Disneyland to get full sized Millenium Falcon with Chewbacca meet-and-greet

blewis17

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Great read about the changes under discussion for the Aneheim, CA property in the next 2 years.
The really fun stuff starts half way down the article (you have to get past the GAC/DAS story)

original link to Micechat.com

MiceChat - Disney, Disneyland Resort, MiceAge Update, Tokyo Disney Resort - MiceAge Update: DAS is the New GAC



======story starts below==========
[h=2]A New Hope?[/h]While the Disneyland Resort waits anxiously to see how the DAS rollout goes, there’s much happier plans being cooked up for Anaheim for the future. Last week TDA’s executive team held their first regularly scheduled meeting about the 60th Anniversary, as they plot out which new parade and fireworks show and marketing slogan gets chosen for the party in 2015. The 60th is also a bit of a speed bump for Imagineering, who have to figure out how to kick off two major construction projects during that time; Monstropolis at DCA and Star Wars Land at Disneyland.
The Star Wars project for Disneyland’s Tomorrowland has the most logistical hurdles to overcome, as Monstropolis will be able to hide behind construction walls in an otherwise abandoned corner of the park. But the Tomorrowland project will require major reconstruction of existing E Ticket attractions, as things like the permanent moving of the Space Mountain entrance and queue must now be figured out. The aesthetic of most of the land will change to take on the appearance of the Star Wars universe, particularly in the back eastern half of the land.

Disneyland fans will cheer when they learn that the Astro Orbiter will be torn out and removed from its current location at the front of the land, which only served to make that area of the park feel more congested and claustrophobic instead of kinetic and full of energy. The re-Imagineered Rocket Jets spinner is currently planned to land up on top of the Space Mountain Concourse, tying in with a repurposed Starcade upper level next door.

And the old Rocket Jets spinner and PeopleMover platform gets an extreme makeover, as a landing pad in the Star Wars spaceport that forms the loose theme for the new land. And what’s a landing pad without a spaceship, right? The craft that will have landed there won’t be any old spaceship however, but will be the famous Millennium Falcon that will act as an elaborate walk-through attraction and meet ‘n greet location for your favorite Wookie co-pilot. In the shadow of the landing pad is the old Tomorrowland Terrace dining facility, made over into the rowdy Cantina on Tattooine where we’d told you previously that those tests in the Golden Horseshoe last month were for an interactive dining/entertainment concept using the Star Wars universe.

The back of the land is where the big new headliner attraction sits, in the place of the existing Innoventions and Autopia. After abandoning previous attempts to utilize the existing PeopleMover track and loading area, the Innoventions building gets gutted and in its place is the pre-show and boarding area for the new Speeder Bike thrill ride. The majority of the track heads outdoors and to the north, demolishing the Autopia freeways and taking over most of that area for the new ride. The outdoor Speeder Bike course is set on the forest moon of Endor where the Ewoks live, and an Ewok village and walk-through attraction will house dining and shops as the Speeder Bike ride zooms nearby. Imagineering has had dueling proposals for this area; one that retains the 1959 looping course of the Monorail and disguises it amongst the forest, and one that cuts out much of that track and shortens the Monorail route to open up more of the Ewok forest visuals. It should be noted here that Tokyo Disneyland’s Tomorrowland has an aging aesthetic with a sprawling and underutilized Autopia attraction taking up space.

If Disney can avoid the worst of the press with the roll-out of DAS, the month of October should be remembered mainly for big announcements of exciting new things coming to Anaheim and Tokyo.

 
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Since the Falcon is "the ship of riddles" and is kind of like a TARDIS as the insides can't fit inside the outside--I'm anxious to see how this will turn out.
 
Sounds like it will be an awesome attraction, but it will be impossible to hide that that is what it is: exit signs, guardrails, warning/instruction signs, trash cans, etc....
 
Space Mountain has possibly the worst exterior line/que arrangement I have ever seen at a theme park. In fact ive seen more bickering and fist fights break out in that exterior area than any other theme park as a whole, combined, to date. Good to hear the plans are ongoing to revamp that entire Tomorrowland area as its the flattest, dullest, most boring section of the park where as a kid in the 70's it was fun.
 
Marvel, Star Wars and the next steps for Disney's Tomorrowlands

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Well said...

In the 1950s, Disney's Tomorrowland reflected a society that felt empowered and hopeful about its ability to shape a better future. In the 2010s, the plans for Tomorrowland seem instead to suggest we're living in a time when we're not thinking optimistically about our future as much as we're simply hoping that someone will ride down from space or the sky to save us.
 
The problem that has always plagued Tomorrowland since its inception is keeping it fresh, up to date, and futuristic. Our conception of the future is constantly changing and what might seem futuristic today will probably look quaint at best but most likely horribly outdated and cheesy. Just think of how things in the 50s looked when they tried to make things look futuristic or for that matter just look at Star Trek TOS and how horribly outdated their future tech look is today. That's what happens with Tomorrowland, the Imagineers have to always fight an uphill battle to try to keep things looking futuristic as our vision of the future constantly changes.

What's nice about Star Wars is that despite being nearly 30 years old it still holds up quite well and tech doesn't look dated like it's something out of the old Buck Rogers serials. By using a Star Wars theme it sets the look and fixes it in a specific time as it were so even as time passes you don't need to worry as much about the theming looking out of date, at least not so long as Star Wars remains the phenomena it is.
 
My guess is the Falcon will be big but not quite full scale (just as the AT-AT in Florida isn't), and just a tacked on to the actual attraction building: you walk into the "Falcon" but through the facade and into a building where the "interior" is laid out.
 
Great ideas if they decide to go with all of them. I am however a bit worried about how much room they're gonna have for Marvel rides, maybe do them at DCA instead, but I welcome any new SW addition.
 
My guess is the Falcon will be big but not quite full scale (just as the AT-AT in Florida isn't), and just a tacked on to the actual attraction building: you walk into the "Falcon" but through the facade and into a building where the "interior" is laid out.

This is how the Nautilus walk through attraction is done a Disneyland Paris.
Here's a video to give you the idea; perhaps the Falcon will be similar.



nautilusext.jpg
 
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