Disney, Clones, Legos, Commandos, and Tragedy

Disney World

As you may or may not know, I was in Disney World from last Thursday to this past Tuesday. On (I think) our first or second day there, I finished reading Force Heretic II: Refugee and started Force Heretic III: Reunion -- the third-to-last book in the NJO. While at the Disney-MGM Studios park, I got to go on Star Tours -- five times!!!

Even lining up for Star Tours is exciting. The whole place is made to look like Endor. They have a big AT-AT model, although only the metal frame was there when we went -- we think they were renovating it. There's a speeder bike you can sit on, and even walkways up in the fake trees! (Sadly, you can't get up there.) Inside, it's made to look like a Star Wars airport.

An announcer is continually updating you with random information. "Productivity has decreased in sector four. Commence temporary diagnostic shutdown." "Flight 127 has been moved to Gate B. Departure time will not be affected." "Galactic regulations require that all cargo be stored in provided space." And so on. (Those aren't exact quotes, but they're the kinds of things they said.)

There are several droids working on various tasks -- fixing other droids, monitoring security screens, and so on. There's a great big starship sitting there with R2-D2 in the navigator socket (he bounces up and down and turns his head) and C-3PO (he stands in one place, but is otherwise fully mobile) on a neighboring platform. They have a little discussion going on between them, which is fun to listen to.

There's also an information screen advertising Star Tours' flights and a control room where you can see two Mon Calamarians at control boards. Once you get through the line, there are five gates to choose from. Each gate has five queues -- one per passenger row in the Starspeeder 3000, your ship. Helpful humans guide your party to an available row. Once lined up, you see a brief safety video featuring a woman with a mix between Mickey Mouse ears and a Princess Leia donut-ears hairdo. They also show funny clips of various aliens -- wookiees, ewoks, mon calamarians, grans, and more -- filing into the starship in proper fashion.

Then the gates open. Inside is a big black chamber with the Starspeeder 3000 right in the middle and walkways from the gate leading up to it. You sit down, watch another brief safety video co-starring C-3PO, buckle up, and stow your cargo. One of the employees (they call them "the cast" at Disney World) comes in dressed like a Rebel technician and gives you one final safety speech. The "cast member" then says, "May the Force be with you -- because I won't be." At least, I think they're supposed to say that. A couple times the person didn't.

The cast member leaves and the doors close behind you. On the little video screen on the right (where C-3PO gave his talk), Captain Rex, your pilot, welcomes you aboard -- and warns that it's his first flight. Then he says he'll open the cockpit screen, and a kind of curtain at the front of the ship goes down, revealing a talking, moving, Captain Rex (on the left of the cockpit). Your "forward viewport" takes up the front of the ship. In reality, it's a video screen, showing what the view out the front would be if you were actually in a Starspeeder. You fly out of the hanger crazily, completely out of control, and then proceed to take on Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters, and even the first Death Star. You even get to jump to lightspeed, which is easilt the best part. At the same time, in perfect sync with the movements seen on-screen, the actually ship rocks back and forth, forward and backwards! It's incredible.

Then you finally return to your spaceport, the doors open (this time it's the doors on the other side of the ship, so new passengers can enter easily), and you emerge into an incredible Star Wars gift shop. They have a ton of stuff, from costumes to the OTC action figures to even the latest Episode III preview figures. (Speaking of which, the full set of toys debuts at midnight tonight -- I can't wait!)

Clone Wars

We got the Volume I DVD yesterday, which was exciting. It has a couple cool documentaries, plus an Xbox demo of Republic Commando! It was great to finally see the first 20 chapters all as one.

As for Volume II, they're over now. Our hotel in Disney World sadly didn't have Cartoon Network, so we instead downloaded the latest chapter every night and watched it on our laptop. The last few episodes follow the adventures of everyone's favorite heros, leading right into the opening battle of Episode III.

The Clone Wars series is almost certainly done for good now, which is kind of sad. Oh well. They were all excellent. :-)

Lego Star Wars

The other day I downloaded a demo of the new Lego Star Wars game. It's tons of fun! It spans Episode I, II, and III, and features over 30 playable characters! It's very simple, but very enjoyable. In the demo you fight your way through the Trade Federation battleship as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in Episode I. It's available from the official web site.

Republic Commando

The day before yesterday (Wednesday, the 30th) I finally, finally, finished Republic Commando. It's not that I spent that much time play the game -- it's relatively short compared to many of today's games -- but there was just so much time in between playings.

I was kind of stuck at the last part, because I was trying the completely wrong approach. Then, with the help of another Star Wars's fan's hint, I changed my strategy and had won the game within ten minutes. (I was very, very, close to the end.)

The epilogue of the game is very cool. It shows the beginning stages of one of the battles of Episode III -- it's very exciting!!!

New Episode III TV Spots

Tonight StarWars.com updated with three new Episode III TV spots! One of them is just a shortened version of the teaser trailer -- titled, appropriately enough, "Teaser." The next is called "Dark Side Unleashed," and features some new footage. The final and best one is "Tragedy," which is almost completely made up of new footage. It also, if I'm not mistaken, features some of the first Episode III music to be heard by the public!

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Revenge of the Sith is coming up very, very soon. The circle is just 48 days away from being complete.