Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is a themed area inspired by the Star Wars franchise, located in Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It encompasses at each park, and is set in the village of Black Spire Outpost, on the remote frontier planet of Batuu, featuring attractions, shops, restaurants and entertainment.
The lands were announced on August 15, 2015, and construction at both parks began on April 14, 2016. The Disneyland version opened May 31, 2019, and Disney's Hollywood Studios' version opened August 29, 2019. Walt Disney Imagineering executive Scott Trowbridge supervised development and construction at both parks.
History
Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) initially developed plans in the early 2010s for a Star Wars-themed land at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. Based on characters and settings from the original trilogy of Star Wars films, including Tatooine and Endor, the area would have encompassed the park's Echo Lake area, replacing the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and Sounds Dangerous attractions and incorporating the existing Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. However in 2014, after consultation with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, The Walt Disney Company CEO and chairman Bob Iger cancelled all of WDI's development on Star Wars-themed projects, postponing any creative development until the release of the sequel trilogy and anthology films.
After a creative shift in design, a Star Wars-themed land was first publicly announced by Iger for both Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland at the D23 Expo on August 15, 2015. According to Iger, the unnamed land would be "occupied by many inhabitants; humanoids, aliens and droids ... the attractions, the entertainment, everything we create will be part of our storytelling. Nothing will be out of character or stray from the mythology." Bob Chapek, then-chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, stated that the land "will introduce you to a Star Wars planet you've never seen before — a gateway planet located on the outer rim, full of places and characters familiar and not so familiar." In an interview for the winter 2015 issue of the official Disney fan club publication Disney twenty-three, Trowbridge stated: "[O]ur intent is to make it feel as if you just walked into one of the movies... Bringing Star Wars to life in the physical world gives us the opportunity to play with a whole bunch of things we've never done before... to really engage all of the senses. What does that street feel like? What does that animal smell like? What does blue milk taste like?"Iger announced in March 2016 that construction on both versions of the land would begin in April 2016. Construction began at both locations on April 14, 2016. In February 2017, Iger stated that the lands are scheduled to open in 2019 at both Disneyland and Hollywood Studios. In July 2017, at the D23 Expo, Chapek revealed that the themed lands would be called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Chapek also announced that the Disneyland version would open first.
In November 2017, Trowbridge announced that the planet portrayed by the land is called Batuu, which appears in the 2018 novel Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances.
In May 2018, Trowbridge revealed the village in which the land is set would be called Black Spire Outpost, a location briefly mentioned in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story. It was also announced that the Disneyland version of the land would open in summer 2019, followed by the Disney's Hollywood Studios version in late fall 2019. The names of the two new attractions at each location were announced in November 2018, during the D23 Destination D event held at Walt Disney World. A five-issue comic miniseries by Marvel Comics introduced the area's location in April 2019. Iger announced the opening dates for both locations on March 7, 2019.
The Disneyland version was dedicated on May 29, 2019. In attendance at the dedication ceremony were Iger, Star Wars creator George Lucas, and series actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Billy Dee Williams. The Disneyland version opened to the public on May 31, and because of its high popularity, a virtual queuing system was implemented on June 24. The land at Disney's Hollywood Studios opened on August 29, 2019.