Star Tours Secrets Revealed! 10 Facts About Iconic Disney Ride

Your chance to visit a Star Wars galaxy is not so far, far away thanks to Disney’s Star Tours attraction. Located at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Star Tours (now called Star Tours – The Adventures Continue) provides Guests with the opportunity to climb aboard a Starspeeder and go on a tour that is truly out of this world.

It’s no secret that Disney Imagineers always go above and beyond. They never simply come up with an idea for a ride and leave it at that. They take their creation and they sprinkle Disney magic throughout it. Whether that be through an amazing storyline, the efforts that were taken to learn and create, the attention to detail, or the less noticeable nods that are placed throughout an attraction. Everything that you experience (and perhaps don’t even notice) within a Disney attraction is all thanks to Disney Imagineers.

In regard to Star Tours, things are no different. There are multiple secrets and fun facts that surround this classic ride. In this article, I’m going to share 10 of these with you. Grab your 3D glasses and buckle up. It’s time to blast into lightspeed!

Star Tours

Star Tours is a beloved Disney ride that has been taking Guests on Star Wars adventures since 1987. By combining a flight simulator, 3D visuals, special effects, and exciting music, Disney puts Guests right in the middle of scenes from classic and new Star Wars movies and shows. The best part? You never know what adventure you’ll have! With its continuous additions, there are now over 250 storyline variations that Guests can experience.

While you never know what storyline you’ll have or what characters you’ll see, everyone’s Star Tours experience starts out the same. Before you arrive at your ride vehicle, you’ll weave through an extremely detailed and imaginative queue. You’ll see a variety of droids and animatronics, including an impressive life size C-3PO and R2-D2. You’ll find R2-D2 sitting in a Starspeeder 1000. This should get you ready for your flight since this is the same type of ship that you’ll be traveling in!

As you make your way through the queue, it may feel similar to an airport. You’ll go through security, see a luggage check, destination posters, flight information boards, and hear overhead announcements. All of this will lead you to your own personal flight.

How Did Star Wars Come to Disney?

In today’s world, it’s not uncommon to see Star Wars in the Disney theme parks. Especially since Disney now owns the Star Wars franchise. However, when Star Tours first opened in 1987, as the first Star Wars addition to a Disney theme park, the Star Wars franchise was not yet under the Disney umbrella.

Star Tours wasn’t originally meant to be based off of Star Wars. When the idea for the ride was originally pitched, it was meant to be an attraction for Disney’s live-action film The Black Hole.

However, this attraction never came to light due to the cost of the attraction as well as the unpopularity of the film. Since the movie wasn’t very popular among viewers, it didn’t make sense to pour so much money into the cost of an attraction based off of it. This led Disney to contact George Lucas in regard to a Star Wars attraction.

While Disney Imagineers had worries about the success of an attraction based off of The Black Hole, they had nothing to worry about when it came to their newly developed Star Wars ride. Star Tours was an immediate success after it opened up at Disneyland. It was so popular that it was then put into other Disney theme parks including Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris.

A new version of the attraction was created that combines a range of different scenes and elements to create unique rides every single time. That new version of the attraction opened June 3, 2011 in Disneyland. You can see the opening ceremony from that day here. 

💫 Take a look at our full guide on STAR WARS RIDES at Walt Disney World!

10 Secrets and Facts About Star Tours

1. Announcements

As I mentioned earlier, the operations going on within the queue of the ride are very similar to those within an airport. You can hear announcements being made over the loudspeaker when a particular passenger or worker is needed. If you listen carefully, you can hear two particular passengers being paged – Egroeg Sacul and Mot Worrom.

Sound familiar? No? Try reversing the spelling of these names. After reversing the spelling, you’ll be left with George Lucas and Tom Morrow! Of course we all know how George Lucas fits into all of this. However, not everyone may know who Tom Morrow is.

Tom Morrow is a character that has appeared in multiple Disney attractions. He was first introduced to Disneyland Guests in an attraction called Rocket to the Moon. Over the years, Tom Morrow has appeared in and has been referenced in a variety of attractions at both Disneyland and Disney World. You can also hear “Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow” being paged on another Disney ride. Do you know which one? It’s the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover in Magic Kingdom!

2. Pee-Wee Herman

Did you know that Pee-Wee Herman was a part of Star Tours? That’s right. Pee-Wee Herman, whose real name is Paul Reubens, voiced one of the characters on Star Tours! When the ride first opened, Guests were not only flown on a different spacecraft (the Starspeeder 3000), they also had a different pilot. While our adventures are now led by C-3pO, flights used to be piloted by a droid called RX-24. This droid was also known as Captain Rex.

