SWCC 2019: Here's What We Learned About STAR WARS: GALAXY'S EDGE

Star Wars is having a big year with the final film in the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, coming out in December. That’s not all though! They will be launching a new Star Wars land named Galaxy’s Edge at two Disney parks (Anaheim and Orlando) that will immerse fans in the world of Star Wars! It’s an experience that fans have always dreamed of and now it’s real!

During Star Wars Celebration, the Galaxy’s Edge panel showed a bit more of the new land and shared some exclusive news. Here are some of the things we learned about Batuu and Galaxy’s Edge.

First off, actor Josh Gad helped create a funny introduction video that showed how tight security is over at Galaxy’s Edge before being introduced as the host of the panel. He’s back, everyone!

Even more exciting for us here at GGA is an Easter egg we noticed during the video. In the video, Josh Gad attempts to get past a Disney employee and into Galaxy’s Edge. The man playing the Disney employee is GGA friend Cory Rouse! Rouse is a creative director at WDW Imagineering and his current project is, of course, Galaxy’s Edge. This was a very fun and hilarious surprise! The video beings at 26:30 in the panel stream video posted below.

Cory Rouse and Josh Gad in a sketch for the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge panel — Cory Rouse and Josh Gad in a video played at Star Wars Celebration during the Galaxy’s Edge panel.

Why a new planet?

Many have wondered why the new land isn’t set on a planet that Star Wars fans already know and love. There’s a very good reason for that though. Doug Chiang (VP and Executive Creative Director at Lucasfilm) said that the planets in Star Wars reflected the characters that have interacted with them. When you think of Tatooine, you think of Luke and Anakin, lonely in the desert. They’ve become woven into the fabric of the planet. So Disney created this new planet in such a way that fans can create their own personal story within it.

The Senses of Star Wars

What Disney and Lucasfilm wanted to bring to the park was authenticity. Since the fans have only been able to hear and see the galaxy far, far away, they were set with the task of tackling the other senses. What does the place feel like? What do these space ports smell like? Imagineers spent time in Istanbul and Morocco in order to inspire the look of Black Spire. They also spent a bit of time talking about “space meat” that you’ll be able to smell wafting through the park. Yes, “space meat”.

As an exclusive first look, they revealed at the panel, they had a partner they were excited to work with. It’s familiar but unique. There’s space Coke, everyone! That’s right. Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Dasani water are coming to the world of Star Wars. The bottles are designed like thermal detonators which have been re-purposed with the drink logos written in Aurebesh.

What about the sounds of Oga’s Cantina? Well, it’ll be a mix of things. It will have music similar to the cantina band we all know and love however they expanded on the tunes. They played two samples of the music during the panel, one sounding pretty familiar while the other was made by an “all droid band” who “doesn’t always get it right the first time”. Think of it as a remix of awesome droid noises put to an electro beat.

The Voices of the Park

There’s going to be a few familiar voices throughout the park among everything you’re going to experience. For example, Paul Reubens returned to voice Rex! Legendary voice actor Jim Cummings will also be returning as Hondo Ohnaka in the most complex puppet the Imagineers have ever created. They also went above and beyond as they went to Kenya to find the original voice actor for Nien Nunb. If that wasn’t enough, there’s a Jedi whose voice will be helping you around the land. Jedi Master Yoda will also be incorporated into the land – though we’re unsure how. And of course Frank Oz returns to voice the iconic character.

Play App

Something new to the Disney experience includes an app called the Play app. We’ve heard a little bit about it before but we learned some more details about what you can do with the app. There’s an option to hack, scan, and translate. So for example, you’ll be able to hack into lights around the park and scan crates to see if there’s any goodies inside.

Since this is an authentic space port in Black Spire, everything will be in Aurebesh. So they’ve incorporated a translation option that let’s you hold up your phone and see the translation. Awesome right? But that’s not all. You’ll also be able to scan radio frequencies to listen in on some stories they’ve recorded. Maybe you’ll accidentally listen in on a shady trade!

Finally, and possibly the most exciting reveal with the app, there will be a game that lets fans hack into surveillance that you can use to either help the Resistance or The First Order. Fans will be able to align themselves as Resistance, First Order or Scoundrel.

The Park is for the Fans

While we know Star Wars really loves its fans, the team is going one step further during Celebration. At the Galaxy’s Edge booth, they’ve been collecting stories from fans on what the franchise means to them and their experience with it. They’re going to be taking those stories and putting them into a Holocron and then incorporating the stories into the park. We’re unclear how this will be done but there will be a Holocron somewhere in Galaxy’s Edge filled with fan stories. How awesome is that!?

What we learned about Disney’s new land, Galaxy’s Edge, today really blew our minds. We can’t wait to experience it. Check out the full panel stream below.

You’ll be able to experience it for yourself at Disneyland on May 31st and at Disney World August 29th.

During Star Wars Celebration, fans were able to experience a bit of what’s happening in the parks. They included a few props, merchandise they would be selling and some concept art. We here at Geek Girl Authority were able to experience it and decided to share some of the images with you.