Fan excitement couldn’t be higher for the newest land taking shape within (and just outside) the border of Hollywood Studios Park. While there is very little to see currently after it took what seemed an age for construction to start Disney this week released new details about their single biggest expansion coming to both East and west coast parks in the US as well as some other Disney parks worldwide.
Iconic Star Wars Universe elements will fill the new land to make everything feel familiar
In an age now, post Harry Potter World which raised the benchmark for immersive in park experiences, stunningly detailed theming is kind of a given when we talk about anything new coming especially from Disney but their announcement. Earlier this week at the Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando, some of the creative minds from both Lucasfilm and Disney Imagineering shared that elements in this land would be affected by how park goers interact with other elements throughout the land.
The level of theming is bound to take everyones breath away. Disney are betting big with Star Wars.
In order to bring a truly immersive experience to something that is so well known in the imaginations of so many people, the Imagineers have come up with an outpost as the setting for the land. It won’t be exactly like anything in the movies. Instead it will be an extension of the universe. It won’t be like stepping into a scene from the movie but at the same time it will feel familiar all the same. There will be elements that fans will know like the iconic X-Wing Fighters that will help draw them in but there will be plenty of street theatre in the form of characters walking the land to make it feel as though we have been transported to another universe.
Fan excitement was already sky high for this new land which is still years away but this weeks announcement has sent them into the stratosphere.
In order to deepen the reality of the setting, actions that park goers take (or refuse to take) within and around the land with have a direct effect on other elements. For example, if you display Han Solo like skills in the cockpit of the highly anticipated Millennium Falcon attraction then you may attract the attention of certain characters roaming the streets who may require your services for something else.
For many the sight of a full size X Wing Fighter or AT AT is worth the cost of entry but it will be the minute details that matter for true immersion.
There is still much more we will learn about Star Wars Land before its grand debut in 2019, but this weeks announcement has got Star Wars fans practically foaming at the mouth with excitement and if Disney manages to pull this off successfully it will take Star Wars land one rung higher in the immersion scale over Harry Potter World.
Of course this kind of guest profiling has its own set of questions. How will Disney manage the information they collect on park goers? What exactly will you have to do if you want to sign up for the full on immersion experience? Make no mistake, there will be thousands of people daily wanting the full Star Wars Experience, but also a large number of people who may not want to be profiled. How Disney keeps everyone happy will play a large roll in how successful this new addition will be over time once the initial wow factor of the first 12 months of operation has worn off after its grand opening.
2019 can’t come round soon enough for many but are you ready for the expected and planned for crowd surge when the land opens?
Don’t expect Universal to be taking this news lying down either. You can bet that they are already coming up with how to up the immersion scale of the Harry Potter lands within their parks and carefully crafting newsworthy headlines to try and take some of the sparkle out of Disney’s juggernaut of marketing that will be heading our way the sooner we get to the land opening.
In the meantime have a peek at the official making of video that has also come out of the event for some tantalising tidbits as Disney starts the long process of turning a barren piece of land into the most immersive experience theme park goers have ever seen.
