I know, I know, I promised last week that I wasn't going to talk about Disneyland for a long time, but as I was thinking about Star Tours I remembered something really embarrassing . . . so of course I have to share . . .
I've already stated that Star Tours was my first introduction to Star Wars, finally seeing the films in the 5th grade, but I grew up on Star Trek. My parents are huge Trekkies, loving the original, so when "Encounter at Farpoint," the first Star Trek: The Next Generation episode aired on September 28, 1987, when I was in kindergarten, my family watched, and we continued to watch every single week until the show ended during my 6th grade year. That set me up as a Sci-Fi geek for life. You know what else came out in 1987? Star Tours. Living so close to the park (a 3 1/2 hour drive) the ride was an instant hit for my Parents. Not so for me.
I don't know if they let me ride so young, chances are they did, and I know I did not like it. Every time I rode I cried, and that lasted for a few years. And they weren't small tears. They were "I'm freaking out!" tears. I think my Dad found it funny, at least I remember him laughing at me a few times, but I was terrified!! We were going into space!! We were being attacked!!
I thought it was real.
At home I would lay in bed trying to fathom how such a thing was possible. How were we really flying to space? And were there really all those crazy spaceships in the sky? I never understood how, standing in front of the Star Tours building, I could never see shuttles flying up. Then I quickly assumed the ships must be cloaked. Remember, I grew up on Star Trek, and that made sense.
At some point someone finally sat down and explained how the ride worked, and it was probably my Dad taking mercy on me. A box within a box. Motors and machines moving the inner box, creating the sensation of flight, and the film aiding the illusion.
Is it any wonder I made it to the first grade still believing in Santa Clause?
Sarah
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