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The Disney Theme Park Merchandise Product Team was nice enough to take the time to answer several questions for us. Read the exclusive Q&A here!

SwStarTours.net: Thanks for letting us submit some questions to you. I know a lot of Disney and Star Wars fans will appreciate it. To start, why has there been such a lack of merchandise for Star Tours 20th Anniversary? So far we have only seen one commemorative pin.
Disney Theme Park Merchandise Product Team: This is fairly standard for all attraction anniversaries. They are normally only supported in merchandise by pins. In some rare cases, like DL’s 40th anniversary of Pirates of the Caribbean, we do a few more items.

SWST: Were any non-droid characters ever considered for the Hasbro Star Tours action figure line?
DTPMPT: Not that I am aware of.

SWST: C-3PO and R2-D2 were not part of the Hasbro Star Tours line. Was there a reason for that?
DTPMPT: I was not in the category when the 1st wave was started, so I am not a complete expert. However, it is my understanding that they wanted to focus on exclusive figures from the attraction. Obviously, C-3PO & R2-D2 have been a part of many previously released figure lines, through Hasbro.

SWST: Were there any difficulties in acquiring the rights to the Muppet/Star Wars crossover licenses?
DTPMPT: It’s something that we have wanted to do for a while. With Disney’s recent alignment with Henson, it is now a much more manageable arrangement. With Disney also having the Muppets attractions, we are also always looking for new ways to support that brand, as well.

SWST: Will the Darth Goofy action figure be sculpted wearing his boxer shorts outside his black costume, like the Big Fig version?
DTPMPT: No.

SWST: Is Hasbro manufacturing the Disney Characters AS Star Wars Characters action figures, or is another company producing those?
DTPMPT: We are doing those direct with the factory, under agreement & approval from Hasbro.

SWST: Will there be any more Latex Star Wars characters like the Yoda?
DTPMPT: Nothing further is planned right now.

SWST: Are the Electronic Monorail toys and Hotel/attraction playsets continuing to be sold at the theme parks, and how well are they selling? Are any future sets planned for this line?
DTPMPT: The monorail and accessories continue to be key tangible memory toys for those visiting the parks. Last year, the Monorail updated to a deluxe version, with working doors, clear windows, and micro-characters. We also did a re-fresh to the packaging for the Monorail, track sets, and [miniature Contemporary hotel]. Every year, we will be switching out the color of the Monorail stripe (in hopes of eventually releasing all of the actual Monorail colors). Last year was Gold; this year was Blue; and right before the holidays, Monorail Lime will debut.

SWST: We have been asked this many times so I am going to the source. Can you give us release dates and Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices for the Potato Heads, Leia and Padme Dress Sets, Disney Star Wars character crossover figures and the already very popular Star Wars Muppet set?
DTPMPT: Release dates are a little tough. The traffic/ transportation will cause some variance that we can’t control. The traffic times are also different between WDW & DLR. Generally, we are targeting October ’07 release for the SW Mister Potato Head line and the Disney SW Action Fig Series 1. Mr. Potato Head will retail at $12 & the action figs will retail at $8. The dress sets and the Muppets set are still under development, so I don’t have any definite info on them. They will likely be a late spring/early summer 08 release.

SWST: Thanks Again!

So, you say you’re a fan of Disney theme parks and Star Wars, but you live on the wrong side of the country to attend Star Wars Weekends in Orlando? Not to worry!

Even though there’s no *official* event planned for Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, the fans have taken matters into their own hands for the past three years. What began as a protest over the lack of a Star Wars Weekend event in the very park where Star Tours debuted has grown each year. Here’s the official press release of this unofficial event.

Anaheim, CA, June 30, 2007 – The So Cal Star Wars Alliance will be holding the Third Annual Unofficial Star Wars Fan Day at Disneyland. All Star Wars fans, their friends and families are invited.

Last year was such a success with over 200 Star Wars fans in attendance. Over $200.00 was earned from T-shirt sales and donated to the American Cancer Society. We will be having a group photo taken at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at 2:00 p.m. Commemorative T-shirts with a brand new logo are available. All profits from shirt sales will be donated to the American Cancer Society. For more information please visit www.starwarsdisneyland.com. Anyone who loves Star Wars and Disneyland are encouraged to attend. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Be sure to check out the cool ‘hitchhiking Jedi ghosts’ artwork on their website. And if you’re in the Anaheim area, make plans to attend!

This week, several websites have reported variations of an unsubstantiated rumor that Anthony Daniels confided to fans at a comic book convention that he’d just completed filming digital footage for Star Tours 2, and the revised ride should open by next year.

But according to Lucasfilm’s Steve Sansweet, the report should NOT be believed…

While we here at www.swstartours.net would LOVE to see Star Tours get upgraded with new destinations– thus fulfilling George Lucas’ original intent of a reprogrammable software-based thrill ride– we’ve seen the persistent ‘Star Tours 2′ rumor too many times to be anything but cautious.

Our own Brian Curran spoke to Anthony Daniels in person at Star Wars Celebration IV, on the subject of Star Tours. It seemed very curious that no such Star Tours 2 announcement was made, formal or informal, at the biggest gathering of Star Wars fans in the universe, which occurred just days before the alleged comic convention revelation.

We sought some corroboration of the rumor from a reliable source, and this is the response we received:

There is absolutely no truth to a made-up posting that Anthony Daniels said anything about a new Star Tours movie, because there is no new Star Tours movie in the works. Why anyone would believe anonymous claptrap like this is beyond my comprehension. Lucasfilm and Disney have said before that they hope someday to revise the Star Tours experience, but that day has not yet arrived. We’ll let you know when it does.

Steve Sansweet
Director of Content Management & Head of Fan Relations
Lucasfilm Ltd.

The most realistic time estimates of a Star Tours 2 revision that we’ve heard yet come from a recent Al Lutz report at MiceAge.com. Although the article was filled with maybe’s and possibly’s, the new timeline estimates the addition of Star Wars Weekends in Anaheim ‘around’ 2009, followed by drastic updates to Star Tours Tokyo. Then Bob Iger will oversee updates to the Anaheim Star Tours (as well as all of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, and Disney’s California Adventure, too) … but this plan is tentatively scheduled to occur over the next FOUR YEARS. Which means it could be 2011 before a Star Tours 2 debuts.

Stay tuned to swstartours.net for the most reliable Star Tours information in the galaxy!

StarWars.com has coverage of SWW ’07!