Disneyland’s Star Wars Updates Reinforce that Continuity isn't Key at Theme Parks
As Ahsoka, Cassian and Mando join Star Tours, while Sabine pops up in Galaxy's Edge, it's a reminder that few care about the timeline in the context of a fun theme park experience.
Season of the Force has returned to Disney Parks, with Disney once more using that branding for the Star Wars-themed event first introduced in 2015. Of course, things have changed considerably since then as far as Star Wars’ footprint at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios (where the event is also taking place, along with a version at Disneyland Paris), thanks to the introduction of an entire land based around the franchise, Galaxy’s Edge.
However, Tomorrowland is still a part of Season of the Force, given the classic Star Tours ride remains located there, which got its latest update added this past weekend as Season of the Force debuted (along with Space Mountain once more receiving the temporary “Hyperspace Mountain” Star Wars overlay it’s had in the past). I visited Disneyland to check out Star Tours’ update — and Season of the Force at large — which once more reinforced the durability of that attraction and how its template for an “anything goes” approach to canon and continuity is usually the best bet when it comes to a theme park component of a beloved franchise.
Ever since Star Tours got its big overhaul in 2011 to its current look and approach, malleability has been key. The entire core concept is that the ride, and its accompanying movie footage used for your galactic journey, is randomized and can travel to a number of Star Wars locations and offer a very different experience from one time to the next. This has turned into a great move for a franchise that has, since Disney purchased them, constantly added new content, with each of the sequel films leading to at least one new location being added to the attraction. Putting any debates about the sequel films themselves aside – I realize that’s a big ask on the internet – it was cool to get these new planets and film-specific locations added. Look, even if you hate The Rise of Skywalker, flying through the Battle of Exegol is exciting!
Now, Season of the Force has brought with it the first updates to incorporate aspects of Star Wars specifically from the Disney+ series that have launched in recent years. The mid-way point of the attraction, where you get a message about your important mission from a familiar character – in the past, this has included the likes of Princess Leia, Admiral Ackbar, Yoda, Maz Kanata, and Lando Calrissian – now offers new footage of either Cassian Andor, Ahsoka Tano, or the Mandalorian himself, Din Djarin, accompanied by Grogu.
There’s also a new location in the form of Seatos, though you don’t see the planet’s surface, since the main attraction are the Purrgils flying by, as you join Ahsoka in a battle against a couple of enemy ships, while trying to avoid smashing into (or flying inside the mouth of) those massive space whales. During Season of the Force, all those riding Star Tours will get the Seatos sequence as the second location, after one of the randomized portions occurs first. This new addition is a suitably impactful and visually dynamic sequence, more about spectacle and wonder than some of the more adrenaline-based sequences.
I am surprised there wasn’t one more location added to the ride though that is The Mandalorian-specific, given that show has been the biggest success of the Disney+ series and has its own pop culture resonance. During the Seatos sequence, Rosario Dawson appears as Ahsoka, speaking to you from her ship, and one would think Disney would want something similar for Din and Grogu, pulling from any number of scenes from The Mandalorian’s three seasons.
Still, the new additions, which also offer tweaks to the opening as a possibility (with Ahsoka’s ship, rather than the Millennium Falcon, escaping the hanger ahead of you), are very fun for Star Wars fans, even as, per usual, you need to be ready for just how random these random elements are and know that you might not get to see what you most want. The first time I went on this new Star Tours update, I got the Ahsoka mid-point message, and I loved it, including how you can see the droids Chopper and Huyang in the background, and how Ahsoka takes time to speak to R2-D2, her old Star Wars: The Clone Wars buddy. Of course, then I proceeded to get a bit frustrated when I went on the ride two more times and kept getting that same Ahsoka portion, since I wanted to see Din Djarin and Cassian too. The fourth time was the charm, as I finally got Mando and Grogu, which has a clever bit where Grogu makes a frog float, which makes good use of the 3D in Star Tours, but so far, I’ve been Cassian-denied. Fingers crossed for my next visit!
The inclusion of elements from Andor, set in the lead-up of A New Hope — with a character who’s dead by the time that original Star Wars movie takes place, no less — alongside The Mandalorian and Ahsoka (both set a few years after Return of the Jedi) underlines that Star Tours is not meant to take place a fixed point in Star Wars history, but rather blends elements from pretty much every filmed element of the series so far. And honestly, that’s the right approach - it’s a fun theme park attraction that puts you inside a Star Wars story, but not a specific Star Wars story. Why not have it mix and match elements? I get wanting the timeline to make sense inside the films themselves, but on a ride? Nah, let’s just see cool Star Wars stuff!
