9/7 D23 Final Flight Star Tours, Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Hi everyone!

We attended the D23 Final Flight on Star Tours on September 7th, more than 3 weeks after our Last Tour to Endor (we have full photos and video of that experience as well!)  We weren't quite sure what to expect with the Final Flight here in Walt Disney World. The event information made it sound like once we arrived, we'd be led to the attraction and then right out of the park. 

We had already closed Star Tours out for the evening with regular park guests, being on one of the last six simulators to ride before the 7pm park closing.  That was an odd experience for me, everyone standing randomly in the queue waiting for others to move first, although no one could ride until everyone was in the simulator area.  The D23 event was quite a bit different.  We arrived to the line around 8:15pm, and were let into the park later than expected (9:00pm).   You can find our videos of the event here!

Getting checked in:

 

 

We received a number of gifts from the evening, including a Final Flight patch – which is limited to the number of guests who were there (240), a fast pass, and a boarding pass that is identical to the one that Disneyland handed out in 1987 to cast members.  They also handed out 100 Star Wars coin sets from 2007, we were later told that those were supposed to be given out to each D23 member party (up to 100) but were given just to the first 100 people.  A friend of ours said that they didn't need two and gave us one (thank you John!)

 

The items we received:

 

 

Comparing the boarding pass from the event to the ones that are in our own archives, from the cast member preview of Star Tours at Disneyland in 1987.  You can also see a cast premiere brochure from 1987 as well:

 

 

The best part of the evening next to hanging out with friends?  Stormtroopers!  They arrived as we were waiting, and you'll see that they stuck with us until the end.

 

 

 

 

X-Wing fighter and pilot:

 

 

Waiting to get inside:

 

 

Stormtroopers:

 

 

Jeff from JeffLangeDVD with a Stormtrooper:

 

 

Walking down the queue:

 

 

Waiting to get inside our ride vehicle, we ended up with three Stormtroopers (I think because D23 was taking photos of our group):

 

 

The best part really was the addition of the Stormtroopers to the event, and it was really nice having them in our ride vehicle! The crowd was much different than during the Last Tour to Endor and the last public ride we took a couple of hours earlier.  While the other rides had been loud and reminded me of a night at the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the crowd from D23 was much more subdued (but clearly enjoying the event, as you can see in the photos).  We also have videos here!