In addition to confirming plans for an immersive Star Wars-themed park, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts has announced a major revamp for its third-oldest theme park, Epcot.
Both Disneyland in Anaheim, California and Walt Disney World Resorts in Orlando will get a Star Wars-inspired resort, with the Disneyland resort opening first in 2019 and the Orlando location to follow later that year. Both will kick-off the new Disney 360 vacation concept, which Disney is billing as “unlike anything that exists today.”
The resorts, both called Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, will immediately immerse guests in the world, even encouraging them to dress the part.
Disney’s World’s Epcot is also getting a face-lift – the park is adding two new attractions (Ratatouille and Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired rides) and updating its Mission:Space simulator attraction. At another Disney World park, Hollywood Studios, a ride called Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will replace the Great Movie Ride, which hearkens back to a Disney past of animatronics and old Hollywood.
According to Bloomberg, Disney has been hedging its bets towards theme parks, the company’s second-largest division after television, on the premise that park attractions can’t easily be copied or made obsolete.
In preparation for its 50th anniversary in 2021, Orlando’s Disney World also faces stronger competition from nearby Universal Orlando, which received an influx of cash in the billions from Comcast in 2015, according to reporting from the New York Times.