March 2017 Star Wars Land Construction Update
It’s been a while since we shared a Star Wars Land construction update, and this time, we have one for both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We’ll start with California first, where I just shot the photos in this post earlier today (March 1, 2017).
Based on my observations, construction for Star Wars Land is further along at Disneyland. Construction has now gone vertical, and there is also a lot of rock-work visible that makes it look like things–in some places at least–are fairly far along. However, some of this is for the rock-work that will separate Star Wars Land from the Rivers of America.
With the attractions along the Rivers of America, including the Disneyland Railroad and Fantasmic, returning in Summer 2017, it should be no surprise that this element of the project is further along than the rest of Star Wars Land construction. The actual substance of Star Wars Land won’t need to be ready until sometime in 2019…
Now let’s take a look at the view of the Star Wars Land construction site at Disneyland from the Mickey & Friends parking structure…
It’s almost an attraction unto itself, with crowds gathering to take photos of the very active construction site across Disneyland Drive.
Here’s a closer look at construction on the backside of the Rivers of America.
Above is (approximately) the back side of that from inside the park, near Hungry Bear Restaurant. The rock-work above looks like that featured in the Rivers of America concept art Disney released…
For those unfamiliar with this part of Disneyland, what we’re looking at would be the far left of this art, where the train is pictured.
Another closer look. I believe the building frame is for the Stormtrooper Battle Escape attraction.
Back inside the park, this time over by Big Thunder Railroad. Looking behind the attraction, we can see the new berm, which is rock-work to the left (basically, the far right side of the concept art above) and a themed barricade (pictured directly above) to the right.
Disneyland Star Wars Land construction has progressed quite nicely since last time we checked out the view from Mickey & Friends. While it’s still too early to tell, we’re hopeful that a Christmas 2018 soft opening remains in the realm of possibility. If both Star Wars Lands are going to open in 2019 (as Disney recently announced), it seems likely Disneyland’s Star Wars Land will have a longer soft opening period beforehand, as it is definitely further along as of right now.
Now, let’s take a look at Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land construction progress at Walt Disney World. We were recently in Florida, and it was nearly impossible to see anything from the park (I have a couple dirt pile photos I’ll post in our coming trip report in case anyone is into that sort of thing). Fortunately, NearMap sent me these photos to use. I have no idea why they sent the images–perhaps their PR team has determined that my audience is the prime target for buying some “near maps.”
I like this one the best, as it provides a look at both Toy Story Land (top left) and Star Wars Land (bottom), as well as some current in-park context (Toy Story Mania is top middle and MuppetVision is lower middle).
Here’s Toy Story Land by itself. My question here is “what’s taking so long?!”
(That’s rhetorical–I know Pandora going over budget and the desire to spread capex over multiple years is the “reason.” It just seems like a lousy one given Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ current state.)
On the other hand, I was actually a bit surprised to see this much progress on Star Wars Land at Walt Disney World. Based upon what you can see from Muppets Courtyard, it looks like they haven’t even finished demolition work.
In actuality, the plot is entirely clear (except for a stray Streets of America facade–perhaps it’s being repurposed), foundation work appears well along, and Star Wars Land construction is even going vertical in places. (It seems like the pace always picks up considerably once things go vertical.)
This assuages some of my concerns that Star Wars Land opening in 2019 at Walt Disney World is a long shot. Despite my complaint about Toy Story Land’s progress, there’s no denying that the next 3 years (Pandora in 2017, Toy Story Land in 2018, and Star Wars Land in 2019) should be a really strong 1-2-3 punch in terms of additions at Walt Disney World. When you factor in other additions, I wonder if this much has ever been spent on the Florida parks over the course of 3 years…
That’s it for this Disneyland and Walt Disney World Star Wars Land (and I guess a little bit of Toy Story Land) construction update. As a side note, we’ll be back later this week with a more general Disneyland update. Today was our first time this year spending any significant time in Disneyland, so we have a lot to catch up on–from Red Rose Taverne (we tried almost everything on the menu!) to Guardians of the Galaxy: MISSION Build-A-Warehouse, Fortress-Like Power Plant Kinda Oil Rig-Looking Monstrosity.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you been keeping tabs on the construction progress for Star Wars Land? What do you think of the progress at Disneyland versus Walt Disney World? Are you excited for it to open? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!
