All new Star Wars themed areas are on their way to Disney!
This past Sunday evening, ABC aired their “Disneyland 60” special, celebrating six decades of the theme park in California. The most exciting segment for me was half way through the two-hour program when Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford, took stage to give us our first glimpses at the upcoming Star Wars land!
This will be a 14-acre expansion at both Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney World in Orlando and will take visitors to an all-new planet in the galaxy. It was a brief look, the details are still being worked on behind closed doors, but I can’t wait to visit. I’ve been to Disney a few times and it truly is a magical place. The last was in 2013 during Star Wars Weekends, and it was an amazing experience.
Disney and Star Wars is a match made in the stars. When the purchase announcement was made in 2012, I immediately started thinking about how they would handle a heavier integration into their parks. Explore the ice tunnels of Hoth, sit in THE cantina, fly through the night sky of Coruscant! There is so much I’d love to see. Talk about feeling like a kid again.
Never would I have imagined this could happen back in 1991! Star Tours is great, and even better after the updates over the past few years, but this is so much different. This will be an experience. An unforgettable one at that. Here is what was revealed on the special:
Millennium Falcon Ride – Climb aboard the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy! Looks to be a ride, although they hint at the possibility of it being interactive by manning the laser canon!
Resistance/First Order Battle – This also looks to be a ride/guided walk-through where you are inserted into the action.
All-Encompassing Area – This is by far where Disney excels. Park-goers will literally walk onto another world. From the streets and alleys to the shops and restaurants, they are setting up a fully immersive experience. There looks to be street vendors and cantinas serving delicacies from alien worlds, to an upscale restaurant for the more refined travelers. There will be opportunities to interact with droids, denizens and your average assortment of scum and villainy
As of now, it appears that these will be all new locations, no Chalmun’s Cantina, which is a bit of a bummer. I was hoping to be able to take a seat in the most iconic locale of the films. That’s not to rule it out, but the focus appears on the future. It feels as if they are purposely straying away from a “nostalgic” approach, and audiences will get more bang for their buck because of it. It is going to be a living and breathing environment. There is room to expand as the saga expands, so some more familiar locations could be revealed.
I’m hoping to see interaction between the park-goers and park-actors, to complete the experience. Action happening all around you, getting caught in an ambush on the Resistance or a bounty hunter showdown! I feel like there is so much they can do with this concept, making visitors feel like they are walking through the next movie. This, I imagine without having been there myself, will be our version of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. I’ve heard that it is amazing to be there, and that is what I’m hoping it turns out to be. Disney’s Imagineers have done incredible things with their properties, always outdoing the last project, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. And just think about all the shops….they can have all my money.
Can you tell I’m a little excited?
There hasn’t been a date revealed, but I would guess they are still about three to four years away. By then, we will have a few new movies; more to add into Star Wars land. In fact, I would not be surprised to see them use the parks in some form of promotion of these films. It could be used as a way to break new characters in before they appear on screen? Who knows–all I do know for sure is there is plenty of time to start planning my move to Orlando.
Mike Harris hails from the suburbs of Chicago and has been a fan for most of his life. Working as an industrial radiographer and raising a family with his wife take up most of his time, but there’s always room for Star Wars books and podcasts! Just looking to give back to Star Wars and the fan community, it’s been a source of fun and learning for him for so long.