Variety is reporting that a “significant” Star Wars presence is planned for Disney theme parks. This, according to company chief, Bob Iger, during a conference call with analysts.
Here’s the link to the article:
While the parks throughout the world already enjoy either an original version of Star Tours, or the newly revamped, Star Tours: The Adventure Continues, industry insiders speculate that what Iger is talking about here is more along the lines of the scope and scale of Cars Land in Anaheim or Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando.
Rumors have come and gone over recent years, most notably the construction of a Mos Eisley cantina from A New Hope and a Speeder Bike experience from Return of the Jedi inside a re-themed Tomorrowland. Both concepts were apparently this close to receiving Iger’s approval before he put all Star Wars-based attraction ideas on hold.
With Episode VII scheduled for a December 2015 release, there is a much bigger opportunity to capitalize on the newest adventures aimed at today’s target demographic versus an Original Trilogy-intensive expansion. This is exactly what Iger is thinking, and it’s the right call.
Announcements will be made “next year,” but that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate as to what’s to come.
Of our regional parks, I’m guessing Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando is going to see the biggest expansion.
For quite some time now, this park has been seeking the opportunity for a new themed land. A clone of Cars Land was the most recent rumor. But in Orlando in particular, Disney could use a good dose of “teen demographic” as a counter strike to Harry Potter at Universal. Star Wars here is a no-brainer.
Overseas, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland would more than likely follow the same plan as Anaheim, with Disney Studios Paris, the sister park to Disneyland Paris, in desperate need of a major splash, following suit with Hollywood Studios in Orlando.
Shanghai Disneyland, currently under construction, seems to have a very modest Tomorrowland presence.
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This will be the first Disneyland Park to operate without a traditional Space Mountain, replaced, interestingly, by an indoor/outdoor roller coaster, themed to the film franchise, Tron, appropriately rumored to be called, “Tron Lightcycles Power Run.”
While incredibly exciting to me personally, Tron hasn’t quite reached a legendary status in terms of its worldwide popularity, so this park will be ripe for a large thematic expansion relatively quickly after its opening, and this is where I see the same treatment as what Hollywood Studios will be receiving.
So what types of rides, attractions, and other forms of entertainment can we expect with this Star Wars expansion?
Here’s what would I personally love to see happen…
Let’s travel back to Anaheim for this.
While I’m all for continuously evolving the parks, it’s important for Disneyland to maintain a true “Tomorrowland” theme. Star Wars can be integrated into Tomorrowland, but it shouldn’t fully replace it. That’s why I think a Mos Eisley cantina may not be the right thematic fit. The cantina is located on Tatooine and Tomorrowland is themed to a futuristic city spaceport. Adding the cantina will make this feel like a “best of Star Wars” land rather than making the experience thematically immersive and logical.
Similarly, an Endor-inspired speeder bike chase would be an amazing ride, but it would be hard to understand its fit logically.
What makes Cars Land work are the forced perspective sight lines and clever design that make you feel like you’re only seeing a small portion of Radiator Springs, with the rest of Route 66 and an entire frontier to be explored around a corner you’ll never actually get to. With the much smaller amount of land available to Disneyland, to incorporate multiple Star Wars planets just seems unrealistic.
CORUSCANT
Tomorrowland should introduce a Coruscant theme. Coruscant is a futuristic technologically advanced metropolis. Imagineers could easily blend Tomorrowland with this iconic planet for a more seamless thematic experience.
DEX’S DINER
Instead of a Mos Eisley cantina, “Dex’s Diner” should replace the Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port, serving up a variety of alien concoctions, such as Rancor Burgers, Wampa Nuggets, Dewback Stew and Sarlaac Surprise.
STAR TOURS: THE ADVENTURE EXPANDS
Coinciding with the release of Episode VII, Star Tours should receive another upgrade, with experiences from the new film blending in with stories already told on the ride.
STAR FIGHTERS
The Astro Orbiter at the entrance to the land should return to the top of the old PeopleMover track where the original Rocket Jets once resided.
