Star Tours, what are you doing here

For those of you who have had the joy of visiting the new destinations of the Star Tours relaunch, you know that the Star Tours hangar is a bit of something old and a lot of something new. With adrenaline pumping, guests are filtered down and into the post show gift shop, known as Tatooine Traders, which actually saw very minimal changes during the recent facelift. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t subtle hints of Star Tours new direction.

AT-ATs on Hoth aside, the overarching tale from Star Tours – The Adventures Continue is that the encounters are taking place in between the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Throughout the attraction there are not as many suggestions about this timeline placement as one would expect, but that changes once you step into Tatooine Traders.Scattered amongst the upper shelves of the shop are various ‘props’ from Tatooine. Faux stones, crates and machinery fill the various sills, and while they look the part of Star Wars’ dessert planet, their real place in the universe comes to light when you check the items’ tags. Each tag lists what set the pieces are from and, in most cases, what they are. Props from the original trilogy (a lightsaber box found in Obi Wan’s House or an Airation Stack originating in Tosche Station) and from the prequel trilogy (Corellian Freighter Cargo Containers hiding in Watto’s Junkshop) can be found easily, but there is also a singular location that crosses the end of the prequels and the beginning of the original films, the Lars Homestead. Humidity Sensors, Fusion Generator Supply Tanks, and Patch In Droid Units can all be found around the shop, just about everything you would need to keep your own moisture farm running. Now all we need are a pair of droids!It just goes to show, Star Wars isn’t all lightsabers and ion cannons. Even in space, you need some crates and basic machinery. The reproduced artifacts are another fine example of the little details that require guests to look up, down, and all around, which can be extremely difficult to do with the adrenaline pumping after facing down Boba Fett, Sebulba and the entirety of the Empire.