"The response was phenomenal, " says Fitzgerald. "It gave everyone involved the necessary blast-off toward opening day."
Star Tours brought Tomorrowland well into the 21st century.
"When Disneyland opened in 1955, Walt Disney set Tomorrowland in the near future -- in 1986 to be exact," Baxter explains. "The 'futuristic' technology portrayed in the original Tomorrowland was really current technology, available at the time. In Star Tours, we were looking at a techno-fantasy, a vision of technology that isn't available today, and won't be for perhaps another century."
With a combination of new simulator ride technology and the popular mythos of Star Wars, it was no surprise that Star Tours became an instant hit with Disneyland visitors.
The Star Tours attraction at Disneyland (which remained open 48 hours straight after its premiere on opening day) was a huge hit with both Star Wars fanatics and people who wanted to see a revolutionary ride at Disneyland.
"We were open 48 hours because, in a way, we were opening up another Star Wars movie that was playing on only one theater in the world -- at Disneyland," Baxter recalls.
"What I dreamed of having with Walt Disney, I guess I got some of that with George because we talked a lot about the things he created," Baxter confesses. "In Walt's case, he was long gone and we often had to discuss in terms of, 'Would Walt want to have his characters used in a certain way?' So it was a unique to have such extraordinary characters and to be able to talk with the creator himself about how they might appear in a new form. That was a unique experience I have not had since."
Today Star Tours is not only thriving as one of the most popular attractions at Disneyland, but also at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland.
"Fans come to the attractions with these expectations from the theater and I think we live up to that," Baxter says. "We actually allow our guests for a few minutes to have an out-of-control adventure, and we survive. It's all about survival; people go on roller coasters and all of these experiences because they want to test the limits in a safe way and feel better about themselves at the end in that they actually survived some perilous adventure."
