‘Star Wars’ coming to a theme park near you
Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 4, 2015
The seventh film in the “Star Wars” franchise, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” won’t open until December, but already its droids, Jedis and Stormtroopers are flooding the travel world via new “Star Wars” theme park attractions, custom jets and a related museum.
In mid-August, Disney announced that it will build “Star Wars”-themed areas at two of its parks, Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. At 14 acres each, the “Star Wars” lands will feature two signature attractions, a ride based on the starship Millennium Force from the earliest “Star Wars” releases, and an “experience” that places visitors in a space battle between the First Order and the Resistance, which references the coming trilogy. Disney has not announced an opening date though construction will begin in 2016.
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The two parks will also refresh their existing Star Tours, featuring characters and locations from the new film, later this year. And in early 2016, Season of the Force, a new seasonal fan event, will be held at Disneyland. The themed weekend will be capped by fireworks set to the John Williams film soundtrack.
In the air, the Japanese airline ANA will launch three planes bearing the likenesses of R2-D2 and another robot beginning next month and promises more “Star Wars” theming inside, including possibly headrest covers, paper napkins and cups.
Fans will have to wait a few more years for the “Star Wars” creator George Lucas’ planned Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Chicago. Though no opening date has been set, the museum will focus on a genre its website describes as art that “tells a story.” The initial collection includes works by Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, the pin-up-girl illustrator Alberto Vargas and Norman Theodore Mingo, who established the image of the Mad magazine cover boy Alfred E. Neuman. The museum will also feature “cinematic art.”
“Star Wars” illustrations are featured on the museum’s website.