'The Rise Of Skywalker' Content Coming To 'Star Tours' On December 20th

By: Dominic Jones

Star Tours II: The Adventure Continues is getting its first major update since 2017 later this year.  Lucasfilm announced today that a new addition, featuring a new location and characters from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.  The new destination will be added to the existing ride at Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Tokyo Disneyland Park, and Disneyland Paris on December 20th (the same day the film hits theaters).

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Batuu, The Planet From 'Galaxy's Edge', Added to 'Star Tours'

By: Dominic Jones

In addition to the launch of the Crait adventure in the Star Tours: The Adventures Continue ride at Disney theme parks, today also saw the launch of another new adventure taking riders to the planet Batuu.  This marks Batuu's first appearance in a Star Wars project, however it is a planet that fans will be seeing a lot more of in the coming years.  Batuu is "in-universe" the planet on which Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park expansion will be based.  Galaxy's Edge is slated to open in 2019 at Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida.

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Mark Hamill Surprises Fans With Appearance On 'Star Tours'

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By: Dominic Jones

Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill is truly one of the best ambassadors to the fans that the Star Wars franchise could ever ask for and every so often he does something to remind us why.  Yesterday, Hamill made a surprise appearance on the Star Tours ride at Disneyland in California, shocking the crowd of Star Wars fans who were about to ride the ride.  Video of Hamill making his entrance was posted to the official Star Wars Instagram account and you can check that out below,

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Disney Releases 'Star Tours' Crait Adventure Preview Image, Teases Another Destination Coming This Week

By: Dominic Jones

The Disney Parks Blog has released a new preview image for the new Crait adventure coming to Star Tours: The Adventures Continue that will tie into Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  The image features the Starspeeder 1000 flying above the Resistance Ski Speeders on the planet Crait (the white and red planet in the The Last Jedi trailers).  There are also a pair of First Order TIE Fighters chasing the Starspeeder.  The new adventure is set to launch on Friday November 17th.  Check it out below,

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Report: 'Star Tours' Will Stop Mixing Characters & Planets From Different Eras

By: Dominic Jones

One of the unique aspects of the revamped Star Tours that first launched back in 2011 was the random nature of it.  During each ride, riders would visit two planets in the Star Wars galaxy out of six possible options (seven as of 2015, when a Jakku adventure was added).  However, this may be changing somewhat.  Walt Disney World News Today is reporting that with the addition of a Crait adventure to tie into Star Wars: The Last Jedi this week the ride will only feature the sequel trilogy content for the immediate future.  According to WDWNT,

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New 'The Last Jedi' Inspired Adventure Coming to 'Star Tours' on November 17

By: Dominic Jones

The Disney Parks Blog announced the launch date for a new adventure coming to Star Tours II: The Adventure Continues that will tie in with The Last Jedi.  The new addition to the attraction will be set on the planet Crait, seen briefly in the trailers for The Last Jedi.  The Crait Star Tours adventure will launch at Disneyland in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida on November 17, at Disneyland Paris November 22, and, as previously announced, at Tokyo Disneyland December 15.

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Experience The Original Star Tours Ride In 4K 360° Video

By: Benjamin Hart

Even with all the amazing new Star Wars content that we've been getting recently, I would argue that the most realistic and immersive Star Wars experience is still Star Tours. The 3D motion simulator ride, which is available to ride at several of Disney theme parks across the globe, has been shuttling millions of Star Wars fans to a Galaxy far, far away since opening in 1987.

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'Episode VIII' Star Tours Adventure Announced, More 'Star Wars Land' Concept Art Revealed

By: Dominic Jones

The official Disney Parks blog announced to day that a new addition to Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, the popular Star Wars ride at the Disney Theme Parks, would be be getting another addition soon and that addition will be based on Star Wars Episode VIII.  The teams from Lucasfilm and Disney Imagineering are already at work on the new attraction.  No word on exactly when it will launch. An addition for The Force Awakens (taking fans on a tour of the star ship graveyard of Jakku) was added in December of last year to coincide with the film's release, so a December 2017 (the same month the film hits theaters) launch makes sense for the Episode VIII addition. 

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'Season Of The Force' Unofficially Opens At Disneyland

By: Benjamin Hart

Even though Disney's "Season Of The Force" isn't supposed to kick off until Monday, we have received word that a few of the big attractions that will be headlining the event have already had preview openings this week. Our Disneyland correspondent Niccolette Reta was there to report back on what's been happening.

First off, the classic Disney ride Space Mountain has been transformed into "Hyperspace Mountain" (seen above) for the Season Of The Force festivities. Friday night Disneyland guests were treated to a secret special preview of the ride's new look. Hyperspace Mountain reportedly features all the elements of the normal Space Mountain experience with a Star Wars twist which includes a briefing from none other than Admiral Ackbar who tells riders that a Star Destroyer has been spotted near Jakku and that "Blue Squadron" must journey to the planet to engage it.

In addition, the Path Of The Jedi experience has also opened it's doors to the public. Path Of The Jedi is a 20 minute long 4D film that covers the first six films of the Saga, as well as sneak peeks at The Force Awakens.

Our good friend Jason at Making Star Wars shared a review of his experience at both of the aforementioned experiences which you can check out here!

Also, Inside the Magic got a good look at the new Star Wars Launch Bay exhibit, which features props and costumes from all seven films. They posted a video tour of the extensive gallery which you can check out below:



Niccolette also let us know there will be a meet & greet at the park with an unknown "someone" on Monday, it's anyone's guess as to who that may be. We will definitely provide more updates when more news surfaces.

