This week we have news about the future of the Star Wars Movies, Dia de los Muertos and of course photos of Star Wars Land construction. But first…there is some awful news this week.

AP Blackout For Star Wars Land?

The shadow of the Dark Side is upon us. A great disturbance in the Force is suggesting some of us may get shut out of Star Wars Land.

Disney is surveying Annual Passholders to gauge their reaction to a two-month blackout period when a new attraction opens in the park. Would AP’s buy a one-day ticket just to go on a new attraction or be willing to pay more for a pass without the blackout? This could potentially affect the Star Wars Lands, Pandora: The World of Avatar, Toy Story Land or Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout.

Is this going to happen? Disney’s standard response is, “Disney frequently surveys our guests on possible changes, some that come to fruition and some that do not.”

A two-month blackout? AP’s have had the price go up exponentially each year. And now we may have to buy single day passes on top of that if we want to visit Star Wars Land? I hope this doesn’t happen. What do you think?

LaJ9Kmo

 

News From The Outer Rim

 

Iger Speaks About The Future

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Disney CEO Bob Iger, appearing at a Goldman Sachs conference this week, cautioned that “Rogue One” is not expected to do the crazy box office numbers that “The Force Awakens” did. However the level of interest is just as high. He said he’s seen “Rogue One” and had this to add:

“It’s really interesting in terms of ‘Star Wars’ storytelling. ‘Star Wars’ has only been told as a saga, and this is a moment in time … we love what we’ve seen.”

Iger also broke the news that he met with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy last week to map out the Star Wars plans until 2020.

“We have movies in development for ‘Star Wars’ ’til then, and we started talking about what we’re going to do in 2021 and beyond. So, she’s not just making a ‘Star Wars’ movie, she’s making a ‘Star Wars’ universe, of sorts.”

So it doesn’t sound like the Skywalker saga is going to end with Episode IX.

Rebels Returns This Weekend

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While waiting for the one-hour season premiere of “Star Wars Rebels” Saturday at 8:30 on Disney XD, here are a couple of clips to enjoy:

I’m very excited to see Rebels return. Don’t think that because it’s animated it’s just a kid’s show. This is some great Star Wars storytelling.

Merchandise

 

Gone Hollywood

This week we stopped by Disney California Adventure to visit their Star Wars Hub, the Gone Hollywood Store on Hollywood Blvd across from Off The Page.

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And while there…you can’t help but notice all the cool Marvel stuff. And the costumes!!!

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Star Trader

And of course we visited Star Trader as well to see what was new there.

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Star Wars characters inspired by Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on these fine shirts caught our eyes this week. Is this like cosplay with shirts? Shosplay?

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Star Wars Land Construction

 

Now we turn to our weekly look at the progress of Star Wars Land. Located in what used to be the backstage area of the park, this new land will have entrances from Critter Country, Frontierland and Fantasyland.

This graphic shows what was like before, and what we expect the layout to look like when complete.

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Work started in January to prepare the site and demolition soon followed. In June, once the area was cleared, a satellite photo showed what the blank slate looked like.

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I’ll refer to the areas in the photos by the geographic location in the aerial photo and the future development in the interactive graphic. We’ll start in the north and go clockwise through the development.

In the north part of the site where a mound of dirt collected from grading and being used to fill in different elevations now, has been nicknamed the dirt star. This is closest to the N on the photo and the future site of the Millennium Falcon attraction.

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Just east of that, where the Disneyland Rail Road is being routed, a large retaining wall is being constructed. On the other side of this wall, the DLRR will make the turn into the Toontown Station. We can now see behind the I-beams, the concrete wall being constructed on the other side of the DLRR.

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That wall will connect to one previously constructed immediately behind the Fantasyland Theater. This is on the east of the aerial photo.

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Nearby, an arch is where the SWL entrance from Fantasyland will have the DLRR cross overhead.

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The next set of photos is approximately the middle of the aerial photo and in the graphic and will comprise the Fantasmic Backstage. This maze of walls will come off the Rivers of American to an area where the showboats can be stored and serviced. In this area also will be the entrance from Frontierland.

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Attached to this is the new turn for the River. We can see the tip of Tom Sawyer’s Island on the left and the walls starting to form the outside of the river.

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And sitting on TSI looks to be the rock forms stacked and waiting.

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From Big Thunder Mountain, a view of what will be the pathway that will connect to Fantasyland and SWL.

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Moving around Tom Sawyer’s Island, we are now seeing the walls come up on the other side and leading toward the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country.

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Those walls around the river will end leading to a walkway from Critter Country under the Hungry Bear Restaurant where the bathrooms currently reside. From the area between Haunted Mansion and Critter Country, the outside of the turn in ROA is clearly visible over the fence.

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The path leading to those restrooms was recently re-routed to permit demolition of the old stairway. It’s now cleared to make way for the new path to SWL.

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The road traversing through the middle of the site lined with green fence is what remains of the old backstage access road. Also in this area west of the old access road is the beginning of the show building for the Battle Escape Attraction in the graphic. Excavation began recently and this week steel beams were laid over one end of the hole in the ground.

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That’s our tour of Star Wars Land as it looks this week. Thanks for stopping by. Check back Monday for more updates on the Disneyland Photo Update.

Now, let us know what you think Disney should do about pass holders during the opening of Star Wars Land.

As Always…

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