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Your support makes all the difference.The new 14-acre Disney theme park, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, opens on 31 May in Anaheim, California, in the Disneyland Resort – to take visitors to a galaxy far, far away.
Here is everything you need to know about the new theme park.
What is Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge?
The new theme park, or “an epic new land” as Disney is describing it, is dedicated to the Star Wars juggernaut with new sights, sounds, smells and immersive experiences. It’s all centred on the fictional planet of Batuu, created specially for the park. According to Disney, it’s the largest and most technologically advanced single-themed land that the company has ever built.
It reportedly cost $1 billion (£773 million) to build.
Earlier this week, Star Wars actor John Boyega leaked an image of the new park.
What can visitors expect?
This is an immersive theme park, and storytelling is key to the land’s appeal: Disney says that visitors will become part of the action at every turn with galactic food and drink, shops, rides and various arenas.
Familiar faces from the franchise, such as aliens, droids and characters, including Rey, Chewbacca and Kylo Ren and his Stormtroopers, will be in the park.
There are two main attractions – Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance.
In Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, visitors can fly a replica spaceship, with different roles for pilots, some gunners and some engineers as part of the ride.
The second attraction, which will open at the end of 2019, is the immersive Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which puts visitors in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance, including a face-off with Kylo Ren onboard a Star Destroyer.
It will blur "the lines between fantasy and reality" says Disney.
What are the food and drink options in the park?
All the food has a Star Wars twist.
There’s a marketplace selling galactic delicacies such as colourful popcorn and blue and green milk; a bar that has a music from a former Starspeeder 3000 pilot droid from the original Star Tours; and a sit-down restaurant called Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo.
For lighter bites there's Ronto Roasters, which serves Ronto Wraps cooked inside a former smelter droid, alongside drinks including Sour Sarlacc or Tatooine Sunset, in reference to the iconic Luke Skywalker scene.
Can I buy souvenirs?
The Black Spire Outpost has shops and stalls selling Star Wars merchandise.
Visitors can make their own astromech droids at Droid Depot; while at Savi’s Workshop they build their own lightsabre.
Other shops include Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, the Creature Stall, Black Spire Outfitters, Toydarian Toymaker and Jewels of Bith.
How can I book tickets?
Between 31 May and 23 June, visitors will need theme park admission and a reservation to enter this new land.
After 23 June, reservations will no longer been required. Disneyland Resort will also implement a virtual queueing system when needed.
How much do tickets cost?
Both seven- and 14-day tickets cost £395 for adults and £375 for children. A 21-day ticket costs £415 for adults and £395 for children.
What does Disney say about Galaxy Edge?
“Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge redefines what a Disney experience can be,” said Scott Trowbridge, Star Wars Portfolio Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering.
“It invites exploration and discovery, where we can become characters in the Star Wars galaxy. More and more, our guests want to lean into these stories; not just be a spectator.
“We’re giving them the opportunity to do just that in this land, with a new level of detail and immersion.
“This is an opportunity to play and engage with your friends and family in a shared experience that will forge lifelong memories.”
What is this about the mobile app?
Visitors can download the Play Disney Parks mobile app for an added user experience – Disney says Galaxy Edge is the first of its park to have this kind of integration.
What about the Galaxy’s Edge in Orlando?
A twin park will open at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on 29 August 2019.
Travel essentials
Flights to Anaheim from the UK start from around £300 with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
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