Disney's New Star Wars Land Changes Are Cool — But They Represent A Remarkable Failure

Disney has officially given "Star Wars" and theme park fans something new to argue about. 

IGN is reporting that Disneyland's version of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park land (or Star Wars Land, as everyone actually calls it) will shift its timeline on April 29, 2026, by bringing in characters from the original trilogy. (The Disney World version will remain as-is, for now.) That means Kylo Run will no longer menace the land's street, with Darth Vader set to take his place. And while Rey will still be at the center of the Rise of the Resistance attraction, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo will be the marquee meet-and-greets.

Most fans will think this is cool. And that's okay! It is cool. Getting to "meet" your favorite sci-fi heroes in a theme park land this immersive is a unique and powerful experience when done right, as I recently learned at the Epic Universe theme park at Universal Orlando Resort. Disney Parks likes to put on a great show, and it's hard to imagine anything less than stellar talent will be hired to portray those characters and give guests something to remember. It's going to be neat. When I visit, I will happily pester Han for a selfie. 

But other fans will likely have two conflicting thoughts in their head at the same time. This is cool, but isn't this also ... the Disney Parks' head honchos essentially admitting that the original mission of Galaxy's Edge was a complete and total failure and throwing up their hands and giving up any attempt to make the area the truly immersive, in-canon, essential chapter of the saga they originally pitched it as?

Yes. Does it matter? Kind of. Maybe. Not really. But also yes.

To understand this noble failure, one needs a little bit of history. 

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has been controversial among theme park fans since day one. The detailed, immersive theme park lands, with one version at California's Disneyland and the other at Florida's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, are staggering to explore and built around one of the best theme park rides ever designed (and also Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run). They also failed to live up the early promises announced by Disney, like ongoing storylines, constant live character interactions, and roving autonomous droids. Some fans have also decried the setting, a settlement known as Blackspire Outpost on the planet Batuu, a location unique to the parks and never before seen in any of the "Star Wars" films. Some saw it as a canvas on which to tell a new story. Others saw it as an unfamiliar world that evoked no nostalgia whatsoever.

Personally, I loved (and love) the idea of Batuu. I love that it was deliberately designed to take place during a specific moment on the "Star Wars" timeline and that both rides were extensions of the land surrounding them. You entered a "real" place in a beloved universe and actively participated in canonical events that mattered to characters you loved. In an age of theme park immersion, one where Universal Studios has truly dropped the gauntlet with Epic Universe, Galaxy's Edge was next-level stuff. The firm setting of the rides and land ensured that Disney was, for lack of a better term, fully committed to the bit and wanted you to join in.

This was a new "Star Wars" adventure, one baked in the embers of the sequel trilogy. 

Despite Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi" being nothing short of a masterpiece (fight me, etc.), the divisive reaction to the sequel trilogy immediately cast a pall over Galaxy's Edge and its focus on Kylo Ren, Rey, and Finn. The cracks started to show. When "The Mandalorian" blew up, Din Djarin and Grogu started appearing in the land despite appearing decades before the Resistance and the First Order clashed. People wanted Baby Yoda in Star Wars Land, darn it, and who was Disney to say no? 

The introduction of original trilogy characters is the final collapse of Galaxy's Edge initial mission. Although Millennium Falcon: Smugger's Run is a screen-based ride that can be easily re-themed (and the "Mandalorian and Grogu" overlay will open soon), the far more sweeping and impressive "Rise of the Resistance" is forever set in the sequel trilogy. That means waking from the streets of Blackspire Outpost and into the queue for the land's marquee attraction is essentially an act of time travel. And while time travel isn't entirely unknown in "Star Wars," it's not expected. 

I know what many of you are thinking: does this matter? In the grand scheme, no. But considering the "death by a thousand cuts" Galaxy's Edge has undergone over the years as the original, sweeping vision was undone due to tech and budget issues, this feels like the final blow to a once promising vision. Star Wars Land was once about creating a story in a wholly realized, cohesive world and asking the audience to join in. Now, it's a canvas for whatever "Star Wars" characters are currently popular. It's going to be awesome. It's also the final nail in the coffin for these lands' original vision.