Disneyland Unveils ‘Star Wars’ Festival Lineup Of Rides, Shows and Exhibits

Via Latimes.com:
Disneyland will begin its long and steady drumbeat leading up to the launch of the 14-acre Star Wars Land with a fan festival celebrating the classic and future films in the movie franchise.

The Season of the Force event will start Nov. 16 in Tomorrowland with a lineup of rides, shows, exhibits, specialty foods and character meet-and-greets.

Space Mountain will get a thematic overlay to become Hyperspace Mountain, where riders will witness an X-wing battle inside the indoor roller coaster. The Star Tours motion simulator will add a new scene from the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” film that will be part of every ride along with two other scenes from the current attraction.

The Innoventions building will transform into the Star Wars Launch Bay with props and exhibits from the movies along with galleries dedicated to lightsabers, starships, stormtroopers and Jedi Knights. Kids of all ages can play “Star Wars” video games that have been set at the most challenging difficulty levels. Fans can take photos during meet-and-greets with Darth Vader and Chewbacca.

The former Captain EO theater will be redubbed Tomorrowland Theater with clips from the first six “Star Wars” films along with trailers from the upcoming “The Force Awakens” movie.

The Jedi Training Academy play-acting lessons for kids will be rebooted in December as the “Trials of the Temple” with a new villain from the “Star Wars Rebels” television series on Disney XD.

With groundbreaking scheduled to begin in 2016 on Star Wars Land, Disneyland will close parts of the Rivers of America during construction in the Big Thunder Ranch area of the Anaheim theme park. The closure of the river on Jan. 10 will force the temporary shutdown of the “Fantasmic” nighttime spectacular, Tom Sawyer’s Island, Mark Twain riverboat, Davy Crockett’s Explorer canoes and Disneyland Railroad locomotive train.

Details about a separate version of the Season of the Force event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be announced at a later date.

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Disneyland Designers Face Pressure To Ensure Star Wars Land Doesn’t Flop

Via Latimes.com:

As Disneyland engineers tinker on top-secret designs for the park’s new Star Wars Land, a mothballed attraction at nearby Disney California Adventure provides a stark reminder that even the most creative ride ideas can land with a thud, costing park operators lots of money and frustrating visitors.

Luigi’s Flying Tires was an ambitious effort that lofted visitors in tire-shaped bumper cars floating on a cushion of air — like an air-hockey game with humans. But the Cars Land feature was plagued by poor reviews and numerous injuries.

The ride, estimated to cost $400 million, is now hidden behind a wooden barrier little more than two years after opening. Walt Disney Co. executives plan to replace it early next year with another car-themed ride.

“It was a calculated risk,” said Todd Regan, founder and chief executive of MiceChat.com, a blog that follows Disney parks news. “With big risks come big rewards. But that was a huge failure.”

As Luigi’s Flying Tires demonstrates, there is no guarantee that new attractions will be as popular as instant classics like Pirates of the Caribbean or the Haunted Mansion.

Despite huge investments made by the nation’s $55-billion theme parks industry on focus groups, surveys and engineering studies, new attractions can still turn out to be flops, forcing park executives to spend even more for replacements.

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2015-08-27 11_59_47-Star Wars radio dramatizations resurface in the latest Humble Bundle _ The Verge

The Real Reason Disney Released That ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Trailer Over Instagram

Via Forbes.com:
On Thursday, Disney took to Instagram to release a 12-second teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As has been widely reported (check out the analysis by Forbes’ Scott Mendelson), this allowed the studio to generate a ton of attention (as if a new Star Wars movie has an trouble getting attention), while releasing just a few seconds of new footage.

But the Instagram trailer release is important for another reason: For such an important and popular brand, Star Wars has a rather underwhelming social presence. When you watch a movie trailer on an typical website (or, if you’re particularly old school, in a movie theater), the studio’s engagement with you ends when the footage does. By turning trailer-viewers into social media followers, the studio can extract real, quantifiable, and long-term value from these viewers.

