Long before there was a Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge there was still a way to feel like you had traveled to the galaxy far, far, away. Star Tours first debuted at Disneyland back in 1987 and ever since it has provided a fun and thrilling Star Wars experience for guests. While Galaxy's Edge may be the new hotness, Star Tours is still going strong, and Disneyland and Walt Disney World are continuing to support it with new content dedicated to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
In 2011 Star Tours saw a major update as Star Tours - The Adventure Continues. This broke the ride into segments, that were randomly generated from a variety of options, giving guests a reason to ride the attraction multiple times in order to see everything there was to see.
It also opened up the possibility of new segments being added over time, something which happened when new sections of the attraction were added to coincide with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi and even the opening of Galaxy's Edge. Now it's been confirmed the same will happen with the final entry of the Skywalker Saga.
We've seen the ocean world where Rey and Kylo Ren do battle in the trailers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and soon guests will be able to visit that world. It's called Kef Bir and the Disney Parks Blog today announced it will become a new destination for Star Tours at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios park and at Disneyland beginning December 20, the same day the movie hits theaters.
Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort will also get the additional sequence. Nothing beyond the location was revealed today, though more info will be forthcoming.
The original launch of the new version of Star Tours included a variety of locations from the Star Wars universe. There were some original trilogy spots like Hoth, and a potential interaction with Darth Vader, but most of the focus was on the prequel trilogy, as guests could get involved in a pod race or fly through Naboo among other things.
When a new sequence was first added, guests got to follow the Millennium Falcon on its TIE Fighter chase through Jakku from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Two years later, Crait was added to the attraction, allowing guests to experience a part of Star Wars: The Last Jedi which was actually inspired by the original Star Tours.
Star Wars is having something of an identity crisis at the Disney theme parks now. It's still a major part of Tomorrowland at Disneyland while also being its own land with Galaxy's Edge. It wouldn't be all that shocking to see Star Tours start to get less attention, and that day may come, but it's great to see that Disney hasn't given up on it yet. Star Tours is still a great attraction that's loved by many fans. Hopefully it will continue to find new ways to update the ride going forward.
