Disney names its ‘Star Wars’ rides, announces Epcot shows
Disney has unveiled more details and named names for its Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land that’s under construction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The two major rides of the area will be called Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
The announcements were part of a slew of updates given by Bob Chapek, Disney’s chairman of parks, experiences and consumer products, during Destination D, a gathering of the D23 fan club, at Disney’s Contemporary Resort on Saturday. His speech included details about Epcot additions and shows as well as other happenings at Hollywood Studios.
Galaxy’s Edge, scheduled to open in the fall of 2019 in Florida and in the summer at Disneyland in California, is touted as an allimmersive experience that eventually will extend into a specialized “Star Wars” themed hotel. Chapek showed film footage of construction, some interiors and a computerized simulation of the finished land, all set to original music composed by John Williams, who was revealed to be working on the project with Disney.
The “Star Wars” land and its adjacent hotel constitute “the most immersive experience we’ve ever created,” Chapek said. “Think of it like a cruise aboard one of the most luxurious starships in the galaxy.”
The Smugglers Run storyline arms characters “with the fastest ship in the galaxy and with cargo to move, all that’s needed is a flight crew. That’s where you come in,” Chapek said.
On Rise of the Resistance, visitors will be taken hostage. “When your rescue team arrives you’ll end up in a full scale battle between the First Order and the Resistance, facing off with none other than Kylo Ren himself,” Chapek said.
Chapek’s speech, which last about 40 minutes, revealed names and plans for nighttime spectaculars at Epcot. The current Illuminations: Reflections of
Designers overestimated the strength of a critical section of a Florida International University pedestrian bridge that collapsed, killing six people, and they underestimated the load on that same section, federal investigators reported Thursday.
Cracks that were observed in the bridge before it collapsed were consistent with those design errors, their report says.
However, the investigation continues, and the National Transportation Safety Board did not blame those errors for the March 15 collapse in the two-page investigative update. The agency is expected to finish its investigation into the cause of the catastrophe next year.
Experts from the Federal Highway Administration reviewed the construction plans and design calculations for the 174-foot-long span intended to link Florida International University with the neighboring city of Sweetwater.
They determined that the design underestimated the structural load on the north end of the bridge while overestimating the strength “of that same critical section.”
The cracking documented in the weeks before the collapse was “consistent with the identified errors,” the report said. Photographs of those cracks previously released by the NTSB showed that they grew significantly larger after the prefabricated bridge was moved from a casting yard and set into place over a busy highway and a canal.
“The investigation continues to examine the design, review, and construction processes, as well as the actions taken once the cracking was observed,” the report said.
The report also said concrete and steel samples from the bridge met the minimum requirements specified in the project’s plans.
Two days before the collapse, an engineer with the design firm, FIGG Bridge Group, left a voicemail for Florida Department of Transportation officials to report cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, but the company did not think it was a safety issue. State officials did not hear the voicemail until after the collapse. University officials said DOT officials had been included in a meeting to discuss the cracking hours before the collapse.
Earth, is scheduled to wrap up next year. It will eventually be replaced by a lagoon show listed as “a worldwide celebration of Disney music.” Highlights from the show, presented as in its earliest stages, showed characters from “Moana,” “Brave,” “Dumbo,” “Mulan,” “Tangled,” “Hercules,” “Peter Pan,” “Pocahontas” and “Frozen,” among others.
That show is expected to debut in 2020, Chapek said,
and in between those spectaculars will be a limitedtime evening show called “Epcot Forever,” which will concentrate on music from that theme park's attractions, past and present.
Other Epcot developments shared Saturday included the addition of a “Beauty and the Beast” singalong in France, the name of the previously announced Ratatouille ride (Remy's Ratatouille Adventure) and updated footage for the “O Canada” film.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, a new nighttime
show called “Wonderful World of Animation,” will debut on the park's Chinese Theater on May 1. It will be part of the 30th anniversary of Hollywood Studios.
Chapek said Disney is “just about one year away” from opening Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway ride inside the Chinese Theater, which previously was the home of the Great Movie Ride.
Other bits from Chapek's speech:
■ The 900-unit hotel being constructed where the River Country stood will be called Reflections: A Disney Lakeside Lodge.
■ Mickey's Soundsational Parade will return to Disneyland in January.
■ Interactive moments in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will be achieved through the Play Disney Parks app.
■ A capsule that will be part of the Disney Skyliner gondola transport system was displayed. The Skyliner is scheduled to open next fall.