I wonder why they aren’t adding more stop gap activities or attractions like the Jack Sparrow show they had. While it was not an E ticket. I really liked it. It was inventive and different. Why aren’t they adding a few things like that to help with a lack of attractions. Do you think they killed it because they needed the projection mapping machinery for the new Star Wars Fireworks show?
Thanks for the update. I’m really looking forward to the new railroad route, so it’s nice to see that’s coming along. (‘Had a fun visit with a bored engineer manning the station behind French Quarter a while back, discussing the potential challenges of the new track configuration; it will be interesting to see how it plays out.)
Watching this with so much interest – being from Australia we have to be prudent about when we next come over to visit the parks. Based on wanting to experience star wars land, I’m tentatively planning a 2019 trip but if I felt that it wouldn’t be finished I think I’d do a 2018 (Disneyland) trip and 2020 (Disneyworld) – oh the waiting game!!
Hi, Tom.
Around Christmas I stumbled across a YouTube channel (ShesInLosAngeles) that provides nice weekly (and recently more often since going vertical) progress reports on the DL Star Wars Land construction. No commentary, just the video, but it’s cool to see how much things change over time (especially now that there’s vertical activity practically everywhere). Here’s her 2/28/17 “episode” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0vtOOksScQ (and you can go back if you wish to see prior videos).
We’re annual WDW visitors from Cincy area, and have only visited DL once back in 2003 and have no immediate return plans, but at least this gives us some idea for what to expect (someday) in Hollywood Studios. It does appear to me that the HS SWL area (not including Toy Story Land) will be much bigger, but that could just be an optical illusion.
Thanks for providing this great blog! I found your site last fall and have already used many of your tips for our upcoming, early May trip. (Here’s hoping for a soft Pandora opening three weeks early.) Your DVC rental tips are great, and we plan to take advantage of that on subsequent trips.
Jim
“It does appear to me that the HS SWL area (not including Toy Story Land) will be much bigger, but that could just be an optical illusion.”
It’s an optical illusion. The lands are clones of one another, with slight layout modifications to allow for the differently-shaped plots of land. With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s slightly more transition space in Hollywood Studios, if only because they have more room to work with there.
Tom,
Do you have any wild predictions for when in 2018 Toy Story Land might open?
They like having things open by summer, so my guess would be Memorial Day 2018. I’d be shocked if that trend continues for Star Wars Land, if only because it’s so much more detailed, but it’s so far out that I could be way off (my guess for Star Wars Land at DHS would be Christmas 2019).
Is Disney rethinking Stars
Wars land . I was there at Hollywood Studios and some of the buildings were still standing.
Regarding the “Guardians of the Galaxy: MISSION Build-A-Warehouse, Fortress-Like Power Plant Kinda Oil Rig-Looking Monstrosity” (which is indeed genius), as long as they keep their movie-franchise-promoting hands off of ToT in Florida, I can live with it.
I like this name, it has a nice ring to it.
That last sentence is maybe your finest work, Tom.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. 😉
The speed of Toy Story Land could be related to spreading Capital dollars, but it could also simply be availability of contractors. We have had several capital projects at my work move more slowly than we would like because our preferred contractors were spread thin.
That’s true, too.
More than anything else, that line was venting some frustrations about Disney allowing DHS to stagnate the last 5+ years with only minimal effort towards an immediate fix to the problem. The temporary Star Wars stuff is mostly a joke, and it’s disappointing no other stop-gaps have been added.
On the other hand, as noted at the bottom of the post, we are in an era of unprecedented growth at Walt Disney World. Even if some of it is overdue, it’s great to see this level of investment in Florida.