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Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition Launches at Toys”R”Us

This Sunday, August 30, Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition will launch at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide. To celebrate, stores will open at 8:00am* to welcome fans and offer special deals and discounts, as well as the opportunity to be among the first to purchase the Star Wars Rebels Ezra Bridger Figure, which will be available exclusively at Toys“R”Us through Saturday, September 19. Crafty and clever, Ezra Bridger is under the guidance of his Jedi Maser Kanan Jarrus. He uses his unique custom Lightsaber™ to undermine the Imperial forces and help ignite the Rebellion. Ezra is a great figure for kids and collectors to add to their assortment of must-have Infinity figures.

The following deals will be available in Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at Toysrus.com from Sunday, August 30 through Saturday, September 5, while supplies last (no rain checks):

· $9 Each Any 3 Disney Infinity Figures with purchase of Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition Starter Pack**

· Buy 1 Get 1 50% off ALL Disney Infinity Single Figures***

*Toys“R”Us stores in the U.S. will open at 8am local time on Sunday, August 30, except for stores in Paramus, NJ, which will not be open due to local ordinances. Toys“R”Us Express and Outlet locations generally follow the hours of their respective shopping centers. All store hours can be found online at www.Toysrus.com/StoreLocator.

**Limit 1 per guest. Cannot be combined with other offers.

***Second item must be equal or less value. Cannot be combined with other offers.

8 Unanswered Questions About Disneyland’s Star Wars Land

Via Latimes.com:

Disney raised more questions than it answered at the D23 Expo with the announcement of plans to unveil Star Wars Lands at Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Fla.

Here’s what we know so far: The new 14-acre lands will each feature two attractions set in a remote frontier town on the outer rim of the “Star Wars” galaxy. No opening dates have been set for either the California or Florida projects. The Disneyland version will start construction in 2017 in the Big Thunder Ranch area of the park. A new “Star Wars” Season of the Force annual event will begin in 2016 in Tomorrowland.

Let’s take a closer look at the most glaring unanswered questions about the new Star Wars Land coming to Disneyland.

1. What attractions will be in Star Wars Land?

As you might expect, Disney is being vague about the details. And with plenty of time before the new land opens, plans can and likely will change.

On paper, the two unnamed attractions sound a whole lot like Star Tours.

The first ride promises a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. Without delving too deeply into “Star Wars” lore, the short description reveals one important take-away: The back story of the ride will be set in the world of the upcoming film trilogy rather than in any of the previous six films. Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger has been insistent that Walt Disney Imagineering focus “Star Wars” storytelling efforts on the future of the franchise rather than the past.
The second attraction will put visitors behind the controls of the Millennium Falcon. How a Millennium Falcon mission will be different from a flight aboard the Starspeeder 3000 spacecraft in Star Tours remains to be seen. Concept art of the new land shows a Millennium Falcon docked in front of towering buildings built into sheer cliffs.

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NEW AND ENHANCED STAR WARS EXPERIENCES COMING TO DISNEY PARKS

Via Starwars.com:
Following up on the exciting news about Star Wars-themed lands coming to Disney Parks, the worlds, stories and characters of the Star Wars galaxy will come to life through new and enhanced experiences at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Resort in California beginning this year.

Star Wars Launch Bay – Opening later this year, this interactive experience will take guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida and Disneyland park in California into the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as the first six films in the Star Wars saga.

Season of the Force – This new seasonal event, beginning early 2016, brings new experiences to both coasts. In Tomorrowland at Disneyland park, guests will explore the Star Wars galaxy with special entertainment, themed food locations and Hyperspace Mountain – a reimagining of the classic Space Mountain attraction in which guests will join an X-wing starfighter battle. Disney’s Hollywood Studios will feature a new fireworks spectacular set to the iconic score of the Star Wars movies on weekend nights.

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