For many May 4th is the time to celebrate all things Star Wars. Dress in your best cosplay outfit, quote your favorite lines on social media, and (hopefully) watch your favorite film.
The thing is...I grow weary of it.
Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars with a burning passion. You don't want to know what depths my childhood collection consisted of. But much like what Ministry once said about Halloween is true for Star Wars fans: Everyday is May 4th.
We have no break period between our Star Wars love, it's constant. It doesn't turn off. It's like living with one of those mysterious diseases advertized on late night TV spots involving butterflies or sad rocks (okay, that last one may have been for depression...but still). And, not to be a hater, I kinda get tired of people pulling their stormtrooper helmets out for only one day. I again realize this sounds like a old man complaining about how "the scene" isn't what it use to be or how I saw The Shins before they changed their sound but you can't explain away isolating the nerdy Star Wars subset one day only to show of your Darth Vader Target tee the next. It shouldn't work like that.
Okay, got that out of my system. Now...MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU!
Yeah, for all my hate I am a hardcore Star Wars fanatic and don't care if it's cool now, it's still Star Wars. No prequel, no sequel, and no bandwagon fandom will ever change that. So let us, all of us, celebrate this (officially observed) day dedicated to Star Wars be discussing a huge part of the SW universe: Star Tours.
For the record, we're talking the original Star Tours here. Before Disney's acquisition of Star Wars from Lucasfilm this was a joint venture between the two companies. The concept for Star Tours evolved from an idea to adapt 'The Black Hole' into a simulator ride. When that film proved not as successful, and a pre-established Captain EO relationship with George Lucas, they decided to run with the idea of a 'Star Wars' ride. Disney built the physical ride, ILM shot the film, and it opened in Disneyland in 1987 at a cost of $32 million (twice the cost of Disneyland when built). When Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989 it opened with thier own version of Star Tours, which is largely the same ride.
Having never experienced the Disneyland attraction I can only relate the MGM ride, which I rode many times in my youth. It was a dream for any Star Wars fan and it was magical.
It's hard to relate all the experiences that came from this experience, luckily master memory collector MartinVids has created the Ultimate tribute to both rides.
So turn off the lights and celebrate the 4th with a journey long ago in a galaxy far, far away...
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