PHOTOS, VIDEO: Disney Previews Future Theme Park Star Wars Merchandise Releases at Celebration Orlando
Yesterday at Star Wars Celebration Orlando, we got a special look ahead at all of the awesome Star Wars merchandise coming to Disney Parks over the next year during a special panel. Below are photos and video of everything of interest that we saw. Enjoy!
Droid Factory
The droid Factory line, started a few years ago, has allowed guests to build their own Astromech Droids at locations at both the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts. Disney has also released one-of-a-kind droids in special packs, as pictured above.
Several pieces were released at Star Wars Celebration Orlando, including this two-pack with R2-D2 and C-390…
As well as Chopper from the television series Rebels. Not pictured above is the red protocol droid C-3D0 from The Force Awakens which was also released this weekend at the convention.
Starting Friday, April 14th at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, guests will be able to build protocol droids at the experience as well, with over 70 pieces to choose from. This will also be rolled out to additional locations and at the Disneyland Resort in the next few days.
Several more pre-packaged Astromech Droids are coming this year, with a D23 Expo exclusive…
A Halloween season piece…
A Christmas season piece…
And bb-8 will be introduced to the line at the Disneyland Resort during the week of the D23 Expo.
While they wouldn’t show us exactly what it looks like, guests will soon have a Jawa’s Sandcrawler as a playlet for all of their Droid Factory toys.
Upcoming Star Wars Events at Disney Parks
Next weekend, the Star Wars Half Marathon – The Dark Side will unleash a new line of merchandise.
These Imperial Dooney and Bourke bags titled “The Dark Side” will be released at the event.
With the first event taking place on April 14th (with more likely to be announced), Star Wars Galactic Nights has plenty of goodies for guests to bring home. NOTE: They blurred out the mug and shirt to keep the logo a surprise.
The 2018 Star Wars Day at Sea merchandise for Disney Cruise Line was also previewed.
On May 4th, 2017, Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will celebrate Star Wars Day with exclusive merchandise.
Other MerchandiseÂ
The 13th Ewok plush in the collection will be released at the D23 Expo this year.
Starting today, guests will find these phone cases celebrating 40 years of Star Wars at the D-Tech on Demand kiosks at Star Wars Launch Bay.
“I Love You” and “I Know” hats will join the t-shirts later this year.
Disney recently gave us another inside look at the process of creating Happily Ever After, the new nighttime spectacular coming to Magic Kingdom May 12th. In this video, they talk about how the show will use cutting-edge technology involving the state-of the art projection mapping. Projections are just one of the many methods of storytelling being used, in addition to new hand-drawn animation, an original score and the latest in lasers and pyrotechnics. Here is that video below from the Disney Parks Blog: Happily Ever After will be debuting May 12th at Magic Kingdom. At a panel discussion today at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando entitled Star Wars and Disney Parks: A Galaxy in the Making, creative minds from Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Imagineering discussed their unique partnership and shared additional details about the new galactic lands being created at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts. Everyone in the room got to experience the excitement and commitment this team is bringing to this project. Here’s an exclusive look at a video shared at today’s event which gives some insight into this incredible collaboration.
The team shared exciting new details about the story behind this mysterious destination somewhere on the Outer Rim — lying on the edge of the Unknown Regions. The remote village was once a busy crossroads along the old sub-lightspeed trade routes, but the prominence of the outpost has been bypassed with the rise of hyperspace travel. Now home to those who prefer less attention, it has become a thriving port for smugglers, rogue traders and adventurers traveling between the frontier and uncharted space. It’s also a convenient safe-haven for others intent on avoiding the expanding reach of the First Order. Unusual characters from across the galaxy have landed here, preferring the “no questions asked” environment as well as easy access to exotic supplies and an abundant supply of ready rogues looking to join a crew for their next adventure. As Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced last month, our Star Wars-themed lands are scheduled to open in 2019. Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald announced at Star Wars Celebration Orlando that the previously announced new scene in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue will visiting the planet Crait from Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. The scene will be added to the attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World sometime in late 2017. Yesterday, a special panel at Star Wars Celebration Orlando was presented celebrating “Disney Parks and Star Wars – A Galaxy in the Making”. The presentation includes 40 minutes of talk about the Star Wars Land project for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, revealing new details we have not heard before. Learn all about building a reputation, helping bounty hunters, joining the First Order or the Resistance, piloting the Millennium Falcon, and more in the video below: Due to copyright issues, Disney would not allow us to upload the behind the scenes video they stop to play in the panel, but you can watch it in all of its glory here: The panel also began with the story of Star Tours and an announcement of a new destination from The Last Jedi, which you can watch below: The new destination in Star Tours will debut in late 2017. The Star Wars themed land at Disney Parks will open in 2019. Star Wars – Galactic Nights took over Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Friday, April 14th, 2017 during Star Wars Celebration Orlando, turning the park into a fanboy’s dream. While we are still formulating a review (as it is expected the event will return), please enjoy our videos of the various festivities: Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster drops Aerosmith and adds the magical musical core of John Williams in this attraction overlay. The ride portion is mostly dark except for some projections