While most Star Wars stories take place in a galaxy far, far away, this one takes place in a garage in Southern California. With Disneyland being closed for over a year due to COVID-19, one determined dad took it upon himself to bring the happiest place on Earth and the Star Tours ride to his kids.
Mike Eaton went above and beyond for his daughter Indy's Disneyland-themed 8th birthday. Eaton built a functioning replica of Disneyland's popular Tomorrowland ride called Star Tours, and it looks so much like the real thing that you'll swear you've stepped into the ride itself. The Star Tours ride's starspeeder was constructed to look just like the one at Disneyland, with the same design patterns and even an R2-D2 poking up out of its roof.
A Han Solo hired for the party informs the kids that they'll be visiting the forest floor of Endor to meet the Ewoks. One of the most exciting details of this ride is that it actually replicates the old version of the Star Tours ride, not the updated one with multiple storyline outcomes. Once inside the ride, the video shown at the front of the aircraft looks exactly like that of the old version, complete with a familiar-looking RX3 droid "first-time flier" as your driver. The replica Star Tours ride has a pretty impressive range of motion to go along with the video, appropriately jumping forward and backward as the starspeeder moves from location to location. It was built on a seesaw type of base with counterweights at the front while Eaton controls its movements from behind. To complete the experience, once the ride is over and the kids exit the craft, Darth Vader steps out from a corner and Han Solo steps in to fight him until the kids can escape from the garage.
This isn't the Eaton family's only successful replica of beloved Disneyland rides and features. He also built a mini version of the Mad Tea Party's spinning teacups for the birthday party. The ride consists of one large teacup that up to 6 kids can fit into to spin the middle wheel. Furthermore, the kitchen was turned into Galaxy's Edge with the use of lightsabers and toys. Meanwhile, the dining room mimicked Tomorrowland with a Tron light cycle and "space mountain monorail." Eaton also managed to recreate one of Disneyland's most memorable ride moments, the rolling boulder from the Indiana Jones ride, with nothing more than an umbrella and cardboard.
Even without the excuse of a party, the family's outdoor patio was already designed to look like a combination of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and the Enchanted Tiki Room. They also have a year-round Adventureland room, complete with barrels, treasure maps, and a zipline rope swing that travels 10 feet across the room.
Now that Disneyland's Avengers Campus is open, it will be interesting to see if Eaton is ever inspired to somehow build a 'Guardians Of The Galaxy - Mission BREAKOUT!' or Spider-Man ride. Either way, it's safe to say that the Disney force is strong with this family.
Source: Disneyland at Home/Youtube