Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

In the early 2010s, Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) had initially developed plans for a Star Wars-themed land at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. Based on characters and settings from the original trilogy of Star Wars films, including Tatooine and Endor, the area was to have encompassed the park's Echo Lake area, replacing the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and Sounds Dangerous attractions and incorporating the existing Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. In 2014, the Walt Disney Company CEO and chairman Bob Iger slowed all of WDI's development on Star Wars-themed projects, postponing any creative development until the release of the sequel trilogy and anthology films. Iger explained: "I slowed it all down so what we come forward with will have a blend of the past, present, and maybe the future." Construction began at both locations on April 14, 2016. In February 2017, Iger stated that the lands were scheduled to open in 2019 at both Disneyland and Hollywood Studios. In July 2017, at the D23 Expo, Chapek revealed that the themed lands would be called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Chapek also announced that the Disneyland version would open first. In November 2017, Trowbridge announced that the planet portrayed by the land is called Batuu, which appears in the 2018 novel Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances. In May 2018, Trowbridge revealed the village in which the land is set would be called Black Spire Outpost, a location briefly mentioned in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story. It was also announced that the Disneyland version of the land would open in summer 2019, followed by the Disney's Hollywood Studios version in late fall 2019. Iger announced the opening dates for both locations on March 7, 2019. The Disneyland version opened to the public on May 31, and because of its high popularity, a virtual queuing system was implemented on June 24. The land at Disney's Hollywood Studios opened on August 29, 2019. ==Design==

Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) designed the project in collaboration with the Lucasfilm Story Group, with Imagineer Scott Trowbridge supervising the project, Asa Kalama and Chris Beatty serving as executive creative directors, Bryshere Casiano as the structural engineer, and Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo and designer Doug Chiang of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) involved as consultants. Together, the team decided to set the lands on a new planet, located within the Outer Rim of the Unknown Regions. Described as a "remote frontier outpost", the planet Batuu has not previously appeared in other media, although it has existed within canon "for thousands and thousands of years." The team also cited Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for the original Star Wars trilogy as a basis for the architecture and aesthetic look of the land. WDI used in-house virtual reality programs to realize where to use forced perspective and place thematic details in relation to sightlines to hide the park's show buildings from guest view. Disney consciously modified traditional theme park attributes throughout the lands—such as having signs written in the fictional Aurebesh language rather than English, and omitting attraction marquees and Star Wars-branded merchandise—as a way of maintaining the natural theming of the land. Being located in California and Florida, both iterations of Galaxy's Edge are situated at different latitudes and also face in separate cardinal directions; Disneyland has an east–west orientation and Disney's Hollywood Studios has a north–south orientation. This contrast in layout means both locations receive different amounts of sunlight at various angles throughout the seasonal year. This would be followed by Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, that places guests into the middle of a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. Concept art depicted a full-size Millennium Falcon situated among alien buildings built into tall cliffs. Film actors Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, and Kipsang Rotich reprised their roles in the attraction as Rey, Poe Dameron, Finn, Kylo Ren, General Hux, and the voice of Nien Nunb, respectively. Frank Oz also reprised the role as the voice of Yoda, for a vocal cameo in Savi's Workshop. In addition, the area features Oga's Cantina, which was the first location in Disneyland Park to sell alcoholic drinks to the public. The cantina's music is provided by R-3X, a droid that was first seen as RX-24 (Captain Rex) in Star Tours, and is now the cantina's DJ. Paul Reubens returned to voice the character. There is also a creature stall. The TIE Echelon that is in the land was developed by Colin Trevorrow during his work on Episode IX before being replaced as the film's director. The Coca-Cola Company provided Star Wars-themed iterations of Coke products such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Diet Coke, Dasani, Powerade, and Minute-Maid to be served in the lands. == Narrative ==

The main story events of the land are set between the films Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, and depicts the presence of both the First Order and Resistance. Beginning April 29, 2026, the location at Disneyland expanded its timeline to include the original trilogy era of Star Wars, and includes character appearances by Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia, joining the already existing character appearances by Ahsoka Tano, The Mandalorian, Grogu, and R2-D2. Guests also continue have the opportunity to meet the sequel trilogy character Rey near the Rise of the Resistance attraction. Imagineer Asa Kalama stated; "That's part of the reason we designed this sort of neutral, Wild West sort of space town, because it allowed it to be a framework under which we could project different stories." == Music ==

