he said in an interview mid-April this year.

The verse was lost for nearly 50 years. Young sang the verse again in Franklin.

“I floated on the water / I ate that ocean wave / Two weeks after the slaughter/ I was living in a cave / They came too late to get me / But there’s no one here to set me free / From this rocky grave / To that snowed-out ocean wave.”

Neil Young calls on local non-profits to support his eco-friendly mission

Neil Young has been vocal about his environmental efforts throughout his career .

In 1985, Young helped establish the annual Farm Aid concerts . In 2022, he released album "World Record," an album that focuses on climate change. Later that year, Young said he refused to play venues that are supported by factory farms .

The environmentalism was felt at his Franklin show.

Upon entering the concert, fans saw a series of tents and tables from local environmental organizations all hand picked by Young, including Tennessee Local Food . The organizations attended the concert and chatted with fans about their missions.

Young calls it the "LOVE EARTH Village."

At different stops on the tour, hundreds of non-profits working for sustainability and social equity will join to chat about issues like organic farming, wildlife protection, Native American rights and climate change solutions.

According to a venue employee, Young also changed the menu for the venue's offerings on Thursday, opting for more eco-friendly options (Coke products were nowhere to be seen).

On a handout at the venue, Young wrote, "Support your friends, support your land, and support the people that want to care for the land.

"The revolution starts with us. The revolution starts with you."

Neil Young goes acoustic mid-show, takes stage alone

At one point, Young took an empty stage, traded Old Black for an acoustic, and donned the harmonica around his neck.

He sang songs, "Comes a Time," "Heart of Gold" and "Human Highway" onstage alone, leaning into his folk singer-songwriter roots.

Despite the occasional hoot or holler in the audience, a hush crept over the amphitheater as Young sang, played plucky guitar and showcased his harmonica skills between verses.

It was a gentler, softer and more intimate side to the evening.

"Heart of Gold" stood out among the acoustic section.

Young sang his biggest hit: "Keep me searching / For a heart of gold / I've been a miner / For a heart of gold."

An encore and...another encore

Before the encore, Young ended his set with song "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)," leaving the audience with the classic and singing, "Hey hey, my my / Rock and roll can never die."

And it didn't die just then, Young and the band returned to the stage to play "Roll Another Number (For the Road)" as their encore.

After the song finished, the audience didn't stop cheering. Young and company came back to deliver a second encore, this time three songs long.

For encore two, they performed "Danger Bird," "Don't Cry No Tears" and "Sedan Delivery," ending the night on a grungy rock 'n' roll note that included pink lights and plenty of reverb.

Afterwards, the band and Young gathered arm-in-arm in a single spotlight and gave their final bow.

Neil Young's Set List

• Cortez the Killer
• Cinnamon Girl
• Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')
• Like a Hurricane
• Vampire Blues
• The Losing End (When You're On)
• Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
• Powderfinger
• Love and Only Love
• Comes a Time
• Heart of Gold
• Human Highway
• Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
• Encore: Roll Another Number (For the Road)
• Encore II: Danger Bird, Don't Cry No Tears, Sedan Delivery

For more information on Neil Young's tour, head to  neilyoungarchives.com .

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Madonna Brings Massive Free Concert to Rio, Capping Celebration Tour

The pop superstar performed a final date on her global trek marking four decades of hits: a set on Copacabana Beach before the largest live crowd of her career.

By Flávia Milhorance and Julia Jacobs

Reporting from Rio de Janeiro and New York

When Madonna stepped out onto the mammoth stage constructed on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach on Saturday night in a gleaming halo headpiece and black kimono, she was greeted by the largest live crowd of her four-decade career.

The free show, announced in late March, was a grand finale to the pop superstar’s latest world tour, which has delivered 80 performances since last October . Without ticket data, concert crowd sizes can be difficult to gauge; Riotur, the municipality’s tourism department, estimated that 1.6 million people flooded onto the 2.4-mile stretch of sand on Saturday that had been turned into a roughly $12 million playground surrounding the 8,700-square-foot stage.

It was the culmination of days of Madonna-mania in the city, where talk of the singer, 65, was inescapable. Her songs spilled out of stores and car stereos. Fans assembled outside her hotel and shouted her name. Updates about the concert, which was broadcast on the network Globo TV, dominated local media reports.

The spectacle in Rio was a milestone in Madonna’s career: the victory lap for her first stage retrospective, called the Celebration Tour , in which she chronicled her rise to stardom, performing hits like “Into the Groove,” “Like a Prayer” and “Ray of Light” with a cadre of dancers, four of her six children, and a wardrobe of elaborate costuming that recalled some of her most memorable looks.

“Here we are, the most beautiful place in the world,” Madonna announced early in the concert, indicating the ocean and the mountains around her. “This is magic.” Later, she expounded on her gratitude for her Brazilian fans. “You have always been there for me,” she said. “That flag: that green-and-yellow flag, I see it everywhere. I feel it in my heart.”

The two-plus-hour Rio show hewed closely to the Celebration show, with a few exceptions: Madonna added her 2000 track “Music” to the set list, rearranged as a samba with live drummers and a special guest, the Brazilian drag star Pabllo Vittar. “Live to Tell,” staged as a tribute to victims of AIDS , included photographs of the Brazilian musicians Cazuza and Renato Russo, and the actress Sandra Bréa. For “Vogue,” Madonna appeared in a sparkly dress in the colors of the Brazilian flag and was joined by the pop sensation Anitta , who helped “judge” the competitors strutting down the runway.

