The Adventure Continues

With Star Wars Weekends just a few days away, many Star Wars fans will be jumping in their cars or on busses, pretending they’re starspeeders, and making their way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Everyone’s trip to the park will be different, much in the way that Star Tours now mixes up the journeys guests are sent on. Of course, everyone has their favorite alignment, as well they should, so today we’re talking about our favorite flight!

Before we launch, let’s examine the potential flight paths.

The opening scene includes two options: a face-off against Darth Vader and the skytroopers or avoiding a Seeker Droid and following the Millennium Falcon out into space.

After the first jump to lightspeed there are three possible planets: Tatooine along with some pod racing, Hoth and an AT-AT battle, or Kashyyyk while mixing it up with some speeder bikes.

When the Starspeeder 1000 reaches space again there are three possible holograms that can appear, Princess Leia, Admiral Ackbar, or Yoda.

A second burst through lightspeed leads to a second set of three destinations: an embattled Coruscant, Naboo also during a battle, but with a trip through underwater colony of Otoh Gunga, or the Death Star above Geonosis.

My optimal line-up is as follows, and that’ll lead us in to some discussion as to why: The droid and Falcon opening, a pit-stop at Hoth, the message from Leia, and the showdown at the Death Star.

I love, or rather love to hate, Darth Vader and any reason to stand up to the Dark Lord, but let’s be clear about one thing… IT’S THE MILLENNIUM FALCON! Plus, we’re going to handle this slippery Sith a bit later on.

Hoth is given a spot in the line-up for some of the same reasons as above. Basically, because there is an AT-AT and AT-ATs are still cool, even twenty-three years after their first on screen performance. Add in the fact that one has been standing guard over Star Tours since 1989, and there really isn’t a reason not to love this scene. Granted there shouldn’t be an AT-AT in a scene that takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, but when even George Lucas says, “Who cares,” you know you’re in for a good time!

Yoda is wise and Admiral Ackbar is a fan favorite, but Princess Leia is the only hologram for my heart! Not only does she carry her message with grace, but she works in the famous “you’re my only hope” line that just makes me melt.

With most adventures, the jump to lightspeed for the second time is the last jump, but not when you end up over Geonosis facing off against the Death Star. The brunt of the scene includes one of my two favorite characters from the original Star Wars trilogy, Boba Fett (the other being that rascally ewok, Wicket W. Warrick). In between battles with Boba, there is also an encounter against Darth Vader (I told you he’d be back). This scene is the only one to feature a third jump to lightspeed, and an arrival at the Rebel fleet, complete with a welcome from Admiral Ackbar.

Given all of the possible scenarios, fifty-four in all, this one allows for the most journeys through lightspeed, a scene with the single highest count of character interactions, and enough ties to the original trilogy to make a child of the 1970s or 1980s feel like a kid again. Someone half my age could make arguments for Tatooine and Coruscant, and they’d be perfectly valid. That’s the beauty of Star Tours, no matter what you bring with you to it, it is a much larger galaxy than any of us can ever fully imagine.