On Christmas Day, Disney released a new video hyping Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and offering some new details on its two attractions.
The new footage builds off the teaser video released in November when the two rides’ names were revealed. Six passengers are shown in the cockpit for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, with riders hitting buttons and pulling levers as the ship is shown moving through another ship’s hangar and then jumping into hyperspace.
“The experience on Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run puts you straight in that cockpit right behind the controls whether you’re one of the pilots, the gunners or flight engineers that are keeping the ship operating,” said Walt Disney Imagineering creative executive Scott Trowbridge. “It’s going to be an intense, super-fun experience on the fastest ship in the galaxy.”
Disney has previously revealed that a guest’s ride experience won’t be forgotten once they’re back in the park. In a special feature on the “Solo: A Star Wars Story” Blu-ray, Trowbridge had said if guests lose their smugglers’ cargo or “smash up” the Falcon, their poor performance may be brought up in interactions around Black Spire Outpost, the village providing the setting inside Galaxy’s Edge.
In Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, guests will play the role of Resistance recruits in the middle of a battle with the villainous First Order. As seen in the video, the ride vehicles will carry eight passengers led by a droid in front of the first row. Along the way, guests will meet enemies Kylo Ren and giant AT-AT walkers.
Trowbridge called it “the most epic attraction we’ve ever built.”
The 14-acre Galaxy’s Edge will open next year in both Disneyland and Disney World. The West Coast version will debut first, with its “opening season” set for summer 2019, followed by the land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in late fall 2019.
“It will be jaw-dropping and incredibly emotional to walk into the land for the first time,” said Carrie Beck, vice president of animation and live action series development at Lucasfilm. “To actually be standing there amongst the buildings, amongst the ships and have this feeling that it’s all real, that it’s been brought to life and it’s all right there in front of you, it’s overwhelming.”