In-World Inconsistencies That Render Disneyland's "Star Tours" Attraction At Best Inaccurate And At Worst Downright Apocryphal
• The posters advertising a "tour" to Yavin are somewhat inaccurate, as Yavin was actually a gas giant, and the Rebel base was on Yavin IV, one of the moons. Duh. They also feature a shot of Luke on a tauntaun on the poster for Hoth, as well as shots of Bespin, but the ride itself renders that nonsensical, since the tour clearly takes place during the Battle of Yavin, before the Alliance relocated to Hoth or anyone went to Cloud City. Again: Duh.
• The pilot was a droid named Rex, but is it really likely that the piloting of a human transport ship, even one belonging to a tourism company, would be left up to a droid? Sure, the R2 unit up top helped out, but you'd think it would be a better idea to have a human behind the actual wheel.
• The instructional video that instructs tourists to buckle up and avoid using flash photography features a child taking a photo of a Wookiee, who is startled by the flash but just whines/growls about it. At the very least, the Wookiee should have yelled at the kid, and probably should have actually ripped off his arm as a warning. That would have been good.
• Who's running this tour, anyway? The ship at one point jumps into the fray during the battle outside the first Death Star, which begs the question as to which side actually owns the tourism company. At a time of even small-scale war, it doesn't seem feasible that the Rebel Alliance is willing to pony up the credits to run tour ships throughout the galaxy. They sorely lack the infrastructure needed to mount a serious attack; they had something like 25 X-wings, tops, at that battle.
• It also doesn't seem that likely that the Galactic Empire is running the tours, because since when do they care about showing people a good time? I guess it's possible the tours are being run by some kind of third party, a nonpartisan organization that leans toward the Rebellion, but you'd think that if they really supported the Alliance then they'd volunteer their tour boats for supply transports until the war is over. Ships are hard to come by, you know.
Comments: 8
Brilliant. I thought I was the only one who knew Yavin was a gas giant. The other day, my friend was talking about colonizing the other planets in our solar system, and said Jupiter in the list. I said "no, Jupiter is a gas giant, like Yavin." I got a weird look.
You are my hero right now.
Also, as people who bought tickets to Yavin from Star Tours, why did the robot pilot not drop us off on Yavin, or at least, fly around the planet (or, the IVth moon as it were)? After not delivering on what we believed would be a trip to scenic Yavin, there was no mention of a refund when Rex took us directly back to where we came from. There has to be some kind of intergalactic better business bureau.
Actually, the tour was supposed to go to Endor, which goes back to the whole problem of introducing later locations/plot elements into what's apparently supposed to occur years before those damn Ewoks helped end the Galactic Empire (which was lame). The Yavin posters were in the hallways advertising other "tours." I don't even think the actual tour wound up on Endor; after passing through a meteor shower and the Battle of Yavin, Rex just flew everyone home. Also lame. It's enough to make me wish the Empire had won, just so Rex would be painfully and deservedly dismantled.
Dan,
Nerd alert on this blog is at toxic levels! Abandon ship!
Having not been on the ride, I can only suggest to #2 that Rex was a manumitted droid in search of work. I mean, look at 4-Lom; he's a bounty hunter; or possibly even IG-88. Independent droids looking for work.
Combined with an R2 unit, flying shouldn't be a problem. Though, there have been inconsistencies in R2 unit's flying capabilities. Usually related to the frequency of memory wipes, I think.
Really, though, I don't think anyone wins in this argument. Ultimately, we're all losers.
Well you started off really good but this quickly regressed into opinion based on the "fictional" Star Wars world rather than it's blatant oversights in the story line and time line. I think if you looked harder you might find more things technically inaccurate than you listed here. The simple fact that R2 and C3p0 are working in a Star Speeder repair shop is one. Not to mention the fact that Endor was supposed to be devoid of structures save the Imperial Shield Generator. Where exactly does the Star Speeder land? On the fictional side of things. The Star Speeder seems to be equipped with Ray Shielding which we all know was outlawed by the Empire. So that gives weight to the idea that "Star Tours" runs its operation illegally.
Just a few thoughts.
Toasty!
exactly
Jun 25, 2007 7:54 AM