The Void announced today that their newest hyper-reality experience, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, is coming to Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts later this year.
This first-of-its kind Star Wars experience is being produced by the world-class teams at Lucasfilm and ILMxLAB in collaboration with the team at The VOID. Soon you’ll have the opportunity to step beyond reality into a galaxy far, far away!
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire will plunge guests directly into the iconic Star Wars galaxy. They will move freely throughout the untethered, social, and multi-sensory Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire experience in a way that allows them to interact and engage with friends, family and Star Wars characters. This ground-breaking experience will open to the public at two new VOID Experience Centers at Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort and Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort beginning this holiday season.
“At The VOID, we combine the magic of illusion, advanced technology and virtual reality to create fully immersive social experiences that take guests to new worlds,” said Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer at The VOID. “A truly transformative experience is so much more than what you see with your eyes; it’s what you hear, feel, touch, and even smell. Through the power of The VOID, guests who step into Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire won’t just see this world, they’ll know that they are part of this amazing story.”
Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge of ILMxLab, said, “At ILMxLAB, we want people to step inside the worlds of our stories. Through our collaboration with The VOID, we can make this happen as guests become active participants in an unfolding Star Wars adventure. By combining Lucasfilm’s storytelling expertise with cutting-edge imagery, and immersive sound from the team at Skywalker Sound, while invoking all the senses, we hope to truly transport all those who experience Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire to a galaxy far, far away.”
“Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire marks an important milestone in the continued expansion of The VOID, which also joined the 2017 Disney Accelerator earlier this year,” said Cliff Plumer, CEO of The VOID. “Through the power of The VOID, guests can now experience the magic of Star Wars firsthand.”
Our latest photo report brings us to Epcot as we countdown to the extinction of the Universe of Energy, the start of the Food and Wine Festival, and the relaunch of Mission: Space…
If you open the front door to the space, you are greeted by a screen telling you that it is closed and will not reopen.
We have a video and photo tour in case you never were able to experience the Siemens VIP Center:
VIPs of course could get “back-doored” onto Spaceship Earth.
The Siemens and Disney contract is set to expire September 30th, 2017, so expect the references to the company to vanish and Project Tomorrow to close by then.
Feel The Flow, Here We Go…
With the Universe of Energy closing forever on August 13th to make way for the Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster ride, Disney has stationed a PhotoPass photographer outside of the building.
As we near the closing, guests are certainly showing up in larger numbers to say goodbye…
The bridge from Odyssey to Mexico has seen better days…
The repainting of the exterior of the Mexico pavilion continues, but apparently Disney isn’t happy with what they did. Above, you see blue paint starting to ascend the structure last week.
This week, the blue paint moving upwards on the structure vanished.
Work continues on Choza Tequila, now set to open during the Food and Wine Festival.
Some lovely new booths for the festival have popped up, like this one in Africa.
This new Italy booth is rather nice as well. Don’t forget that the Festival kicks off August 31st. And no, that’s not a typo… and I’m upset that it’s not (I don’t want to stand outside and eat hot food in August).
Club 33 preparations have moved into the lobby of the American Adventure.
The Chat Lounge will not return to the Food and Wine Festival this year as a result (also, it appears Chase is no longer a sponsor anyway).
The Torii Gate in Japan was repainted recently and is looking great!
The remodeling of the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Japan continues…
The pearl jewelry area in the store was moved to a new location that is quite nice.
A new jewelry area has opened further into the store.
They were sold out of Yunker, probably because we ate it on the last WDW News Tonight.
Over in MouseGear, there is some new apparel to be found.
The Electric Umbrella has begun to offer mobile ordering.
Push and Pull
In what is becoming a more regular occurrence, we witnessed monorail teal getting towed through Epcot a few days ago…
Beginning October 1st, 2017, the Star Wars Guided Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will shift to take place in the early morning and afternoon. Guests will still be able to enjoy reserved viewing for Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular at the end of the night, but the dessert party will no longer be included on the tour.
As a result, the price of the tour is being reduced from $121.12 to $99 per person, which includes tax.
Star Wars: Launch Bay is expected to close earlier in the evening starting October 1st as part of budget cuts at the park, which could be a reason for some of these changes.
Beginning January 1st, 2018, the Fantasmic dining package at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be removing appetizers from the offering at the Hollywood Brown Derby and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.
Beginning January 1, 2018, Fantasmic! Dining Packages will include:
One entrée, dessert and nonalcoholic beverage at select full-service restaurants or one buffet (where applicable)
One voucher for guaranteed seating at Fantasmic! in a reserved area
The new pricing will be…
Mama Melrose Ristorante Italiano
Lunch/dinner – $42 adults; $18 children (plus tax and gratuity)
Hollywood & Vine
Breakfast (Disney Junior Play ‘n’ Dine) – $41 adults; $24 children (plus tax and gratuity)
Lunch and dinner (Minnie’s Seasonal Dine) – $59 adults; $35 children (plus tax and gratuity)
The Hollywood Brown Derby
Lunch/dinner – $62 adults; $22 children (plus tax and gratuity)
While the Brown Derby and Mama Melrose’s are $3 cheaper, that obviously doesn’t make up for the loss of an appetizer in price. Hollywood & Vine’s pricing for the package is remaining the same.
The Great Movie Ride farewell merchandise we told you about last week is now on sale at Walt Disney World. There is also farewell merchandise for the Universe of Energy attraction at Epcot.
Some of the Great Movie Ride merchandise is available at the merchandise stand to the left of the stage in front of the attraction. The T-shirt is $27.99 and the Tervis is $19.99.
