Season Of The Force - Tomorrowland Overlay Opens November 16th

[TP2000]

Since we're now a month away and some good details have been released by Disney, I thought it was time to create a thread to prepare for, discuss, and debate the upcoming Season Of The Force overlay in Tomorrowland.

Opening just in time for the Thanksgiving crush on November 16th, and then rolling through the premiere of the film on December 18th and then the busy Christmas season, Season Of The Force will be a major overlay for Tomorrowland. Season Of The Force will include the following when it opens on November 16th:

Star Wars Launch Bay - Tomorrowland Expo Center (formerly Innoventions)

Innoventions closed 8 months ago and has been under heavy construction since. It will be reborn on November 16th as the Tomorrowland Expo Center (much better name!) with Star Wars Launch Bay as its main exhibit taking up the entire ground floor. Star Wars Launch Bay will include:

Choose Your Destiny with Special Character Experiences

• Dark Side – Encounter one of the most iconic villains from Star Wars, Darth Vader.
• Light Side – Fly casual at this makeshift Rebel base, and meet the most famous co-pilot in the galaxy, Chewbacca.

Explore the Dark and the Light in Themed Galleries

• Dark Side Gallery – Get a look at authentic pieces of stormtrooper armor as well as famous Sith lightsabers once wielded by masters of the dark side.
• Light Side Gallery – Explore a gallery filled with Rebel flight helmets and lightsabers once wielded by Jedi Knights.
• Preview Gallery – See props from the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
• Starship Gallery – Discover models of famous starships and their pilots from throughout the Star Wars saga.

Join the Battle in the Star Wars Game Center

• Play the latest games from the Star Wars galaxy, including Disney Infinity 3.0 – featuring park-exclusive Toy Box levels.

Across from Tomorrowland Expo Center is that kitschy Disneyland classic, Tomorrowland Terrace. The popular Jedi Training Academy is being rebuilt and re-Imagineered here, and the renamed new show debuts by Christmas. (Which proves the online rumor that TDA pushed up Season Of The Force by a month at the last minute)

Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple

• Coming in December, experience a twist on the Jedi Training experience when you will encounter new characters and a new villain from the popular Disney XD series, Star Wars Rebels.

Next door is Space Mountain, which will be getting a Star Wars themed overlay for Season Of The Force. This will be the third thematic overlay in Space Mountain's Anaheim history; Rockin' Space Mountain '07, Ghost Galaxy '09-'15. The Star Wars themed overlay is called Hyperspace Mountain, where you will "join an X-Wing starfighter battle".

Between Space Mountain and the Tomorrowland Expo Center, the Tomorrowland Theatre will offer a new 15 minute show using famous and favorite clips from all six previous Star Wars movies.

The original Star Wars E Ticket, Star Tours, will also get in on the act, with a new scene added to the attraction experience based on Episode VII plots and characters. Interestingly, the new scene is slated to open with Season Of The Force on November 16th, even though the movie doesn't open until December 18th, so I wouldn't expect too many crazy spoilers from the updated Star Tours experience.

You can also expect new Tomorrowland décor, themed food offerings, and new merchandise to accompany Season Of The Force in Tomorrowland. It should be quite a showcase for the new movie!

 

[dweezil78]

Thanks for the recap! You just reminded me that I never got to ride Rockin Space Mountain. Shame they never moved forward with the daytime/nighttime versions like originally planned. Rockin Space Mountain actually looked pretty fun!

 

[dweezil78]

On a separate note, has anyone heard whether or not the new Star Tours sequence will be thrown into the random pool like all the others -- or is every ride guaranteed to have it during the Season of the Force?

 

[TP2000]

Innoventions has been closed since March and basically had its interior gutted entirely. Photos from six months ago showed a demolished interior down to the steel beams. It's now being repainted as it turns into the Tomorrowland Expo Center.

The lower entrance level now has a starfield painted on it, with the iconic words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away"

The upper level of Tomorrowland Expo Center will house a re-Imagineered Marvel meet n' greet complex. It's unclear how people will move between the upper and lower level; either from interior staircases/elevators or via the exterior sweeping ramp only.

