Journey into WDW

Without a doubt my favorite ride at Hollywood Studios is Star Tours : The Adventure Continues. I think I’ve gone on the ride hundreds of times, it’s a must every time I go to Hollywood Studios. There’s just something about the ride that keeps me coming again and again. The multiple endings, the feelings of being in a Starspeeder, the true Star Wars experience I’ve always wanted. It’s definitely one of if not my favorite ride at WDW.

Both generations of the ship are quite recognizable as in both versions of the attraction the Starspeeder greets guests first thing in the queue while C3PO and R2D2 work to repair it. The Starspeeder 3000 was the vehicle used in the original version of Star Tours worldwide until each attraction was upgraded into Star Tours: The Adventure Continue. The Starspeeder 3000 was replaced with The Starspeeder 1000 in The Adventures Continue as the current ride is a prequel of the original, hence the jump backwards from 3000 to the 1000. The Starspeeder 3000 playset is a callback to that original version of Star Tours.

First released as a D23 exclusive last year, the Starspeeder 3000 playset created quite a buzz in the Star Wars collector community. Unconfirmed reports seem to indicate that 1500 units were sold at D23. The leftover units were sold both on the online Disney store and in the Gift Shop for Star Tours at Hollywood Studios. Many of these were picked up by scalpers, leaving many collectors upset they were unable to secure one of the limited units of which Disney only made 3000.

When I heard about it I knew I had to find a way to get my hands on one!

My journey to acquire one however, was a bit turbulent.

When I heard they were to be D23 exclusive I was at first disappointed, as I might not get the chance to get one! However, after learning that they would be sold at Hollywood Studios on September 13th I knew I was in luck. Living in Orlando afforded me the opportunity to go to the parks myself otherwise I would have missed out on this rare opportunity.

I arrived at the park half an hour before opening and could see people already exiting the park carrying Starspeeder shaped boxes out in droves as some had already been given park access through early morning magic. I was afraid I would miss my opportunity but upon finally being let into the park I arrived at Tatooine Traders to find plenty still for sale. In fact, they still had a few for sale almost a week after the 13th, but I was told they were gone soon after.

The Starspeeder was even cooler than I though it would be! The attention to detail and overall look of the Starspeeder is second to none for models like this. Disney must have gone through quite a lot of effort to design the limited edition 3000 playset. The model is very accurate and even has a small LED screen that plays clips of the attraction! I stuck my phone in there and recorded it so I could finally have my experience on the original ride!

Interestingly enough now that some time has passed and the hype from the D23 Starspeeder 3000 playset cooling off, there is some evidence that a Starspeeder 1000 playset is potentially coming sometime this year.

The Starspeeder 3000 playset features pop-out laser cannons on the nose. This is a feature only present on the current 1000 version. The Starspeeder 3000 only featured the laser cannons on the side. The other piece of evidence comes from Instagram user alandiazdesigns. They posted a video of the 3D model they created and was subsequently used for the limited edition 3000 playset. During this video the access hatch behind where the astromech droid sits holds the camera droid used in the current version of the ride. This is absent on the 3000 as the original iteration had a piece of hardware R2D2 appeared to be working on.

Since this camera droid is present on the 3D model, it can be assumed that Disney is most likely going to do another production run, this time as the newer Starspeeder 1000.This would have required some very complicated and specific tooling to manufacture these playsets. The attention to detail is incredible, and It would only make sense to produce the 1000, especially after the success of the 3000.

I am very happy to have this piece in my collection and look forward to the potential for a new version to be released. Did you get a chance to grab this once in a lifetime collectible
from Disney? Are there other collectibles you’d like from WDW?