The ride will be a similar circular orbiter experience, only now, young pilots get to choose from a variety of spacecraft, such as X-Wings and A-Wings, and different classes of Tie Fighters. Laser lights, strobe effects, and steam will add a more interactive element to this classic-inspired ride.
SPEEDER PODS
A new version of the classic PeopleMover will finally return. Part Tomorrowland, part Star Wars, this will be a new take on “transportation of the future,” which was Walt Disney’s original vision for this attraction. Instead of attempting to go high thrills, like the brief RocketRods failed to deliver, this becomes a more tranquil experience. The fun will be in its interaction with sensory experiences along the way. I can picture pods that can swivel and rotate on their own axis, like the Haunted Mansion ominovers, but faster, as they travel along the circuit.
Along the way, a narrator tells us the story of Tomorrowland in its current form, incorporating Star Wars elements, to relay a story that thematically ties everything together.
JEDI TEMPLE
That massive old America Sings building, currently used primarily as a Marvel meet and greet location, receives a re-theme to the Jedi Temple. Here, Disney will give new meaning to the word, “immersion.” This will be a meet and greet of epic proportions.
Live interaction will be the central focus of this attraction. As guests wander through the building, they will encounter all sorts of characters, and will be allowed to stop and interact with anyone at any time. These characters are all at the Jedi Temple for a reason, and so they will have cleverly-scripted agendas.
Want to walk up to that weird looking alien creature and ask him how his day is going? Go for it. But don’t be surprised when he responds in an alien language and walks away.
Friendly fuzzy creatures will stop and take pictures with you and your family.
Anyone remember PUSH the talking trash can? This was an interesting little piece of technology, a “radio controlled” trash can, its operator hidden, which meandered throughout a Disney park seemingly on its own power. Can we say droids? Could you imagine seeing R2D2 rolling down a corridor on its own, beeping and humming to guests along the way?
Boba Fett and other shifty-looking bounty hunters will be sneaking around.
Jedi will occupy the space, pausing to take pictures, bestowing wisdom upon the young ones, maybe even recruiting you for a super secret mission.
The highlight of Temple will be an all-new Jedi Training Academy for the kids. This has been hugely popular in Anaheim. Now, the Academy will have a more dedicated, better themed environment, allowing the Jedi to show off their powers inside a controlled environment. This will take a bit of inspiration from Ollivander’s Wand Shop at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which has children leaving convinced they are young wizards with magical powers, while their parents remove a few tears from their eyes.
And, of course, more merchandise than you would ever hope to see.
Ready for the craziest idea yet, the stuff of hopes and dreams?
MONORAIL TO TATOOINE
Inside the Jedi Temple, a new boarding platform will be introduced. Guests will board a dedicated monorail that will transport them out beyond the berm of the park, up above a handful of city streets, and drop them off at a platform located in a recreation of Tatooine. This will be one of the spectacular new lands inside a 3rd Gate in Anaheim. In a first of its kind, guests will be able to move in between lands at separate parks, offering an immersion never before realized at a Disney park.
This may be out there where plans for Anaheim are concerned, but I predict Tatooine will be the theme for the new Star Wars land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The landscape and layout will feel very similar to Cars Land, with forced perspective mountain ranges hiding show buildings. Instead of the town of Radiator Springs, we will have a recreation of Mos Eisley Spaceport.
Enjoy live music performed by Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes inside the infamous cantina while indulging in out of this world cocktails and refreshing treats designed to keep you cool in the desert heat.
A new C-Ticket spinner ride will see Mater and his Junkyard Jamboree replaced with Watto’s Junkyard Hijinx, where guests will board “droids” with minds of their own as they randomly spin and careen around all over the place.
The new mega-E-Ticket ride will follow a course strikingly similar to Radiator Springs Racers, although since the “race car” ride technology is already utilized by Test Track at Epcot, might we see that Tron Lightcycles Power Run system utilized here, themed to speeder bikes, racing in and out of mountainous caverns and desert terrain?
I’d be down with that.
Of course, all of this is coming solely from my imagination, but I’d bet money on some of these ideas coming to fruition. We’ll see if I’m right.
What would your ideas be for Star Wars and Tomorrowland at a Disney theme park?
2015 is going to be a humongous year for us enthusiasts.