If you are headed to Walt Disney World over the next few months be prepared to Awaken Summer with an incredible lineup of new attractions and experiences that will debut this summer across all four Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond! There is so much to tell you, so I’m breaking the news down into parts. You can read about #AwakenSummer at Magic Kingdom here, at Epcot here, and at Animal Kingdom here.
The last of the Disney parks, Hollywood Studios is, as you might have guessed focused on Star Wars for Awaken Summer – after all, the Force Awakens came out in 2015, and introduced a whole new generation to the awesome that is Star Wars! And it was announced at 2015’s D23 Expo, that a new Star Wars land was coming to the theme park.
That “galaxy far, far away’’ is now closer than ever with the arrival of the new Star Wars live entertainment experience Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away and a menacing First Order Stormtrooper procession at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The park is also launching a new nightly fireworks and projection show called Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular this summer that will eclipse anything of its kind in the park’s history.
These new Star Wars entertainment elements, coupled with other recently-added Star Wars experiences, make Disney’s Hollywood Studios the place for fans to celebrate their Star Wars passion.
Here are details on these latest entertainment features available now and coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios this summer:
Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
As the next generation of the current Star Wars-inspired fireworks show, this blockbuster nightly show, unprecedented in Disney’s Hollywood Studios history, will light up the sky with Star Wars-themed fireworks, lasers, light projections and other special effects combined with Star Wars-themed music and iconic characters and scenes from the saga.
Through these state-of-the-art special effects that project onto the nearby Chinese Theatre and other surrounding buildings, guests will gaze at the twin suns of Tatooine, push through a field of battle droids, navigate through an asteroid field, soar down the trench of the Death Star and deliver the final blow to destroy Starkiller Base. The show, which will unfold through a series of acts, will be punctuated by a tower of fire as well as powerful spotlight beams that create lightsabers in the sky.
These latest Star Wars experiences join other new Star Wars elements recently launched at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, such as Star Wars Launch Bay. Since its debut in December, Star Wars Launch Bay has become a popular and central location where guests immerse themselves in the Star Wars saga through themed galleries, large-scale artifacts and Star Wars character encounters, including recently-added Kylo Ren, the menacing character from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Now available at Hollywood Studios:
Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
This new live, stage show celebrates iconic moments from the Star Wars saga with live vignettes featuring popular Star Wars characters, such as Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, Darth Vader and Darth Maul. The show takes place multiple times each day at the Center Stage area near The Great Movie Ride.
Stormtroopers march
At various times each day, the menacing Captain Phasma leads a squad of First Order stormtroopers as they march in formation from Star Wars Launch Bay to the Center Stage area in an intimidating demonstration of the First Order’s indomitable strength.
Enhanced Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Fans of this popular attraction experience journeys involving new characters and adventures from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Based on the Star Wars films, Star Tours takes guests to multiple Star Wars destinations where they interact with characters from the saga. With an eye-popping digital presentation leveraging Dolby 3D to deliver a vivid and realistic experience, a dramatic musical score and motion simulator-based technology, guests are immersed in the Star Wars galaxy like never before on a theme park attraction.
Other recent additions that have attracted legions of fans since their December debut include:
- Star Wars: Path of the Jedi – a cinematic reel celebrating the Star Wars
- The reimagined Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple – featuring new characters, including the Seventh Sister from the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels.
- The “Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular’’ – a nightly fireworks show set to Star Wars-themed music that will be reimagined as Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular this summer.
- Star Wars-inspired food and beverage offerings.
With these new entertainment elements, Walt Disney World Resort guests can enjoy even more extensions of the record-setting movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens and further immerse themselves into the Star Wars galaxy like never before. Each entertainment element offers guests a uniquely immersive Star Wars experience, all adding to an unforgettable day and night at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
And more Star Wars experiences are on the way with the upcoming Star Wars-themed lands planned for Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort in California.
We LOVE Star Wars in this family, and are really excited about all the new Star Wars experiences coming to Hollywood Studios (I hope that the fireworks will be a permanent addition, and not just for the summer!). We are going to have to wait a few more years yet for the land expansion, but from the concept art (above) it is going to be AMAZING!