Spent the day at MGM yesterday. The all seatbelt cars on Tower of Terror 4 are a major improvement and allow for lots of air time . Star Tours and the Indy Stunt Spectacular, however, are really starting to show their age. I know redesiging attractions are like pulling teeth with the Disney execs, but when Disneyland has such a great Indy attraction and MGM has such a weak one, why not tear down the stunt show and put the ride in its place? Star Tours is also getting horribly outdated, especially when you compare it to the effects used in the prequels. All Lucas needs to do is spend a couple million on a new ride film using all CGI and it'd be guarenteed to blow the old film out of the water. Give the attraction a bit of a face lift and install digital projectors in the ride vehicles. With both Indy IV and Episode III coming out Summer 2005, the cross promotion would boost attendace and sell more tickets. Someone needs to send Lucas down to MGM and get him to realize his attractions are nowhere near as exciting as they used to be. Maybe he has the pull to get Disney to spend some dough! P.S. What were they thinking getting rid of Mann's Chinese Theater? That giant Mickey's hat is gonna take awhile to get used to, but since the cast members say it'll be around for at least 10yrs, I guess there's plenty of time.
Well, Disney seems to be turning a lot of current partners into former partners. Lucas was having some major disagreements with Disney a couple years back regarding the updating of Star Tours, and who knows what will happen now...actually anyone have any current news?
The last I heard is that Lucas wanted to spend the money to update Star Tours but Disney didn't. As for the Indy Stunt Show, he really wasn't ever involved in that from what I understand. The stunt show was just refurbished in fact, just not changed much. I don't believe that Disney has the mindset right now to build another Indy attraction but wouldn't it be great if they did?
I have never seen the attraction to ST. The outside is the most interesting part. That ride was outdated when it was installed. I rode that once. Saw the stunt show once. (Same year -- 2001) Haven't bothered with either again. Our only draw to MGM is ToT & RnRC. We rode the backlot tour again in January. (Can only drag DH on that once a year. ) We like WWTBAM and sit through that a few times. Have taken the animation tour twice. (Once a year. Will not probably do it again.) Great Movie Ride -- twice total. That's enough unless they change it. So after ToT and RnRC, what's left?
For us, The Great Movie Ride is the draw to the studios. I have never been on either ToT or RnRc (and never expect to willingly). Granted, some of the attractions are looking a bit dated - probably even more so for us than Luv2Roam, since the two big recent E-ticket additions are off-limits. Star Tours is outdated now, certainly, but was rather more impressive when new. An updated film here should be a given, just like changes should be regularly made to the Indiana Jones show and even The Little Mermaid. This keeps the attractions fresh, interesting, and a "draw" to guests (and is far cheaper than ignoring them for years until they must be replaced - rather than enhanced - with something new and more interesting - remember Future World?). Given Disney's track record with World Showcase films, I don't expect much. The Great Movie Ride apparently is now seeing some minor updates (the finale film), but by doing just a little more, you could promote the "new" Great Movie Ride. I'll also agree the Backlot tour needs something. For starters, there ought to be enough movie props to completely change out the "boneyard" displays every year or two.
Star Tours and Indy are some of my of my favorite rides in all of disney. I totally agree with you guys about the updates. I just think that Disney and Lucas and whoever need to do something soon.
I saw Star Tours and Little Mermaid last week and there are big chunks of dirt all over the films. I thought maybe they'd put asteroids in the Star Tours film! I've heard the rumours about Lucas wanting to make a new Star Tours and Disney not wanting to. Judging from how much Lucas likes to change and tweaks things (the special editions, etc), and the fact that the store was changed to Tatooine Traders, I believe the rumours. The film and the prints themselves are badly outdated. Disney doesn't seem to realize that movies can get quickly outdated.
