Disneyland’s newest land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, opens on May 31. Here’s everything you need to know about the
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the 14-acre expansion rumored to have cost $1 billion in a theme park not far away, opens May 31 at Disneyland.
Here’s what you need to know:
Disneyland’s new “Star Wars”-inspired land is designed to resemble a remote settlement named Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu, one filled with the type of riffraff our intergalactic heroes would come upon — space outlaws, smugglers and rebels battling, or hiding from, the evil Empire. Contrasting with the romanticized vision of Disneyland’s Main Street, U. S. A., one “Star Wars” novel describes Black Spire Outpost as a place for “rogues and opportunists, con artists, thieves.”
In real life, there will be plenty of tourists and die-hard “Star Wars” fans to contend with.
It’s the Anaheim park’s biggest single-land expansion since Walt Disney opened the global landmark in 1955 and one that has been anticipated since the Walt Disney Co. announced a $4-billion deal in 2012 to acquire Lucasfilm, the production company that created the galaxy-building franchise. (Think Star Tours, but on a much larger scale.)
The 14-acre expansion is located in the park’s northwest corner and replaces several attractions in Disneyland’s Frontierland, including a petting zoo. At Disneyland, there will be three entry points: two near the borders of Frontierland and Fantasyland and one connecting to Critter Country.
But visitors — known as travelers or off-worlders — who want to be there on or near opening day must have already secured a reservation to gain entry into the land.
The grand opening kicks off the seasonal theme-park rush and will showcase Disney’s franchise-integration prowess, as well as its crowd-control skills. That’s partly why certain tiers of annual pass-holders will be blocked out when it launches and during much of the summer. (Some are getting their last visits in during the coming weeks, meaning larger crowds during the Memorial Day holiday.)
Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. is also scheduled to open its own version of the land Aug. 29.
Locally, the land will eventually feature two rides, four eateries, one space-themed cantina and five retail shops. It helps to explore Black Spire Outpost with the Play Disney mobile app, which is vital for non-native speakers who want to decode the “Star Wars” language of Aurebesh, seen prominently throughout the land.
Only one ride — the game-like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run — will be operational on opening day. The second Galaxy’s Edge attraction — the ambitious, multi-vehicle Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance — is promised for later in the year.
The Millennium Falcon ride puts parkgoers who are 38 inches or taller inside the spacecraft made famous by Han Solo (or Rey, depending on which “Star Wars” film you saw first), working as a pilot, engineer or gunner. Expect the simulator ride to play as a more interactive but similarly intense version of Star Tours, one in which groups of six will have to work together to complete a mission. Disney promises those who return with a roughed-up Falcon will potentially face consequences throughout the land.
Rise of the Resistance, a showcase attraction of the land, will feature multiple full-scale ships and vehicles and extensive animatronics. The experience, representing a Resistance mission gone bad, will move guests among multiple locations, where they will ride vehicles and encounter characters from the current trilogy, including a holographic representation of Daisy Ridley’s Rey.
