Disneyland sets May 31 as opening day for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Four years after it was first announced by the Disney Parks, the first phase of the highly anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land will open May 31 at Disneyland Park in Anaheim.

The immersive, 14-acre Star Wars-themed “land” is the largest and most technologically advanced single-themed land expansions ever in a Disney park.

The first phase of the Galaxy’s Edge will include the opening of the elaborate Black Spire Outpost space base on the planet of Batuu. Visitors will be able to visit merchant shops, sample its themed restaurants and bars, and explore and take the controls of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride.

The second phase, which does not have an opening date yet, will be the opening of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which Disney is billing as the most ambitious, immersive and advanced attraction it has ever developed. It will place park visitors in the middle of a battle between the First Order and the Resistance and will blur the lines between fantasy and reality.

Guests planning to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park between May 31 and June 23, 2019, will need valid theme park admission and will be required to make a free reservation, subject to availability, to access the land. Information on how to make a reservation will be available at a later date on Disneyland.com and the Disney Parks Blog. Guests staying at any of Disneyland Resort’s three hotels will receive an automatic reservation (one per guest) and valid theme park admission is required.

The Star Wars land is being constructed on land that formerly housed the Big Thunder Ranch area of Disneyland as well as some of the forested land along the Rivers of America near the Big Thunder Mountain ride. In anticipation of increased visitorship this summer, Disneyland Resort is also building an expansion to its Mickey & Friends parking garage.

The Black Spire Outpost on Batuu will be a full-size walk-through land in the style of Cars Land at Disneyland’s sister park, Disney California Adventure. Visitors will be able to board a full-size version of Star Wars hero Han Solo’s smuggling ship, the Millennium Falcon. Riders will be able to serve as pilots, gunners and flight engineers to take a virtual reality journey through space.

Besides gift shops, the land will also include a number of food locations.

Oga’s Cantina — inspired by the Mos Eisley cantina on Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine in “Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope” — will serve exotic beverages and feature intergalactic droid-produced entertainment.

Other themed restaurants in the land include Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo, Ronto Roasters and Milk Stand, which will serve both blue and green milks, as seen in the Star Wars films.

There will also be a Droid Depot, where park visitors can construct their own droids; Savi’s Workshop, where visitors build their own custom lightsabers; and Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, selling Star Wars-themed merchandise.

Other shops include Creature Stall; Black Spire Outfitters; Toydarian Toymaker; Resistance Supply and First Order Cargo.

The land will also offer another layer of engagement via the Play Disney Parks mobile app. While touring the land, users will be able to engage with the land, translate alien writing on the walls, find out items that are hidden inside crates and containers and take part in interactive missions.

The Galaxy’s Edge land is being replicated at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida on Aug. 29.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com. Twitter: @pamkragen