New Star Wars Park?

[HopperFan]

Where in Hollywood Studios are they adding it? They must need a lot of space.

No official location has come out and there are lots of people coming up with all kinds of maps but the common denominator is it will revolve around Star Tours.

Disney has applied for many ground permits that imply they will be bringing in a new entrance to parking from Victory Drive, expanding and changing parking and that the belief is some of SW "land" will go southeast out of the park.

Some say Indiana Jones and Echo Lake are disappearing, some say Muppets and Streets of America are disappearing, some say it will be bits of all and go outside the park (which a true "expansion" would have to do). They announced 14 acre expansion. SO ... is that a true expansion or a renovation with some expansion? Who knows.

I don't think anyone will know anything until the walls go up and the demo/ground prep work begins.

Right now just lots of armchair imagineers playing with photoshop.

 

[wilkeliza]

New Fantasyland and Avatar have each had their own set of unique issues I don't foresee happening with Star Wars expansion of DHS.

New Fantasyland was completely redesigned very late into the project. Pretty much every detail of it was changed. The new Dumbo circus overlay took no time at all to get open and was the phase 1 of that expansion, be our guest and little mermaid were phase 2, and then seven dwarfs is phase 3.

Avatar was deadlocked in design at one point. They announced the partnership and then it kind of just sat there for awhile. So we all knew about it but almost no movement was happening. Some claim it was James Cameron, some say it was Joe Rhode, and others will say it was just the way it was planned to always be.

With Star Wars we have already seen and heard details. The sketches are in place. When Avatar was announced we didn't even have concept sketches. Same for Toy Story. They already know the what's and hows now it is just the actual construction.

The more I think about it the more I imagine Disney is going to be churning the overtime hours to get DHS back up and running in full speed ASAP. I'm guessing we will see phase 1 (if they do phases) for EPISODE VIII.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thanks Hopoerfan for explaining.

 

[amylevan]

The more I think about it the more I imagine Disney is going to be churning the overtime hours to get DHS back up and running in full speed ASAP. I'm guessing we will see phase 1 (if they do phases) for EPISODE VIII.

Episode VIII is supposed to be released May 2017. They couldn't even get Frozen Ever After open that quick, and that is just renovating an existing ride.

 

[wilkeliza]

Episode VIII is supposed to be released May 2017. They couldn't even get Frozen Ever After open that quick, and that is just renovating an existing ride.

Knowing the Malestrom as closely as I know it that thing was a mess.

I also thought it was December 2017 so I'll have to adjust that. The May release keeps throwing me off haha. Still with phase openings December 2017 wouldn't be unheard of.

Now we could see a full opening either in 2018 for Star Wars Anthology : Han Solo but I would be 2019 for Epsidoe IX would be a obtainable goal.

 

[J'Adore Disney]

I listen to several Disney podcasts, including DIS Unplugged, and I've heard podcaster's opinions as to when Star Wars Land is set to open is anywhere between 2018 to 2021.

 

[mshanson3121]

I'm not sure why anyone is surprised there's no walls etc up yet. They said construction would start in January. A) they didn't say when in January, it may be the end B) they're not going to start putting anything up until holiday season is done which will be after the New Year celebration.

I'm sure once decorations are down you'll see the walls start going up.

I think they will likely try for a 2019 opening, which is when Episode 9 is being released. But hard to say. Definitely not before.

 

[larryz]

I believe this announcement came in 2011

Did it seem to take forever because of the area's extended timeline? Yes. But it can't be clocked from the day one announcement.

OK, so it took 3 years.

Busch Gardens can truck in track parts in the spring and have a brand new coaster up and running by fall.

 

[wilkeliza]

OK, so it took 3 years.

Busch Gardens can truck in track parts in the spring and have a brand new coaster up and running by fall.

Disney doesn't just truck in track parts. Seven Dwarfs had a "mountain" to build, seven highly advanced AAs, and a new car system they independently designed and had to put through the safety process.

Busch Gardens typically buys a stock coaster from a design firm that pitches it to the highest bidder and already has all the kinks worked out of and just needs to build.

 

[HopperFan]

OK, so it took 3 years.

Busch Gardens can truck in track parts in the spring and have a brand new coaster up and running by fall.

Busch Gardens offers erector set coasters. Nothing wrong with that, we've gone there specifically to ride all the coasters. But they have zero theming or imagineering or story or any need to fit aesthetically into a themed land.

So the coaster took three years? Okay we lost Snow White for part of the time but it really was no imposition and detriment to a park day since it was on land long abandoned. I guess I just don't get all the angst that it took 3 years from announcement to open. Especially since I was dealing with a DS who is disabled, loved Snow White and would stand there at 7DMT watching through the walls or over the fences for extended periods of time, asking me many times a day, every day, when it would be done.

And yes I drove him 8 hours the day it opened to get him on it.

 

[larryz]

Disney doesn't just truck in track parts. Seven Dwarfs had a "mountain" to build, seven highly advanced AAs, and a new car system they independently designed and had to put through the safety process.

I guess I just don't get all the angst that it took 3 years from announcement to open.

It's not angst over 7DMT; it's angst over the precedents set by the FE, 7DMT, and Avatar construction times.