Virtual ‘Star Wars’ at Disney Springs
A new “Star Wars” experience, steeped in “hyper reality,” will open at Disney Springs this year, powered by virtual reality company The VOID.
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire was announced by Lucasfilm, ILMxLAB — which is the Immersive Entertainment division of Lucasfilm — and The VOID last week.
“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,” said Curtis Hickman, cofounder and chief creative officer at The VOID.
Officials did not share the exact location of the future VOID Experience Center at Disney Springs, the opening date or how much tickets would cost. A spokeswoman for The VOID said it would be up in time for the holiday season. It’s a permanent set-up.
Once open, visitors “will move freely throughout the untethered, social, and multisensory experience as they interact and engage with friends, family and ‘Star Wars’ characters,” a news release said.
ILMxLAB created the first-of-its-kind experience, in collaboration with The VOID, which combines physical sets with real-time interactive effects. The VOID has locations in New York, Toronto, and Salt Lake City. Those attractions have a “Ghostbusters” storyline. Tickets in Toronto and Utah are $24 and $25, respectively.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Co., which has big theme-park plans already for its “Star Wars” franchise, including dedicated lands called Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland plus an immersive “Star Wars”-themed hotel at Walt Disney World.
Mobile ordering for meals continues to grow at Walt Disney World. For the first time, an Epcot restaurant is an option. Electric Umbrella, a counter-service eatery in the theme park’s Future World, is now available.
Also new to mobile ordering is Columbia Harbour House in Magic Kingdom. That means there are 10 restaurants in Disney World parks online, plus D-Luxe Burger at Disney Springs.
Visitors order and pay for meals through the My Disney Experience app on smartphones. The restaurants have designated pick-up windows for these customers, who avoid queuing up to order.
Crayola Experience added Adventure Lab, another hands-on activity, to its lineup last week. The new offering guides visitors through physical and on-screen challenges.
For this area of the attraction, which opened inside Florida Mall two years ago, kids and adults are loaned tablets that direct them between 15 specific stations for specific tasks. Although there are no crayons involved, there are Crayola characters in the backstory for Adventure Lab.
Anthropomorphized colors (named Scarlet, Orchid, Denny, Rod and Gus – as in “asparagus”) have made a mess of the lab, and if the tasks are completed by guests, the lab will be saved, as the story goes.
Participants have 90 seconds to complete challenges, which range from working a maze to distributing clumps of virtual wax into bins to fixing the “invisible ink machine.”
Visitors are assigned only three of the 15 tasks at a time, which means the next round will be a completely different experience. That bolsters the repeatability factor, said Jackie Vasquez, marketing and sales manager.
“Adventure Lab is the first of its kind for us,” said Victoria Lozano, senior vice president and general manager of Crayola attractions and retail. “It’s an attraction that truly puts kids in a world that’s part fantasy and part reality.”
Adventure Lab is included in the regular admission of $22.99.
Winter Park’s Alfond Inn has made Travel + Leisure magazine’s list of the 100 best hotels in the world. The 112-room boutique hotel, owned by Rollins College, ranked No. 62 in a reader survey.
The Alfond also was was No. 2 among the “city hotels” in the continental United States, the magazine said.
“This is a great recognition for a boutique hotel like ours, especially one that has placed art at the forefront of the guest experience,” said Jesse Martinez, general manager.
The hotel, which opened in 2013, showcases a 300-piece art collection donated to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum by Rollins alumni Barbara and Ted Alfond.
Three other Florida hotels made the top 100 list. The Gasparilla Inn & Club of Boca Grande was No. 42. Acqualina Resort & Spa of Sunny Isles Beach was No. 94, and Little Palm Island Resort & Spa of Little Torch Key was No. 95.
Travel + Leisure readers ranked hotel destinations, resorts, cruise lines, spas and tour operators.