‘Star Wars’ Theme Park Will Be Like A Real Life Game, Features Missions And Brand New Planet
Disneyland and Walt Disney World brings Star Wars alive with an immersive theme park, which is so interactive that your choices will matter in your park experience.
The Star Wars canon continues to grow each year with movies, animated series, and even games supercharging its huge lore. Now, even a theme park will contribute to the huge universe that the franchise has built.
Yahoo News listened in on the Star Wars theme park panel at the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando this weekend and they’ve heard new information about the Star Wars-themed lands which will open in theme parks Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 2019.
“We’re imposing a level of reality into a world that has never had that imposed onto it before.” @starwars @DisneyParks #SWCO pic.twitter.com/EKDcPvbv2t
— Inside the Magic (@InsideTheMagic) April 15, 2017
And with Star Wars, you gotta go big or you go home. This is why Lucasfilm, in partnership with Disney Imagineers, will be bringing to life a brand new planet that will serve as the exploration point of landing parties visiting the attractions.
Disney’s Scott Trowbridge said the following about the 14-acre Star Wars worlds being built in both theme parks.
“We wanted to build new Star Wars stories, new Star Wars destinations, but this time you can be in the story. We want you to discover your own Star Wars story. That requires going to a new place with lots of new stories to discover.”
So what exactly does “being in the story” mean? Apprently, this means that the Star Wars worlds being built on the two theme parks will feature an immersive experience, which will allow visitors to develop a “reputation,” and experience different events based on that reputation.
Gizmodo went deeper into the new park.
“If you ride the attraction that pits the First Order vs. the Resistance, the side you pick will have ramifications throughout the park. Fly the Millennium Falcon in another ride (you don’t ride it, you fly it) and, depending on how well you do, maybe a Bounty Hunter will start hunting you. You may be asked to do tasks for one side or the other in a bar and, whether you choose to do it or not, could affect your park experiences. The whole point is to immerse the viewer in Star Wars in a way they’ve never felt before.”
In addition to triggering events depending on how you complete parts of the world, you may even join a faction, do side jobs with the smugglers, join the Resistance, or pledge allegiance to the First Order.
We have yet to learn more details on how Disney is planning to pull of these off, but speculations suggest that the technology used in MagicBands, which enables theme park guests to open their rooms, enter attractions, and even pay for their meals, will be essential in pulling off the Star Wars create-your-adventure theme park. In fact, the MagicBands are so far advanced than what you’d expect it to be, that it could even track where you are and what you’re doing inside the park. Think how creepy Facebook is, and then put it in a band.
MagicKeepers and new solid-color MagicBand 2 line available at Walt Disney World https://t.co/vA5m8LHOW5 pic.twitter.com/W7sJYHqcAy
— Inside the Magic (@InsideTheMagic) February 13, 2017
So if you’re hoping to see Hoth or Tatooine and all those huge Star Wars planets you’ve grown up with, you’ll be slightly disappointed because the Star Wars theme parks will feature a brand new planet, whose lore and story will be made and completed with your help.
The members of the panel refused to reveal specifics about the new Star Wars planet to be featured in the theme parks, but it’s safe to say, Imagineering and the Lucasfilm Story Group created this new planet so it will be as legit as legit could be.
New image unveiled today shows more of #StarWars-themed land coming to @Disneyland park: https://t.co/ApQd5lraT5 pic.twitter.com/7TWgpIhroe
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) July 11, 2016
Lucasfilm creative executive Pablo Hidalgo, via The Verge, explained that the new Star Wars world is a “remote frontier outpost” where people that often want to stay off the grid can go to hang out — and by people, they mean all kinds of people, including smugglers and bounty hunters. In fact, this world has been in the Star Wars universe for thousands of years and is officially part of the Star Wars canon that’s just waiting to unfold.
Hidalgo spoke more about the new theme park.
“I’ve often said the appeal of Star Wars for me, personally, is that Star Wars is a destination. Every new Star Wars story is like coming back home but finding a new corner of that place you’ve never explored before.”
Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson says that the Star Wars land in the Disney theme parks in California and Florida will be all about participation in the fight between the factions and immersion in the Star Wars lore.
“You walk in there, and everything from being in the environment, to having random characters that you actually interact with… everything about it is just about total immersion.”
Oh and did we mention there will be light sabers?
Star Wars land will be completed and opened in Disneyland and Walt Disney World by 2019. In the meantime, you can watch the full Star Wars land panel below.
[Featured Image by Todd Anderson/Disney via Getty Images]
