Welcome to Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu. Diehard Star Wars novel readers may recognise the planet and brief details from the book Thrawn: Alliance, (also noted in the recent Solo movie) but don’t worry; there will be plenty to do for the even the newest of Star Wars fans.
Reminiscent of the cantinas scattered around the galaxy (including the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine), Oga’s Cantina will be a key part of the land as well as an open-air market and two immersive themed attractions. In California, the cantina will be Disneyland’s first alcohol dispensary (not including Club33) on property and will serve drinks and food. In Florida the environment will be identical but held in Hollywood Studios. The deeply themed location, designed to keep guests from hunkering down all day by providing a limited amount of seating and booths, instead giving guests the traditional cantina feel by providing mostly standing tables. Visual rumours from groups that have toured the area are that, “An intricate tangle of tubes and vessels behind the bar might make some drinks appear to flow from the ceiling.” No confirmation yet on the menu or drinks options other than the previously known non dairy “blue milk” availability.
On the new ride, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run; guests will meet Hondo Ohnaka, who cuts a deal with Chewbacca for the use of the Millennium Falcon, offering to let guests pilot the ship. The interior of the ship will have the more recent, weathered look than in the Solo film and will give the guests the immersive feel of boarding the Falcon.
Guests will fly the ship in groups of six, and see the real-time results of their trip with flight being different and random (see Star Tours). The outcome of your ride may impact how you are interacted with by droids and other characters around the land. No word yet on how this is specifically managed though it is rumoured to work with your magic band and can be opted out of if you are not interested in having and interactive experience.
Guests queuing on Rise of the Resistance will walk through a resistance (rebel) base repurposed to fight the First Order. Guests are then captured and must escape in a troop transport. As we previously reported, this will be the first “trackless ride” in Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Guests will fight their way out, facing off against stormtroopers, Kylo Ren and massive At-At walkers.
Guests wishing to purchase merchandise and foods will not be dissapointed. “One shop will feature droids that guests can customize through an interactive experience. A droid that is made to be, say, afraid of stormtroopers might signal its fear when one comes close. Droids owned by members of the same group might recognize each other when they meet.“ (Barrons) An additional shop will be overlooked by an animatronic dealer named Dok-Ondar, and will be interacted with by cast members for haggling on prices, etc.
In the Marketplace, merchandise is said to be created that will look like it was made in the planet. Imperfections, patchwork toys and downplayed logos are the attraction here. For example, “an artisan figure of a familiar character might look slightly off, with the back story being that residents of Batuu have never seen that character, so they don’t know exactly what the figure should look like.” (Barrons) You will also be able to purchase food and small snack items in the marketplace, though no details have been released on what will be available yet.
In Disneyland, Imagineers are currently ageing and weathering the previously installed areas as well as continuing to build up the land with inspiration from travels to Morocco and Istanbul. The goal is to match the Star Wars universe we know; weathered, beaten and used, similar to the feel and detail of Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Each land consists of 14 acres and are identical in both Florida and California parks.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open in Disneyland early this summer with Walt Disney World opening later this year (see fall 2019). As always we will keep you up to date on this and other theme park news. Also stay tuned as we bring you all the details about the Star Wars hotel coming soon to Walt Disney World.
Some quotes and details for this article have been confirmed with Barrons.
