Disney 'Star Wars Land' First Model Revealed at D23
The Outer Rim planet is coming into focus ahead of its 2019 opening
The Galaxy far, far away just got a little bit closer.
On Thursday evening, Disney unveiled the first model of Star Wars Land, the massive new expansions that are being built for its theme parks in Orlando and Anaheim. Prior to this reveal, the company had only released art work and descriptions of the Star Wars-themed areas, which will open in 2019.
According to the Disney Parks Blog, the parks will take fans to uncharted corners of the galaxy. “Both Star Wars-inspired lands will transport guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before Wild Space, where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life,” the company teased Thursday.
The model shows off a scale version of both Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon and other ships, as well as plenty of buildings that blend in with the planet’s rocky terrain. And that’s no accident: As previously outlined, the parks will taken on a sort of Mos Eisley-type feel, as the kind of place that Han would have hung out before getting caught up with the Rebellion.
Star Wars Land, but tiny
The still-unnamed planet is “a thriving port for smugglers, rogue traders and adventurers traveling between the frontier and uncharted space,” it was revealed in April.
The Millennium Falcon isn’t just there for atmosphere, either; it will be one of the main attractions at both parks, with a ride that has also previously been teased to journalists and season pass holders. Riders will be able to “fly” Han Solo’s famous smuggling ship, “steering it through outer space and firing those lasers cannons,” according to a presentation made by a Disney Imagineer last year.
The expansions, which cost at least $1 billion, began construction last spring. In Florida, it will be set in Disney’s Hollywood Studios park, while Anaheim’s California Adventure will host the west coast edition.
A model of ships at Disney's Star Wars Land
