CARLSBAD, Calif. — A Carlsbad dad is getting a lot of attention online for elaborate Disneyland-inspired rides he created for his daughters.
Mark Eaton’s garage is home to a replica of Disney’s Star Tours attraction. It took him about a month to build the homemade version of the Star Wars-themed ride for his daughter’s 8th birthday party.
The family also created Mad Tea Party-inspired Teacups and transformed the rest of the home into themed lands. With family and friends dressed up as Disney characters, videos of the birthday party setup quickly went viral.

FOX 5’s Heather Lake got a behind-the-scenes look at the displays Wednesday morning.
“We have an Adventureland downstairs and we have a tiki room and we’ve just kind of built that out during the years,” Eaton said.
Before the Star Wars and Alice in Wonderland-inspired displays, Eaton created a How To Train Your Dragon-inspired ride for his older daughter’s birthday.
“I work as a filmmaker so there’s a little experience I’ve had building things for sets, props, things like that. But this is kind of next level,” Eaton said.
Eaton said the Star Tours replica cost only a few hundred dollars to make with materials including cardboard, lumber and a used $30 flat screen TV.
His motivation behind the projects was to create something special for his daughters that they would remember for years to come. And he accomplished his mission. His daughters said Wednesday that their dad did a really good job and the party was a lot of fun.
When asked how long he plans to keep the ride up and running in the garage, Eaton said he’s not sure.
“It’s been here for a while, since the party and because we’ve had neighbors and relatives that wanted to come after seeing the video. So we’ll keep it up a little bit longer. It’s going to be hard to tear it down after how much work went into it. I feel like I’ll be a little sad,” he said.