Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disney’s immense new theme park within Disneyland, opens this June. Construction’s proceeding quite well, from what we understand, with workers now putting the finishing touches to the outer rim planet of Batuu, which is described as a “remote frontier outpost” on which guests will be able to explore sights like a fully stocked cantina and a life-sized Millennium Falcon.
Everything we’ve heard makes it sound like absolute heaven for Star Wars fans who want to properly immerse themselves in a galaxy far, far away. But while the majority of attention is on the new park itself, it seems that Disney’s busy altering the existing park, too, so as to best serve Galaxy’s Edge.
According to the Disney Park’s Lodge, there’s something going on that they’re calling ‘Project Stardust.’ This is a direct reference to Rogue One, which revealed that it was the secret codename for the Death Star project. You might be a bit nervous that Disney appears to be using the name of a gigantic planet-destroying super-weapon as a reference to something they’re working on – perhaps this whole Galaxy’s Edge project has been a ruse to build something secret and terrible – but it likely doesn’t have any deeper meaning.
After all, the main project is a “beautification” of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. They’re also going to add lower curbs to improve access to Main Street, pop some new brickwork in and jazz up the streetcar track that runs down the middle. In addition, they’ve reconfigured the queues for Matterhorn Bobsleds, “It’s A Small World” and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
All things considered, it sounds like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be truly great. The only real flaw I can see is one that Sartre identified way back in 1944: “Hell is other people.” What better way to spoil your immersion in Star Wars than to be surrounded by thousands of stressed out tourists and facing extremely long queues? Let’s aim to go on a quiet day, eh?
