When I first saw this advertised, I was really curious as to what it was. I had no experience with virtual reality. Since we had planned a short trip to Disneyland, and I am a huge Star Wars fan, I bought tickets to the experience. Anything Star Wars was enough to make me try it. I wasn’t sure if my husband would like the experience because he is not really a computer or virtual reality person, but I bought him a ticket anyway.
So, it was with some trepidation that we showed up for our reserved time. The one thing I can tell you is that the people there are great. They will walk you through the whole process of getting ready for your Star Wars virtual experience.
They provide lockers for you to put your backpacks, purses, jackets, etc. in.
The general story is that the Empire has a powerful secret weapon, and that you are going to Mustafar to find it.
First you will select a color for your storm trooper disguise. In the experience you are a rebel disguised as a storm trooper and your partners recognize you by your color. They explain the process of getting outfitted with the virtual reality equipment, show you how the equipment works and help you put the equipment on. There is a vest that is very much like a buoyancy compensator used in diving that has the battery for the head gear. If you dive you know what I mean. We put on the vests and then they helped us put on the head gear. The whole vest and head gear rig is about 20 pounds, but it really didn’t feel that heavy, and I can assure you that once you start the experience, you won’t even think about it! You will be having too much fun!
Now the fun begins! They have you lower your visor and move you to a room that through your visor looks like a troop transport compartment. To each other you look like storm troopers. At this point, they have you sit on a bench and they explain the rules and let you know should you have any problems all you have to do is raise your hand and someone will help you immediately. They also explain that if you become dizzy or disoriented, you can raise your visor or raise your hand for help. They could also help you out of the experience should you need to leave it. And then they leave and your experience begins.
A window opens and K2 begins talking to you. He flies you to Mustafar. Then you have to leave the room and onto a gantry. It looks absolutely real. When you enter another room, you pick up a weapon. The weapon is not virtual (although it shoots virtual bullets). Bad guy storm troopers show up and start shooting at you, so you have to shoot back. When they score a shot on you, you will feel a vibration in your vest where the shot hits. Eventually, another door opens and you cross another gantry over lava. It looks so real (I actually peeked under my visor to make sure I really couldn’t fall). You will enter another room and K2 tells you that you have to enter a code exactly like he gives it. We were reduced to laughing fits since neither one of us could get it right. K2 gets more insulting as you fail to enter the right code. Eventually even if you don’t get the code, you leave the room and have to shoot more storm troopers and a creature that comes up out of the lava. That one is hard to kill! I thought it looked a lot like a giant lava tick. After that you go into what looks like a warehouse and find the weapon. There, you have to hold off more Stormtroopers while your virtual partner steals the weapon. Once the weapon is free, a ship piloted by K2 arrives and lowers a door, and you cross onto the ship and your experience ends.
I was ready to go pay for another experience right then! We had so much fun, and it was so real. I would highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves Star Wars, and wants to try something very new. You really do feel like you are in the story.
Tickets are $32.95- $34.95 each depending on day, although the price may vary by location, and the groups are limited to four people. If there are more in your parties, you will be split up into smaller groups. Kids must be 48 inches tall and at least 10 years old. You need to allow 30 minutes for the whole experience. The location is right in the center of Downtown Disney and very easy to find.
You can buy your tickets online, and select what time you want for your experience. You can buy them at the door, but you might not get the time you want.
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