Ever since the announcement that Disney purchased Lucasfilm in October, one thing on the minds of fans of both companies has been, when will Disney expand the Star Wars presence in their parks? Now we may have our answer.
According to Theme Park Insider multiple inside sources are indicating that Disney is moving ahead with plans to add a “Star Wars Land” to their Hollywood Studios park in Walt Disney World Florida. The location comes as no surprise because Hollywood Studios already has the ride Star Tours, the shop Tatooine Traders, and a not so life size AT-AT Walker, which already make up a mini Star Wars section of the park. Chances are they will use this existing footprint and expand out, taking out some older attractions.
Bye bye Muppets 3D Show and hello Speeder Bike Racers, or Trench Run Escape, or Kessel Run Coaster… you get the idea.
Hollywood Studios also hosts Star Wars Weekends every summer so they are no stranger to running Star Wars themed events. With this addition the park will quickly become a must visit location for casual and die hard Star Wars fans alike. And if future Star Wars Celebrations continue to be held in Orlando, the city as a whole could become the hub for Star Wars activity.
It looks like the plan is to have this project complete by 2018. I hate to wait that long but the timing could be perfect. If Disney sticks to their plan to release a Star Wars movie every year starting in 2015, the public should be riding high on Star Wars hype. We will have already had Episode VII and maybe Episode VIII and a stand alone by then. Excitement should be ramping up for the final film in the Sequel Trilogy. If all goes well with the movies, Star Wars could be more popular than ever right as “Star Wars Land” is launched.
For now none of this information has been officially confirmed but I have a feeling that this, or a plan very similar, will happen. Disney needs an answer to Universal Studio’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and you can’t go much higher in the franchise chain than Star Wars.
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Author: Aaron Goins
Aaron mostly shares his geeky thoughts through podcasting (Star Wars Bookworms, Bad Wolf Radio, Star Scavengers) but his writings can also be found on sites like StarWars.com, Geek Tyrant, and Jedi News UK.