Disney has done a fairly incredible job at implementing other famous properties and titles into their amusement parks throughout the years, dating all the way back to when Disneyland first opened in 1955. Even before Disney bought Lucasfilm, the Star Wars world still had a large presence in all of the parks, with the now iconic Star Tours emerging as one of the most beloved and consistently popular rides Disney has ever created. First opening on January 9th, 1987 (30 years ago today), the ride - which allows participants to embark on immersive journeys to some of the most iconic and recognizable planets in the Star Wars universe - has only continued to grow in its presence and popularity amongst guests in the decades since.
Disney has always been open to updating the ride as well, with the company just last year adding a special Force Awakens-themed mission to the lineup of possible journeys guests can be taken on, that not only took them to the desert planet of Jakku, but also featured a brief appearance from John Boyega’s Finn, created specifically for Star Tours. Turns out, that may not be the only addition to the Star Tours lineup fans can expect from the now Disney-owned era of the property either.
In fact, in a new article celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Star Tours ride, Disney confirmed that a new Star Wars: Episode VIII-themed mission is already being developed for the ride. It will incorporate several elements from the eighth installment into a new, immersive experience just like all of the others that guests can experience when they hop on board Star Tours. Predictably, though, no other details about the new mission were revealed in the piece.
Now, this isn’t necessarily surprising considering how quick Disney has been to update Star Tours whenever a new Star Wars film is released, or when considering how feverishly the company has worked to create as much synchronization with the new Star Wars content across as many mediums as possible. Still, the confirmation that Star Wars fans living around any of the Disney parks, or planning on making a trip out to one of them after Episode VIII is released, will be able to experience a brand new mission created in conjunction with the film should come as welcome news.
There’s no telling what characters will appear throughout the new mission, of course, or what planets will be visited in it, especially since practically nothing is actually known about Episode VIII right now. Could it possibly take fans on a visit to see Luke and Rey while training on Ahch-To? At this point, anything is possible, and if Episode VIII offers any new planets with the same iconic look and feel as something like Jakku or Tatooine, that’ll likely be where Star Tours will take guests too.
Then again, there’s no telling what lies in store for the Star Wars universe this year. The only thing that seems certain is that with 2017 being the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, and plenty of new additions to the universe are on their way, it’ll - at the very least - be exciting.
Source: Disney Parks
- Star Wars 8 Release Date: 2017-12-15 Han Solo Release Date: 2018-05-25 Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker Release Date: 2019-12-20