There were a number of rumors around the time Lucasfilm released the first pre-quel that Star Tours would get an update, but nothing came of it. The conventional wisdom says that Disney wouldn't fund it the way Lucas wanted it & that the Lucas wouldn't foot the bill by himself. So both sides walked off in a huff... I suppose that's what happens when Big Egos forget to play nice. Rumors also said that they'd install rotating films so that you never knew which 'tour' you'd end up on. I wouldn't look to see this updated any time soon. Sarangel
The rumors say that well before 'Phantom Menace' was release, Lucas did approach Disney with a plan to upgrade 'Star Tours'. Disney turned him down over money. The original concept behind 'Tours' was that each speeder would head to a different destination just like have a dual rollercoaster with two different tracks. It would have been an easy way to increase the re-ride value of the attraction since there could be four or more shows with the same attraction. All you have to do is load a new program into each speeder. But construction on the original 'Star Tours' at Disneyland started to run long and over budget. To meet the deadlines and to please the accountants, plans for additional shows were "postponed" until the opening of Disney/MGM Studios version. But when budgets for that park began to be cut, those shows were the first to go as well. At the same time the relationship between Disney and Lucas slide. Actually, it was the relationship between Eisner and Lucas. George felt that Eisner was violating contracts, failing to properly promote the Star Wars and Indiana Jones attractions (an attempt by Pressler and Eisner to stop construction of the Indy ride at Disneyland really hurt) and then there was spillover from the Eisner/Spielberg feud. So things soured for a while. Then George started to make more 'Star Wars' movies again and wanted a way to promote them. He approached Disney about reviving the original multi-story concept for 'Star Tours' or at least making a new show. Lucas also wanted to use the opportunity to upgrade the technology by installing digital video, digital sound and in cabin effects. Eisner, however, had different ideas. He has no interest in promoting anyone else's films and won't spend a penny on it either (despite the huge throngs of tourists because it's just an ego thing). Here the rumors vary, from having Eisner demand the Lucas pick up all of the costs of the upgrades all the way to a Lucas "sponsorship" of the rides along the lines of what happens at Epcot. Lucas wasn't buying that idea, after all it's Eisner that keeps the $50 ticket price. Lucas still sees the arrangements as a licensing deal. And there it sits today. Eisner doesn't have an interest in upgrading 'Star Tours' and really wants to replace all non-Disney shows in all of the parks. Lucas can't afford Disney's demands, so he is simply waiting for the contracts to run out. There are interesting rumors about other theme parks that have been approached about Episode I III attractions but nothing's come from them so far (it would help if the movies were good). Every now and then someone at the Studio will float an idea about rethemeing 'Star Tours' for the latest "mega-hit", but the box office performance of 'Reign of Fire' and 'Treasure Planet' sunk those ideas before the sketches could be completed.
With what? Disney has nothing in that genre that can touch the popularity of Star Wars and Indy Jones. Eisner should be grateful to Lucas for giving him the concepts for attractions to help fill out his parks, just as Universal should be grateful to Spielberg. In fact, I'd love to see a Lucas/Spielberg land! And whether you like the new Star Wars films or not, the potential is certainly there for terrific updates to Star Tours (pod race, chase through Coruscant, etc).
It would probably be a good thing for disney to lose the rights to star wars, because maybe then a theme park company would build new attractions around these movies and not let them get lame like disney has done.
I just need t add my $0.02 here...I just got back from Las Vegas and I went on Star Trek: The Experience at the Hilton... All I'll say is (despite a slightly outdated film) the combination of live action (you get to walk through the Enterprise...complete with live crew members) and a simualtor is what "Star Tours" should be...(and I am not a big Star Trek fan...I actually prefer "Star Wars") Check it out if you get the chance...you'll see what "Star Tours" should be...
The Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas certainly does put Star Tours to shame--in several different ways. The Star Trek attraction has four main areas: museum, "Transport" (don't want to give this away), a walk through the actual Enterprise, and THEN you get to the simulator ride, which has a much larger screen (the roof of the shuttle craft is transparent) and far greater viewing angle than Star Tours. Much better. Star Trek costs $25. A day at any Disney park costs $50. So, you don't get a lot of bang for your buck at Star Trek--by comparison it is VERY expensive. But it beats Star Tours!
