Not very long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, Disney and Lucasfilm began planning
the construction of two new themed lands that would bring the Star Wars universe to life.
While Disney has been at the forefront of theme park construction for over 60 years,
this latest undertaking is truly in a league of its own.
Embracing the latest digital and virtual reality technology, the team at Walt Disney Imagineering
have created their most engaging and immersive themed attraction to date.
This is how Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was built.
In 2015, following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Walt Disney two years earlier, plans were
announced for two new Star Wars-themed lands at the Disneyland Resort in California and
at Walt Disney World resort in Florida.
Each extending over 14 acres and costing USD $1 billion to construct, these new attractions
would take theme park development to a different level.
From the themed menus at the park’s many eateries, to staff dressed in true-to-film
costumes, Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm Story Group have gone to extraordinary lengths
to create a truly immersive world that is likely to capture the imagination of fans
and the general public alike.
While thematically familiar elements, like the Millenium Falcon, will appear throughout
the new lands, the creative team did not want to replicate storylines from the films but
rather allow guests to create their own stories, based on their individual visits to the park.
To do this, the team chose not to recreate worlds from the blockbuster franchise, but
to imagine an entirely new location, based on a remote outpost planet in the Star Wars universe.
Leading to the lands to be named, Galaxy's Edge.
To achieve the immersive experience that both Disney and Lucasfilm had conceived, all departments
- from merchandising and construction, to set dressing and ride system engineering - needed
to be involved in the project from the very outset.
With over 4,000 people engaged in the scheme at its peak, it was imperative that all parties
were up to date with the latest information and decisions throughout development and construction.
Information modelling formed a major part of this endeavour - taking graphical information
such as plans and 3D models, and non-graphical data such as schedules and specifications
from across the various teams, and placing them in an easy to access and easily navigable
digital environment - a single source of truth which all parties could access and update remotely.
With this information readily available and easy to locate, each team could access details
about every part of Galaxy’s Edge.
By creating a complete three-dimensional digital model of the entire themed land prior to construction,
Walt Disney Imagineering was able to feed information into a virtual reality (VR) simulator,
removing much of the ambiguity for the creative team and allowing them to step inside the
park and make decisions and alterations before construction began.
VR also gave the creative team a view of the park from ground level, allowing them to design
building facades and terrain using sight lines and forced perspective that hid the various
mechanical and ventilation equipment on buildings and created a truly realistic new world for guests.
With designs agreed, construction work on both Galaxy’s Edge lands commenced in 2016
following the closure of several attractions at the resorts including Big Thunder Ranch
at Disneyland and the majority of the Streets of America attraction at Walt Disney World.
Designed with the same key elements - including several themed restaurants and workshops from
the films - both parks are anchored by two main experiences; the “Millenium Falcon:
Smugglers Run” ride and the “Rise of the Resistance” experience.
In addition to the themed lands themselves, a Star Wars themed hotel is currently under
construction at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando but is yet to receive an official opening date.
After nearly three years of construction, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is set to open at
the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts in the summer and autumn of 2019 respectfully.
With high expectations surrounding the project and with a phenomenal amount of time, money
and effort invested from the Imagineers who conceived it - it won't be long before that
galaxy far, far away becomes much closer to home.
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