I think one could safely say that this attraction started off the whole simulator craze seen in the amusement industry ( Back to the Future:The Ride, Luxor Pyramid, etc.). Simply put, the first time I experienced this Star Wars motion simulator attaction at Disneyland I was blown away.(Even though I was little!)
Check out specific dialogue in the waiting area and the ride in the Star Tours Script Library
The idea is this: You're a sightseeing traveler in the spaceport for an intergalatic sightseeing company called 'Star Tours'. You enter the Star Tours spaceport and immediately you see (85 K GIF) the familiar Star Wars film characters, C3PO (59 K GIF) and R2D2 (96 K GIF). The droids are servicing (49 K GIF) a ship for departure, but they are not doing a very efficient job. They talk a lot more than they work. The ship they are working on is the same type of ship that you will be boarding for your voyage - the StarSpeeder 3000 (28 K JPG) - a 40 person capacity luxury jetliner. While waiting, there is a large screen (56 K GIF) that comes on periodically to show you the travel packages Star Tours offers. They offer excursions to planets such as Hoth ("ride a tauntaun!"), Tattoine ("visit the cantina"), and Endor ("visit with the lovable Ewoks! It will be an experience your family won't forget"). You are going to Endor (featured in Star Wars:Return of the Jedi), on the package called 'The Endor Express'.
Throughout the fantastic waiting area you hear various announcements ("Star Tours announces the final bording of Flight 11-19, nonstop serice to Endor, at gate number four. All passengers, please report to gate number four immediatley","All droids must be cleared through customs before leaving the sector", as well as a few pages in alien languages as well). You can hear these and other messages in the Star Tours Audio Library. Note: Listen for two references to George Lucas in these messages. 1)"Paging Mr. Sacul. Mr. Egroeg Sacul. Please meet your party at gate number two" - Mr. Egroeg Sacul is actually George Lucas spelled backwards. 2)"Will the owner of a landspeeder with vehicle id number THX-1138 please move your vehicle. You're parked in a no hovering zone." - THX-1138 4EB was the name of a student film George Lucas did while at the University of Southern California. He remade it into a feature length motion picture years later. I have heard he incorporates some aspect of this film name into all his projects. For example, it was the name of Leia's holding cell in Star Wars: A New Hope and the yellow car's license plate number in American Graffiti.
There is also a reference made to the former Disney attraction, Mission to Mars. Listen for a page for "Mr. Morrow. Mr. Tom Morrow". This was the name of the scientist in Mission Control the Disney Cast Member talked to before you boarded the ship to Mars.
On the way to your ship, you pass along one droid, G2-9T (79 K GIF) who talks a lot. Behind this droid is a radio. The music the radio is playing is called 'The Droid Rooms' and is available on the Official Soundtrack to Disneyland/Walt Disney World. Right before you get on your ship, you see another talking droid, G2-4T(76 K GIF).
From what I have heard, a part of the bacstage tour at Disney/Mgm studios has a part where you go into a storage room of old movie and theme park ride props. Lining the walls of this room was the complete pre-production storyboard for Star Tours, outlining the dialogue and events happening during the ride.
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