When Star Tours was still in the creative process, Disney Imagineers were having a hard time finding the right voice for Rex. After going through multiple voice options and doing recordings, they still didn’t have the perfect voice for Rex.

After watching the film, Flight of the Navigator, Disney Imagineers finally found the voice that they wanted for Captain Rex. To their surprise, it was none other than Paul Reubens.

Mark Eades, the casting director for Star Tours, said this about his experience casting Paul as the voice for Captain Rex. It turns out that they actually stumbled upon him unintentionally. During an audio documentary put out by The Forcecast titled “Next Stop: Endor – The Story of Star Tours”, Mark said,

“I went to see, as luck would have it, one night, Flight of the Navigator.”

“In Flight of the Navigator, at a certain point, something goes wrong, of course, and the spaceship is basically a robot. But it has a voice. And the voice was this very crazy voice, and I’m going, ‘Wow. That might be our Rex.’ Ya know, and I’m listening to it.”

“And I’m sitting in the movie theater by myself going, ‘That’s our voice. Who the heck is it?’”

After watching the end credits and finding out who voiced the spaceship, Mark immediately encouraged fellow Imagineer, Tom Fitzgerald, to go watch the film and hear the voice for himself. After agreeing that Paul Reubens was the perfect choice, they contacted him to see if he was interested in voicing a character for a Disneyland ride.

Paul was then cast as the voice for the quirky pilot droid that took many Guests on their Star Tours adventures.

3. Where is Captain Rex Now?

As I previously mentioned, Rex is no longer the pilot. His role has been taken over (rather unwillingly) by C-3PO. Even so, you can still find Rex in two locations. One of his current locations is still within Star Tours!

While you’re in the queue, you’ll be able to spot Rex. However, now he’s not as active, lively, and entertaining as he once was. Now you’ll see him in a box and labeled as defective.

Even though this is a rather unfortunate state to see him in, you can have a better experience with him by going to Oga’s Cantina! Oga’s Cantina is the local watering hole of Batuu, the planet that you’re on when you’re in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. At Oga’s Cantina, you’ll be able to find a spread of concoctions, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, as well as some small bites. The atmosphere at Oga’s is fun and high spirited. Part of this vibe no doubt comes from the music that’s being played.

The sweet beats at Oga’s Cantina are being spun by none other than DJ R-3X (or DJ REX). Rex is the same droid that previously piloted the Starspeeder 3,000 for the Star Wars attraction. Even though he’s moved on from his piloting job, it’s nice to see him still take on a special role within the Star Wars universe at the Disney theme parks.

🍹 For more information on Oga's Cantina, click here for our FULL REVIEW!

4. THX 1138

Another announcement that you may hear prior to boarding your flight is in regard to a Landspeeder. This Landspeeder will be identified with a license plate that reads “THX 1138”. This license plate number is another reference to George Lucas.

The first film that George Lucas ever directed was called THX 1138. He is known to throw in references to this movie in a LOT of his work, including Star Wars! Almost every Star Wars movie has a reference to THX 1138. It’s very fitting that a reference was also included in the Star Tours attraction.

5. Goose Droids

I bet you never thought that there were geese on Star Tours. There are actually two! The now known “Good Droids”, G2-9T and G2-4T, are actually stripped down geese animatronics that were once part of Disneyland’s America Sings attraction.

America Sings was a theatrical production that was put on entirely by audio-animatronics. (Think Country Bears Jamboree.) The attraction not only paid homage to the history of music in America, it also was a celebration of the United States Bicentennial.

This attraction was housed in the Carousel Theater, which was previously home to Carousel of Progress. America Sings did utilize the rotating theater’s space, putting on four different acts. The four acts celebrated different eras of American music. These acts were: Going South, Heading West, the Gay Nineties, and Modern Times.

America Sings closed on April 10th, 1988. However, Star Tours opened in January of 1987. The two geese used for Star Tours were pulled from America Sings prior to the attraction closing, leaving the Geese Quartet to be a Geese Trio in two of the show’s acts.

G2-9T and G2-4T’s past goose life is still visible if you look closely. These droids have robotic webbed feet and tails!

