Rave reviews are already pouring in for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There’s no doubt that this new land at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is going to be a huge success, and the future looks very bright for the presence of that galaxy far, far away in Disney parks.
We already know quite a bit about what is coming in phases two and three for Galaxy’s Edge, starting with the opening of the highly-anticipated attraction, Rise of the Resistance. Other upcoming arrivals will include a sit-down restaurant which could take character dining in exciting new directions, as well as the opening of a Star Wars role-playing experience set in a themed resort.
As we’ve seen with the continued expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, we can’t help but wonder where might Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge go next. With the extreme high-demand this land has already produced, you know Disney will be exploring opportunities for expansion in the future including new attractions and experiences.
We’ve talked before about how setting Galaxy’s Edge in the remote pre-hyperspace hub of Batuu was a genius move— a place where almost any story in the Star Wars universe could connect. Resistance fighters, First Order loyalists, bounty hunters, merchants, and seedy galactic fringers have all been drawn to the Black Spire Outpost. We’ve even already seen hinted references to the Old Republic in some of the merchandise available in Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities—significant considering rumors that a Knights of the Old Republic film or TV series is in the works. There are just so many possibilities for how Galaxy’s Edge could expand in the future.
Time for a bit of shameless speculation. Where do you want to see Galaxy’s Edge go next once the phases we know about are complete? Here are a few ideas to ponder…
1. A pod-racing or swoop bike attraction
Long time fans of both the Star Wars films and expanded universe will be familiar with the fact that racing is serious business in the Star Wars universe. Indeed, considering the technology used for Avatar: Flight of Passage, it seems like some sort of racing simulation attraction would be a logical next step for a third Galaxy’s Edge ride.
Consider young Anakin Skywalker’s epic podrace to win his freedom from slavery in The Phantom Menace. We learn that during the time of the Clone Wars, podracing was an illegal but extremely popular form of racing in the galactic Outer Rim. This one scene inspired a number of arcade and console video games, and it doesn’t seem far-fetched that if a backwater world like Tatooine had a podracing scene, Batuu might still just have the same. This could easily make for a great attraction based on a familiar classic.
Another example that steps away from competitive racing is the famous speeder bike chase from Return of the Jedi. We’ve already seen Elite Speeder Bikes make appearances in the new Star Wars trilogy, and an attraction involving escaping from the First Order or local gangs on speeder bikes seems like a simulator experience waiting to happen. It could even be themed around something as simple as speeder bike training for new Resistance recruits.
Image: StarWars.com
Less well known is the prevalence of another absurdly-dangerous form of racing in the Star Wars universe: swoop bike racing. Of all the possibilities, we’ll admit this is the one we’d love to see the most. Swoop bikes are basically described an “an engine with a seat”. Unsurprisingly, Hondo Ohnaka’s gang of Weequay pirates used the dodgy things regularly in the Clone Wars series, and swoop bikes even showed up in Solo: A Star Wars Story as the favored vehicle of Enfys Nest and her Cloud Riders. It wouldn’t be difficult to expand on Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run with an attraction that requires users to do a swoop run for Hondo with plenty of blaster-firing baddies on your tail. Alternatively, another plausible story could involve getting Resistance intel across enemy lines while careening across Batuu on one of these sketchy-sketchy bikes. Make sure you don’t crash into anything or kick it too hard. In world, swoops are known to explode.
2. Holonet missions
Image: Disney
Disney has already dipped a toe into giving guests the opportunity to try some in-world missions in Galaxy’s Edge with new features in the Play Disney app. This new experience turns every guest’s smartphone into a datapad that can hack terminals, tune into Resistance and First Order frequencies, scan cargo crates, or easily translate Aurebesh. It doesn’t seem implausible that this or basic Magic Band technology could be used to facilitate further missions in Galaxy’s Edge.
We’ve talked before about how the design of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge seems to hold a lot of similarities to MMORPG video games. Holonet mission terminals have been a thing in almost every Star Wars open-world game, a way for players to pick up odd jobs and make a few credits. This sort of “side quest” mini-attraction wouldn’t be particularly new to Disney. Most of the parks have some sort of scavenger hunt for kids, but Disney has done some pretty cool things adding their special brand of hands-on magic to amplify this concept with quest attractions like Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom or even the Leonardo Challenge in Fortress Explorations at Tokyo DisneySea.
