- "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge" is opening at Disneyland in summer 2019 and Walt Disney World in fall 2019.
- Guests will be able to pilot the Millennium Falcon and customize their own lightsabers.
- "Galaxy's Edge" is split into two sections — the Resistance Forest, where guests will be able to ride "Rise of the Resistance," and Black Spire Outpost.
For fans who have waited a lifetime to board the Millennium Falcon or be ushered through a Star Destroyer by an army of Stormtroopers, let me tell you first-hand: it's real, it's happening, and it's unlike anything you've ever experienced.
Travel + Leisure was given a first look into Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the forthcoming"Star Wars"-themed land opening at Disneyland Resort in summer 2019 and Walt Disney World Resort in fall 2019. As one of the first to walk the grounds, I can tell you how jaw-droppingly revolutionary it's going to be once guests can finally step into a real "Star Wars" planet on the edge of the deep space.
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Every bit of Black Spire Outpost, from an Ithorian shop owner to full-sized speeder ships to walkways covered in droid wheel "footprints," lives up to the quality level of the films. When the"Star Wars"-themed land opens this summer in California and fall in Florida, you'll not only feel what it's like to wield a lightsaber and bring home a customized droid, but come face-to-face with the First Order, drink a blue milk, sip space-age cocktails in a cantina, see BB-8 in his full glory, and even pilot the Millennium Falcon — and that's all without even leaving Disneyland or Disney's Hollywood Studios.
From R-series droids to Dagobah-inspired cocktails, here's every crazy and exciting situation, souvenir, and Sith artifact you'll encounter once Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens at Disneyland Resort this summer and Disney's Hollywood Studios at Disney World Resort this fall:
You can live like you're a "Star Wars" character.
You won’t see Luke or Leia wandering around, as Galaxy’s Edge is set within current time, but you can explore Galaxy's Edge as if you are them, building a real working droid from salvaged parts, attaching toy-sized creatures like Tauntauns to your shoulder, and hand-selecting a kyber crystal as you personalize a lightsaber. (I held one and they’re the real deal, complete with a hefty hilt base, spot-on sound effects, and glowing light from within a non-breakable plastic blade.) Pop your R-series droid into a backpack and watch as it reacts to things happening around you, or for a deeper level of interactivity, download the Play Disney Parks app which can translate languages, accomplish tasks, and interact with ships and screens throughout Galaxy’s Edge.
The Millennium Falcon is unbelievable in person.
Prepare to be blown away, because Han Solo’s beloved ship is built to size and jaw-droppingly accurate. Disney’s Imagineers knew seeing the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy for the first time would be a pivotal moment for anyone visiting Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and each detail of the 100-foot-long ship comes through at multiple vantage points. Like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty Castle, you won’t see the Millennium Falcon from the entrance, but when it does reveal itself it’s bound to give you chills. Though breathtaking at a distance — there’s even an outlook perched above that’ll guarantee picture-perfect Instagrams — gazing at it from up close through windows of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run queue will tug at your heartstrings most.
And yes, you'll get to pilot the ship.
Nothing compares to that first time the door slides open and you enter the Falcon’s cockpit, but it’s not the only part worth looking forward to. Disney developed a non-traditional queue for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run to provide an opportunity for budding Jedis to explore and take photos within the ship’s main guest quarters, saying “Chewie: we’re home” a dozen too many times and possibly taking in a quick game of Dejarik Holochess as well. (We’re told they’re “still perfecting” the hologram technology.)
Once it’s your turn to ride, you’ll enter the cockpit in groups of six where a time before you could pull a lever and launch into Hyperspace will be far in the past as you fly — really, truly fly — the Millennium Falcon as a pilot, gunner, or flight engineer. From bucket seats to paneled hallways, it all feels unfathomably real and identical to the somewhat reliable starship seen in so many Star Wars films. The Play Disney Parks app will even keep track of your performance on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run for outcomes that will have an effect on your “reputation” later on Batuu, so doing well is more important than usual. (Good thing a single rider line makes repeat attempts a breeze.)
See the rest of the story at Business Insider