Fans of the Force everywhere jumped for joy earlier this year when Disney formally announced (after years of rumors) that new Star Wars themed lands were coming to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. While that’s amazing news to be sure, both of those lands are still several years away, with current rumors putting the openings of both at no earlier than late 2018.
To keep fans happy while we endure the long wait, not to mention keeping the Star Wars brand alive in the parks in the meantime, Disney also announced “Season of the Force” at both American theme parks. Season of the Force will include the opening of the new Star Wars Launch Bay at the old Innoventions building in Disneyland, as well as in Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando. There’s also the addition of a Star Wars overlay to Space Mountain, appropriately called “Hyperspace Mountain”, and the Jedi Training Academy in both parks will be updated to reflect storylines on Star Wars: Rebels. A new clip show called Path of the Jedi will premiere in the Tomorrowland Theater, as kind of a primer for the entire saga for younger fans.
But of all these new Star Wars additions to the Disney parks, maybe the coolest is going to be a new destination planet on the classic Star Tours attraction. Starting soon, when fans ride the Starspeeder 1000, one of the Star Tours destinations will be onto the new world of Jakku, featured prominently in The Force Awakens. Just like in the trailers we’ve already seen for the movie, we’ll follow the Millennium Falcon through the Star Destroyer graveyard on that desert planet, the leftovers from a long ago battle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance.
Disney has just released a brief teaser clip of the Jakku portion of the ride, which you can watch above, giving fans an idea of what to expect. So far, it looks very similar to what we’ve seen in the trailers for Episode VII. While Star Tours is usually a randomized ride, meaning you might get Tatooine one time you ride it, and then Hoth another, for the first few months anyway, every guest will get the new Jakku destination when riding Star Tours, leaving no fan disappointed they wound up in the Pod Race again.
The new Star Tours Jakku destination premieres in Orlando on December 1, and will probably open in Disneyland in Anaheim around the same time, possibly sooner. Season of the Force officially launches in Disneyland on November 16, while the official kick-off at Disney Hollywood Studios will be on January 8.
Will you make the excursion to Jakku at the Disney Parks? Let us know your itinerary in the comments below!
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HT: Disney Park Blog, via Comic Book
IMAGES: Disney Parks
