Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

• 1. Announcement And Development History

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  On the 15th of August 2015, Bob Iger stood at the D23 Expo and announced a Star Wars-themed land for both Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland. This announcement followed years of planning that began in the early 2010s when Walt Disney Imagineering initially developed plans for a Star Wars-themed area at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. The original concept envisioned using settings from the original trilogy like Tatooine and Endor to replace existing attractions such as Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. In 2014, CEO Bob Iger slowed all development on these projects until after the release of the sequel trilogy films. He explained his decision by stating he wanted the final product to blend the past, present, and future of the franchise. Construction officially began on the 14th of April 2016, at both park locations following an announcement by Iger in March 2016. Scott Trowbridge supervised the entire development process while Bob Chapek oversaw the parks and resorts division. By July 2017, Chapek revealed the name Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge during another D23 Expo event. The team decided to create a new planet called Batuu rather than using established locations from previous movies. November 2017 saw Trowbridge announce that the specific village within this new world would be named Black Spire Outpost. This location had been briefly mentioned in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story. The Disneyland version opened to the public on the 31st of May 2019, followed by Disney's Hollywood Studios opening on the 29th of August 2019.

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• 2. Design Philosophy And Architecture

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  Walt Disney Imagineering collaborated closely with the Lucasfilm Story Group to create a unique environment for guests to explore. Executive creative directors Asa Kalama and Chris Beatty worked alongside structural engineer Bryshere Casiano to bring the vision to life. Consultants Pablo Hidalgo from Lucasfilm and Doug Chiang of Industrial Light & Magic provided essential guidance throughout the design phase. The team chose to set the lands on a remote frontier outpost located within the Outer Rim of the Unknown Regions. They deliberately avoided using existing planets like Tatooine or Hoth because those locations already held pre-existing familiarity with guests. Instead they wanted to build entirely new stories and destinations for the audience. Development staff traveled to Istanbul, Morocco, Jerusalem, and Egypt to study real-world architecture and culture before returning to Florida and California. Concept art by Ralph McQuarrie served as a primary aesthetic basis for the land's look and feel. The landscape features tall spires standing among rockwork that represent petrified remains of massive trees from an ancient forest. Imagineers based this specific geological feature on the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. Virtual reality programs allowed the team to determine exactly where to place forced perspective techniques to hide show buildings from guest sightlines. Traditional theme park attributes were consciously modified to maintain immersion. Signs appear written in the fictional Aurebesh language rather than English. Attraction marquees and Star Wars-branded merchandise are omitted to preserve the natural theming of the area. Disneyland has an east-west orientation while Disney's Hollywood Studios runs north-south. This difference means both locations receive varying amounts of sunlight at different angles throughout the year. Designers created distinct shades of paint and color palettes specifically for each latitude.

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• 3. Attractions And Operational Mechanics

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  Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run allows riders to control the ship during a customized secret mission inside the attraction. This simulator ride opened at Disneyland on the 31st of May 2019, and later arrived at Disney's Hollywood Studios on the 29th of August 2019. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance places guests directly into the middle of a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. The dark ride experience spans approximately twenty-eight minutes and contains more than three hundred animated objects. It is housed within one of the largest show buildings Disney has ever constructed for a single attraction. Film actors including Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, and Kipsang Rotich reprised their roles as Rey, Poe Dameron, Finn, Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Nien Nunb respectively. Frank Oz provided the voice of Yoda in a vocal cameo appearing within Savi's Workshop. Oga's Cantina became the first location in Disneyland Park to sell alcoholic drinks to the public. A droid named R-3X serves as the cantina's DJ and was originally seen as RX-24 in Star Tours. Paul Reubens returned to voice this character for the attraction. The Black Spire Outpost marketplace includes a toy stall run by a Toydarian alien species that appeared on Tatooine in Episode I , The Phantom Menace. There is also a creature stall located nearby. A TIE Echelon where Kylo Ren makes his daily appearance was developed by Colin Trevorrow during his work on Episode IX before he was replaced as director. Coca-Cola Company provided themed iterations of Coke products such as Sprite, Diet Coke, Dasani, Powerade, and Minute-Maid to be served throughout the lands.

