Fan-Favorite Star Wars Ride Overlay Returns for 2026!
Despite Season of the Force not officially coming back for 2026, it’s a huge week for Star Wars fans! Beginning tomorrow, Disney is finally bringing original trilogy characters to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and expanding the land’s timeline. Ahead of that, Disneyland has brought back the fan-favorite Hyperspace Mountain for another limited-time run as of April 28, 2026.
Let’s start with a quick recap of the upcoming changes to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Beginning April 29, 2026, visitors will be able to experience different points of the Star Wars saga inside Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, with new characters and storylines. These updates to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will enable visitors to experience even more of the eras of the franchise at Disneyland.
New storylines will be brought to life in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, spanning multiple eras of the planet’s rich history. These updates will enable you to experience the Galactic Civil War and New Republic, as well as the Age of the Resistance and First Order.
Black Spire Outpost will roll back in time several decades, introducing beloved characters from across the Star Wars timeline, new props, and more. Select shops have been updated to represent the new storylines with First Order Cargo transforming to Black Spire Surplus and a different array of curiosities and artifacts at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities.
One highlight for which we’re especially excited is selections of beloved scores from legendary composer John Williams playing throughout the Black Spire Outpost, pulling musical themes from the first six films. Each era will be brought to life with the same care and attention to detail that the land was originally designed with, weaving together stories from across time and space in one location.
Darth Vader’s search for Luke Skywalker will bring him to Batuu. This Sith Lord will be joined by Imperial Stormtroopers, and as they seek the elusive Jedi, they may find hints of the Force around the outpost.
Leia Organa and Han Solo will be reunited with Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca amid the rocky spires.
Luke Skywalker will roam the outpost seeking knowledge of the Force and artifacts related to lightsaber building, kyber crystals, and more.
After previously appearing on a seasonal basis last year, Luke becomes a permanent resident of Batuu as of April 29, 2026. Luke will once again appear in his Jedi Knight look from “The Mandalorian.”
Leia Organa may be spotted near the Millennium Falcon, where she’ll recruit travelers and locals to help keep Luke safe. Leia will be sporting her “adventure” costume, as also seen in the Star Wars Battlefront video game series.
Han Solo also will linger around his prized ship, tempted by the local cantina.
These iconic heroes and villains of the Star Wars saga will join familiar faces you may see now in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Encounter Ahsoka Tano, as well as The Mandalorian and Grogu near the marketplace.
The beloved starship mechanic and fighter pilot’s assistant, R2-D2, will also continue to roll through the land near Droid Depot and the garage.
The forested area on the outskirts of Black Spire Outpost will continue to represent a time inspired by the Age of the Resistance. You may find Rey around this Resistance camp.
All of these will be roaming characters, not dedicated meet & greets. They will often appear in pairs.
Characters that previously appeared elsewhere in Disneyland due to the timeline rules of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will now appear exclusively in the land. This means that Darth Vader’s Visa meet & greet in Tomorrowland is ending, but the villain will be replaced by Kylo Ren in that same location.
Guests can also gear up with new merchandise hitting the shelves in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Starting April 28th, the Aurebesh Collection puts an immersive spin on the iconic Star Wars logo, as it is written in Aurebesh.
New novelties celebrating the unforgettable Star Wars stories are now available at various locations, such as the Salvaged Protocol Droid Bucket, Bantha Sipper, Lightsaber Swizzle Sticks and more.
There’s even more in store for Star Wars fans on May 22, 2026 when a new mission debuts at Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in celebration of the release of Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” leading to potential new adventures on Bespin, Coruscant or the wreckage of the second Death Star above Endor.
In the meantime, there’s another ride overlay to experience. For a limited time, the fan-favorite Hyperspace Mountain returns to Tomorrowland in Disneyland starting April 28th, taking travelers on a high-speed Star Wars adventure through swarms of Rebel X-wing starfighters and Imperial TIE fighters alongside the Rebel Alliance.
Per the official Disneyland calendar, Hyperspace Mountain will run through June 1, 2026. Starting on June 2, 2026, the vanilla version of Space Mountain resume missions in Tomorrowland.
