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As details begin to emerge surrounding Disney’s upcoming Star Tours update into Star Tours II, Walt Disney World’s own official online calendar not only confirms their announced closing date for the attraction, but also suggests a possible reopening date of May 17, 2010 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park.
The Operational Updates sidebar on the calendar web page lists Star Tours as being closed for refurbishment from Wednesday, September 8 through Monday, May 16.
Disney has previously revealed that the Star Tours attraction at Hollywood Studios will close for enhancement on Sept. 8, 2010 and even earlier at the Disneyland park in Anaheim, Calif. on July 27. But no timeframe for the upgrades has been announced beyond that it will reopen some time next year.
However, it has been suspected that the attraction will likely open in time for the annual Star Wars Weekends event at Hollywood Studios in 2011. Dates for this event have not been released yet, but each year it almost always launches on a Friday near the middle of May. If the Tuesday, May 17th reopening date is correct, it would likely give the attraction a few days to “soft open” before the always large Star Wars Weekends crowds arrive to the park three days later.
The Disneyland Resort online calendar does not list any similar refurbishment dates.
Of course, since Disney has not officially announced a reopening date for Star Tours II, the refurbishment dates may change – and likely will. An earlier soft opening is always a possibility as well. But at the very least it does give a good indication that Disney hopes to reopen the attraction in time for Star Wars Weekends next year.
In the meantime, fans are invited to celebrate the leaving of the current version of Star Tours with a special “Last Tour to Endor” event on Aug. 14, 2010 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, coinciding with Star Wars Celebration V, which will be held in Orlando this year.