It won’t be long before ANAHEIM, CALIF. Star Wars fans will be transported to a galaxy far, far away. At theme parks in California and Florida, Disney is putting the finishing touches on two expansive and immersive lands dedicated to the popular sci-fi franchise.

For adults who grew up with George Lucas’s original trilogy and his prequel series, it’s an opportunity to recapture the imaginary world of space heroes and villains. For kids coming of age alongside a new slate of films that began in 2015 with Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, they’ll get a chance to step inside a universe that’s been wholly re-imagined since Disney acquired the franchise in 2012 from Lucasfilm. “We’re being really ambitious with what we do with Star Wars,” said Scott Trowbridge, creative executive of Disney Imagineering, speaking recently at a media preview for Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland in California.

A new 5.7-hectare (14-acre) land is set to open May 31 in California, followed by an exact replica Aug. 29 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Fla. Both attractions will feature two new rides — the jaw-dropping Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and the epically long Rise of the Resistance.

“It’s an amazing stepping off point for new Star Wars stories,” Trowbridge said. “It’s kind of like a remote frontier planet, somewhere on the edge of wild space.” Galaxy’s Edge will introduce visitors to a new planet, Batuu, and the village of Black Spire Outpost. There, they’ll be able to interact with its inhabitants, eat unique foods, try blue milk (first seen in Episode IV — A New Hope), shop for one-of-a-kind items and craft their very own lightsabers and droids. Nothing that’s for sale will be found anywhere else.

The opening of Galaxy’s Edge is one of the most anticipated events for Star Wars fans this year. It also continues a recent Disney tradition, which has seen recent popular movies brought to life. In 2017, a land set inside the world of James Cameron’s Avatar opened at Animal Kingdom in Orlando. Last year, an expansion themed on Toy Story debuted at Hollywood Studios. “For me, it’s come full circle,” said Doug Chiang, who has worked at Lucasfilm for more than 20 years. “We’re translating the world of cinema into a real location.”

The park features full-sized versions of TIE Fighters, Landspeeders, gigantic AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) walkers, Poe Dameron’s X-Wing Fighter, taxidermy Wampas, animatronics, a Star Destroyer hangar and an intricately detailed Millennium Falcon (look closely and you’ll see blast marks from its previous battles), which reveals itself in grand fashion as you make your way into the land.

According to the park’s logline, which is a collaboration between Disney Imagineers and storytelling visionaries at Lucasfilm, visitors are arriving on the alien planet alongside the nefarious First Order and noble Resistance. Set during the current film trilogy, explorers will interact with Black Spire Outpost’s inhabitants and become fully immersed in a 360-degree experience that honours all levels of fandom. Star Wars is rooted in a sense of history and Galaxy’s Edge will be no different, said Pablo Hidalgo, a creative exec with Lucasfilm’s story and content division. “You may not know how Naboo (in Force Awakens) came to be, but you got a sense that the palace has a sense of history to it. The filigree on the walls has a story to it.” “I’m envious of people who are going to be stepping into this land for the first time knowing nothing, because they’re going to be amazed,” story editor Margaret Kerrison added.

It’s an amazing stepping off point for new Star Wars stories. It’s kind of like a remote frontier planet, somewhere on the edge of wild space.

It sounds like hyperbole, but Kerrison is right. An early look at Galaxy’s Edge reveals that it is still a construction zone. During a three-day tour that included a look at a full-sized Millennium Falcon, we uncovered some of the secrets that await Star Wars fans when the new lands open later this year.

FAMILIAR FACES

Galaxy’s Edge isn’t just going to seed elements for what’s to come in the Star Universe — it will be paying tribute to the past. Key characters from the films and animated series make appearances throughout the land and as part of the attractions. On Rise of the Resistance, for example, visitors will interact with new trilogy stars Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and beloved droid BB-8. Nien Nunb, who was seen in Return of the Jedi, Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, also makes an appearance. On Smuggler’s Run, guests will encounter an animatronic Hondo Ohnaka. Of course, everyone’s favourite ball of fur shows up as well. Elsewhere in the land, Dok-Ondar, first mentioned in Solo: A Star Wars Story, will operate an antiquities shop (where fans can purchase Star Wars items from different eras of the franchise). And RX-24 (a.k.a. Captain Rex) from Star Tours, a Star Wars simulator ride that operated at Disney parks worldwide, is now a DJ spinning space tunes at Oga’s Cantina (where you can try alcohol-infused Jedi juice).

