Star Wars Land announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[Mouse Trap]

On Twitter, DisneylandToday said the location for Star Wars Land would be in the Big Thunder Ranch Area (which I hope means Toon Town is safe). Now if the WaltDisneyWorld Twitter account would give away such information.


Oh and I guess this breaks my 3 year lurking status lol

An LA Times article is also stating a Disney rep said SW land will only take up Thunder Ranch and backstage areas. So possibly Toon Town stays. I'm all for keep attractions and adding new ones instead of replacing them if possible.

My real concern is the fact the article states groundbreaking won't occur until sometime in 2017 -_-

 

[Magenta Panther]

I really think you're underestimating the popularity of Star Wars, not for the first time either. I'd love a Pride Lands area or a Villains attraction but announcing those would not have gotten anywhere near the attention and publicity that anything to do with Star Wars has and will.

I really don't disagree with your overall argument, I have loved Disney, particularly animation and the parks, for as long as I can remember and I do agree that Disney doesn't need to buy IP's to fill the parks;I have zero interest in anything to do with Avatar and nothing will change that. But the relationship between Disney and Star Wars is not a new thing, its spanned decades and the creations of George Lucas, Star Wars and Indiana Jones, have inspired some of the most popular Disney attractions at their theme parks all around the world.

If I wasn't a Star Wars fan maybe I'd be more inclined to agree with you, maybe I'm biased. But considering Disney have a film-themed park in the midst of an identity crisis, a park that already has a very popular Star Wars attraction, and the biggest film franchise in history now completely at their disposal this really does seem about as much of a no-brainer as you could get. I don't see how it would be a better fit at Universal bearing in mind that this is the furthering of a relationship that has lasted nearly thirty years, you only have to look at the popularity of the Star Wars Weekends to see that the films and characters have become an indelible part of DHS in that time.

I"m not denying the popularity of Star Wars, although I still think it's based on nostalgia rather than on the quality of its newer offerings.

But is adding SW to DHS really going to improve the park as a whole? It sounds to me that DHS is going to be a bigger mish-mash than ever, only with new mish...or..mash...or whatever. What's it about now? Not about making movies, that's for sure. Is it just going to be a reliquary for the off-studio purchases Iger and Eisner made? Is Disney itself going to have much of a presence there, since Animation and OMD are leaving?

 

[Baltar]

An LA Times article is also stating a Disney rep said SW land will only take up Thunder Ranch and backstage areas. So possibly Toon Town stays. I'm all for keep attractions and adding new ones instead of replacing them if possible.

My real concern is the fact the article states groundbreaking won't occur until sometime in 2017 -_-

Yeah starting in 2017 seems to be the Disneyland starting time. I'm assuming this has a lot to do with moving backstage stuff. I'm hoping WDW gets started before then.

 

[Magenta Panther]

An LA Times article is also stating a Disney rep said SW land will only take up Thunder Ranch and backstage areas. So possibly Toon Town stays. I'm all for keep attractions and adding new ones instead of replacing them if possible.

My real concern is the fact the article states groundbreaking won't occur until sometime in 2017 -_-

It would be great if Toontown could stay and maybe be updated. But I doubt that will happen under Iger.

 

[danlb_2000]

I'm still scratching my head at the timeline for this to be complete. Well... I get that we haven't heard an official opening yet but with the last of the new trilogy coming out in 2019, it seems awfully crazy not to have these in place before that last movie is released.

Disney rides tend to lag their movies by a lot. Frozen will be out of the ordinary for the small gap between movie and ride. The last new ride at WDW opened around 75 years after the movie.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Yeah starting in 2017 seems to be the Disneyland starting time. I'm assuming this has a lot to do with moving backstage stuff. I'm hoping WDW gets started before then.

It has to do with them having a major celebration through the end of 2016. No construction during their once-in-a-decade celebrations. They take their celebrations a bit more seriously than WDW does.

 

[Cesar R M]

If Avatar fits AK, then so does Star Wars, Star Trek, Flash Gordon, etc. It simply doesn't. Any attempt to argue that it does inevitably turns the commentator into a pretzel and they wind up looking like this:

You know what fits thematically in AK? Australia land. South America land. Oceanlife land. Even mythical Earth-based creatures land (Beastly Kingdom).

I suppose you also believe there is no life in the universe...nothing else but earth, right?

Me I'm just waving my dollar bills in the air to spur Disney on to get it build already!

you mean something like this?

 

[Baltar]

Disney rides tend to lag their movies by a lot. Frozen will be out of the ordinary for the small gap between movie and ride. The last new ride at WDW opened around 75 years after the movie.

Haha that is true but in the case of Star Wars, I think they would have tried to capitalize on their investment a bit quicker.

 

[Baltar]

It has to do with them having a major celebration through the end of 2016. No construction during their once-in-a-decade celebrations. They take their celebrations a bit more seriously than WDW does.

Well, if the reports are true at DLR of a lot of backstage areas, I think they'll obviously be relocating and building new places for those offices first so it makes sense but yes, I'm glad 2016 can focus on the 60th. DLR really looked great.