of stars, a nice upgrade over the last time this overlay was installed in December 2015 for the premiere of The Force Awakens. Rey from the new Star Wars trilogy joins the cast of this show for one night only. Darth Vader and the stormtroopers march through Disney’s Hollywood Studios in this event exclusive offering. A Rogue One sequence replaces Both in Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular. You can see the Both version of the show below this one in case you are wondering what’s missing. A celebrity motorcade welcomes the stars to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Right before the fireworks show, the event is recapped and the guest lanyards come to life with some Disney magic… Just for this event, the Seventh Sister is turned into a face character in Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple. The Chinese Theater is turned into a living canvas as tableaus of Star Wars planets come to life. Alright, they can’t all be winners. Witness this strange and almost useless stage show/powerpoint presentation on the history of Star Wars. 6 unique photo-ops were offered to guests during this event. Beginning May 26th, the Frozen Summer Games hosted at Blizzard Beach will be returning for their second year. The games are ‘games’ at Blizzard Beach (which are included in admission) where you can join Team Kristoff or Team Olaf to participate in a variety of activities, from Ice Pail Relays and a Snowball Toss to Ski Pole Limbo and Slide Races. Not only that, but there will be crafts, a live DJ, and for the first time in forever, a special Kristoff and Olaf character greeting location. Frozen Summer Games begins May 26th at Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park. No end date has been announced. Multiple areas of Animal Kingdom will be under construction in the coming weeks. Construction to enhance the Serka Zong Bazaar merchandise location at Expedition Everest began on April 17th and will continue through May 12th. During construction, the location will remain open. In addition to that, the FastPass+ touch points and entrance queue area at Kilimanjaro Safaris will undergo refurbishment from April 17 through May 12. A secondary queue will be used during the entire duration of this construction project. “it’s tough to be a bug” will be closed April 24th through the 28th to accommodate work on the Tree of Life structure. Finally, the tiger exhibit in the Maharajah Jungle Trek will undergo habitat enhancements through Friday, May 5. During this time, the tigers will be kept backstage and the viewing areas will be inaccessible to Guests. Our latest photo report brings us to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for a wild adventure… The bar area between Rainforest Cafe and the entrance of the park was heavily refurbished. Looks like they are expecting to reopen it once crowds arrive for Pandora. Pandora looms in the distance. A look at Pandora from the Animal Kingdom bus loop. Work continues on the expansion of the bus loop. Alright, time to head inside… I always make sure to visit the Babirusa on my way through the Oasis. Nearly every store in the park is carrying Rivers of Light merchandise currently. I wonder if the opening of Pandora will change all of these displays… The passholder tiger shirt pictured is now sold out. They are not expecting more. A very shiny Rivers of Light logo pin. The light-up ear hat ornament is pretty neat. The totem pole is a Made with Magic item that interacts with the show, but also can interact with other Made with Magic products. You can see the totem wand in action below: A variety of other glowing products are sold, including a fan and a necklace. The most popular light-up item seems to be this lotus blossom “glow cube”, sold with beverages at the Thirsty River Bar by Expedition Everest and several other bar locations. If you would like a drink recommendation, the Khumbu Ice Fall is my personal favorite. An Easter Mickey Mouse plush is now available. A limited edition Easter MagicBand 2 was released recently. There is now a special Radio Disney photo op at Disney Springs. This new limited-engagement photo-op is with the one and only Radio Disney Arch (or “ARDY”) where many famous celebrities, including Fifth Harmony, have stood on the red carpet posing for their photos. “ARDY” is named after the award that is actually given to the artists each year at the Radio Disney Music Awards. Can’t make it to Disney Springs to see the arch for yourself? You can still participate in the fun by voting for your favorite artists until April 9, 2017 on the official RDMA site, accessible here: www.Disney.com/RDMA. The live RDMA show will take place on April 29th in Los Angeles, CA, with winners announced via social media in real time. The following day, April 30th, “Disney Channel Presents the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards” will air on the Disney Channel at 7 p.m. so make plans to tune-in. ARDY will be available at Disney Springs until April 30th. If you do get to pose with the ARDY Arch, guests are encouraged to take a selfie and tag it with #RDMA and #DisneySprings.
VIDEO: A Look at the Projection Mapping for Happily Ever After, Magic Kingdom’s New Nighttime Spectacle
VIDEO: Disney Imagineering Shares Behind the Scenes Look at the Making of Star Wars Land at Celebration Orlando
PHOTO: Star Wars Episode VIII “The Last Jedi” Destination Announced for Star Tours – The Adventures Continue; Artwork Released
VIDEO: Learn More About Star Wars Land’s Reputation System, Attractions, and More with Full Celebration Orlando Panel
VIDEO: Star Wars Takes Over Rock ‘ N’ Roller Coaster, Rogue One Joins Galactic Spectacular, Rey Appears, and More from Galactic Nights
Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster – Star Wars Edition
Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away adds Rey
Imperial March
Rogue One added to Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
Stars in Cars Celebrity Motorcade
Galactic Nights Epilogue and Lanyard Reveal Moment
The Seventh Sister Reveals Her Face in Jedi Training
Planetary Projections
Celebrate the Saga
Photo-Ops
Frozen Summer Games Returning to Blizzard Beach May 26th
“it’s tough to be a bug”, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Maharajah Jungle Trek, & More Refurbishments Happening Over the Next Month at Animal Kingdom
PHOTO REPORT: Disney’s Animal Kingdom 3/27/17 (AVATAR, Rivers of Light, New Merchandise, Willie the Anteater, Etc.)
NAHTAZU
Rivers of Light Merchandise
Other New Items
Radio Disney Arch Photo-Op at Disney Springs Until April 30th
