Star Tours – The Adventures Continue at Walt Disney World and Disneyland may rank really high in Disney ride reviews, but how scary might it be – and what exactly might you be afraid of?
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue is the oldest of the 3 Star Wars rides at Disney World and Disneyland. Designed as a 3-D flight simulator ride, Star Tours gives you the opportunity to climb aboard a Starspeeder and go on a tour of the galaxy. The thing is, your adventure goes awry as you make your way through several worlds!
Many guests consider Star Tours a classic attraction at both Disneyland and Disney World. I personally view it as a must-do ride at least once when visiting on vacation. In fact, its re-rideability factor is incredibly high because of its virtually limitless different ride sequences.
But what exactly might make it a scary ride? We've ridden Star Tours countless times and understand the ins and outs of it like the back of our hands.
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This is why we at MickeyVisit put together this comprehensive ride review of Star Tours – The Adventures Continue so you have a clear idea of what to expect when riding it.
In an effort to clearly define just how scary a ride is, we developed an ultra-scientific backed-by-research rating system. We call it the Mickey Visit Ride Rating System – MVRRS for short (pretty clever, huh?) The MVRRS goes as follows:
There are 2 versions of Star Tours: 1 in Disney's Hollywood Studios and 1 in Disneyland Park.
Star Tours takes you to a number of different planets from the Star Wars universe. The catch is, you never know exactly which planets you visit until you ride. That's because the Disney Imagineers designed the ride scenes to be randomized. This means that not only will you visit a different planet each time you ride, but the order in which you visit them will change too!
You might be familiar with Soarin’ Around the World at EPCOT or Disney’s California Adventure. You might also be familiar with Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney's Animal Kingdom. All of these rides are flight simulator-based rides. Star Tours is similar, but instead of having the experience of flying on a glider or riding on a banshee, your entire flight experience is in a spaceship themed to the Star Wars universe.
Here’s some important information to review before riding Star Tours:
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Disney Ride Review
In an effort to clearly define just how scary a ride is, we developed an ultra-scientific backed-by-research rating system. We call it the Mickey Visit Ride Rating System – MVRRS for short (pretty clever, huh?) The MVRRS goes as follows:
- Wimp Proof: Not scary at all
- Wimp Proof-ish: Seems scary at first, but after, you feel it's nothing to worry about
- Scary but Survivable: Moderately scary
- Scary: Definitely scary, but you'll be able to sleep at night
- Bravest Riders Only: The scariest ride you'll find in a theme park
Star Tours Ride Overview
There are 2 versions of Star Tours: 1 in Disney's Hollywood Studios and 1 in Disneyland Park.
Star Tours takes you to a number of different planets from the Star Wars universe. The catch is, you never know exactly which planets you visit until you ride. That's because the Disney Imagineers designed the ride scenes to be randomized. This means that not only will you visit a different planet each time you ride, but the order in which you visit them will change too!
You might be familiar with Soarin’ Around the World at EPCOT or Disney’s California Adventure. You might also be familiar with Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney's Animal Kingdom. All of these rides are flight simulator-based rides. Star Tours is similar, but instead of having the experience of flying on a glider or riding on a banshee, your entire flight experience is in a spaceship themed to the Star Wars universe.
Here’s some important information to review before riding Star Tours:
- Access: Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Rider Switch
- Height Requirements: Guests must be at least 40″ (102)
- Highest Speed: Not Applicable (movement is felt through the 3D screen and flight simulator)
- Length: 7 minutes
- Other Features: 3D Screen
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At both Disney parks, both the standby queue and Lightning Lane queue for Star Tours start right at the ride’s signage.
The merge point for both queues happens right before being directed toward the boarding area. Although their entrances and merge points are the same, the queues at both Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios are slightly different.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, there is an outdoor section to the ride queue in case wait times skyrocket (luckily, they rarely do). This outdoor queue was made to look like an Ewok village, complete with green shrubs, towering trees, and shade from the Florida sun. What makes this queue so popular is the towering AT-AT that you get to walk under before entering the show building.
At Disneyland Park, the outdoor queue is a snaking line formed by stanchions along the wall of the show building. Nothing more, nothing less. However, once you enter the show buildings for both rides, their queues are almost identical.
The first section of the queue gives the feeling that you're walking through an airport terminal, with security scans, luggage screenings, and flight status information and planetary weather forecasts on a large screen. You'll even see a full-sized Starspeeder in the queue, along with a life-sized C-3PO and R2D2 working on the ship.
The second section of the queue is a cargo area where bags are being loaded onto Starspeeder ships. You'll also see a bunch of different droids getting ready for departure, along with Captain Rex making comments about the guests about to board their flight.
You'll then retrieve your 3-D “flight glasses” before being directed by a Cast Member to your specific boarding area.