Note that the calendar is sometimes incorrect, but with dates for both version of the attraction and a bulletin that Space Mountain is “expected to reopen on June,” there’s a high likelihood these dates are correct. No closure is necessary between Hyperspace Mountain and Space Mountain–it’s an overnight change. See the 2026 Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar for ongoing and upcoming ride closures.
As with all of these changes to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, bringing back Hyperspace Mountain despite a disturbance in the Season of the Force makes sense. Hyperspace Mountain is incredibly popular with both locals and tourists, and will draw even more Californians to the park in the months to come.
Historically, Disneyland attendance slows down in May prior to the start of the summer tourist season, and even that isn’t as busy as it used to be. There needs to be a big asterisk on the upcoming slowdown, though, as we’re expecting the first half of next month to be elevated due to the aggressive California resident ticket deal. As a result, the week-plus before that expires is now on the ‘worst’ side of our list of the Best & Worst Weeks to Visit Disneyland in 2026 & 2027.
Up until that ‘last hurrah’ of the ticket deal, and immediately thereafter, May 2026 shouldn’t be terribly busy. That is, unless another aggressive ticket deal is released starting in mid-May, and we’re betting against that. It’ll probably just be the (very good) Kids’ Ticket Deal, plus a modest resident discount. And that’s a recipe for a slower second half of the month.
For those unfamiliar with the overlay, here’s the description of Hyperspace Mountain from Disneyland:
Fend off cross fire from swarms of New Republic X-wing starfighters and Imperial TIE fighters amidst a galactic onslaught!
Your mission begins with a briefing from Admiral Ackbar: the New Republic needs help flying reconnaissance vessels to survey an Imperial Star Destroyer. After being escorted into hyperspace by an elite X-wing squadron, you arrive only to find the Star Destroyer waiting with a swarm of TIE fighters—it’s a trap!
As starfighter forces valiantly battle Imperial vessels, you’re caught up in a barrage of cannon fire. Maneuvers become more intense as you join the New Republic squadron for one final, courageous assault on the menacing Star Destroyer.
It’s an epic Star Wars combat scene taken straight from the films—but hurry, Hyperspace Mountain is only open for a limited time!
For our part, we enjoy Hyperspace Mountain. While many purists scoff at the overlay, it’s fun and adds even more energy and excitement to the normal Space Mountain experience. Hyperspace Mountain takes the foundation of Space Mountain, an excellent coaster on its own, and ups the ante by engaging with elements of the Star Wars universe.
There are some cool details, a blast-off tunnel, space battle, and on-board music to spice up the experience. While this is done mostly through the same screens used by Ghost Galaxy, the Halloween incarnation of Space Mountain, there are some added effects that are simple yet…effective.
These overlays are just a lot of fun, even if they aren’t anything revolutionary. They keep the core component of Space Mountain (so first-timers shouldn’t feel “cheated”) while adding their own unique twists on the flavor–like Mountain Dew Baja Blast.
Speaking of which, I want to use this platform for another message: bring back Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy, you cowards!
I don’t even remember the last time Disneyland did Ghost Galaxy (2018, I think), but it’s the best of the bunch. The overlay for Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy has everything: ghosts that aren’t really ghosts, subliminal marketing for Alien Pizza Planet, other questionable imagery, and plenty of cheesy projections.
Seriously, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy is gloriously corny in the way as many Halloween movies, and is campy fun as a result.
Ultimately, we’re hopeful that’s exactly what happens this year. Given that Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy uses the exact same infrastructure as Hyperspace Mountain, it seems like it would be as easy as flipping a switch to transition from the Star Wars-themed Hyperspace Mountain to Ghost Galaxy at the end of summer. Then bring back normal Space Mountain at the start of the Christmas season and get locals excited for that again after not having experienced it for over half of the year. Win-win!
Regardless of whether we get our wish with regard to Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy, it should be a fun summer and beyond at Disneyland. The return of Hyperspace Mountain coupled with all of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge timeline changes and character additions should be a lot of fun…once the crushing crowds of the ticket deal have subsided. We cannot wait, and will keep you posted about all of the changes, crowd dynamics, etc.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Are you excited about the return of Hyperspace Mountain? Do you hope that it sticks around indefinitely? Thoughts on crowds in late April and May 2026? What about at Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
