Here are the names of Disney's new Star Wars rides, and more

Every Name: Has Another Name - The Ride!

I wish the would tell us more about Reflections: A Disney's Lakeside Lodge. I think they said it was Deluxe?? How are they ‘plussing up’ this hotel (defintely not with convenient transportation)?

Also, does this new hote have anything to do with the rumors I’ve heard about Hoop-Dee-Doo closing?

The Haunted Mansion: Rise of the Hatbox Ghost
Isla Tesoro: Pirates of the Caribbean
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: A Disney’s Goat Story

“Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow” to be replaced with “Pirates of the Caribbean: What is Johnny Depp doing here?”

I like the names. Rise of the Resistance. Smuggler's Run. They're as catchy as the Star Wars movies' names.

Ok, who’s ghostwriting this article, cause there’s no way Robert’s head didn’t explode upon hearing the news that a Beauty and the Beast sing along would take up Impressions de France’s space. ; )

It sounds like both Star Wars rides will be E Tickets. Anyone have some info about that?

Millennium Falcon is a simulator with a certain amount of interactivity. So maybe a D ticket if it’s at all important. But the hardware crashing might stop the ride a lot.

Everything Disney has released makes Resistance look like an E ticket dark ride like Shanghai Pirates and Forbidden Journey. Though there have been rumors that it will be similar to the Star Trek Experience where they’ll make you walk around and do stuff instead of just ride.

While I'm not the biggest fan of the name, if the entirety of Rise of the Resistance is as detailed as shown in that video, I think we've got a serious contender for best theme park attraction ever created (and perhaps worthy of the "F-ticket" moniker I've sometimes heard). Despite Disney's questionable treatment of the films, the more I see about Galaxy's Edge the more impressive it looks, and I've got a feeling this will be the closest thing to DisneySea's level of detail that is ever seen outside of Japan.

About eight or nine months away. Very exciting!

The new Beauty and the Beast sing along will play in rotation with Impressions de France, it is not replacing it- so no need for a ghostwriter nor for minds being blown over this:)

I thought that the theme John Williams wrote sounded good at first, but not very Star Wars-y. Then, around the 45 second mark, it became perfect, without repeating any of the traditional Star Wars themes. Well done. Like a Star Wars soundtrack and Epcot background music had a baby.

Dave, if you think this isn’t an indication that Disney is seriously considering replacing Impressions, I’m afraid you’re more optimistic than I am.

Here my thoughts regarding these announcements...

1. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is about a year away???? This seems to indicate that the initial schedule of having this attraction up and running prior to Summer 2019 has fallen back. What is going on inside this attraction, and why is it taking so long? Also, why have they started selling merchandise for a ride that's not going to be open for another year? That means they're completely whiffing on tying this new attraction into Mickey's 90th Birthday celebration, and represents a HUGE missed opportunity for Disney by not having another established attraction through it's break-in period prior to Galaxy's Edge opening - or perhaps does that mean Galaxy's Edge at DHS is also running behind too with a debut sliding more towards the start of 2020 instead of the end of 2019?

2. While the M&MRR news is quite disappointing (again validating our decision to skip our every-other year trip to WDW in fall 2019), the biggest news that no one is talking about is that Illuminations is going to incorporate Disney IPs. This is about as blasphemous as you can get. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, 1 MILLION TIMES NO!!!! Illuminations set the standard for nighttime spectaculars, and never needed to be propped up with familiar characters and music. The show is a celebration of the human spirit and our collective hope for the future. Instead, Disney is going to turn this into World of Color East, dumbing down the show to the lowest common denominator. I was excited when Disney announced the revamp of Illuminations, but now I don't want to be caught dead on the World Showcase Lagoon after this new version starts running. SHAME ON YOU DISNEY!!!!

3. Another big take-away here is the Beauty and the Beast show in EPCOT. I'm not quite as concerned about the potential demise of Impressions de France, but it's really odd to me that they're going to attach more unnecessary IP to the France pavilion. They're already putting Ratatouille there, and stage meet and greets with Belle and Ariel, so I don't understand the need to drive more little footsteps into an already cramped space on the World Showcase. This seems very shortsighted from a planning perspective to keep crowds spread out around the park. The France Pavilion simply doesn't have the space to support 2 big draws, unless they plan on removing the Beauty and the Beast show once Ratatouille opens. The World Showcase Pavilions are designed to be explored leisurely, with small paths and clever nooks and crannies. If you've been to Norway since Frozen invaded, you'll see what happens to that charm and intricate design when a pavilion gets overloaded with people. France could suffer the same fate on an even greater scale. Also, it doesn't make sense to have a second theatrical production of Beauty and the Beast at WDW. There's already a full Broadway-style production at DHS, so I don't understand why Disney feels the need to double down unless the DHS production is coming to an end soon. Also, Beauty and the Beast already has a prominent spot in MK with a mini-land. This announcement to further proliferate the presence of Beauty and the Beast in the parks is a real head-scratcher.

I don't really have much to say about the Star Wars announcements. The names of the rides don't really do anything to me, so long as they avoid annoying abbreviations like they stupidly did with ASS. MFSR and SWRotR don't really offend anyone, and the names appear to relay what the rides are about. I do think it's cool that Williams will be composing custom music for the lands, but I hope they avoid playing music throughout the land non-stop. I want to feel like I'm in the world of Star Wars, not standing in the middle of the movie with background music playing all the time. The soundtrack should be more sound effects and the like (like they did with PtWoA), not the London Symphony Orchestra played on a 60-minute repeating loop.