Lastly, it's important to note that there are 2 chicken exits available should you choose to skip the ride. The first is at the boarding area, where you can ask a Cast Member to walk straight to the exit. The second isn't the most convenient: if you decide to sit this ride out while in the queue, you can simply turn around and walk back out the way you entered.
While they are all flight simulator attractions, the ride vehicle for Star Tours is very different from that of Flight of Passage and Soarin’ Around the World – let’s review why.
Your Starspeeder is set up like a small theater with 5 rows. Each row has 8 seats with a fabric lap belt, a shared armrest, and a net bag below to hold your belongings. After your ride pre-show, a Cast Member will direct you to your designated seating area.
Combining high-definition video, a Dolby 3D high-definition screen, and an advanced motion simulator, the Star Tours ride vehicle makes you feel like you're on a high-speed flight through space. The ride vehicle uses a hydraulic motion base cabin, very similar to flight simulators that were used by the military. It tilts considerably within 3 different planes, making your ride feel as real as possible.
Just before boarding, you'll watch the overhead screens that serves 2 purposes.
First, you'll watch how C-3PO gets trapped in the Starspeeder cockpit while doing maintenance, making him the defacto pilot of your flight. Second, another droid will tell you your boarding and safety instructions before climbing into your ship. After you fasten your seat belt and put on your 3-D glasses, C-3PO introduces himself as the ship's captain. Your ride then begins, taking you on a virtually endless combination of scenarios.
First, just as you start to take off on what's supposed to be a relaxing trip, your speeder is stopped by one of the following villains looking for a Rebel Spy (someone who happens to be a randomly selected guest!):
Here's why you need to ride Star Tours.
When it first opened, Star Tours set the tone for themed the simulation rides and attractions Disney built after it. Not only is each ride unique because of its randomized sequence of planetary destinations. Every time I buckle myself into the ride vehicle to blast off to light speed, I truly feel like I'm traveling out of this would.
The thing is, this isn't my favorite part of the ride.
My favorite part of Star Tours doesn't even involve me. It involves the guests around me. Without fail, every time I ride Star Tours, there is always one guest or a group of guests that get so much excitement out of riding Star Tours. Sometimes it's their laughter as we hit light speed. Or it's their yelling as we almost crash into another ship. Other times, it's their awe as they come face to face with a Star Wars hero.
There is always somebody riding with me that gets an absolute kick out of Star Tours – and I love it.
So, how does our ride review of Star Tours stack up against our MVRRS?
Star Tours Ride Queue: What You Need to Know
At both Disney parks, both the standby queue and Lightning Lane queue for Star Tours start right at the ride’s signage.
The merge point for both queues happens right before being directed toward the boarding area. Although their entrances and merge points are the same, the queues at both Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios are slightly different.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, there is an outdoor section to the ride queue in case wait times skyrocket (luckily, they rarely do). This outdoor queue was made to look like an Ewok village, complete with green shrubs, towering trees, and shade from the Florida sun. What makes this queue so popular is the towering AT-AT that you get to walk under before entering the show building.
At Disneyland Park, the outdoor queue is a snaking line formed by stanchions along the wall of the show building. Nothing more, nothing less. However, once you enter the show buildings for both rides, their queues are almost identical.
The first section of the queue gives the feeling that you're walking through an airport terminal, with security scans, luggage screenings, and flight status information and planetary weather forecasts on a large screen. You'll even see a full-sized Starspeeder in the queue, along with a life-sized C-3PO and R2D2 working on the ship.
The second section of the queue is a cargo area where bags are being loaded onto Starspeeder ships. You'll also see a bunch of different droids getting ready for departure, along with Captain Rex making comments about the guests about to board their flight.
You'll then retrieve your 3-D “flight glasses” before being directed by a Cast Member to your specific boarding area.
Lastly, it's important to note that there are 2 chicken exits available should you choose to skip the ride. The first is at the boarding area, where you can ask a Cast Member to walk straight to the exit. The second isn't the most convenient: if you decide to sit this ride out while in the queue, you can simply turn around and walk back out the way you entered.
Star Tours Ride Vehicle Information
While they are all flight simulator attractions, the ride vehicle for Star Tours is very different from that of Flight of Passage and Soarin’ Around the World – let’s review why.
Your Starspeeder is set up like a small theater with 5 rows. Each row has 8 seats with a fabric lap belt, a shared armrest, and a net bag below to hold your belongings. After your ride pre-show, a Cast Member will direct you to your designated seating area.
Combining high-definition video, a Dolby 3D high-definition screen, and an advanced motion simulator, the Star Tours ride vehicle makes you feel like you're on a high-speed flight through space. The ride vehicle uses a hydraulic motion base cabin, very similar to flight simulators that were used by the military. It tilts considerably within 3 different planes, making your ride feel as real as possible.
