Disney announces opening dates for Star Wars-themed parks
By David Malone, Associate Editor
Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products recently announced phase one of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a new Star Wars-themed park, will open on May 31 at Disneyland Park in California and Aug. 29 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Phase two will open later this year.
The parks will each span 14 acres and are the largest and most technologically advanced single-themed land expansions ever in a Disney park. Phase one comprises the “planet” of Batuu, designed to look like a port for smugglers and traders. Batuu will contain unique food offerings (such as a popcorn shop, a barbeque pit, and a Milk Stand with blue and green milk à la the beverage Luke Skywalker drank in A New Hope), merchant shops, and the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run experience, which puts guests into the Millennium Falcon as either pilots, gunners, or flight engineers.
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Phase two will feature Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, touted as the most immersive and advanced attraction Disney has ever created. The experience gives guests an active role in a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. The experience takes guests into a full-size starship, aboard a nearby Star Destroyer, and culminates in a faceoff with Kylo Ren
The parks and their attractions will take a bit of a Westworld approach (minus the sentient, vengeful androids, of course), as guests become a part of the action that unfolds around them. Guests can use the Play Disney Parks mobile app to deepen their engagement with the happenings around them and make choices that can impact their experience. The app will translate galactic languages, show guests what is hidden inside crates and containers, and provide tasks and missions for them to accomplish.