Longtime Star Wars composer John Williams returned to compose the main musical theme for Galaxy's Edge. Williams' theme is interpolated and arranged diversely throughout the land as ambient music, instead of in its traditional symphonic format. William Ross, who conducted the symphonic recording of the theme with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) on Williams' behalf, was also responsible for arranging Williams' original composition in different musical contexts for use. Ross and the LSO recorded nearly an hour of musical material at Abbey Road Studios in November 2018. Music from ''Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Oga's Cantina: R-3X's Playlist #1 was publicly played for the first time at Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019. Williams won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Symphonic Suite''. Beginning in late April 2026, Williams' scores from the films are played throughout Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, such as the Cantina Band in Oga's Cantina. ==Locations==

Disneyland At Disneyland, Galaxy's Edge is located in the northwest portion of the park, with three entries from Frontierland, Bayou Country (formerly Critter Country), and Fantasyland. One of the backstage areas thus closed was Circle D Ranch, a facility for training and exercising the park's horses. To replace it, Disney purchased an existing ranch in Norco, California and renovated the facility into the new Circle D Ranch, which opened in June 2017. On January 11, 2016, several attractions in Frontierland and Critter Country were closed. Big Thunder Ranch closed permanently, including the multifunction event space, barbecue restaurant and petting zoo. Other attractions closed temporarily, including the Disneyland Railroad and Rivers of America. Tom Sawyer Island reopened on June 16, 2017, Fantasmic! reopened on July 17, while the Disneyland Railroad, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes all reopened on July 29. The land opened on May 31, 2019. In 2024, the BD-X droids began making scheduled daily appearances in Galaxy's Edge during the park's "Season of the Force" event from April 5 through June 2. For the 2024 "Season of the Force" event at Disneyland, a new nighttime show debuted titled, Fire of the Rising Moons, which uses selections from composer John Williams' Star Wars film scores for the park's fireworks shows viewed from within Galaxy's Edge. Fire of the Rising Moons remained in Galaxy's Edge after "Season of the Force" ended. For the 2025 "Season of the Force" event at Disneyland, it was announced that a new nighttime projection show titled Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga would debut on March 28, 2025, in Galaxy's Edge. Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga remained in Galaxy's Edge after "Season of the Force" ended, while projection effects were added to the updated version of fireworks show. Disneyland expanded its timeline beginning April 29, 2026, to include the original trilogy era of Star Wars, which includes character appearances by Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia. In addition, Star Wars film scores are heard throughout the land, and the shops in Black Spire Outpost received updates. Disney's Hollywood Studios At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Galaxy's Edge is located in the southwest portion of the park, with two entries from Grand Avenue and Toy Story Land. Galaxy's Edge replaced the majority of the park's former Streets of America area, including the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure attractions, which closed on April 2, 2016, as well as the surrounding New York-San Francisco backlot facades, restaurants, and shops. The remaining operating portion of Streets of America, containing Muppet*Vision 3D, and a surviving block of the New York facades, was rethemed as Grand Avenue, a Los Angeles-themed street. An earthen berm with a Figueroa Street themed-tunnel was constructed between Galaxy's Edge and Grand Avenue to divide and connect the two lands. The land opened on August 29, 2019. In July 2025, it was announced that the BD-X droids would make appearances in Galaxy's Edge from July 16 to August 30, 2025. ==Attractions==

• Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run – a simulator ride in which guests pilot the Millennium Falcon. and at Disney's Hollywood Studios on August 29, 2019. • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – a dark ride in which guests are involved in a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. and at Disneyland on January 17, 2020. ==Reception==

The Disneyland version was named one of Time magazine's "World's Greatest Places 2019". While the themed area initially drew crowds to the point of leaving the rest of Disneyland relatively empty, a drop in attendance after the first few months led to the resignation of Catherine Powell, who oversaw the U.S. themed areas. However, in October 2019, some visitors reported that Disney's Hollywood Studios area was crowded during their visit. ==Related media==

• Disneyland • Disney's Hollywood Studios }} }} Comics The Black Spire Outpost is the focus of the tie-in five-issue miniseries ''Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge'', published by Marvel Comics. It was written by Ethan Sacks with art by Will Sliney, and was published from April 2019 onward. Television • A two-hour behind-the-scenes TV special, titled ''Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge – Adventure Awaits'', premiered on September 29, 2019. • Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures features four episodes set on Batuu, "The Tale of the Short Spire", "Caves of Batuu", "Lys' Lost Lightsaber" and "Batuu Bonanza" Virtual reality ''Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge'' is a virtual reality experience for Oculus and PlayStation VR2 platforms. ==See also==