Originally Posted By Trent According to Twitter... Star Trader is moving to a galaxy not far away Feb. 15. Visit the new location at Starcade in Disneyland park. Why not make this move permanent and expand the Star Tours Queue? Thoughts??
Originally Posted By oc_dean Micechat is saying it must be due to dealing with the exit for Star Tours .. as construction continues. As Star Tours does directly dump into the Star Trader. But I say this .... Since the second level of Starcade is an empty floor (since 1999) they ought to push Starcade to the second floor ... and Star Trader can permanently take up the lower floor. As long as no plans on a major land renovation are still in limbo (what else is new?!) .. might as well take up Starcade's lower level indefinitely. The benefit is both levels have activity. No part of Tomorrowland should be left like a ghost town. It's bad enough the P.M. tracks are .. But here's a chance some reconfiguration could make use of Starcade's top level. About Star Trader though - Does this mean the alien world mural that surrounds the top edge of the walls will be taken out? And the Flying Saucer props?
Originally Posted By oc_dean <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bretmanphotos/5329437398/in/photostream/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/b...ostream/</a>
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Is the giant X Wing fighter no longer in the store then? I remember being so excited in 1986 when it appeared.
Originally Posted By tonyanton dave...it was moved awhile ago to the second floor of the Starcade....it can still be seen from the bottom of the escalators, even though you cannot go up there (since the arcade is just the first floor). perhaps the Star Trader will return to a "Star Wars" theme again with the new Star Tours opening.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Oh right, thanks. We can only hope there will be a return to a Star Wars theme (biased, I know).
Originally Posted By DBitz2 Back in Decemember a Cast Member in the store told me and my friends that they would be closing down the store for awhile to reconfigure it. I imagine this will be to facilitate better traffic flow in the store, like they did in Clothiers on Main Street, and, for better traffic flow of guests exiting Star Tours. The lady mentioned that the large circular counter in the middle of the store would be going and the cash wraps relocated to less obtrusive locations. The other large counter might be taken out, too, or reconfigured. She wasn't sure if the decor/theming of the store was going to change. I don't know why they don't just move the arcade into the upstairs space and expand the store into the space that has been occupied by the arcade. Anyway, these changes sound like they will make the store a lot easier to get around in and not so cramped and crowded feeling.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Hopefully they'll just merge the whole thing with the arcade space and do away with the video games. I never quite understood why there is a video arcade in Tomorrowland.
Originally Posted By DlandDug When the Starcade was built, video games were "the future." And Starcade had the latest, greatest, and best there was to offer at the time. Today, video arcades seem a quaint relic of the past. (Flynn's Arcade over at ElecTRONica is a fine case in point.) The upper level of Starcade has been empty for some time because it does not meet current accessibility codes. The speed ramp is too steep, and there's no elevator. The cost of installing an elevator has not yet been justified for the square footage available. So... there it sits, a big empty space in the heart of Disneyland! The X-wing was relocated over the speed ramp when the entire Star Traders shop was rethemed to accommodate the Toy Story aliens (remember?). It was actually scheduled to be removed and discarded, but a dedicated group of employees actually worked out the details and moved it to its present location.
Originally Posted By gadzuux I agree that they should drop the arcade all together. I can't imagine it's much of a money-maker for them, and just having it there diminishes the entire area. I also wonder about the amount of shoplifting that occurs when major attractions like star tours empty into gift shops. This results in constant streams of people moving quickly through the store to get outside, and passing by racks of merchandise along the way.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <When the Starcade was built, video games were "the future." And Starcade had the latest, greatest, and best there was to offer at the time. > Even at the time, I didn't like it, I have to say. And I was a teenager too - very much the target audience for arcades. And I liked arcades. I visited and dropped lots of quarters in arcades. But I didn't like DL (let alone TL) having something so similar to what you could find outside the gates. And I certainly didn't want to spend any precious DL time (which even when I lived in SoCal was only maybe twice a year) doing what I could do at home.
Originally Posted By phruby I always thought the upper part of the Starcade would make a great preshow for Space Mountain. Imagine entering Space Mountain via the speedramp. Your now standing on the deck of a space station. Asteroids are hitting the station and its starting to break up. You need to e-vac via escape rockets leaving from the Space Mountain landing bay. The show would have fire and laser effects just like the Armagedden show at WDS. It would make waiting in line for Space Mountain alot more fun and best of all you would be inside the whole time instead of sweating outside like now.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "When the Starcade was built, video games were "the future."" I was there when it opened in 1977 as a teen and I can tell you that at the time DL's coin operated arcade games were not futuristic in the least.
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>The upper level of Starcade has been empty for some time because it does not meet current accessibility codes. The speed ramp is too steep, and there's no elevator. << HUH?-WHAT? HUH?-WHAT? Is this some theory or educated guess? When did this information 'all of sudden' come to light??? Those ramps are not that steep at all? Who made that determination? I'd like to know more. To the best of my knowledge .. the, then president of the DLR .. Cynthia Harris-? removed all video games that were a bit too violent oriented. They condensed what they had. Put it on the first floor, and the second floor has been closed off since 1999. That access was just fine from 1977-1999 - 22 years. What act in 1999 called the area - Not assessable enough?
Originally Posted By oc_dean For just a tiny area ... Why would there need to be anything more, than a speed ramp?
Originally Posted By oc_dean excuse the question mark at the end of " Those ramps are not that steep at all?" should have been a period or exclamation point.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I was also a teen in 1977, and remember the Starcade and the entire Space Mountain complex. At the time, it did seem sort of futuristic and cool. And I remember a couple of custom games Disney created -- one featured some kind of a horse race? -- where the images of the game was projected on the wall in real time.
Originally Posted By oc_dean ^^^ a teen too at the time ... and I didn't find Starcade so ahead ... as my neighborhood mall - the Buena Park mall had an arcade with a futuristic 'front' when you entered. Other malls, Westminster, Los Cerritos, Brea, the list goes on .. all had arcades. What I did find to be very 'sleek' at the time ... was that nice ramp to another floor of games .. and lined up .. in a row ... the air hockey tables. Peoplemover whizzing by .. that could be seen through large windows to the side .. people gazing in .. through open doors to the side of Space Mountain's queue ... that was all very unique. Now it's just one mundane floor level arcade ... and a rotting Tomorrowland with less "life" in it.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "What I did find to be very 'sleek' at the time ... was that nice ramp to another floor of games .. and lined up .. in a row ... the air hockey tables. Peoplemover whizzing by .. that could be seen through large windows to the side .. people gazing in .. through open doors to the side of Space Mountain's queue ... that was all very unique." I think you would've loved any part of the park that gave you a peek at the Peoplemover.