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• 4. Musical Composition And Audio Landscape

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  John Williams returned to compose the main musical theme for Galaxy's Edge after decades of composing for the franchise. His theme appears interpolated and arranged diversely throughout the land as ambient music rather than traditional symphonic format. William Ross conducted the symphonic recording with the London Symphony Orchestra on behalf of Williams. Ross was responsible for arranging the original composition into different musical contexts for use within the park environment. Recording sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios in November 2018. The team recorded nearly an hour of musical material for the project. The musical score for Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance attractions features reprisals of previous Star Wars themes written by Williams. These adaptations were conducted by Ross specifically for the attraction environments. A five-minute symphonic suite was released digitally by Walt Disney Records on the 3rd of May 2019. This suite was first heard in its entirety at Star Wars Celebration Chicago in 2019. In addition to Williams's score, twenty-nine original songs were commissioned to the music team for use as ambience. On the 6th of September 2019, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Oga's Cantina: R-3X's Playlist #1 was released by Walt Disney Records. This release featured eighteen tracks heard at Oga's Cantina inside Galaxy's Edge. Music from this playlist was publicly played for the first time at Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019. Williams won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Symphonic Suite. Beginning in late April 2026, Williams' scores from the films will be played throughout Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland.

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• 5. Park Layout And Infrastructure Changes

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  At Disneyland, Galaxy's Edge occupies the northwest portion of the park with three entries from Frontierland, Bayou Country, and Fantasyland. Disney closed Big Thunder Ranch and adjacent backstage areas to make room for the expansion. The company purchased nearby properties to relocate office and warehouse space that had been on the land. One specific facility that closed was Circle D Ranch which served as a training center for the park's horses. To replace it, Disney bought an existing ranch in Norco, California and renovated the facility into the new Circle D Ranch. This new location opened in June 2017. Since then, the park's horses commute to Disneyland in special trailers in groups of four at a time. Each group spends three or four days working in the park before being driven back to the Norco ranch. Construction required a reconfigured route for both the Disneyland Railroad and Rivers of America. Concept art released on the 11th of January 2016 depicted how changes would impact the northern bank of the river after completion. Several attractions in Frontierland and Critter Country closed temporarily during construction including the Disneyland Railroad itself. Tom Sawyer Island reopened on the 16th of June 2017 while Fantasmic! returned on July 17. The Disneyland Railroad, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes all reopened on July 29. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Galaxy's Edge is located in the southwest portion with two entries from Grand Avenue and Toy Story Land. The area replaced the majority of the former Streets of America including Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure. These attractions closed on the 2nd of April 2016 along with surrounding New York-San Francisco backlot facades. An earthen berm with a Figueroa Street themed-tunnel was constructed between Galaxy's Edge and Grand Avenue to divide and connect the two lands.

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• 6. Reception And Visitor Impact

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  The Disneyland version received recognition when Time magazine named it one of the World's Greatest Places for 2019. Initial crowds were so large that they left the rest of Disneyland relatively empty during peak periods. A drop in attendance after the first few months led to the resignation of Catherine Powell who oversaw U.S. themed areas. By October 2019, some visitors reported that Disney's Hollywood Studios area was crowded during their visit. Walt Disney Imagineering conducted play tests with roaming BD-X droids in Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland in October 2023. In 2024, these BD-X droids began making scheduled daily appearances during the park's Season of the Force event from April 5 through June 2. For the 2024 Season of the Force event, a new nighttime show titled Fire of the Rising Moons debuted using selections from John Williams' Star Wars film scores. This show remained in Galaxy's Edge even after the event ended. The 2025 Season of the Force announced a new nighttime projection show called Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga which debuted on the 28th of March 2025. Projection effects were added to an updated version of the fireworks show following this announcement. Beginning the 29th of April 2026, the location at Disneyland will expand its timeline to include the original trilogy era of Star Wars. Character appearances by Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia will join existing characters like Ahsoka Tano and Grogu.

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