Star Tours: Ride Experience
Just before boarding, you'll watch the overhead screens that serves 2 purposes.
First, you'll watch how C-3PO gets trapped in the Starspeeder cockpit while doing maintenance, making him the defacto pilot of your flight. Second, another droid will tell you your boarding and safety instructions before climbing into your ship. After you fasten your seat belt and put on your 3-D glasses, C-3PO introduces himself as the ship's captain. Your ride then begins, taking you on a virtually endless combination of scenarios.
First, just as you start to take off on what's supposed to be a relaxing trip, your speeder is stopped by one of the following villains looking for a Rebel Spy (someone who happens to be a randomly selected guest!):
- Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers
- A probe droid
- Kylo Ren and his First Order Storm Troopers
- Hoth
- Tatooine
- Kashyyyk
- Jakku
- Kef Bir
- Coruscant
- Naboo
- Geonosis
- Crait
- Exogol
- Seatos
- Flight Simulator: The 3-D flight simulator ride vehicle is highly turbulent and includes sharp turns and sudden bumps. If you're sensitive to motion sickness, you may want to skip this ride
- 3-D Glasses: The use of 3-D glasses to give more life to your ride experience may also not be for those with sensitivities to motion sickness
- Action Story Elements: The variety of possible destinations on this ride include action scenes such as battles against The First Order, dodging pod racers, and jumping to hyperspace. If you or your kiddos do not like startling scenes or action scenes, you may want to skip this ride
- Length: At about 7 minutes, Star Tours is a little shorter than Haunted Mansion, slightly longer than Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid, and more than double the length of WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
Favorite Moment of Star Tours
Here's why you need to ride Star Tours.
When it first opened, Star Tours set the tone for themed the simulation rides and attractions Disney built after it. Not only is each ride unique because of its randomized sequence of planetary destinations. Every time I buckle myself into the ride vehicle to blast off to light speed, I truly feel like I'm traveling out of this would.
The thing is, this isn't my favorite part of the ride.
My favorite part of Star Tours doesn't even involve me. It involves the guests around me. Without fail, every time I ride Star Tours, there is always one guest or a group of guests that get so much excitement out of riding Star Tours. Sometimes it's their laughter as we hit light speed. Or it's their yelling as we almost crash into another ship. Other times, it's their awe as they come face to face with a Star Wars hero.
There is always somebody riding with me that gets an absolute kick out of Star Tours – and I love it.
Star Tours: Scary Verdict
So, how does our ride review of Star Tours stack up against our MVRRS?
MVRRS VERDICT: Wimp Proof-ish: Seems scary at first, but after, you feel it's nothing to worry about
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue has a re-rideability factor that's through the roof. Its randomized destination sequences make it worth coming back again and again to witness even a slightly different experience. Just the thought of encountering another awesome Star Wars character makes me want to ride it again. We must address, however, the elephant in the room: the flight simulator. The flight simulator ride vehicle on Star Tours does a fantastic job at making you feel like you're traveling at light speed to your next planetary destination. However, because of its close-to-reality flight experience, guests with sensitivities to motion sickness may not be suitable to ride. Additionally, many of the action scenes may scare some of the kiddos in your party. However, I must admit that from my experience of riding Star Wars countless times, I have yet to witness anyone walking out of the ride completely scared or about to put their heads into the nearest trash can. So while the ride in theory may steer certain guests away, in practice I have yet to see any adverse reactions to it. In the end, I highly recommend riding Star Tours every single time I visit Disneyland Park or Disney's Hollywood Studios.Plan Your Walt Disney World Vacation
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Is Star Tours an intense ride?
Because of its flight simulator ride vehicle, Star Tours can be a very intense ride for some guests. The flight simulator ride vehicle does a fantastic job at making you feel like you're traveling at light speed to your next planetary destination. However, because of its close-to-reality flight experience, guests with sensitivities to motion sickness may not be suitable to ride.
Is Star Tours bumpy?
Star Tours can tends to have a bumpy ride experience. This is because it features a flight simulator ride vehicle that makes you feel like you’re flying through the galaxy.
What does Star Tours feel like?
Star Tours feels like you are immersed in the Star Wars universe, riding a space vehicle through the galaxy. Its flight simulator ride vehicle does a fantastic job at making you feel like you're traveling at light speed to your next planetary destination.
Are there any drops on Star Tours?
Depending on your ride experience, there may be simulated drops on Star Tours. However, these “drops” were made to feel like you’re falling – they are not real drops like you would experience on a roller coaster. This is thanks to the flight simulator ride vehicle that Walt Disney Imagineers used for Star Tours.
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