ANAHEIM, Calif. — Visitors to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, get ready to jump into hyperspace and for more misadventures with Captain Rex, C-3PO and R2D2 on a Starspeeder.
Next year, Disney officials are incorporating new scenes and exploring more far-off planets and characters from the galaxy far, far away in the Star Tours ride, Walt Disney Imagineers said during the Star Wars Celebration in London over the weekend.
Walt Disney Imagineering Portfolio Creative Executive Scott Trowbridge told "Star Wars" fans, who attended in person, in London, and those who streamed on social media, "2024 is going to be a great year for traveling on Star Tours."
"There are more destinations coming," said Trowbridge. "There are more adventures coming to Star Tours... We're going to some places that haven't been seen yet."
The announcement is part of Disney's continued plan to leverage and integrate its "Star Wars" intellectual property and bring the alien and human characters and distant worlds in the movies and TV shows to Disney theme parks.
Since acquiring Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, Disney has created several "Star Wars" shows for movies, TV and streaming. It has also built a Star Wars-themed land, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, at Disneyland and Walt Disney World while flooding the market with related merchandise.
Star Tours is the original attraction that introduced the "Star Wars" franchise to Disneyland visitors more than 35 years ago.
Disney created the attraction with "Star Wars" creator George Lucas in 1987 at Disneyland before debuting it at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland in 1989 and Disneyland Paris in 1992.
In the immersive motion simulator attraction, passengers serving as space tourists hop aboard a 40-person Starspeeder on a journey to Endor. They accidentally get thrown off course by trainee Captain Rex and find themselves in space and in the middle of a conflict between the First Order and the Resistance.
The ride, which made passengers feel like they were actually in space, was an instant hit.
Since debuting in 1987 at Disneyland, Trowbridge said, "Star Tours has continued to expand and grow."
The flight simulator underwent a major refurbishment in 2010 with new 3-D technology, special effects, smoother ride controls, a new name (Star Tours: The Adventure Continues) and a storyline.
Over the years, Disney has changed the storyline to incorporate and promote new characters and places featured in their latest "Star Wars" films.
In its latest iteration, passengers aboard Star Tours encounter First Order boss Kylo Ren, Resistance fighter Poe Dameron and droid BB-8. It also explores other characters and scenes from planets Jakku and Crait from "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."
"We have kept updating 'Star Tours' as Star Wars storytelling has continued to progress," Trowbridge said.
Trowbridge wouldn't say where passengers would visit or what characters they would encounter next year.
"Stay tuned for 2024 when you get to see Star Tours visiting some of the great moments in 'Star Wars' storytelling that is coming soon," he added.