Though all eyes are on Epcot right now as this park goes through a major reinvention and we’re looking forward to learning more about the upcoming Star Wars Hotel, one park that has almost completed its transformation is Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which began its new vision last year with the opening of Toy Story Land, and will continue growing over the next year, with the following three new rides, that will be opening soon!
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run (August 29, 2019)
Image: Disney
It’s hard to believe, but we’re only a few weeks away from the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! However, when it opens, it will only have one attraction open: Millennium Falcon, Smuggler’s Run. This new attraction is a flight simulator ride that allows guests to “take the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, on a customized secret mission”.
Interestingly, guests who experience this attraction won’t just be tagging along for a ride (like they currently do on Star Tours) but will actually be piloting the Millennium Falcon themselves! Guests will be able to turn, bank and even fire weapons in this simulation-style experience.
Because of the massive interest that will undoubtedly accompany this attraction, Disney has announced that they will not be offering FastPass+ reservations for this attraction when it opens, and we don’t expect this to change very much while this attraction is the only one open in this part of the park. But luckily that won’t be for very long…
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (December 5, 2019)
Image: Disney
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is set to open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios before the end of the year, on December 5, 2019, just in time for the busy holiday season! This attraction will be a more traditional dark ride experience, and will be using some amazing technology to bring the world of the First Order to life
According to the several sources, this attraction will have a whopping total of 305 animatronic figures and droids, almost a third of which are expected to be Stormtroopers. In addition, this attraction will have 18 different show scenes that involve 5 different ride systems, making it one of the most (if not the most) technically advanced rides at a Disney park ever.
The entire Star Wars: Ride of the Resistance experience is said to be a half hour long, with three pre-show segments happening before the ride itself, which is said to be less than ten minutes long.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (Spring 2020)
Image: Disney
Though Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was originally supposed to open alongside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to help with capacity, it looks like there have been some delays with this project, with Disney pushing the debut of this ride back to Spring 2020, long after both parts of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge are open.
When this ride finally debuts, it will allow guests to literally step “through” a movie screen and join Mickey and his friends on a fun adventure where you’re the star of your own Mickey short and anything can happen. This zany out-of-control adventure will feature surprising twists and turns, dazzling visual effects and mind-boggling transformations that happen before your very eyes, including a forest instantly being transformed into a cityscape, which you can check out here.
Though this attraction sounds a bit like your standard screen-based affair so far, Disney is promising that this ride will be more than just a screen-based dark ride. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will make extensive use of new enhanced screen technology that Disney is calling 2 1/2D. Though we’re not entirely sure what this really means, Disney said that the normally 2D world of Disney animation will pop in new ways inside this attraction, but interestingly, without the need for 3D glasses.
