April 1, 2016 – What would you pay to participate in a Princess Leia medal ceremony? If you were a parent with little children in the summer of 2011 who had just received a limited invitation-only ticket to the event, the answer was “a lot” (as in $444 for current theme park admission; see calculation below).
In the summer of 2011, Disney’s Hollywood Studios heavily promoted the re-opening of its “Star Tours® – The Adventures Continue” 3D, motion-simulated space flight. Disney sent out a promotional van off-property to the tourist-heavy corridors of International Drive and U.S. Highway 192 in Orlando, Florida. The van was occupied by a Star Tours representative and, reportedly, Chewbacca and a Jawa, who handed out Star Tours mouse-ear hats and an invitation to participate in a Rebel Alliance medal ceremony.
But there were a couple catches: First, participation was limited to children 4 to 12 years of age. Second, theme park admission tickets were not provided.
To calculate the cost of admission for your family, you can visit Disney’s site HERE. With the introduction of “variable pricing” in 2016, the cost of admission for a family of two adults and two children would now be $444.00 (that’s $114 per ticket for anyone aged 10 and up, or $108 per ticket for ages 3-9, during peak season). Add in the cost of meals, snacks and souvenirs, and the one-day admission to Disney becomes a small fortune for a family of four.
The short-lived promotional event ended 31 July 2011. Will it come back? Nobody knows. Some hugely popular events have been cancelled recently at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, including the annual Star Wars Weekends (1997-2015) and the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (1995-January, 2016).
The latter two events have been discontinued, perhaps permanently, to make way for construction of Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land. On April 3rd, many more rides/attractions will be closed, and additional construction walls will go up in the northeastern section of Hollywood Studios which represents at least a third of the theme park.
We are hopeful that Princes Leia and her promotional medals will return in five to six years (2021 or 2022), our best guess as to when Star Wars Land will officially open.
Related Star Wars Land Posts:
Star Wars Land: More Closures Announced (15 Jan 2016)
Disney’s Star Wars Land Is Now Confirmed (16 Aug 2015)
Rumors of STAR WARS LAND at Hollywood Studios (6 July 2013)
FUTURE of STAR WARS 