May the force be with you

To which I have to reply, of course: “And with your spirit!”

Last weekend, the dreams of every “Star Wars” geek were fulfilled, when Disney unveiled a new iteration of its popular “Star Tours” ride.  Orlando was crawling with would-be Jedis, eager to be among the first to take the ship for a spin.  (I’m told George Lucas was there for the launch, along with Anthony Daniels, but they must hang out with a different crowd than I do. I never saw them.)   This morning, hoping that the crowds had died off, I trekked to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see what all the fuss was about.

Turns out, I wasn’t the only one with this idea:

When I sprinted to the middle of the park, the wait was minimal — less than 10 minutes. I imagine all the Obi Wan Wannabes had already been there over the weekend.

How was it? I gotta say, it was a lot of fun; it’s in 3D now, and I’m told there are more than 50 variations of the storyline, so odds are that you won’t experience the same trip twice. Or at least, not back-to-back. The print is a crisp and clean, and the story is blissfully free of logic or anything resembling plot. There’s a funny bit at the beginning, identifying one of the tourists on board as a spy, and that sets the whole thing in motion. Everybody on board loved it. There was much whooping and cheering at all the appropriate moments. If you like this sort of thing, you’ll LOVE this particular thing.

And: I swear that was Sigourney Weaver telling us to buckle our safety belts before lift off. (Or maybe Carrie Fisher? Anybody know?)

Oh: and be sure and visit the gift shop on the way out — as if you could possibly avoid it — because some of the stuff is pretty cute.