4 hidden gems to spot inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
The new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land that opened in Disneyland today – and will open Aug. 29, 2019 at Hollywood Studios in Disney World – was designed with sightlines that evoke cinematic angles.
According to Disney, guests begin with views of wide vistas, then as they explore deeper into the land, their field of vision narrows into tighter spaces – like zooming in for a close-up. And as you get closer, you might find some surprises.
“Our goal was to create a place so authentic – so real – that when our guests step inside, they feel like they’re in the movie. To do this, we had to partner with the team at Lucasfilm in bringing these films to life. Together, Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm have crafted a place that is going to amaze our guests – a place they’ve never seen before.” Chris Beatty, Executive Creative Director, Walt Disney Imagineering said.
The effort and detail Imagineers went to make it even includes using pre-1980 materials to best capture the look and feel of the props in the first Star Wars films when developing props and other décor for the land,
Here are four hidden gems to look for when you get your chance to visit Batuu:
- A podracing engine in the Ronto Roasters market stall calls back to “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” while the former smelter droid turning the spit of meats is similar to a droid seen in Jabba the Hutt’s palace in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”
- A mural on the wall of Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities depicts an ancient battle between the light and dark sides of the Force. The original bas-relief of this mural was seen in Chancellor Palpatine’s office in “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.”
- Batuu’s landscape is dotted with tall petrified tree trunks, and Black Spire Outpost takes its name from a trunk in the center of the village that is darker than all the others.
- Imagineers took rubbings from the feet of the R2-D2 droid used in “Star Wars: A New Hope” and turned those into a set of three-dimensional wheels. Then they built a trolley with those wheels and rolled it through the land before the concrete pathways fully dried to leave behind tracks that you can spot as you explore the outpost.
