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Star Tours 2 News
Disneyland preparing for very long lines when Star Tours 2 opens
For our friends in Disneyland, we have a fresh rumor about the crowds expected at Disneyland.
Our source claims the Cast Member who designed the extended queue (the TEMPORARY queue made up of ropes and poles OUTSIDE of the show building and extended area), said that their managers gave him the task of creating a 3 hour extended queue to be added to the outside of the main show building and outside the extended area between the Star Trader and the entrance to the attraction.
The queue design allows them an additional 3 and a half hours (30 minutes more than what his managers tasked him with). This would be an additional 3 and a half hours added to the already long extended area and the queue inside the building, both of which are being designed by the Imagineers. Since Disneyland only has 4 simulators instead of six, added to the fact that there will be some major hype coming from the east coast version being open for almost 2 weeks before the west coast version, the managers at TDA are expecting HUGE crowds and LONG wait times.
The queue has been designed to snake around various areas of Tomorrowland and come back to actually make it's way down Main Street! These points he was not very clear on as it appeared they were still working out some of the details, but he was very clear about the 3 hour and 30 minute additional capacity.
WDW iOS Star Tours 2 App Still "In Review"
We just wanted to give our fearless, Apple-fangirl and fanboy readers the heads up that our Disney World iOS App is still currently "In Review" with Apple. Our WDW Android app is already available, as is our Disneyland iOS and Android apps. Go visit the Star Tours 2 Apps page to check them out.
For you Walt Disney World iOS users out there, a workaround for now is to bookmark http://m.touringplans.com/wdw/star-tours-2.
Thanks, and we'll let you know as soon as it's approved!
StarToursLive.com interviewed by You Can't Be SRSLY?
Matt and Henry did a fun, two-part interview with the folks over at You Can't Be SRSLY? -- check it out below:
Thanks a lot to Mike and Kyle for having us on!
New Star Tours 2 magnet arrives with more on the way
A Star Tours 2 magnet is for sale in Tatooine Traders and we're hearing more Star Tours 2 merchandise is on the way.
The magnet costs $6.95 and features Aly San San and the Star Speeder 1000.
From what we understand, Cast Members at Tatooine Traders will go over more Star Tours 2 merchandise later this week before it goes on sale.
Is Star Tours 2 behind schedule?
You may have heard about predictions of multiple hour waits for Star Tours 2 when it opens and like many of you, we though that was a bit excessive. That was, until we heard some rumors this past weekend.
Let me state these are RUMORS and we don't know for 100% certainty yet, but given the fact we've heard it from multiple sources, it's worth repeating.
We're hearing that when Star Tours 2 reopens on May 20, it will not be at full capacity. Meaning, not all the simulators will be ready to go for the official opening. At Disney's Hollywood Stuidos, there are six simulators and we're hearing as few as 3 will be ready to go.
Furthermore, we heard this past weekend coincided with the first simulator being finished, meaning the other 5 are not ready yet. Keep in mind that in Disneyland, their Star Tours closed before Hollywood Studios and will reopen after Hollywood Studios but the fact the date was set to reopen for Star Wars Weekends may have set an ambitious goal for Disney World's team.
If any of this is true, Star Tours running below 100% capacity will definitely result in super long lines simply due to the fact it can't handle as many people as it should. We'll keep our ears to the ground and let you know any updates we hear.
April 24, 2011 Photo Update
Tatooine Traders is open
Store looks the same
New ramp installed
The new ramp!
No changes on the outside of Star Tours
Star Tours entrance now closed off
A peek inside the construction walls
Looks like they are getting ready to install something
New Star Tours 2 pin for sale
Costs $6.95
Front of Star Tours 2
Crane near the rear of the building
Another look at the crane
More Star Tours 2 merchandise announced
Disney has announced some special merchaidise for Star Tours 2
Disney launches StarToursPassport.com
Disney has launched a new website, StarToursPassport.com, where anyone can create their own "passport" to celebrate the launch of Star Tours 2.
The site is free to use and you can even print it out. Visit http://startourspassport.com for more details.
Thanks to StitchKingdom for finding the site and giving us a heads up!
Disney Greatly Extend the Studios Operating Hours Around the Opening of Star Tours 2
"In anticipation of what is expected to be huge attendance for the opening of the new Star Tours attraction, Disney's Hollywood Studios have increased the park operating hours from the original 9am - 9pm, to 8am - 12am for the opening day on May 20 2011. The hours have then also been boosted for the remainder of the month, with 8am openings and midnight closings remaining for a few days, followed by 10pm closings to round out the month."
While it's nice to have those extra hours at the Studios, we know that Disney usually only extends park hours when they have greatly underestimated the crowd levels for that day. What do you think this means for the opening? How long do you think the line will be? How long are you willing to stand in line?