EASTER EGGS

Galaxy’s Edge isn’t just a park for Star Wars fans of today. It’s meant to continue on and grow into the future. When asked if there are hidden elements that point to what might come next, Trowbridge replied, “Unquestionably, yes.” “We knew that we needed a jumping-off point,” Lucasfilm Story Group vice-president Carrie Beck added separately. To that end, the land is riddled with clues big and small. During our walkabout, Walt Disney Imagineer Chris Beatty points out a never-before-seen TIE fighter. “Every little thing has a backstory here,” Lucasfilm Story Group executive Matt Martin echoed. “The place and the attractions have been built, but everything that you populate it with can be refreshed and updated,” Beck said. “There are things that exist within the land that suggest there are stories waiting to be told.”

THE RIDES

For theme park enthusiasts, Smuggler’s Run and Rise of the Resistance promise epic experiences. For fans of Star Wars, both attractions will immerse riders in worlds that, until now, they’ve only dreamed about visiting. Backed by new music from Oscar-winning composer John Williams, the queue for Smuggler’s Run winds its way up a ramp that provides stunning views of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy (tip-totip, the Millennium Falcon you’ll find inside Galaxy’s Edge is 33.5 metres, long). As you snake your way through dimly lit corridors into the inside of the ship, you’ll be able to slide up for a game of holochess. Eventually, you make it inside the cockpit where you’ll get to pilot the Millennium Falcon on a top secret mission for pirate Hondo Ohnaka along with five teammates.

“We knew that we couldn’t build a Star Wars-themed land without the Millennium Falcon,” Imagineering executive creative director Asa Kalama said. “But when we talked about fantasy fulfilment, getting to go into the cockpit to control it was something everyone has been waiting for.” Each press of a button yields familiar squeaks and beeps. Developers are promising a unique journey each time you go through Smuggler’s Run since the five other riders will control other aspects of the ship. Similarly, Rise of the Resistance is also an immersive experience that is one of the longest rides in Disney’s history.

“Part of that cinematic experience is having the time to go through various emotions,” Imagineering executive creative director John Larena said. As you zigzag through a line that features actual track prints from R2-D2 and costumes from wellknown names in the Star Wars canon, guests board a Resistance ship before getting sucked into a Star Destroyer. When you exit, you’re inside a full-sized hangar bay, gazing out into space, surrounded by First Order guards and stationary TIE Fighters. Eventually, you face down Kylo Ren and … spoiler alert: you live to fight another day.

THE LOOK

What makes Star Wars, well, Star Wars? It’s a question designers asked themselves repeatedly. But above all, they wanted to replicate the cinematic experience people have had watching these worlds come to life. “We were keen on creating a design that would anchor everything — all the films, all the stories in the video games, all the stories in the novels — but anchored in a way that feels very fresh,” Chiang said. “There are some new vehicles and new things that are being seeded into the other films that you’ll be seeing for the first time, and yet they all feel very connected.” There are domed buildings, canopies blowing in the wind and ships in the foreground that are easily identifiable as Star Wars. But large spires jutting out from rock formations give the land a unique look. “It’s one heroic shot after another. Just when you think we’ve shown it all to you, you’ll see something that makes you say, ‘Oh my God, that’s incredible,’” Beatty said.

FUN WHILE YOU WAIT

When you come to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the Play Disney Parks app will switch to Star Wars mode where it will unlock a series of missions and ways to interact with the land and its droids. It’s an invitation to go as deep as you want. Using your smartphone, you can take on casual tasks or a longer-form mission, where you can role-play as a smuggler or bounty hunter. It offers an added story element for people of all ages, said Kalama. “We want to create a place where guests truly feel they have a place where they can live out their own Star Wars adventure.”

A WORLD BEYOND THE PARK

To prepare fans for what awaits on Black Spire Outpost, a galaxy’s worth of books and comics with direct links to the planet Batuu are in various stages of development. A new YA novel — Pirate’s Price — features Han Solo, Chewbacca and Hondo Ohnaka (from the animated series) and directly ties into the attraction (“The very last thing in the book is something you can see in the land,” Kerrison teased). Marvel Comics will kick off a sixpart series set inside Black Spire Outpost in April. And in September, a prequel novel will be released recounting a tale in which General Leia Organa dispatches her top spy to Batuu in a search for Resistance allies. These entrances will give guests a taste of the world before they get there. Batuu also appears in Thrawn: Alliances, which features such iconic characters as Darth Vader and Padme Amidala.