Update about Lord of the Rings to HS below...
Is Disneyland's Tomorrowland section about to go big on Star Wars? A new report says that's the plan.A detailed new article at Micechat.com discusses elaborate plans on bringing Star Wars into the original Disneyland park in Anaheim, CA. Below is the relevant portion.
The old Rocket Jets spinner and PeopleMover platform gets an extreme makeover, as a landing pad in the Star Wars spaceport that forms the loose theme for the new land. And what's a landing pad without a spaceship, right? The craft that will have landed there won't be any old spaceship however, but will be the famous Millennium Falcon that will act as an elaborate walk-through attraction and meet 'n greet location for your favorite Wookie co-pilot. In the shadow of the landing pad is the old Tomorrowland Terrace dining facility, made over into the rowdy Cantina on Tattooine where we'd told you previously that those tests in the Golden Horseshoe last month were for an interactive dining/entertainment concept using the Star Wars universe.
The back of the land is where the big new headliner attraction sits, in the place of the existing Innoventions and Autopia. After abandoning previous attempts to utilize the existing PeopleMover track and loading area, the Innoventions building gets gutted and in its place is the pre-show and boarding area for the new Speeder Bike thrill ride. The majority of the track heads outdoors and to the north, demolishing the Autopia freeways and taking over most of that area for the new ride. The outdoor Speeder Bike course is set on the forest moon of Endor where the Ewoks live, and an Ewok village and walk-through attraction will house dining and shops as the Speeder Bike ride zooms nearby. Imagineering has had dueling proposals for this area; one that retains the 1959 looping course of the Monorail and disguises it amongst the forest, and one that cuts out much of that track and shortens the Monorail route to open up more of the Ewok forest visuals.
If all that is true... Wow, huh? Tomorrowland is already home to Star Tours and also to the Jedi Academy experience for kids, so with these additions, this would be turning a notable portion of the park into a Star Wars area. In fact, so much of Tomorrowland would now be Star Wars related, with the exceptions of rides like Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters and Space Mountain, it does the raise the question of whether they would even keep the name Tomorrowland (technically, Star Wars takes place in the past after all!). Then again, with Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof's Tomorrowland movie coming, it's hard to see Disney dropping that section from their original park anytime soon.
Regardless, some old school Disneyland will certainly begin healthy debates if Autotopia, one of the park's classic rides, truly ends up being torn down.
Keep in mind, Disney likes to keep things close to the vest when it comes to their far off theme park plans and the company have confirmed nothing specific about what they plan to do with Star Wars - though they did tease something was in the works via the "Orange Harvest" display at D23 this summer.
While this is the first specific report about Disneyland in Anaheim, it was reported by multiple sources earlier this year that a full Star Wars themed land is coming to the Hollywood Studios park at Walt Disney World in Florida. Again, Disney has not officially confirmed that, though those reports came from several sites that, like Micechat.com, have built up a reputation for having solid sources when it comes to revealing longterm Disney plans.
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[url='http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/pick-mases-dinner-disney']- My Interactive Trip Report '11[/url]