Disney feels the force with new Star Wars attractions

Ahead of the launch of the seventh Star Wars movie, ‘The Force Awakens’, Disney has launched a series of new attractions at its theme parks.

The new ‘Star Wars Launch Bay’ is now open at Disneyland Park in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, providing a “multi-sensory space” where guests can interact with Star Wars characters. Designed for fans of the film franchise, the areas include movie memorabilia and replicas of Star Wars props, along with interactive video games and Star Wars merchandise.

Visitors can come face-to-face with Darth Vader in a 360-degree area based on a Star Destroyer, or visit the famous Cantina at Mos Eisley spaceport – described in the original movie as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy”. The Launch Bay Theater meanwhile, will allow guests to hear directly from the creative minds behind the Star Wars saga in a short video.

Star Wars Launch Bay is also being introduced at Shanghai Disneyland Resort, which is scheduled to open next year.

Also now open at the two US parks is ‘Star Wars: Path of The Jedi’, where visitors can watch a short film celebrating Star Wars in a theatre setting, and ‘Star Tours – The Adventures Continue’, which takes guests to multiple Star Wars destinations where they can interact with characters from the movies.

The ‘Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple’ attraction transports “younglings” to an ancient Jedi temple where they will discover if they have the makings of a true Jedi, while the new ‘Stormtrooper Patrols’ allow visitors to come face-to-face with a battalion of stormtroopers.

And finally, ‘Hyperspace Mountain’ is a remodelled version of Disney’s classic Space Mountain attraction, depicting a battle between Rebel X-wings and Imperial Tie fighters.

Following the introduction of these attractions, Disney said that new Star Wars-themed lands would be launched at theme parks in future, with work expected to commence at the two US parks in 2016.