Star Tours/Legends

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For other uses, see Star Tours (disambiguation).

"Hello! I am C-3PO, Human-Cyborg Relations for Star Tours Spacelines, the preeminent spaceline in the galaxy!"
―C-3PO[5]

Star Tours, also known as Star Tours Travel Agency[6] and Star Tours Spacelines, was an interstellar travel agency which gave tours to prominent planets and moons in the galaxy. The company existed as far back as the time of the Clone Wars, but was forced to file for bankruptcy in the year 4 ABY, after a series of dramatic accidents.

History

"The Star Tours Getaway Package is three times the fun in one. So ask your travel consultant to book yours today!"
―A Star Tours commercial[7]
C-3PO in the spaceport hangar

The Star Tours travel agency existed around the time of the Clone Wars,[3] a pan-galactic conflict that broke out in 22 BBY.[8] At the time, the company notably organized tours to Glee Anselm,[3] a water planet with tropical climate.[9] However, the starline greatly expanded its business at some point between 1 and 0 BBY[10] under new management[11], opening a new intergalactic space terminal on a space station in the Earth system, which it shared with fellow member companies of the Galactic Tourist Bureau. The agency hoped to promote unrestricted travel through the galaxy despite the Empire's oppression. Alderaanian Captain Raymus Antilles assisted in the launch of the expanded spaceline by assigning droids C-3PO and R2-D2 to help launch their new spaceport.[12]

Flights had a non-smoking policy, which, according to droid G2-9T, also extended to luggage. In addition, there was a policy against smuggling droids in the luggage, although G2-9T often turned a blind eye. Animals were also barred from entering flights, requiring that any animals found in luggage be placed in quarantine. Passengers were required to wear flight glasses during trips.[1] In addition, passengers were sometimes required to bring with them Imperial authorization forms to access certain destinations, such as Bothan Space, and were also forbidden from accepting packages from unidentified individuals.[13]

On an early voyage, prior to the ship's departure from the terminal, Imperial agents discovered the presence of a Rebel spy on board and attempted to arrest the Rebel. The vessel took off and fought its way past Imperial ships surrounding the space station, crippling an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer in the process. After being chased through hyperspace, the StarSpeeder 1000 landed and delivered the spy to safety.

At the time of the Battle of Yavin, Star Tours' space cruiser Tzarina was involved in a tragic accident that cost most of its passengers their lives. For unknown reasons the ship's droid captain decided to change course towards Yavin to show his passengers "something neat." Once there, the yacht collided with an unidentified TIE fighter variant that was tumbling out of control through space. The collision caused the Tzarina's hyperdrive to initiate and throw the ship into hyperspace. When it fell out of hyperspace half a galaxy away, it crash-landed on Dathomir in the Quelii sector. Only one passenger was known to survive the crash and find his way to the Dathomir Trade Outpost, where he told others his story.[14]

Immediately following the Battle of Endor, Star Tours sought to capitalize on the Moddell sector's sudden fame by promising "convenient daily departures to the exotic moon of Endor" along the decaying Sanctuary Pipeline.[4] During this time, C-3PO and R2-D2 again briefly worked for the agency, having been placed on temporary loan by the agency while their owners in the New Republic were fighting against the Tofs during the Nagai-Tof invasion.[11] One pilot for this flight, RX-24, failed to actually make it to the Endor moon and instead sped quickly out of the system and into a battle between the New Republic and remnants of the Galactic Empire along with the third Death Star.[2]

Several months later, after a variety of accidents and mismanagement, the company was driven out of business.[4]

Fleet

A StarSpeeder 3000 on Endor

Star Tours's fleet was once dominated by the 40-passenger StarSpeeder 1000 piloted by AC series pilot droids, but in later years, the carrier used a next-generation fleet of StarSpeeder 3000 vehicles, such as Transport 22. These vessels were piloted by questionably competent RX-Series pilot droids and carried an astromech unit. Despite the agency's claim that the ships were highly advanced, they were often in need of repair.

Star Tours used other ships besides the StarSpeeder. The ill-fated Tzarina was a Corellian vessel similar to a CR70 or CR90 corvette.

Vacation packages

Destinations

Behind the scenes

A StarSpeeder 1000 in the skies of Coruscant

Star Tours is a theme-park attraction located at Tomorrowland in Disneyland, as well as at three other Disney theme parks, including the filmmaking-oriented Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World.

Originally opened at Disneyland in 1987 with a single flight, the Endor Express, Star Tours has since been re-imagined so that as many as 54 different experiences are available to passengers. Destinations now include Coruscant, Naboo, Tatooine, Hoth, Kashyyyk, Geonosis, and the first Death Star.

References to Star Tours have appeared in various Expanded Universe sources, and a number of action figures based on the attraction's droids, particularly RX-24 ("Rex"), have been released.

The canonicity of the events depicted in the original Star Tours experience has been disputed for many reasons, the most obvious being the inclusion of the Death Star. R2-D2's presence aboard the StarSpeeder 3000 precludes the events taking place during the Battle of Yavin or the Battle of Endor, and the Death Star seen in the ride does not have the skeletal appearance of the Death Star prototype constructed at The Maw; additionally, Endor is far from The Maw, and R2-D2 is accounted for during the major battle over the prototype, as well. This may have indicated it was an unrevealed Death Star or, as some suggested, a modified habitation sphere. Leland Chee tentatively named it Death Star III, and it was later confirmed canon within Legends in the StarWars.com blog post Convenient Daily Departures: The History of Star Tours. This post also placed the event in question during the Nagai–Tof War to explain C-3PO and R2-D2's presence in the ride.

In Star Wars: TIE Fighter, a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle called Startour 7 can be inspected by the player during one of the TIE Interceptor training missions, although it is unclear whether it had any actual affiliation with the company besides name and it carrying tourists.

In the Tokyo Disneyland version of the ride, additional planets/astro locations were added in as visitable locales: specifically, the desert world of Bar Neth, the water world of Praya, and the Edge of the Galaxy.[15] These locations as well as the footage were in fact reused from the three endings for the defunct Epcot ride Horizons, regarding the Mesa Verde, Sea Castle, and Space Colony Brava Centauri, respectively. The endings and scenarios from that ride dealt with the concepts of arid-zone agriculture, ocean colonization, and space colonization, respectively.

The Star Tours Travel Agency has been compared to real-life airlines, including how they operate in loading passengers onto flights.

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Star Tours
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 StarWars.com Coruscant Billboard from The Clone Wars on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Endor and the Moddell Sector"—Star Wars Gamer 9
  5. ↑ Disney.com Disneyland: Star Tours on Disney.go.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  6. ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 StarWars.com New Star Tours "Commercial" on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  8. ↑ The New Essential Chronology
  9. ↑ The Clone Wars Campaign Guide
  10. ↑ According to Star Wars Insider 127, p. 48, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue takes place between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In the attraction's queue, the droid G2-9T refers to the secret base of the Rebel Alliance, the Great Temple on Yavin 4. According to Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika, the Rebels only acquired the key to the Great Temple in 1 BBY. The attraction must therefore take place after that.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 StarWars.com Convenient Daily Departures: The History of Star Tours on StarWars.com (article) (backup link not verified!)
  12. ↑ Star Tours: The Adventures Continue opening crawl shown at the Florida Grand Opening.
  13. ↑ Mentioned in the queue-area video for the Disneyland Tokyo version of Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
  14. ↑ Star Wars Galaxies
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Star Tours (Tokyo version)

External links

In other languages
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