As you know, one of my Cast Members at the store is a member of Club 33. And just like everyone else, she knows what a super-dork-fan of Star Wars I am soooo... she allowed ME to go in her place with her equally Star Wars geeky husband at the Club 33 Preview event of Star Tours last night!
3 words..
IT WAS AMAZING!!
ok so.. here's the invite that was sent out to members:
(yes, I paid it.. it was worth it!!)
I got to Disneyland after an awful 2 hour drive (to go 55 miles). Dumb Los Angeles traffic! The reception and cocktail hour was starting at 6pm, but by the time I got in to the park it was 6:05! Notice on Disneyland's clock, the "4" is actual "IV" like current roman numerals, but at WDW, theirs is "IIII" like it would have been in the 1800's. Just found it interesting they didnt do that here.
So, because I was late getting to the club I dont have pictures of the Hor D'Oeuvres. Sorryyyy.. they did smell and look quite good though. We found our table and settled in. The service is of course impeccable, and there were many offers of cocktails, pre-dinner wines, and anything else we wanted. I didnt want any liquor because I didnt want to cloud my mind!
This was waiting on the table for us!
Here is the menu:
Here is the Lobster Ballotine appetizer. I am not such a fan of lobster but many people around were just inhaling it! I found it to be rather.. um.. fishy. REALLY lobstery. Tasted like cat food smells.
The plates were pretty though!
the Duck Leg Confit raviolis were next.. and I DID take a picture before digging in, but.. for some reason it didnt save! I knowwww I'm SORRY! It was good though. very tasty! Next up was the entree.. flat iron steak! now THIS was delicious. But you know fancy food, you get like 3 lil slices. I could have eaten a whole plate of it!
Then FINALLY dessert came! Notice it's shaped like the Death Star! eeeeeee!! It was delicious!
During our wonderful dessert, one of the imagineers was speaking and showing slides of the Star Tours upgrade. We learned all sorts of great info! I will share... lol
1. Star Tours: The Adventure Continues is a prequel to the original Star Tours attraction. It is meant to take place between episodes 3 (Sith) and 4 (a new hope). They chose this period because it had the most tie ins as far as characters and locations.
1a. This is why the ship is the Starspeeder 1000 (and not 3000). The spaceport is meant to look very new like it just opened. He said they imagined it had been open for business for about 3 months. Gone are all the weathered looks of the original Star Tours spaceport. Also, the Starspeeder 1000 has no battle damage.
1b. Rex is not our pilot--but he IS in the attraction (at DL anyway, not sure about WDW). He can be found in the second scene in the queue in the Customs area. He is being sent back.. somewhere.. for being "defective" Apparently he is going to be repaired so he CAN become a pilot!
2. The technology has been VASTLY improved. He went into tech specs and that's when my brain kinda scrambled. But he said it was a combination of the new fancy 3D glasses, the new fancy screens in the simulators, and the new projectors that make this the most incredible 3D you've ever seen.
2a. Did you know the original Star Tours did not have a screen in it? They had put the projection directly onto the wall of the simulator.
3. They completely gutted the entire queue area and started over. Well, thats what he said but after walking through it, it looks a LOT like it used to lol. He did show us pictures of the progression and it DID look gutted. I guess they just made it almost the same way again lol.
4. Star Tours was meant to be upgraded long before it was. BUT.. a Mr George Lucas <3 kept putting out new movies lol. So they wanted to make sure that everything was done before changing the ride.
4a. Mr Lucas is also one who is prone to motion sickness, but with the improvement of the technology they anticipate that people with this problem will have less trouble with it than before. In fact, Mr Lucas rode it 4 times in a row a couple weeks ago and not only did he LOVE it, he had no motion sickness problems!
5. Every ride should be different in some way. There are 54 different possible ride combos. (not 54 different places, just different combos of places and events) He said if you get the exact same ride twice in a row you should go buy a lottery ticket.
So by now I was practically bouncing in my seat! Take us to the ride already!! (if I think of any more tidbits I'll post them)
Ok so.. off we went to Tomorrowland! (Club 33 is in New Orleans Square--uh.. I guess WDWs equivalent would be the back end of Adventureland?--DL's Adventureland is MUCH smaller--anyway..Tomorrowland is on the other side of the hub like at WDW) On the way out, they gave us free Club 33 cookies!
The walk was lovely because it was about already about 9:45pm and the park closed at 9! Nice and empty!! They took us around a long way so that we would end up at Tomorrowland Terrace where the Jedi Training Academy is. They had Stormtroopers there to greet us and take pictures with us!
They got me!
Thanks for sharing
