I would like to say with this purchase Disney now holds the keys to one of the most beloved franchises of all time, this of course is not new to the Disney company. Recent purchases of Pixar, Marvel, and the Muppets all indicate that Disney is not afraid to take on entertainment history altering companies with vigor.
Lucas Films however will be one that Disney will have to tread carefully with, because like Potter, the fans of the Star Wars multiverse are die hard to the end. Disney will have to "cross every T and dot every I" as they say, to insure the backlash of Star Wars fandom does not kill any future projects. Lucas is staying on board as creative consultant which will make the transition much easier and will help to insure that projects have that Lucas feel. That being said lets move on to the theme parks and the potential that this acquisition offers.
I will offer my opinion on what we can hope to see in the future and time will tell us how much of theme park dork I really am!!
Disney's Hollywood Studios here in Orlando looks to benefit the most from the new union. I feel that in the very near future, about the time that Universal announces the new Potter expansion, we will see a Star Wars themed land heading to this struggling park. Disney has never been able to turn the numbers it wants at the Studios and it is getting harder each year as Universal draws the proverbial "line in the sand" and expands.
I am going to say that Disney will bring Tatooine to the Florida landscape. Tatooine is a perfect idea as it will allow for both the Jedi side and the Dark Side to co-exist in one location. I am sure that we will see a Mos Eisley Cantina with all its crazy clientele and food that is "out of this world". Learning from the Universal idea that themed areas, such as Potter, are what people desire now makes this an almost guaranteed location.
Mos Eisley is also a spaceport, the one from which the Millennium Falcon departed, can you say "E-ticket" attraction. The story is already in place and known by millions, and lets face it who would not want to ride on the Millennium Falcon?!?! Plus factor in the Falcon has in movie history the starship Enterprise as its only rival to being the best known spaceship of all time!!
Pod Races will also factor into the ride ideas in some form. Disney has been setting on a Tron themed Light Cycle concept for sometime now. A little re-theming should make it easy for you to ride your very own Pod in the galactic race.
A Jedi Training center is a guaranteed idea since the one offered during Star Wars Weekends books to capacity EARLY everyday. Both young and old Jedi will be skilled in the way of the masters in an effort to fight the evil "Dark Side"! Jedis will be trained and then able to build their very own Lightsaber, which you can do now, but these will be much higher end.
Shopping? The already profitable Tatooine Traders will be expanded into a Main Street type Emporium and will offer gifts from around the galaxy this along with numerous other merchandise stands and locations should make shopping on Tatooine an experience like no other.
Ok that is all I am going to speculate on for now. Please remember these are all just "pie in the sky" ideas and have no basis at all. I just wanted to post this early out to see how close I can come to predicting the future when it comes to the theme parks!
Thanks,
Kevin Reed
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