6. Soarin'

One of the Goose Droids, G2-4T, may have a familiar sounding voice. That’s because this droid is voiced by Patrick Warburton! Patrick has given his talents to multiple Disney projects including:

• Hercules (TV Series)
• The Wonderful World of Disney – Angels in the Infield
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (Video Game)
• The Emperor’s New Groove
• The Emperor’s New Groove (Video Game)
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (TV Series)
• The Emperor’s New Groove: Groove Center (Video Game)
• Disney·Pixar Learning: 2nd & 3rd Grade (Video Game)
• Home on the Range
• Sky High
• Chicken Little
• Kronk’s New Groove
• Open Season
• Open Season (Video Game)
• The Disney Channel Games (TV Mini Series)
• Underdog
• Kim Possible (TV Series)
• Bee Movie
• Bee Movie Game (Video Game)
• The Emperor’s New School (TV Series)
• Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (Video Game)
• Fish Hooks
• Planes: Fire & Rescue
• Elena of Avalor
• Puppy Dog Pals

However, within the Disney Parks, Patrick is most notably known for his role on the attraction Soarin’. Many Guests have come to know and love Patrick in his role as not only the host of the attraction, but as the friendly Chief Flight Attendant. He cheerfully fills us in on the details of the ride and gives us proper safety instructions. Many of his lines from the Soarin’ pre-show have become beloved among Disney goers and you’ll often hear them saying his lines along with him as he speaks.

It’s nice that his voice can be heard on more than one Disney attraction. Take a listen the next time you’re near G2-4T to see if you can hear any fun sayings coming from the droid!

7. TWB3000

While you’re in the Star Tours queue, take a look at the screens overhead. More specifically, keep an eye out for the code TWB3000. This code has two references within it.

The TWB is a nod to Tony Wade Baxter. Tony Baxter is a Walt Disney Legend and the former Senior Vice President in Creative Development for Walt Disney Imagineering. Tony not only helped with attraction concepts, he also worked on lands and areas around the parks.

Some of Tony contributed to things such as:

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Seas and Land pavilions
• Discovery Bay (which was never built)
• Dumbo’s Circus area
• Newly developed Fantasyland for Disneyland
• Journey Into Imagination
• Star Tours
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Splash Mountain
• The Disney Gallery
• Disneyland Paris (served as Executive Producer)
• WESTCOT Center (a never built version of EPCOT for Anaheim)
• Tomorrowland redesign
• Projects for Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
• Re-opening of Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
• Upgraded restoration of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Fantasy Faire

The numerical portion of the code, TWB3000, is a nod back to the original ship that was flown in Star Tours – the Starspeeder 3000.

8. Flight 1401

As I mentioned previously, Star Tours operates very similarly to an airport. When you book a flight at an airport, you have a specific flight number. The same is true for Star Tours!

When flying with Star Tours, you will be on Flight 1401. The number 1401 is a reference to Walt Disney Imagineering. More specifically, it’s the address number of Walt Disney Imagineering’s physical location. The address is: 1401 Flower Street, Glendale, CA 91201.

9. Hidden Mickeys

Hidden Mickeys can be found all over Disney Parks. Even on Star Tours! In one area of the queue, there is a lighted window where you can see silhouettes of workers and passengers as they pass by. Keep an eye on these silhouettes!

When one astromech droid rolls by, it opens up two satellite dishes over its head. These two circles make the droid appear to have Mickey ears.

There is also another hidden Mickey that can be seen in the queue. There is a very small robot that has a light shining on it. Due to the light, the shadow that is cast is shaped like Mickey!

10. Star Trek

Besides Star Wars, the next biggest galactic franchise is undoubtedly Star Trek. While the two franchises never intertwine, the Disney Imagineers did place a Star Trek reference in the Star Tours queue!

In the queue, there are two white plates with codes on them. There is one code on each plate that nods to the Star Trek universe.

The first code is JK 0966. JK stands for James Kirk. This is the first and last name of the legendary Captain Kirk. The numbers 0966 also hold a Star Trek significance. Star Trek first debuted in September of 1966, or 09/66.

The second code takes some deciphering in order to find the reference. This code is N1C7C01. If you separate the letters and numbers and group them together, you’ll get NCC-1701. This is the identification number of the USS Enterprise, which is one of the most popular starships in Star Trek.

Magic In the Details

There are so many fun nods and references in Star Tours. Did you know about these secrets and facts? Do you know a fun fact about Star Tours that we didn’t mention here? One of the best things about Disney is that they don’t miss a thing. The attention to detail is unmatched. The next time you’re on Star Tours, or any other Disney attraction, keep your eyes and ears open. You never know what you’ll discover!

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