Illuminations as a larger version of World of Color? I'm Ok with that.

As usual, tons of negativity from Russell. I can see an upside to opening Railway about the same time as Galaxy`s Edge: it will reduce pressure on the new land, and offer another tempting FP besides the Star Wars rides.

OK Still a fan, if you want to be Disney's PR hype machine and simply follow the Drones in lauding every move they make with praise and showers of rose petals, go right ahead. I tend to take a more realistic approach and can see through all the hyperbole spewed by executives at some real issues with what is going on and what the announcements mean to guests that spend REAL money to visit the parks.

The M&MRR is a huge development, and if you don't think it's an issue to try to break in THREE major attractions at the same time during a peak crowd season, then you haven't been following theme parks very long. The whole purpose of accelerating the development of M&MRR was to take some pressure off of Galaxy's Edge. Based on this announcement, it appears that they will probably still be breaking in the new attraction at the same time they're trying to finish and break in Galaxy's Edge, meaning that it's unlikely to be able to take much pressure off the Star Wars attractions since it won't be running efficiently and at maximum capacity until early 2020. As I stated, perhaps this apparent delay in opening M&MRR (rumored to originally be opening in Summer 2019) also indicates a delayed opening for Galaxy's Edge, which would also be disappointing for those planning trips during Holiday season 2019, but at least it would give Disney time to break in M&MRR before Galaxy's Edge overwhelms the park. Remember, it took Disney nearly 4 months to break in FoP and for Disney to make a reasonable amount of FP+ reservations available. While it's likely that M&MRR won't be as technically complex as FoP, I wouldn't expect it to be running full bore for almost 2 months after it opens - January 2020. Whether this delay brings the debuts of the 3 attractions closer together or indicates a parallel delay in the opening of Galaxy's Edge, it is going to lead to a TON of frustration from guests booking FP+ reservations and simply trying to pin dates where they will be able to maximize their visits to see all of the new DHS attractions. It also shows a disconnect between project managers and the marketing department since they are going to be selling merchandise for a ride that won't be ready for another year and are totally whiffing on the confluence of the first ever Mickey Mouse ride and the icon's 90th Birthday celebration. If you don't see that as a major FAIL, then you're drinking way too much of the Drone-flavored Kool-Aid.

Illuminations is a HUGE fail for me if they are going to incorporate Disney IP into the re-imagined show. I'm not alone in that opinion. If guests want IP in their nighttime spectaculars, they can go to MK or DHS (or DL/DCA), but now Disney is going to take one of the staples of a WDW experience that is supposed to be about inspiration and the celebration of the human experience and infect it with Disney songs and characters -it undermines the entire reason EPCOT exists. I'm fine with IP being added to the World Showcase where appropriate since many of Disney's most popular stories are tied to a culture or real place that can foster exploration and learning of those foreign lands and peoples, but when they start throwing characters into a show just to try to make it more appealing and modern, then they're just selling out and being lazy IMHO.

I'm really excited for Galaxy's Edge (primarily why we're planning a big trip to SoCal next August), so don't get me wrong there. It's going to be HUGE, and I hope they're able to replicate the success they achieved with Avatar with a much more recognizable IP. I'm less excited about M&MRR, and think Disney is over-hyping an attraction that got fast-tracked and is unlikely to reward Disney for the additional investment with a draw to bridge and take pressure off Galaxy's Edge. However, the Illuminations news really gets under my skin as a long time fan of EPCOT who accepts the need to revitalize the park, but feels that the nighttime show will be ruined with IP.

All you do is bitch, bellyache and complain. I don`t have to be in P.R. to know that or point it out. I do spend my real money to go to the parks, like I did just recently from Oct. 30-Nov. 8, and we honestly loved our trip. Maybe I should be negative about it instead, just to make you happy??

You don't think adding Disney IP to Illuminations is a big negative? That alone has sent shock waves, and made lots of long-time fans really upset.

The M&MRR announcement has similarly been viewed with a lot of pessimism within the fanbase, and is concerning enough to get people planning to visit WDW for the Grand Opening of Galaxy's Edge to shift, extend, cancel, or delay their 2019 trips. I agree with a lot of these criticisms, and have chosen to highlight them here. Not everything Disney does is sprinkled with pixie dust and magically works to perfection every time, so the continuous backpeddaling on M&MRR is seen as a potential indication of trouble in upcoming developments around WDW and that maybe there are too many irons in the fire right now with dozens of projects all going on at the same time after years of the parks sitting idle.

We visited WDW last fall and similarly had a great time, but are finding it more and more difficult to see value in a WDW vacation. I've been very consistent in my opinion of M&MRR, and think Disney is seriously over-hyping the new attraction. Maybe it will be great, and a perfect compliment to take the pressure off Galaxy's Edge, but considering that the rumored timeline continues to get pushed back and that Disney has been coy about the overall ride specifications from the get-go (I am still standing by my theory that it will be nothing more than a re-skinning of GMR with refurbished vehicles), I'm not confident that it will be the draw that DHS needs to keep Galaxy's Edge from getting overcrowded. I was skeptical about the re-skinning of Maelstrom with Frozen, but was proven wrong with a near-perfect execution of a dark ride, so perhaps I'll be proven wrong again. However, the announcement of it not being open until a year from now just validates our decision to hold off on revisiting WDW until fall 2020 or perhaps even later.