While Flight of Passage is probably the reigning king of the projection-based flight simulator from a tech standpoint, Star Tours is getting a lot of points here for being the granddaddy of them all (as well as being ultra efficient!). Without Star Tours there is no Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
In the late 70s, WDI encountered Boeing's flight simulator system, and had the bright idea of trying to turn that into a ride system. In hindsight it feels so obvious, but the idea of an attraction based on a simulator just didn't exist until a team lead by Tom Fitzgerald and Tony Baxter made it happen.
The Boeing flight simulation cabin used multiple hydraulic arms under the cabin to simulate a massive range of motion, creating the sensation of lifts, dips, deceleration, acceleration, pitching, turning, and rolling. Fitzgerald and Baxter realized that tech could be modified for essentially a small moving theater of riders, and anything they wanted could be played on the screen. Having several of these big simulators in the building also meant massive guest throughput numbers, as well, keeping lines manageable.
It makes for so many possibilities, and the tech has influenced dozens of attractions across the theme park industry since. This list has already seen Sum of All Thrills, Soarin', Avatar: Flight of Passage, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, all of which essentially use evolutions of using a screen and movement to take a rider somewhere without them ever leaving the room, but that just scrapes the surface. Body Wars was a fairly direct copy, just set in the human body. Indiana Jones Adventure used the simulator movement, but put it on a track.
The influence extends beyond Disney, too. Universal Studios has used the set-up -- arguably excessively -- for many of their attractions since opening, but in one case -- The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man -- they put it on a track through physical sets and made a masterpiece. Sea World used the tech to take you on a tour of the Arctic. Heck, there was a point in time that shopping malls all had these things. After the Matterhorn's introduction of steel rollercoasters to the world, it could probably be argued the introduction of flight simulators to theme parks might be the single most extensive ride system influence influence Walt Disney Imagineering has had on the industry at large.
The sweeping legacy is a large part of why Star Tours sits here, but it had a lasting legacy in another important way, as well. Again, Fitzgerald and Baxter knew they could put whatever film they wanted in their simulator -- and even update it as time went on -- but in the mid-80s, they had the perfect candidate.
Star Wars had just wrapped its epic saga -- or so we thought at the time -- and Disney and Star Wars creator George Lucas were looking for ways to partner over bringing Star Wars into the Disney parks. Lots of ideas bounced around, many discussed openly by Baxter and company since, but the one that stuck was using the simulator -- which still didn't have a show -- to take you into the Star Wars universe.
The way they did it was absolutely genius. You weren't boarding a fighter, or taking an active part in the Galactic Civil War. Rather, you were just a passenger boarding an interstellar tourism vehicle. The entrance was made to look like a civilian spaceport -- albeit with R2-D2 and C-3PO hanging out for some reason -- and the interior of the vehicles feels like a futuristic airplane. It was real-world familiarity with a Star Wars filter over the top, a concept heavily borrowed from again years later in Smugglers Run.
This broke the barrier on non-Disney IP inside a Disney park, and at first, it felt a little weird as it plopped down in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. However, at that moment, Disney was working on another park in Florida that was going to be the absolute perfect fit for Star Tours. A couple years later, Disney-MGM Studios didn't open with it, but just a few months after, Walt Disney World had its own Star Tours, and the match was made in heaven. It even went the extra mile, with an elaborate Ewok village exterior queue, and a massive AT-AT at the entrance firing laser canons at passing guests.
Over time, that fit -- Star Wars in Walt Disney World -- has come to feel natural and perfect, just like simulators in theme park rides. Now that Disney owns Star Wars, that's obvious, but even prior to the purchase the match felt right for a while, especially in the Studios. Like Harry Potter with the following generation, it's a universe too big and too popular with too many fans, and too well-suited to a themed area, to not have a home in an amusement park, and Disney was perfect as that home. Some of the best rides and the best areas in any park owe their existence to the introduction of simulators and Lucas's worlds.
Now, I'm cheating a little bit with this post, because I do absolutely believe Star Tours - The Adventures Continue is enough of a refurb to count as a separate attraction. With its randomized events creating a different experience every time, and improved visuals and range of motion, it is also one of the best attractions ever built. In fact, it probably would have been the spot right before this, with the original still being a step higher due to its legacy and innovation.
That's boring, though. Love Star Tours as I do, I still didn't want to write two blog posts on it, and would rather just include it once and make room for another attraction. So this spot not only represents Star Tours the original, but the versions that have come since, as well as the of the adaptability of the ride system over time. It sits so high because the infrastructure allows for a refurbishment that becomes an even better, nearly-entirely-new experience.
I want to take a brief moment to appreciate that original ride, though. It didn't have some 700 different possible ride sequences, or 3D, or C-3PO on board, but it really was something remarkable even while being the same every time. Shot on film with physical sets, it had a sense of realism that has kind of disappeared from a lot of modern film. It was an absolutely fantastic use of John Williams's music, and Industrial Light and Magic's iconic Death Star trench run. Also, your pilot RX-D4 -- voiced by Paul Reubens -- was an incredibly memorable character. The sights, sounds, and quotes from Star Tours were replaced by something also amazing, but they'll always live in the hearts of Disney parks fans of a certain age.
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