Star Tours was the first Star Wars-themed attraction at a Disney park way back in 1987. With the more recent addition of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, it would have shocked nobody if Star Tours had been quietly put out to pasture. But not only has that not happened, the attraction is gearing up for its biggest expansion in years, with new additions from The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Andor all set to come to the ride April 5.
The new additions will be added to all three versions of the attraction, at Disneyland, Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, and Disneyland Paris, on the same day. April 5 also marks the beginning of the Season of the Force celebration at Disneyland Resort. A brief YouTube video revealed one of the new planets where Star Tours will travel, Peridea from Ahsoka. The new Star Tours will have space whales.
It had been previously teased that new additions were coming to Star Tours and Ahsoka Tano had been specifically mentioned as one of the new additions, but we know now that new locations and characters from all three Star Wars Disney+ series will be coming to the attraction all at the same time. In a blog post Walt Disney Imagineer Scott Trowbridge, who manages the Star Wars portfolio, says that “urgent transmissions” from Ahsoka Tano, Cassian Andor, and The Mandalorian and Grogu will all be part of the new show elements, which indicates that Rosario Dawson, Diego Luna, and Pedro Pascal, will all appear as their characters on screen.
Star Tours added new sections to its randomized system with each of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, as well as one that takes guests to Batuu, the planet of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. But with this, we will see at least three new sections added to the show all at once, the most significant single addition since Star Tours was completely redesigned.
Star Tours is a motion simulator attraction with 3D video that has guests taking a Star Tours tourist flight that goes wrong immediately when C-3PO accidentally finds himself piloting the ship. The show is broken into pieces, and each segment of the show has multiple things that can happen. This makes every ride on Star Tours just a little bit different.
More than likely, Star Tours will be set to focus on the new content when it debuts, as a way to give guests a guarantee that they’ll see something new. With so many possibilities now, it could take dozens of rides to see everything if it’s all left to chance.
With two more upcoming Star Wars series planned, The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew, one has to wonder if there are already plans to bring those locations and characters to Star Tours when they arrive.