The show had lifelong Madonna fans — many of whom came dressed in homage to their heroine in cone bras and lace gloves — screaming and dancing along. Ernesto Magalhães, 42, adorned in the style of Madonna’s “Material Girl” era in a gown and boa while balancing on stilts, epitomized the exuberant spirit of the occasion: “I’ve been a Madonna fan since I was 8; I couldn’t miss this.” Surya Rossi, a 31-year-old illustrator, decided on a last-minute trip from Rio Claro, São Paulo, after coordinating with her cousin, and stayed with friends. “Madonna has been a tremendous influence on me, both as a feminist and an artist,” she said. “Her empowering history and approach inspire me.”

It was also something of a landmark moment for live concerts globally. At a time of astronomical ticket prices and rising production costs for major shows, a free concert attracting a crowd of this scale is exceedingly rare, especially in the United States. California’s Coachella festival, where a three-day general admission pass starts at about $500, draws up to 125,000 attendees a day. Musikfest, a mostly free music festival in Pennsylvania, welcomed about 1.3 million visitors over 11 days last year.

“To have a free show like that in recent years is relatively unheard-of,” Katelyn Yount, the director of festivals at AEG Presents, said of Madonna’s closing show. Hangout, an upcoming music festival on Alabama’s Gulf Coast that is among the annual events AEG produces, is capped each day at about 40,000 attendees, who pay more than $300 for a three-day pass.

If a performance of this magnitude was going to be held anywhere in 2024, it would probably be in Rio, where officials have experience with enormous crowds. In 2006, about 1.5 million people attended a free Rolling Stones concert at Copacabana Beach, Brazilian police and other authorities said at the time. An even larger crowd was said to have gathered for a Rod Stewart show there on New Year’s Eve in 1994.

The idea for the sprawling event was first planted two years ago, when Luiz Oscar Niemeyer, an executive with Bonus Track, a live entertainment company based in Rio de Janeiro, approached Madonna’s managers after hearing about plans for the tour. The Rolling Stones concert in 2006 helped convince him that something like this was possible, he said.

Negotiations stalled until last year, when a Madonna show in Mexico City was announced — ticketed dates for the Celebration Tour ended up wrapping with five nights there at the Palacio de los Deportes — and Niemeyer resumed his efforts to convince the pop star’s representatives and secure funding.

“It was an ambitious project for everyone, aiming to attract the largest audience of her career, and I thought this would help me persuade her,” Niemeyer said in an interview last week.

The concert’s corporate backers include the Brazilian bank Itaú and Heineken, and the government has made a significant investment as well.

Preparation for Madonna-palooza had consumed a segment of the city in recent days. A week ago, cargo planes carried about 270 tons of concert material to the city, including costumes and gym equipment. Eighteen sound and video towers were built across the beach, and last Wednesday, 4,000 workers prepared the stage in scorching heat.

Because this was the only Celebration concert in South America — Madonna last toured there in 2012 — fans congregated from all over the continent. In the days leading up to the event, a Madonna impersonator, Izelene Cristina, danced to “La Isla Bonita” at a bus station as she welcomed travelers. She would not be attending the concert because excitement over the superstar’s performance had led to a flood of bookings.

“Such is the life of an artist,” she said. “You work to move and entertain people.”

On Monday, Madonna and her touring team of about 200 arrived in Rio, heading directly to the French Riviera-inspired Copacabana Palace, the luxury hotel near where the stage was built. Later in the week, crowds gathered as close to the stage as possible, as the pop star crossed a specially built footbridge from the hotel to the stage to rehearse with some of her dancers.

Social media was flooded with clips of Madonna running through songs including the opener, “Nothing Really Matters.” “Are you happy? Are you ready?” she asked the assembled crowd at one point . The response: wild cheering. “OK, just checking,” she replied.

At a press briefing ahead of the concert, officials discussed the safety concerns that can accompany an audience of that size and unpredictable weather on the shore. Last year, the Brazilian D.J. Alok scheduled what had been billed as the “concert of the century” on Copacabana Beach, but a storm led part of the crowd to scatter, and concertgoers were faced with rampant pickpocketing , a problem at least some faced on Saturday night as well.

Marco Andrade, a spokesman for the Rio police, told reporters that the department planned to deploy 3,200 officers at the Madonna concert, compared with about 900 for Alok’s event. He said that facial recognition technology would be used at inspection areas, in addition to drones to monitor the crowd. In the end, the audience stretched into the ocean as well — a collection of boats anchored in the waters near the venue.

The atmosphere on the ground Saturday night was like a World Cup event, street carnival and New Year’s Eve celebration combined. Street vendors offered shirts, hats, cups and fans adorned with Madonna’s face and rainbow colors, and a plethora of barbecue, grilled cheese, empanadas and the Brazilian cocktail caipirinhas were available. To fight the heat, a firefighter atop a fire truck sprayed a jet of water on the crowd.

As the show ended with a remix of her 2009 track “Celebration,” Madonna addressed the audience for a final time: “Thank you, Rio,” adding “obrigada,” the equivalent in Portuguese. She smiled and let go of a Brazilian flag, flipped a white veil over her head and descended beneath the stage.

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the Bonus Track executive who approached Madonna’s team about the Brazil show. He is Luiz Oscar Niemeyer, not Luiz Guilherme Niemeyer.

How we handle corrections

Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times. More about Julia Jacobs

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