A new Millennium Falcon-based attraction is just one of many new additions for the upcoming Star Wars land.
With all the changes coming to Disney Hollywood Studios, there's a bit of uncertainty about how (or if) guests should visit this park.
While there's a lot of work going on, it's still well worth a visit to DHS. For one, be sure to check out the Star Wars Launch Bay. Here you can meet Chewbacca and (if you date) Kylo Ren. There are lots of movie props and reproductions to see. Plus, you can try your hand at the Star Wars Infinity video game.
Speaking of Star Wars, Star Tours has been updated again to include a new scene from The Force Awakens. Even better, the new Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks show is running most nights and it's well worth seeing! Fireworks and Star Wars music - what could be better?
Many of the popular attractions, such as Toy Story Mania, the Tower of Terror and Rock-n-Roller Coaster are still up and running, so be sure to check them out.
There may be some shifting traffic patterns while construction is ongoing, so be patient and allow a bit of extra time to get to the park (whether driving or using Disney transportation).
So yes, there's some disruption at DHS, but it's still well worth a visit. You never know when you might luck into a test run of a new attraction or a soft opening!
Today at the D23 EXPO 2015, The Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced to an audience of more than 7,500 fans that Star Wars-themed lands will be coming to Disneyland park in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., allowing Star Wars fans to step into the stories from a galaxy far, far away.
Ambitious plans to bring Star Wars to life in the two parks include creating Disney’s largest single themed land expansions ever at 14 acres each, transporting 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.
“I am thrilled to announce the next chapter in the long and exciting history between Disney Parks and Star Wars,” said Iger. “We are creating a jaw-dropping new world that represents our largest single themed land expansion ever. These new lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World will transport guests to a whole new Star Wars planet, including an epic Star Wars adventure that puts you in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance.”
These authentic lands will have two signature attractions. Along with the thrilling battle experience, another attraction puts guests behind the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, as they take on a customized secret mission.
Iger also shared concept images of the Star Wars-themed lands, giving fans a glimpse at what is to come for Disney parks.
The partnership between Disney and Lucasfilm dates back to 1987, when the successful Star Tours attraction, inspired by George Lucas’s legendary Star Wars film series, opened at Disneyland. The attraction was then redesigned, emerging as “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue” in 2011 and featuring more than 50 different story outcomes and the possibility to visit five different planets.
For 60 years, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has been delighting millions of people with fantastic storytelling, exceptional entertainment and extraordinary experiences, creating places where guests can make life-long memories with their friends and families. This announcement marks an unprecedented time of growth with exciting developments happening around the world – from Disneyland Resort’s Diamond Celebration to the anticipated opening of Shanghai Disney Resort in China.
So I thought I'd have a little fun and take a look at what real estate would be available for a new Star Wars Land if Indy did close along with Idol, Sounds Dangerous and the Backlot Express and how, when combined with the existing Star Tours area, that space might compare with the space Disney carved out to create Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.
As the map above shows, if the areas in green were to be closed and re-purposed for Star Wars Land, it would create a space that could potentially be about 75% of the space that made available for Cars Land. I created this map by using Bing and setting the scale to 100 feet to get an aerial image for both California Adventure and Hollywood Studios. By using the same scale, we could make a reasonable comparison of the two potential spaces as noted by the yellow line.
Based on this analysis, it appears that Disney would have a decent amount of space to put in a good E-ticket attraction while also re-imagining the Backlot Express into some sort of Star Wars themed dining experience.
But let's keep one thing in mind: how did Disney make room for Cars Land at California Adventure? They used space that was originally a parking lot. Could the same be true here? You bet!
Map courtesy Bing
Just to the East of the Indiana Jones/Backlot Express/Star Tours area are some backstage areas and then the gigantic Television parking lot. Even if Disney uses a portion of the Television parking lot for Star Wars Land, there is an incredible amount of potential space available for some sort of expansion.
Oh and don't worry about parking, there's still two other huge lots that are available (Film and Music), and Disney could always expand those two lots or build more to the East.
With three Star Wars movies in the works, it seems like a no-brainer that LucasFilms and Disney are (or should be) working on a Star Wars Land. I'll even go out on a limb now and say that Disney will make some sort of Star Wars-related announcement at the 2015 D23 Expo, possibly to announce Star Wars Land.
Let's just hope that this rumor is coming true! May the Force be with us all!
This week's Tip Tuesday post will take a back seat to the major, galactic-sized news that came out late today - Disney is buying Lucasfilm for just over 4 billion.
There's a lot of news already out on this developing story, so I won't spend much time on the finer details. Instead, I will share my thought on what this new acquisition will mean for Disney and for the parks.
To recap, here are the basic details of the deal, announced today:
Disney will own Lucasfilm, including all the affiliated operations like Industrial Light and Magic, Lucas Arts and Skywalker sound.
Disney will own the rights to all Lucasfilm characters and stories - this includes Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Kathleen Kennedy, current co-chair of Lucasfilm will become President of Lucasfilm and will come under the Walt Disney Studios.
Total purchase price is $4.05 billion. This deal has yet to be approved by certain government antitrust regulations.
Lucas will become a major shareholder of Disney - the 10th largest.
As if the purchase announcement wasn't enough, Lucas dropped another proton torpedo: Star Wars: Episode 7 is coming in a few years. Yes, you read this correctly - Episode 7!!! In an interview on Starwars.com, Lucas revealed he has developed story treatments for Episodes 7, 8 and 9. Episode 7 is in story development and is initially slated for release in 2015. Bob Iger, Disney CEO indicated additional Star Wars films could be coming out every two or three years following Episode 7.
So it seems fairly certain that we will have a new Star Wars trilogy for an entirely new generation of Star Wars fans.
So what will this mean for Disney and for the parks?
First, it means Disney, literally, has a whole new galaxy of characters and story material to draw from. It also means that you will see a lot more Star Wars and Indiana Jones coming to the parks. Could this be the final hurdle for the long-rumored "Star Wars land" at Disney Hollywood Studios? Could this lead to something even bigger -- an entirely new 5th park? I suspect we may hear some major, major, major (did I say major?) announcements at the D23 Expo next August related to Star Wars, both in terms of movies and the parks -- oh and there's also consumer products as well. There's so much to this deal.
Here's what I think this deal also means (though I have little to back this up, so it's just my gut feeling): Avatar-land at Animal Kingdom is dead. There have been reports that the deal between James Cameron and Disney was becoming shaky over investment prices and creative control. I suspect now that Disney and Lucasfilm are in the same family, James Cameron will be left out in the cold. I could be wrong, but, to quote every Star Wars movie, "I have a bad feeling about this."
The more I think about this deal, the more I start to see what Iger's legacy will be for the Disney company. Walt's legacy is Mickey Mouse and Disneyland. He started it all. Eisner's legacy is reinvigorating Disney animation and growing the parks. Iger's legacy will be growing the Disney family. Think about it. Under Iger's leadership, Disney has purchased Pixar, Marvel and now Lucasfilm. In the span of only a few years, Disney's book of available stories and characters has exploded and the Disney family is larger than ever.
I personally can't wait to see just how far Disney/Lucasfilm can go together. I'm ready to again jump into hyperspace to a galaxy far, far away.
