In early April, Disney launched the official Star Tours Facebook page and announced that they would be doing a Florida Sneak Peek event at four Florida malls. On April 30, the event came to a mall near me. When we heard about it, my friends and I knew we had to go check it out. The three of us are huge Star Wars fans and Star Tours has always held a special place in our hearts.
We got there a little bit early so we lined up to meet Jedi Mickey:
They were showing some new (at least, new to me) footage of the Pod Race scene for Tatooine:
Bree Starliner, the Chief Holocommunications Officer for Star Tours, came out at 10AM on the dot to welcome everyone to the event and to encourage them to get their to all of these exciting destinations booked.
Jedi Mickey’s backdrop was very cool:
One Cast Member used guests’ cameras to take pictures of them with Jedi Mickey. Another Cast Member had a camera that he/she used to take a picture of the guests and Jedi Mickey. We were given a card similar to a PhotoPass to claim the photos the Cast Member had taken online.
Disney has launched a mobile website for Star Tours 2 (some signs are now calling it “Star Tours 3D”). You can either scan the barcode on the sign or you can go to startoursmobile.com on your cell phone.
After meeting Jedi Mickey, each guest was given a pair of Star Tours Mickey ears. My friends and I were very excited about these.
Around the corner, there was a green screen for guests to pose against. A Cast Member took your photo(s) and they were added to your photo card. You can claim these pictures online and add borders similar to the ones pictured on this sign:
After that, we were given a copy of the picture of us with Jedi Mickey and it had a very nice folder. We weren’t expecting it so it was a very nice surprise and great touch.
C-3PO and R2-D2 were also greeting guests. Their backdrop was the hangar for the Starspeeder 1000:
We wandered around the area for a few minutes while we were waiting on Minnie Leia to greet guests. We found this neat sign:
Bree Starliner came back out to say hello.
Minnie Leia posed for pictures:
We had a really good time at this event. We had expected a larger crowd so we were pleasantly surprised it wasn’t too crowded. The Cast Members were all very excited about not only the event but Star Tours reopening. I am SO excited for Star Tours to reopen on May 20!
May the Force be with you!
This looks like the Orange Park mall. My wife and I stopped in after lunch on the 30th. It was a nice setup for kids wanting to get a pic with some characters. As an adult with no kids, I was hoping for a little more about the ride itself. Oh well, looking forward to May 20th! 🙂
I am so excited. I will be there on opening day of Star Wars 3D and even better, it is my Birthday.
three words:I’m envious!!!
thanks for sharing this, being from Italy it will not be so easy to see the new Star Tours but your updates make me feel a little there… thanks a lot!!