Star Wars Theme Park

Disney has announced the upcoming launch of its latest major attraction, the Star Wars theme park. Taking full advantage of its purchase of the science-fiction franchise in 2012, two new Star Wars parks will open in 2019 at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California and at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida will launch its 14-acre Star Wars park in late autumn. It will be called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

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Drive a spaceship!

Aimed at people of all ages, as both adults and kids love the franchise, it will be the biggest single-theme land expansion in Disney's history, that will include a replica of the famous Millennium Falcon spaceship. Guests will be able to pilot the craft, which is famous for its co-piloting team of Han Solo and Chewbacca.

The theme park will be set on the planet Batuu, promising a fully immersive experience for guests. Visitors will be interacting with Batuu residents, rather than the usual Disney employees. These will include rogue adventurers, bounty hunters and smugglers!

In addition, the planet will have its own street markets, where customers can purchase unique special items, rather than the usual Disney-themed merchandise available in its other shops.

Star Wars franchise

Since Disney bought Lucasfilm Ltd for $4.05 billion in 2012, the theme park operator has made its money back thanks to the famous Star Wars films, which have included Episode VII: The Force Awakens in 2015 and Episode VIII: The Last Jedi in 2017. A new movie, currently known only as Episode IX, is scheduled for release in December 2019.

The new Star Wars theme parks have been described by Disney executives as a "jaw-dropping new world", with Batuu being a remote outpost on the galaxy's edge - hence the theme park's name.

Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and the Lucasfilm Story Group, the intention is to make visitors feel like they've just walked straight into the Star Wars movies.

New planet

The team chose to set the theme park on a new planet at the outer rim of the galaxy, which was described as a "remote frontier outpost". They decided to create Batuu, rather than using an existing planet like Hoth or Tatooine, because they wanted to build new Star Wars stories, rather than using locations that visitors found familiar.

According to the project's supervisor, Scott Trowbridge, of Imagineering, Batuu was formerly a vibrant trading port, in the days before lightspeed travel. Now, as everyone uses hyperspace, it isn't as prominent as it used to be.

It's become a meeting place for what he describes as, "all the interesting people" - the rogue adventurers who are looking for a crew, or those travellers who don't want to be found and don't travel on mainstream paths.

In order to develop the new planet, the design team drew on Ralph McQuarrie's concept for the original Star Wars trilogy of films. They also travelled to locations in the real world, such as Morocco and Istanbul, for inspiration, studying architecture and culture.

Attractions

After visitors drive the Millennium Falcon, if they do well, they will earn galactic credits but if they perform badly, they may end up on the list of wanted bounty hunters! Music at the bar (known as the cantina) will be provided by an RX-24 droid, who is the resident DJ.

The market will be called the Black Spire Outpost, where the stalls will include a toy shop run by an alien called the Toydarian, who was first seen on Tatooine in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. There will also be a weird and wonderful creature stall.

John Williams, the composer of much of the Star Wars' music over the years, will be composing the music that will be played at Galaxy's Edge and all of its attractions, while the London Symphony Orchestra is recording the music at Abbey Road Studios in London.

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May the Force be with you!