Star Wars Land Coming to Both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland
Are you ready to head to a galaxy far, far away? Then this is the news you were looking for.
Bob Iger announced during the Live Action Walt Disney Studios Panel at the D23 Expo that Star Wars-themed lands are coming to not only Disneyland, but also Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
These very ambitious plans will include the largest themed expansions ever at 14 acres for each theme park, that will transport guests to a never-before-seen planet–a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life. The land will put you in the epic battle between the dark and the light.
The themed lands will have two signature attractions. One will be a thrilling battle experience, while the other will put guests behind the controls of the Millennium Falcon, as they take on a customized secret mission.
The concept art for the lands is stunning.
The lands are expected to include stores that will be operated by local inhabitants and yes, there will be a Cantina. These will be the most immersive environments in every way.
Disney is still working out the detail of the designs, but they are going for a land that is so detailed it brings the Star Wars world to life. Because details are still up in the air, no official opening timeline was released. I’ll make sure to keep you posted about additional details when they are announced.
How does this fit into a theme park where the theme is genre?
The new direction for the park is to “put you in the movies” you know and love. This would most certainly put you in the Star Wars movies. They used Cars Land as an example of making you feel like you were actually in Radiator Springs.
With such a content rich intellectual property, the WDW and DL versions could be completely different. It would cost more to develop completely separate projects but it would give people a reason to visit each.
whike I’m sure this will be amazing, one of the best things about the Harry Potter lands is that they bring locations from the books and films to life.
They are already familiar to fans, who get to walk in the foot steps of their favourite characters.
A new never been seen before planet won’t have that familiarity. Why not one of the many locations from the films. Tatooine, courescant, or even endor?
I’m thinking the never before seen planet will be something from the new movies that will be coming out. And we are getting the Cantina and a Millennium Falcon ride, and they are certainly familiar fan favorites.
My guess is that the land will be partly based on the planet Jakko which has been heavily shown in the new movie trailers and in the upcoming Battlefront video game.
If I may speculate…
If they want the planet to be canon (and they say they do), it has to be one planet, not locations from multiple things. Considering that, any choice they make would force them to leave some things out or make parts of it less interesting. Tatooine is well known and the cantina would be amazing, but then you have to theme the whole place as a desert world with little to nothing on it. Coruscant is one big city, probably not how they want to theme it. Endor is a very backwards planet inhabited only be Ewoks.
Harry Potter is easier because most everything is contained in a couple sections of London. This way Disney can do anything they want with it and still honestly say it’s “canon”.
My first thought was the same as yours, but thinking about it more, I get why.
Hmmm…wondering if The Cantina will be maybe a satellite location and well, The Millennium Falcon is mobile…easyish ways to keep canon here.