And of course, Season Of The Force will be bringing plenty more awesome things to the park officially on Monday(November 16th), including making Jakku one of the planets you "visit" on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, along with a "Galactic Grill" that serves up Star Wars themed meals and snacks. Also, opening on December 8th, Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple will allow younger visitors to become Jedi Padawans and encounter villains such as the Seventh Sister from Star Wars Rebels.

All in all, it looks like Disney is quickly making up for canceling Star Wars Weekends. This is an event that's surely not to be missed!

Sources: Disney Parks Blog, Inside The Magic

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Preview of 'Star Tours' Jakku Experience Revealed

By: Dominic Jones

The Disney Parks blog unveiled a special preview of the upcoming Jakku experience coming to Star Tours II: The Adventure Continues.  The new experience will be added to the theme park ride in December to coincide with the release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and during the first few months every rider of Star Tours will get the Jakku experience (Star Tours consists of very destinations from the Star Wars universe which vary from ride to ride).  Check out the preview below,

Disney also announced that at the Seventh Sister will become the villain, along with Darth Vader of the new "Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple,"  which is a re imagining of the classic "Jedi Academy" activity for kids.  They also revealed that fans will be able to meet Darth Vader and Chewbacca at the Star Wars Launch Bay at the Parks and that, sadly, the Star Wars Weekends event has been retired.

Source: Disney Parks Blog

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'Season of the Force' Events to Launch November 16th at Disney Parks

By: Dominic Jones

Disney has announced that the Season of the Force event at Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney's Hollywood Studios at Disney World in Orlando will launch on November.  The event was announced back at D23 and will feature the following,

• Star Wars Launch Bay – This new area will offer opportunities to visit with favorite Star Wars characters, special exhibits, peeks at the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens and much more.
• Star Tours—The Adventures Continue: This popular attraction will feature a new scene inspired by the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
• Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple: Coming in December, a twist on the Jedi Training experience will introduce new characters and a new villain from the popular Disney XD series, Star Wars Rebels.
• Hyperspace Mountain: For a limited time, guests will join an X-wing starfighter battle in this reimagining of the classic Space Mountain attraction.
• Other limited-time experiences include:
  • An opportunity to revisit favorite scenes from classic Star Wars films at Tomorrowland Theater.
  • Special themed food and beverage, merchandise, and entertainment.

There are rumors that a The Force Awakens preview was intended to shown as part of the event, though it seems that has, at the very least, been put on hold.  Our pals over MakingStarWars.net are also reporting that "Star Wars Land" will begin construction in June and that a Rogue One ride is being developed. (Keep in mind this part is a rumor until confirmed by Lucasfilm or Disney).

Will you be checking out "Season of the Force" at the Disney Parks?  If so, what are you most excited for?  Let us know in the comments!

Source: D23

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EXCLUSIVE: Star Tours to Get 'The Force Awakens' Expansion

By: Dominic Jones

As we revealed on tonight's SWU podcast, we heard from a inside source that the first Star Wars addition coming to the Disney Parks is a Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens portion of the popular Star Tours: The Adventure Continues ride.  Our source revealed that work is being done right now on a new mission that will be added to the ride in the future that directly ties in with The Force Awakens.  Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed recently that they were looking to have a strong presence from the new films in the planned Star Wars additions to the Disney Parks.

You can listen to our reveal on the Podcast below.  Our discussion about the Disney Parks begins at 23:46 and the reveal is made shortly thereafter,

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Star Wars Rebels 'Droids In Distress' Episode Guide Released

By: Benjamin Hart

The first episode of season one of Star Wars Rebels, titled "Droids In Distress", aired tonight on Disney XD. Afterward StarWars.com promptly added the episode guide for it to the site, which features stills from the episode, trivia, concept art and even musical cues.

Also included is a brand new "Rebels Recon" video which features interviews with Dave Filoni, Pablo Hidaglo and other from behind the scenes discussing how the episode was developed. You can watch it below:



So head on over to StarWars.com now and take a look at all the goodies! And if you're a Disney XD subscriber, you'll want to check out Watch Disney XD where you can watch the next Rebels episode, "Fighter Flight" right now!

So, what did you think of Droids In Distress? Let us know in the comments below, or join Club SWU and join the discussion!

Source: StarWars.com

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Report: New 'Rebels' Characters & Vehicles Revealed In Book

By: Benjamin Hart

Star Wars Rebels is set to premiere in just a couple of short months, but several reference books that accompany the animated series have already been released, and they have provided us with a great deal of information. Today, Yakface posted a collection of photos on their Facebook page from the new Star Wars Rebels: Head To Head book. The pages reveal many characters and vehicles, some of which we've never seen before.

Keep in mind, the following information could be considered spoilerific if you don't want to know anything about the show prior to it airing, so this is your SPOILER WARNING!

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Okay, first off we have more details on The Inquisitor's TIE Advanced starfighter, as well as a Ralph McQuarrie influenced Protocol Droid, a flying creature, an A New Hope inspired speeder and an Aqualish character:

And most notably is the inclusion of the RX-series Pilot Droid. Many will recognize this Droid as "Rex" from the original Star Tours ride at Disney Land/World. Rex was retired from the ride in 2011 when Star Tours received a major upgrade. Now it seems Rex, or a Droid similar to him, will be making it's first on screen appearance in Rebels! Perhaps we'll see a StarSpeeder 3000 as well?

Be sure to head over to Yakface's Facebook page to check out all the photos, which they say they cropped to hide even more info pertaining to episodes of the series. So if you want to learn even more about Rebels, I suggest picking up a copy of Head To Head at your local bookseller, or on Amazon!

Source: Yakface

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