Disney to launch new lands

The company will break ground on “Star Wars”-themed lands at Disneyland and at one of its Florida parks in 2016.

Walt Disney Co. will break ground on “Star Wars”-themed lands at Disneyland and one of its Florida theme parks in 2016, Chief Operating Officer Thomas Staggs said Thursday.

The 14-acre “Star Wars” areas represent the largest expansions in the Burbank company’s history for a single-themed area at its parks. The Florida iteration will be built at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is part of Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

The projects were announced at Disney’s D23 fan expo at the Anaheim Convention Center in August. A Disney representative said then that construction would begin by the end of 2017. As part of a tax deal that Disney negotiated this year with the city of Anaheim, the company is required to begin construction on at least $1 billion in new attractions at Disneyland Resort by 2017.

Staggs, who was speaking at the Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch 2015 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference in Beverly Hills, did not say when the “Star Wars” lands would open.

Disney, which bought “Star Wars” producer Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion in 2012, will soon release the first new film in the franchise in more than a decade. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” comes out Dec. 18 and stars Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac, among others.