We’ve heard it before, Disney is building new rides, attractions and lands based all on Star Wars. Sure they are. They’ve closed down half of Disney’s Hollywood Studios to build Star Wars Land, right? If the prospect of more Star Wars rumors have you a little cynical, you’re really not alone. Disney has been teasing fans for the better part of a year that an announcement is coming. Now, off of a hugely successful conference call in which Disney announced some great results for the final quarter of 2014, we get a new response. Will we see new Star Wars attractions announced any time soon?
Bob Iger, Disney CEO and Jedi extremist, announced that they will be making an announcement about Star Wars in the theme parks “very soon”. With those two words, news agencies and theme park websites went nuts, copy and pasting pieces from various interviews.
What does very soon mean, and should you get excited about it?
Well, Star Wars is a very hot topic right now. Disney is mining some huge response with the Marvel comic that made its’ debut last month, as well as Star Wars Rebels on Disney Channel. Everyone was in a frenzy over the teaser trailer for “The Force Awakens”, and yes…The movie comes out at the end of the year. It’s a great time to be a Star Wars fan…that is, unless you want to see Star Wars in theme parks as well.
When Iger says “very soon” he could mean several different things. There are several different huge celebrations where Star Wars will be in the spotlight.
Here’s some dates to look forward to:
-Star Wars Celebration: Taking place in Anaheim in early April. The Star Wars festival will be held in the hometown of Disney headquarters, so the focus could turn to theme parks really quick
-Star Wars Weekends: The beginning of May into June will mark a weekly celebration with fans, celebrities and surprises. Less likely, but we could see an announcement nestled in there
-WonderCon/San Diego Comic Con: Two big announcement areas, but Disney has been putting less focus on the nerd conventions of the Cons, and relying on more in house nerd conventions to spread the word
-D23 Expo: This is Disney’s every other year nerd convention that celebrates all things Disney. Last D23 expo, they teased “Orange Harvest”, but left it at just some props. Of the several huge chances to announce some as epic as Star Wars in the theme parks, we’ll say this is the one to watch. The event is in August, which puts it just four months shy of the new film. It keeps Star Wars fresh in everyone’s head, and could mean a bigger box office than normal, with all the synergy happening.
When do you think it will be announced?
The other big question bis exactly WHAT will be announced? Star Wars Land is a great idea, but which park and with what attractions?
Our money is on Disneyland in California getting the first Star Wars land, with one the overseas Disney parks like Shanghai, Japan, or Hong Kong also getting it. When it comes to new attractions, lately it seems that Orlando gets the ideas after the initial roll out. Not always, but somehow we don’t think Orlando will get Star Wars first. Hopefully were wrong.
We already know that the new attractions will be based on the new films, but from there, we’re clueless.
Stay tune for more from Disney, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
