Characters from The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Andor are now part of the legendary Disney attraction.
Before Disney bought Star Wars, the two brands began their courtship with a ride. Star Tours opened in 1987 and has seen many new upgrades and additions over the years. This week, for its Season of the Force event, Disney gave the ride another refresh. And this time, for the first time, it’s with characters from Disney+.
So, starting today, if you are at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, or Disneyland Paris, Star Tours now features characters from Ahsoka, Andor and The Mandalorian. But what’s new? How does it work? io9 was among a group of journalists Disney invited to an early preview of the new Star Tours at Disneyland in Anaheim, so we’ll explain.
Though you may have assumed otherwise, only one new, full planet has been added to Star Tours this time around: Seatos from Ahsoka. However, there are three different variations going into that. One featuring Ahsoka (with Rosario Dawson reprising the role), one featuring Cassian Andor (with Diego Luna reprising), and one featuring both the Mandalorian and Grogu.
So, you get on the ride and start to pull out of the spaceport. Here’s where, potentially, your first new change will be. In the past, riders would usually see the Millennium Falcon sitting there as the ship was stopped by Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, or a Probe Droid. And while that’s still more likely to happen than not, if you happen to see a new ship there, you know exactly where this particular ride will take you.
Yes, in some Star Tours rides not only is Ahsoka Tano’s T-6 Jedi Shuttle in the first scene, you can see Ahsoka herself there in the frame. She’s talking to Stormtroopers and, when they discover the Rebel spy, Ahsoka turns on her lightsabers and battles off the troopers before jumping in the ship.
If you see that, you can impress your friends and tell them what’s going to happen next. After you visit one of many, many planets that were previously on the ride (I did it twice on Friday and both times it was podracing on Tatooine from Episode I), you’ll then get one of the three new transmissions. However, if you got Ahsoka’s ship at the start, you are guaranteed to get Ahsoka in this moment. She’ll say “Hi” to C-3PO, and be excited to see her friend R2-D2 again, before asking to deliver a very important person—the Rebel spy.
