It’s becoming a regular thing, Star Wars: Galactic Nights event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios does more than celebrate the latest Star Wars movie, it also is used to reveal interesting new details for the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge project coming to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. We were invited by Disney to attend the most recent Galactic Nights and made sure we were at the Imagineering panel where this big announcements are usually made.
We weren’t disappointed. Here are some highlights of what we learned from the panel:
While we knew the name of the planet Galaxy’s Edge visitors will encounter, Batuu, we learned the name of the specific village on the planet the land is set in. Black Spire Outpost is a haven for traders, adventurers, and smugglers. Set in a part of Batuu known for the towering petrified remains of ancient trees, one spire with a unique black hue, became the meeting place for travelers and the village grew up around it.
Imagineers announced a third attraction for the land – a life-size personnel carrier guests will be able to ride in during their trip to Batuu. The detail on this ship is pretty amazing.
As in Pandora – The World of Avatar, there will be a special Star Wars creature guests can adopt and take home with them. The panel revealed some ideas for a ‘creature pet store’ in Black Spire Outpost where guests can encounter these alien animals and even buy one to take home.
We were treated to an aerial drone view of the construction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, very similar to the video from Disneyland a few months ago.
Watch the whole panel here:
It looks like Batuu is already showing up in the larger Star Wars mythos. LaughingPlace.com has found an Easter Egg in the newly released “Solo: A Star Wars Story” movie that mentions Black Spire. In the film the sassy liberated doing L3-37 tells Lando Calrissian, then the captain of the Millennium Falcon, that he couldn’t find Black Spire without her.
This makes sense. Lando is a smuggler just like Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon would likely be a frequent visitor to the village. It might even have its own hidden parking spot. Of course, Galaxy’s Edge is set during the time period of the new 3rd trilogy in the saga. So maybe this time it’s Chewbacca who has guided the infamous ship to its current landing port.
As fun as the new hard-ticket Star Wars: Galactic Nights event was, it is not a replacement for the multi-week fan fest that was Star Wars weekends. We hope Disney World decides to bring it back to help launch Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in the late fall of 2019.