That was decidedly not the case with the Galaxy’s Edge area when it opened though, which was much more firmly rooted not just in one era of Star Wars, the sequel trilogy, but specifically between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. While that still allowed for the inclusion of popular characters like Rey, Kylo Ren, and Chewbacca – if you tell me “no one cares about Rey or Kylo Ren!” you’re clearly lying to yourself and others – it still was incredibly limiting given all the beloved Star Wars characters who could never pop up, for fear of it “not making sense.”
This has thankfully finally begun to be done away with though, with the addition of Din Djarin, Boba Fett, and Fennec Shand as walk around characters, beginning in 2022, then continuing with Ahsoka Tano, Hera and Chopper, and now, with Season of the Force, Sabine Wren for the first time. This is a great move for a couple of reasons, both removing the confining stipulation on the era Galaxy’s Edge had to be rooted in originally, plus addressing that this land had notably been in need of more character interaction from the start. Galaxy’s Edge is a really impressive and detailed creation and boasts one of Disneyland’s best rides with Rise of the Resistance, but often didn’t feel as busy and alive in the way many hoped for, and seeing more familiar characters walking about helps a lot in that regard. Over at California Adventure, the Avengers Campus land has already used a ton of MCU characters, never limiting itself to a specific part of the timeline – thus allowing for, say, both Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson to appear as their versions of Captain America – and it’s never been a problem. People understand the movies are the movies and that even if the theme park is a physical representation of those movies, it doesn’t have to exactly match every single element.
Season of the Force is also adding more droids moving about Galaxy’s Edge in a way that has long been desired, given what a fixture that is in Star Wars. During my visit, I saw R2-D2 a couple of times – including having some interaction with Sabine, as glimpsed in a photo above – and then there’s the exciting introduction of the BDX Droids. Touted as “droids-in-training,” these little guys make periodic appearances in which they walk around and interact with guests, joined by a human “trainer.” For now, they are only promised to appear during Season of the Force, but given the positive reaction they’re receiving, and that the technology for the droids and how they move does indeed seem to be off to a great start, here’s hoping they stick around further. I watched them delight crowds, particularly children, several times, with a crowd gathering every time they appeared.
As for the rest of Season of the Force, I tried some of the new food dishes offered during the event, including the Fried Chicken Baos and Dewback Chili Noodles, both available at Docking Bay 7 in Galaxy’s Edge. The item I was excited about going in, the bao, was a disappointment, lacking in strong flavors, but the chili noodles were a big surprise, as I loved them. Guess I’m all about eating Dewback now! The dish is actually comprised of spiced fettuccine noodles and gingered ground pork with broccolini stems and shredded red cabbage, and it makes for a really great combination - even though I would have liked some sort of sauce with it too. Also quite tasty: the Pasaana Punch (orange juice, white grape juice, red passion fruit, and hibiscus) available at Ronto Roasters. There are plenty of other new food and drink offerings added in both Galaxy’s Edge and Tomorrowland during the event, including some specialty drinks at Oga’s Cantina that were previously only available for the late, great, but way too pricey Galactic Starcuiser.
Another much appreciated introduction during Season of the Force is the addition of music during Disneyland’s nightly fireworks show, when viewed from Galaxy’s Edge. Galaxy’s Edge has long offered a great, and often much less crowded, vantage point to see the fireworks, but because none of the accompanying music (usually from Disney films or attractions) can be heard in the location, it felt lacking in terms of that full Disney Parks pizazz. This new update, officially titled Fire of the Rising Moons, puts John Williams’ ever-stirring Star Wars score behind the fireworks. While not a perfect match – the fireworks show after all is not designed to be timed to this specific music but rather what those viewing from in front of the castle can hear – it still works quite well to add to the experience. And it includes Williams’ terrific “The Asteroid Field” from The Empire Strikes Back, so bonus points for that.
Shockingly, Season of the Force also has plenty of new merchandise available, as Disney has suddenly realized there might be money in Star Wars collectibles! Yes, I was sad the new Star Tours hoodie was sold out. Yes, I bought a Jabba the Hutt popcorn bucket. I am who I am.
Looking to the future, here's hoping these additions and enhancements, and the continued intermixing of characters from different eras in Star Tours and Galaxy’s Edge, eventually leads to the likes of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader walking around Galaxy’s Edge too. Because I’m thinking that would probably be pretty well received.
Star Wars - Season of the Force is running through June 2.
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