2 Star Wars Themed Areas for Disney HS and Disneyland

[PeskyTrimBrake]

Disney chairman Bob Iger announced two Star Wars theme parks. The 14-acre parks will feature humanoids, aliens and droids.

“Everything we create will be part of our storytelling,” said Iger, who added every store in these parks would be operated by local inhabitants — in other words, actors in character as aliens or drods.

“Nothing in the land will be out of character or stray from the mythology.”

Iger said guests will “truly become a part of their favorite Star Wars stories.”

The parks will be featured at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida, with the other coming to Disneyland in Anaheim.

Earlier in the Star Wars presentation, J.J. Abrams brought out his Force Awakens cast, to thunderous applause.

Harrison Ford made a surprise appearance, receiving a huge standing ovation from the enraptured crowd.

“I’m very happy, yesterday following in the footsteps of George Lucas, the author of the early chapters of my story,” said Ford. “It’s a great thrill to be with you, who made this whole thing happen.

John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o were also onhand to talk Star Wars: The Force Awakens and show off a new poster featuring Ford.

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/movies/disney-announces-star-wars-theme-parks-126768366052.html

 

[valleyfair!]

We all knew it was coming to HS, so glad it's finally official! Much bigger than I ever expected too.

Interested to see more details on the two attractions.

 

[tomahawk]

I'm interested as to where at Disneyland it will go. I was pretty confident it was going to be tomorrowland but that size says differently.

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[Youngster Joey]

Tom the Rumor is Toontown and Big Thunder Ranch.

As for MGM Studios, I'll be very upset if they remove Muppet Vision 3D. It is slightly outdated but it's still a great show and it's a piece of history as the last thing Jim Henson ever worked on personally.

 

[RCF]

Damn, now I have to decide on whether or not I go to Florida to get this and Harry Potter world, or just to California.

 

[Snoo]

^WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY????

 

[Pink Cadillac]

^^

I love it. Cars land was 12 acres so this will be huge! I initially wished they based it on a place from the movies (with each park being themed to a different place), but I guess this will work a lot better in a theme park. WTH is the first order </3

 

[Edward M]

I'm glad Hollywood Studios is finally getting something worthwhile. Very excited for this and can't wait for more details.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Great fit! I hope one of the attractions is a Vekoma MotoCoaster themed to the Speeder bikes. That would be awesome.

I also love how the concept art has Star Wars characters walking around. Just another thing Disney pits firth in doing.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Great fit! I hope one of the attractions is a Vekoma MotoCoaster themed to the Speeder bikes. That would be awesome.

I also love how the concept art has Star Wars characters walking around. Just another thing Disney puts forth in doing.

 

[Edward M]

Felt this would better fit here than a whole new post

Star Wars Launch Bay is opening up at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland. It will take guests into the new Star Wars film as well as the first 6.

Season of the Force is a new seasonal event for both resorts with special new experiences. Space Mountain will be getting a reimagining during early 2016 which will take guests on an X-Wing Starfighter Battle. Also in Tomorrowland, there is going to be new entertainment and food locations. DHS will also receive a new Fireworks display.

The last bit of news is that Star Tours will be receiving new adventures later this year for the new film.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

I hope the Space Mountain thing is temporary. Disney brands more things than Six Flags nowadays.

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[Edward M]

^ I believe it is only going to be there for the Season of the Force event

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how these lands turn out.

I don't like the idea of the Space Mountain rebrand, however temporary it is.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

New concept art that shows the layout a bit better

The image is pretty large so you can see a lot more if you zoom in. I like it Reminds me of mos eisley, while drawing inspiration from places like naboo.

 

[peep]

So, rumour has it that this piece of concept art is for Cali and the previous piece is for Hollywood Studios. That would be nice if true.

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[Robbie]

So, rumour has it that this piece of concept art is for Cali and the previous piece is for Hollywood Studios

Presumably because that's Rivers of America and the Disneyland Railroad in the bottom half of the picture. Makes sense. I guess from the Rivers of America 'ground level' it will just look like distant mountains.

It does look like a lot of space for just two rides though!

 

[Pokemaniac]

^Considering the popularity of Star Wars, a lot of space for just two rides actually sounds like a deliberate strategy. The area will probably be crowded because of its themeing and atmosphere alone, and the more rides they include the more people would be drawn to the area (or held there, considering that they would probably want to stay in it for a while). Putting in few attractions, and spacing them far apart, helps reduce crowding, which makes it easier to evacuate in case of emergencies among other things.

 

[Robbie]

Putting in few attractions, and spacing them far apart, helps reduce crowding

I'd have thought fewer attractions could lead to increase in crowding because there isn't much turnover, and some areas might become bottlenecks. I know it's going to be a great, immersive area but I'd have thought just one or two more kid-friendly rides would make a difference.

But what do I know? Alton Towers have fewer attractions this year and it's done wonders to reduce crowding!

 

[Pokemaniac]

Putting in few attractions, and spacing them far apart, helps reduce crowding

I'd have thought fewer attractions could lead to increase in crowding because there isn't much turnover, and some areas might become bottlenecks. I know it's going to be a great, immersive area but I'd have thought just one or two more kid-friendly rides would make a difference.

I have no experience with crowd control, but I find the subject interesting enough to appreciate some discussion.

The way I see it, attractions work both as "draws" and "sinks" for an area. They incite people to go there (draw) and, because of queueing, hold them up there for a while (sink). With fewer attractions, an area won't draw as many people (though the Star Wars setting and atmosphere will probably provide plenty of "draw" by itself). It also means that fewer people will be held up in the area at any given time.

Then again, if an area has a large "draw" and few "sinks", it means that a lot of people will roam the paths and shops, and comparatively few will be held up in queue lines. Such conditions would create more congestion, even though the area holds fewer people in general. I'm not sure how restaurants fit into that model. My guess is that they have a moderately high "sink" factor, but a comparatively low "draw". Few people seek out an area solely to dine there, but many people decide to eat there once they're already in the area.

I think we have a near-perfect real-world example to compare to, though: the Harry Potter sections of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. The IoA section has three attractions, two of them huge, plus a queue line for the Hogwarts Express. The USF section has only one single attraction, but plenty of shops and pathways. Being heavily themed to an immensely popular IP, both areas have huge "draw" by themselves.

Unfortunately, I don't know much more about those areas apart from that. Is there anybody here with experience who can tell more about the relative crowding of the two areas? I only visited once, off-season, and rushed through IOA since the park closed an hour earlier than we initally thought. Frequent flyers would probably know more about which section sees the most crowds (or rather, the most crowding): The one with many attractions, or the one with few?