Merchandise is also available at Mickey’s of Hollywood, which happens to be the only location for the Annual Passholder exclusive items.
The AP shirts and ornaments are behind the register at Mickey’s of Hollywood.
The passholder shirt is priced at $27.99.
The ornament is $14.99 and is also a passholder exclusive.
There is supposed to be a Great Movie Ride hat, but it is not yet available.
The Universe of Energy merchandise is available at MouseGear in Epcot.
The Universe of Energy AP shirts are priced at $27.99 and the AP ornament is $14.99.
The hats are $23.47.
Non-passholder shirts are priced at $28.16 for some reason.
The ornament is an AP-exclusive and is $14.99.
The Tervis is $19.99.
There is a fantastic LE 3000 Universe of Energy pin at Pin Central for $15.99 also.
Some of this merchandise will be available online at DisneyStore.com starting August 10, but we do not yet know if all of it will be available online.
The annual Halloween event is coming back to Tokyo Disneyland from September 8th – October 31st with Mickey and friends starring in a Halloween music festival.
Parade and Decorations
With two daily 45 minute performances, the “Halloween Pop’n LIVE” parade will be making a return this year with all new music and costumes.
To go along with the Halloween parade, the World Bazaar along with Westernland, Fantasyland, and Toontown will be decorated with huge cobwebs, Jack-o-lanterns, and ghosts. When nightfall hits, you can expect the Cinderella Castle will be lit up to match it’s spooky Halloween surroundings.
Costumes
The rules regarding costumes during the Halloween season at Tokyo Disneyland have changed slightly. This year will mark the 20th year that the event has been held, but the first year that both parks at the Tokyo Disney Resort will be allowing guests of all ages enjoy wearing costumes.
Any day during the time the event is running, all guests are encouraged to get into the Halloween spirit and dress up, as long as their costumes do no cover their face, follows safety and theme policy and be representing a Disney Character, or guests may not be admitted into the parks.
Other Programs
Starting on September 2nd, 2017 and continuing until January 3rd, 2018, the Haunted Mansion will be receiving the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay, to be transformed into the Haunted Mansion “Holiday Nightmare”. At the Westernland Shooting Gallery, guests will get the chance to win a limited time Halloween themed Goofy sheriff badge as well.
UPDATE: This event has completely sold out, and the waitlist is full as well. Thanks for your interest! If you are interested in similar events, please check out the Celebration 35 event being held by our friends at WDWCelebrations for information about an IllumiNations Dessert Party on October 1, 2017, and check out WDWNT’s Tencennial Celebration for information about our Private Breakfast to be held in the Living Seas Lounge on September 24, 2017.
Join WDWNT as we bid adieu to the centerpiece of Disney’s Hollywood Studios®. We have organized a private gathering to say goodbye to this spectacular Audio-Animatronics tour de force as only WDWNT.com can!
Your ticket includes after-hours access to walk through The Great Movie Ride®, ending with a scrumptious dessert party, and featuring a talk by former Imagineer Brian Collins, who helped create script and staging for the attraction. On top of all that, helping Ryman Arts, the fine arts education institution co-founded by legendary Imagineer Marty Sklar.
All proceeds from this event will be donated to Ryman Arts in honor of Marty Sklar. In addition, you are welcome to add any additional donation amount to your ticket purchase to support this great cause!
Please note that the number of tickets is extremely limited and we expect them to sell out rather quickly. Tickets are non-refundable, and non-transferable without the prior written consent of WDWNT LLC.
Park admission is not required to participate in this event.
Transportation to and from Disney’s Hollywood Studios® is required and not included in the ticket price. Please note that Disney transportation will not be available either before or after the event. The event meeting location will be outside of the park gates. Disney’s Hollywood Studios® operating hours on Friday August 11th end at 9:30 PM and you will not be permitted to wait inside the park for the event to begin.
This event is a private event organized by WDWNT LLC and is not organized, sponsored, or endorsed by The Walt Disney Company.
Participants are welcome to take photographs and video recordings for personal, non-commercial use only. Any type of live streaming or broadcasting during the event is prohibited, as well as flash photography or external video lighting. Participants who do not adhere to these restrictions or any other rules pertaining to Walt Disney World® Theme Parks may be ejected without refund. By purchasing a ticket to this event, you acknowledge and agree to these restrictions.
Guests visiting Disney Springs can now quench their thirst for adventure during an expanded happy hour at Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar!
Visitors can enjoy special prices on cocktails, wine, and draft beer, or fuel up for their next adventure with happy hour appetizers including Jock’s Loaded Nachos, Belloq’s Bacon Fries and Double Agent Sliders. These happy hour savings are available Monday through Thursday from 3-6:30PM and 9-11PM, and Fridays, 3-6:30PM.
Following the success of the other establishments already running the program, three restaurants at Disney’s Hollywood Studios are joining Mobile Order through the MyDisney Experience app.
The service is already offered at Tomorrowland Terrace, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, Pinocchio Village Haus, Pecos Bill’s, and Columbia Harbour House at the Magic Kingdom, Electric Umbrella and Liberty Inn at Epcot, Flame Tree Barbecue, Pizzafari, Restaurtantosaurus, and Satuli Canteen at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as well as D-Luxe Burger at Disney Springs.
The mobile ordering program allows guests to order at Disney counter service restaurants from their mobile devices and then pick-up the order when they are ready to eat. Check out our comprehensive review of the service to see how it works.
Sadly, Disney has confirmed that locations offering discounts will not be able to honor them through Mobile Order during the “launch period”, so guests will have to go to the counter and order the old way if they wish to get Annual Passholer, Tables in Wonderland, or any other discounts still.
