Harrison Ford hosted the two-and-a-half minute segment, which did not reveal any new location names, opening dates, or additional operational detail beyond what Disney announced last summer at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, when Disney first confirmed the Star Wars Land project. Disney is building two Star Wars-themed lands, one at Disneyland in Anaheim and the other in Florida at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
The two lands will include a ride where visitors will pilot the Millennium Falcon and a ride where visitors will be caught in a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. Dining locations will include a Catina, and the land will include multiple shops and character meet and greets.
Construction has begun at Disneyland, where the Rivers of America attractions and Disneyland Railroad are down for the rest of 2015 as Disney reroutes them to make way for the new land, which will be located north of the Rivers of America, from Fantasyland to Critter Country. At Walt Disney World, Disney has announced the closure of several attractions, including part of the Streets of America, the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground and the Lights, Motors, Action auto stunt show. The area cleared by those attractions is widely suspected to be part of the site for Star Wars Land in Florida.
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But I still look forward to it.
The only thing new that I gleaned from the spot was the possibility that perhaps the two parks were getting slightly different lands. Based on the various pieces of concept art, I can't visualize them all appearing in Disneyland, and the likelihood is that the drawings revealed themed areas from both Disneyland and DHS.
The only other minor thing I took from the spot was that some of the concept drawings look a lot like Universal's WWoHP, particularly the marketplace drawing that appeared straight off the Diagon Alley drawing board.
I enjoyed the show. It wasn't the best ever, but I liked the performances and understand why they use music for a 2-hour special. Disney has been doing this since the 80s. The only thing that Disney doesn't seem to get is that these specials should be truly live; that's what makes watching special, as you may see a mistake or may see something amazing.
As per Star Wars, it did feel like there were a few very tiny new things to see; I didn't expect more than what we got.
Just thought I'd let you know that it's actually spelled "Fallout Boy," no plural. I know it's not a big deal, but my sister's huge into punk rock and I couldn't help imagining how angry she would be if I had showed her that.
#siblinggoals
Sorry to hear that the anniversary show was bad. Looks like I won't be watching, then.
See you all in 2034 when this is finished.
As for the TV special, I'm glad I missed it. I was at DLR last year for the 60th, I certainly didn't need to see this mishmash TV special.
As far as Star Wars land goes... from what we've seen (and I know its not much) the rides themselves seem rather lame. A motion-simulator based Millenium Falcon ride that you can hardly see out of? Really? In the same parks that have motion-simulator based rides already in Star Tours?? Hopefully the other ride they are hinting at is far better and thriling. The lands look like they will focus heavily on shopping and dining as Disney has seen this is where the real money is.
The Millenium Falcon ride is ridden like a video game. You not only steer it around, you can shoot at objects too.
The First Order ride will likely use the trackless ride vehicle from the Ratatouille ride at Paris with the 3D screens. So Disney already has experience with the technology. It won't be Spiderman and Transformers since this is often cited as its inspiration.
I realize that there are always liberties taken with concept drawings, but there were far more settings shown than could possibly be housed in the small corner of Disneyland where Star Wars land will be in that park.
The square footage for the DHS expansion could be far greater, depending upon how much space created by the closing of LMA, Catastrophe Canyon, and the NY Backlot is used for Star Wars and how much is given for the Pixar expansion. The space allotted to Star Wars could grow even bigger if the Studio Drive elimination rumor comes to fruition.
Sylvain, I've heard that the First Order Battle ride will use one of the largest show buildings ever built by Disney (at least at the US parks). Given the size of the buildings for something like Transformers vs. something like Radiator Springs Racers, I just can't imagine the ride will be 100% screens. I've heard elsewhere that it is going to be Indiana Jones Adventure crossed with the Ratatouille ride, which could potentially be amazing.
Russell, while the land will not be identical at Disneyland and DHS the main components will be the same. Everything seen in the concept art will be present at both parks in some form. Both lands are 14 acres (for comparison, Cars Land is 12) so the amount of space is the same, but the shape and layout will vary. A majority of what has been closed so far at DHS is for Toy Story Land (which will cover 11 acres), as that area is scheduled to be completed first.
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