The possibilities are endless. In one scenario, guests could pick up a series of mini missions to gather intelligence for the Resistance (or the First Order if you serve the Dark Side) and deliver their finds to drop points in the land. In another, maybe you have to track down some gizka or porgs that escaped one of Hondo’s ships and are multiplying like rabbits (sounds a lot like Pokemon Go!). Disney could even put together something of an ethical bounty-hunt where guests track clues to help local authorities locate a rogue droid or dangerous (but not-too-scary) criminal. Sounds like fun with less lines!
3. Spontaneous battles
One of the most exciting things about entering a super-immersive land like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is you never know what to expect. While we don’t know yet what Disney has planned as far as street entertainment for Galaxy’s Edge, how cool would it be if upcoming “shows” in the Black Spire Outpost involved spontaneous skirmishes between the Resistance and the First Order? Disney has already displayed some aptitude for this sort of mini-stunt show with the Jedi Academy Training show near Star Tours.
Spontaneous skirmishes could make for a very neat approach to the classic stunt show concept, and we’ve already seen that street-mosphere shows like this are well received in Disney’s Hollywood Studios with the random stormtrooper patrols outside of Star Wars Launch Bay as well as the oh-so-cool March of the First Order. This concept wouldn’t need to be limited to bouts between the First Order and Resistance either. We already know bounty hunters might be prowling the streets of this new land, and Batuu seems to have a well-established smuggling scene. This could make for some great spontaneous mini-battles as well.
4. Themed upcharge experiences
Image: Disney
We know Disney loves upcharge experiences. They’ve gone a bit wild with them these days but Disney’s exclusive collection of tours, dessert parties, and VIP experiences have been part of the resort’s DNA for decades. It would be crazy if Disney didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to provide some exclusive experiences for guests surrounding Galaxy’s Edge. We are already aware of some coming with the park’s opening, such as lightsaber building in Savi’s secret workshop or the upcoming role-playing experiences at the new Star Wars resort. It seems likely these are just the tip of the iceberg for many more upcharge events to come.
Consider the standard Disney dessert party. There is already a Star Wars themed one for watching the nightly fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but what if Disney were to embrace in-world immersion and create a dinner party experience in Galaxy’s Edge where the entire night is about figuring out who the First Order spy among the guests is? It could be almost like a murder mystery theater night, only in Star Wars. Disney has touched on this sort of thing before with some of their dinner shows.
Exclusive in-world quests are another possibility. Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at Disney Springs proved it is possible to place guests in an ultra-realistic mission that isn’t as crowded as a standard ride. Secrets of the Empire uses “hyper-reality” VR and a giant maze to allow guests to experience a hands-on mission for the Rebel Alliance where they can run through the environment, pick up in-world digital objects (using physical counterparts), fire blasters, and solve puzzles with jaw-dropping realism. It would be difficult to pull off this sort of thing as an attraction drawing thousands of guests a day, but it works as an upcharge experience.
How cool would it be if the Black Spire Outpost included something similar, such as a Star Wars-themed escape game— one that ties into the world’s story and involves escaping from captivity (either from a bounty hunter or because the First Order thinks you’re a Resistance spy)? Escape games have become extremely popular in Orlando, and Disney even dabbled in making their own as a team building activity. It would be difficult to make this concept work as a regular queued attraction, but as an upcharge, it could become hugely popular and also act as another means for guests to enjoy Galaxy’s Edge without adding more bodies to queues.
5. Getting off-world
Both of the major attractions at Galaxy’s Edge share something in common: they both give guests an opportunity to get off of Batuu and into space.
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run completely surrounds the concept of flying the Falcon on a smuggling mission for Hondo Ohnaka. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is partially set off-world as well, with guests being transported off Batuu during the course of the attraction. With a little magic, Disney could take guests just about anywhere in the Star Wars universe if they wanted to.
There are some limits to this, of course. One of the minor flaws in Star Tours (aside from the fact its varying versions tend to time travel all over Star Wars history) is the fact that we know from the Star Wars films that hyperspace travel isn’t instantaneous. It does take a little time to get wherever you are going. It might strain credulity to have guests transported from Batuu to Coruscant in the blink of an eye, but this wouldn’t be that hard to overcome, as we’ve already seen with the plans for Rise of the Resistance. Wherever upcoming Star Wars films go next, so long as they fall in the same spot in the timeline, Galaxy’s Edge will likely be able to accommodate attractions that follow. This could make for some very fun opportunities to experience beloved off-world locations like Endor, Tatooine, Coruscant, and more in an immersive form beyond Star Tours.
The stars are the limit. Dreaming big, what sort of things would you love to see in future phases of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Respond in the comments or on our Facebook page!