Across the way, the 400 seat Tomorrowland Theatre (formerly Magic Eye Theater), sits unused until the new Star Wars clip show arrives for Season Of The Force.

 

[TP2000]

Thanks for the recap! You just reminded me that I never got to ride Rockin Space Mountain. Shame they never moved forward with the daytime/nighttime versions like originally planned. Rockin Space Mountain actually looked pretty fun!

It was definitely better than the DCA counterpart, Rockin' California Screamin'.

If you have to drop more than one 'g' from a title, you probably should just stop.

 

[Tigger1988]

Any word on how long this runs for? Fingers crossed for Feb...

 

[TP2000]

Any word on how long this runs for? Fingers crossed for Feb...

I'm sure it will run until Easter vacation. They are throwing a lot of resources at this, so I can't imagine they wouldn't let it run for at least 120 days, if not 150. Using Frozen Fun at DCA as an example, that ran for 150 days last year.

But then, if the movie bombs...

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Great recap TP, especially for us folks sitting in the back row who haven't been paying close attention to this news.

 

[TP2000]

Great recap TP, especially for us folks sitting in the back row who haven't been paying close attention to this news.

My pleasure. This thing is kind of a big deal that's been sneaking up on all of us. A repurposed and re-Imagineered Innoventions building, a new movie in the Tomorrowland Theatre, new updates and overlays to two of the most popular E Tickets at Disneyland, plus new entertainment, food, merchandise, etc., in the very last land remaining at Disneyland that does NOT get a big décor package for Christmas.

I figured we should get a thread going since we're less than 30 days away now.

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

I would love for this to still be going when I'm there in April but I better not get my hopes up.

 

[Mouse Trap]

Any idea when this will end? Arriving January 6th and hoping to get at least one ride on Hyperspace Mountain.

 

[Phroobar]

I think Launch Bay and the Star Tours additions are semi permanent while Hyperspace Mountain will be until the summer starts. I can't see the trailer being there much longer than February.

 

[Blueliner]

I would love for this to still be going when I'm there in April but I better not get my hopes up.

I'm in the same boat!

 

[Texas84]

Sounds like it will all be open for the January Star Wars runDisney events. Nice.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I have this feeling that Hyperspace Mountain will be a huge hit and remain that version for a long time.

 

[DHoy]

Will the expo center spin?

 

[Travel Junkie]

Will the expo center spin?

It has been reported that with the latest changes made to the building for accommodating Star Wars that many of the mechanisms that allowed the building to rotate have been removed. I can't verify that however.

 

[Phroobar]

I don't see why it would spin.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Her Universe clothes now available at DL and WDW. 30 more styles are coming soon -

 

[TP2000]

Here's the latest construction pics from this weekend's Dateline Disneyland. https://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2015/10-26-15-Edited-Update-Photos/i-MGbTqPr

The Tomorrowland Terrace stage and dance floor have now closed for refurbishment, as this will be home to the new Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple show during Season of the Force.

They appear to have taken the "topper" off of the Tomorrowland Terrace bandstand that rises up from underground.

In my opinion, Tomorrowland Terrace has seen one too many overlays and sloppy re-themes in the last 20 years. It's lost it's clean and elegant appearance it had when it opened in 1967, like most of the rest of Tomorrowland. Here's what the stage looked like when it was the Coca-Cola Tomorrowland Terrace, featuring nightly bands and go-go girls for your dancing pleasure.

Tomorrowland 1967 - A Cleaner, Brighter World When Corporate Sponsors Ran The Show!

I hope the Star Wars overlay is an improvement here, but I'm expecting the worst quite frankly.

Across from Tomorrowland Terrace, the re-branded Tomorrowland Expo Center remains behind walls. I don't remember those trees next to the entrance spire; they desperately need to be trimmed before opening day!

Over the construction wall you can see lots of equipment mess, and the new starfield effect painted on the lower level exterior walls.