Darth Vader and the Imperial Army seem to be “attacking” Japan in search of Tokyo Disneyland! We have received this special video.

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We just got the news that Star Tours in Tokyo Disneyland will be getting The Adventures Continue update. The attraction that opened in 1989 will close down for a while, while imagineers prepare the space adventure for the 3D upgrade. The opening is setfor May 7th, 2013. Next year will also mean the 30th anniversary for Tokyo Disneyland. Read the rest of this entry »

On Sunday, May 20, 2012, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue officially turned ONE, sending thousands of guests across the galaxy at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and then later at Disneyland Park.  EndorExpress takes a look back to May 20, 2011 when it all began.

While Star Tours celebrated its 25th year in January, we salute the newest version of the attraction and wish it a Happy Birthday and hopefully many more to come.

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue Official Press Release

Disneyland May 20,2011 “Early Departure”

Star Wars and Star Tours veteran Anthony Daniels was kind enough to share with us some personal insights in the 25 years of Star Tours. Read his entire exclusive text here.

Congratulations to Industrial Light & Magic as they have been nominated for a Annie Award for Best Animated Special Production for their work on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.

We have the press release that confirms the original version of Star Tours is scheduled to close April 2, 2012. Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has a scheduled opening in the Spring 2013 at Tokyo Disney Resort.

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On Tuesday Disney Parks Blog posted that Star Tours – The Adventures Continue was one of the winners of the 18th Annual Thea Awards.

Star Tours – The Adventures Continue was honored with the award for Outstanding Achievement – Attraction Refresh.

Congratulations!

We recently caught up with Oscar-winner and amazing composer Michael Giacchino at the D23 expo. The topic, of course, was his score for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. Read the entire interview here!

I’ve been having fun lately deciphering the omnipresent Aurebesh lettering found in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. There is wording on the X-Wing in the Star Trader which conceals the names of classic Disney characters like Mickey, Donald, the Cheshire Cat, and Peter Pan. G2-4T’s screen contains references to THX 1138, TK-421, the number 42 made famous in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and 626, the experiment number of Disney alien Stitch.

Of course, there are also a few misspelled words. I recently downloaded an Aurebesh font for my computer, and discovered that it can be disconcerting to type in an unfamiliar alphabet, without the usual ease of telling at a glance whether you’ve mis-keyed. (I wish the Imagineers had learned my new trick… type it in English, double-check your spelling, highlight it, and THEN switch fonts!)

But late last night, while translating a new batch of pics that my buddy David Yeh sent of the screen behind C-3PO, I found a new inside joke that tops all the previous ones and makes even the worst typos forgiveable!

Among the various system readouts of the Starspeeder 1000 (deflector shields, nav comp, hyperdrive, thruster vents, countermeasures, life support, repulsors, laser cannons), seven little letters can be found which spell out FLUX CAP.

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We had a chance to sit down with Marianne McLean, Visual Effects Producer for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. She takes us behind the scenes on creating one of the most anticipated Disney attractions ever. You can read the entire interview here in our special feature archive.