 

[danlb_2000]

Haha that is true but in the case of Star Wars, I think they would have tried to capitalize on their investment a bit quicker.

Theme park attractions are there for the long game, they are going to want at least 15 to 20 years out of them if they can. They are throwing a lot of little Star Wars content into DHS short term help capitalize on the new movies.

 

[Baltar]

Theme park attractions are there for the long game, they are going to want at least 15 to 20 years out of them if they can. They are throwing a lot of little Star Wars content into DHS short term help capitalize on the new movies.

Definitely understand that. I'm just sorta hoping we don't get the slowness that accompanied Avatar. When was it first announced, 2011?

 

[Cesar R M]

Ooh!!! Godfatherland would be a great addition to Epcot. Link Italy to American Adventure behind the scenes!!

With a prohibition era " Lackadaisy" type Bar?.
Will beatings be included?

 

[ToTBellHop]

Definitely understand that. I'm just sorta hoping we don't get the slowness that accompanied Avatar. When was it first announced, 2011?

This won't take 7 years.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Do not agree with that last part at all. I just returned from 10 down in Orlando. We actually visited Unimand IOA for the firet time , primarily to see the Wizarding World. Except for the Wizarding World, I was pretty disappointed with Uni/IOA. It felt so.... Ordinary. I never felt trnasported (again, except WW, which was great). One thing that super annoyed me is that i couldn't eide a lot of the rides... I'm too big. And I can ride every ride at Disney. The place just felt, i dunno, like a these park to me. I did like IOA better than Uni.

Star Wars fits in to DHS perfectly. Star Tours has never felt out of place. Disneyland? Not so much, but I understand why they want it there....

Well, I guess we differ. Before I visited Universal, I assumed it was second-rate Disney. I was wrong. Universal blew my mind, and the mindblowing began when I walked under the sign that reads: "The Adventure Begins". I felt like I was in another world. I loved every square feet of it. The Seuss area, the incredible queue for the E.T. ride, that crooked tower, those and others impressed me just as much as Potterland.

SW might fit into DHS because the park's such a mess in search of an identity. It's just a shame that attractions that actually relate to Disney are being sacrificed for it.

 

[Baltar]

After reading this entire thread, haha, I just never will understand the Disney vs Universal "battles." Universal being better is good for Disney. It makes them get off their arses and compete. I also don't understand DC vs Marvel fanboy fights but that's a discussion for another day lol

 

[matt9112]

Speculative, but do these 14 acres seem likely?

I really don't think they are going to touch the Muppets area...

wont muppets "area" be cut off by both toy story and SW? an odd "dead" back area.

 

[Ragetti]

Well, I guess we differ. Before I visited Universal, I assumed it was second-rate Disney. I was wrong. Universal blew my mind, and the mindblowing began when I walked under the sign that reads: "The Adventure Begins". I felt like I was in another world. I loved every square feet of it. The Seuss area, the incredible queue for the E.T. ride, that crooked tower, those and others impressed me just as much as Potterland.

SW might fit into DHS because the park's such a mess in search of an identity. It's just a shame that attractions that actually relate to Disney are being sacrificed for it.

Umm... Star Wars IS Disney now. And it's not like Disney and Lucasfilm have not had a long relationship. DHS, in particular, should be about the non-classic Disney IP's IMO. And as outdated as it is, the Great Movie Ride is STILL something I hit every time. Star Wars is, arguable, the most culturally impacting movie franchise of all time. A park dedicated to the magic of the Movies seems like the IDEAL place for it.

AS for US/IOA, yeah we'll have to disagree. While I liked IOA quite a bit, US was just bland, IMO. WWOHP was great in both parks, but it DID bug me that the rides are so size restricted. I mean, I am pretty big, but my wife isn't, and she couldn't fit on several of the rides either. BOO! IOA was nice, but still very much felt like an "amusement park" to me. There was some very nice theming there, but often the layout was so bad that it was impossible to feel immersed (again, except WWoHP, which was near-perfect in terms of theming and layout, IMO). The real killer for me was the walk through their version of Downtown Disney just to get to the damn parks. That actually irritated me a ton... kinda killed the magic. I could be a victim of expectations. After some of the ravings on here, I expected to be blown away. But I thought IOA was merely good and US downright mediocre. Maybe I'm getting too old. Maybe it's just because I didn't feel an emotional connection to any of it, except Harry Potter.

 

[Bparso87]

After reading this entire thread, haha, I just never will understand the Disney vs Universal "battles." Universal being better is good for Disney. It makes them get off their arses and compete. I also don't understand DC vs Marvel fanboy fights but that's a discussion for another day lol

Iron man is just batman with a suit lol. Never understood why ppl get so putting other stuff down. U can like both of the competition it is ok.

 

[DisneyJayL]

Avatar is about living in harmony with and respecting the natural world and the consequences of not doing so. None of the other movies you mention are about this.

I think you are one of the few that gets it.

 

[dhall]

Actually TIEs and X-Wing spinners where it looks like they're chasing each other is kind of charming when you think about it. Lol.

Especially if you can fire on the one in front of you and 'explode' when hit by the one behind