Anyway, back to Star Tours. It’s not really a favorite attraction of mine, but it’s one I remember vividly as a child. Until hearing that it would likely be refurbished, I didn’t really “embrace” the nostalgia I had for it, with its humorous pre-show video, interesting color choices, and creative signage throughout. I think one of the big problems with the Disney fan community is that its sentiment towards nostalgic favorites is much like mine was until a couple trips ago: we don’t really show ‘our’ favorite attractions love, but rather only complain ex post facto. By that point, the decision has already been made that, due to unpopularity, the attraction is going to be replaced.
I don’t consider myself hostile towards change to the degree of others, so I welcome the new Star Tours. Mostly unknown personal nostalgia notwithstanding, it is desperately in need of an upgrade, and I hope the refurbishment brings about a new attraction (a la Hall of Presidents or Space Mountain), rather than just a slightly refreshed attraction. So long as the changes are improvements, and not downgrades, I will embrace them. In these circumstances, I don’t see how downgrades are even a conceivable possibility—Star Tours will, undoubtedly, improve. It’s not like the dismal Imagination refurbishment a decade ago that replaced a brilliant attraction with a dumbed down and somewhat annoying one.
After what would likely be our last ride on Star Tours 1.0, FastPasses in hand, we headed for Pizza Planet for a quick dinner before Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. Although I like Pizza Planet, if I have any regrets from our honeymoon, it’s that I think we ate at Pizza Planet too many times. I think the Studios is really lacking in the department of Quick Service restaurant theming and food, falling fairly far behind the three other parks in this category, in my opinion. Maybe it’s just because we never have really tried the other options (they seem dull to me). Any suggestions for standout Quick Service options at the Studios?
We inhaled our pizza, then booked it to Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, which had always failed to catch on previous trips. It was a definite Must-Do for us this trip because of that, and since we had never seen it, I only snapped a couple of pictures so I could enjoy the show to its fullest. Overall, we thought it was pretty good. We love Beauty and the Beast (it’s my favorite animated classic—can’t wait for the October Blu-Ray release!), so perhaps we were a bit biased. What I really thought, throughout, was that the utensils should appear in meet and greet form! I would love to meet Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, and the whole gang!
Voyage of the Little Mermaid was our next stop. If Star Tours is an “unknown” sentimental favorite, VotLM is definitely a “known” one. I fondly recall watching its lasers in awe at a younger age (although not as a young child, as I don’t think it was there yet). While I think it could be refreshed, I definitely will miss any changes that come to it. Perhaps on subsequent trips, we’ll watch it twice just so it’s fully engrained in our memories when the inevitable change happens.
We rounded out the evening with rides about Toy Story Mania, Great Movie Ride, and a viewing of MuppetVision 3D taking some pictures in front of Grauman’s and the Big ___ Hat. The debate between the BAH and Grauman’s “camps” is another one that is difficult for me. With the shot below, I attempted to illustrate the adversarial relationship between the two (at least, as much as any two inanimate objects can have an adversarial relationship). While I think the Hat ruins the architecture fluidity of the area and is certainly thematically jarring, it is pretty to take pictures of! I know WDI can’t just play RollerCoaster Tycoon with the parks, but in a perfect world, I would like to see the Hat moved to the front entrance or the backlot. Maybe someday.
In case you can't tell, we're trying to mimic the poses of Fozy and Piggy here. I don't think we conveyed that too well.
