The year 2005 was already an important year for Star Tours, However. Although as previously mentioned Star Tours Launched with elements of the ride teasing other locations for the attraction, the original ride never received any updates beyond the Endor Adventure. But at Star Wars Celebration III in April 2005, Lucas finally confirms that the adventures will indeed continue.
As the prequel trilogy is set to conclude with Revenge of the Sithin May of the same year, a new update to Star Tours would be able to incorporate locations and ideas from the previous trilogy, as well as expand on elements of the original trilogy beyond Endor. The new ride would also use 3D technology to immerse audiences, and it would no longer just visit a single location on each trip: the update would offer dozens and dozens of unique potential combinations of locations in a single ride. Originally, the sequel would be inspired by six potential locations—Coruscant, Tatooine, Hoth, Naboo, Geonosis, Kashyyyk—after opening at Spaceport THX1138, with visits to different planets interspersed with messages from various Star Wars characters informing visitors of a secret mission to rescue a randomly chosen spy aboard their vehicle.
Not all of the changes would be popular with die-hard Disney fans. Although the upgrade, dubbed Star Tours: The adventure continues– would still retain many elements of the original, a controversial decision was to replace Star ToursPilot droid RX-24 (better known as Captain Rex, long before the Clone) as the ride's “pilot” and directly integrates C-3PO and R2-D2 into the ride's story, rather than simply keep them in the queue. After being stopped the previous year in 2010 for renovation for overhaul, Star Tours: The adventure continues officially debuted at Disney World in Florida in May 2011, before opening at Disneyland in June.