The Upcoming Star Wars Invasion at The Studios

by John The Studios

Whether Disney calls it Season of the Force or not, there is going to be a lot of new Star Wars-related entertainment, attractions, and food coming to The Studios over the next couple of months.

First, Star Yours – The Adventure Continues has already received a new sequence based on Star Wars – The Force Awakens. Disney released a teaser of the new sequence (which I refuse to watch since I’m trying to go into the new Star Wars movie as “blind” as possible to what might happen):

(If you really want spoilers about the new sequence, WDW News Today has a write-up (which I have not read)).

Opening next (perhaps as early as November 27, 2015) will be the Star Wars Launch Bay. Disney has described the Launch Bay as:

tak[ing] guests into the Star Wars saga and the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with special exhibits and peeks behind-the-scenes, special merchandise and opportunities to encounter Chewbacca and Darth Vader.

Also opening in December, will be the new Jedi Training – Trials of the Temple, which Disney describes as:

This reimagined Jedi Training experience will take younglings to the secret site of an ancient Jedi temple where they will face Darth Vader along with the Seventh Sister – a new villain from the Disney XD series “Star Wars Rebels.

WDW News Today also recently broke the news that the Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks show will run nightly starting on January 5, 2016, as well as describing the new dessert party and First Order Stormtrooper patrols that will be part of the new Star Wars-related entertainment.

Of course, all of this new Star Wars entertainment comes at a price, as Disney officially announced the end of Star Wars Weekends. It’s a bummer that we are seeing the end of another yearly event at The Studios (I already miss you Osborne Lights), but, hopefully, the new Star Wars land will fill some of that void before too long.

Season of the Force Appears to be Replacing Star Wars Weekends at The Studios

by John The Studios

UPDATE: Based on the comment from Kenny the Pirate (see below), I reached out to WDW News Today via Twitter to ask if there was any confirmation about this story (especially since the Disney “Star Wars Weekend” page mentions Summer of 2016.) I’ll include the response tweet below, and you can read the full interaction here. Personally, I have found Tom Corless and WDW News Today to be very reliable when it comes to “early” reporting of stories. Still, without official confirmation from Disney, I wrote the original article to say that it “appears” Star Wars Weekends would be replaced. In summary, though I think it would make logical sense for the event to go away as construction on Star Wars Land begins, and though I think WDW News Today has a solid track record on this kind of thing, I will let you make your own decision about what you think might happen.

@kivus I have spoken to people within the company, but Disney themselves is not ready for a formal announcement

— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) October 14, 2015

In a move that I think most people saw coming, Disney’s new Season of the Force event appears to be replacing The Studios’ Star Wars Weekends in at least 2016. (WDW News Today was one of the first sites I saw reporting the news, though it was also (inadvertently?) posted on the Disney Annual Passholders page). Season of the Force will also occur earlier in the year than Star Wars Weekends used to, as it runs from January 8 through March 20, 2016. (As someone who plans on being down there in February for Princess Half-Marathon Weekend), I’m excited about the timing.)

Unfortunately, the above linked news reports give no indication that Season of the Force will feature the same interactions with Star Wars characters (and the celebrities who play them) that Star Wars Weekends used to. Instead, the reports only mention “special snacks”, “special merchandise”, and the previously mentioned new fireworks show as Season of the Force-only enhancements.

I'm afraid I'm really going to miss the character interactions from Star Wars Weekends — I’m afraid I’m really going to miss the character interactions from Star Wars Weekends

News and Lack of News about Star Wars at the Studios

by John Disneyland, The Studios

A number of sites, including easyWDW and WDW News Today are reporting that the Jedi Training Academy will be closing for about 8 weeks on October 4th to revamp the show to tie in more with the Star Wars Rebels cartoon (admittedly, a really well done show.) For me, the biggest bummer is that Scout and Elyssa, Jr. will never be able to do this:

Meanwhile, the Disney Parks Blog released a a bunch of details about the upcoming Season of the Force event at Disneyland. The post contained a number of details for the Disneyland version of the park (including a Chewbacca meet-and-greet), but ended with this disappointing note:

[K]eep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog for dates and details on these new Star Wars experiences coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.

Kind of a bummer for people like me who are looking forward to the Disney World event (Though, probably not as much of a bummer as all the closings that will be taking place at Disneyland as part of the Star Wars construction.) I imagine that the Seasons of the Force event will start up once the Osborne Family Lights come down (since that would be an easy way to get people to go to The Studios.)