Walt Disney Imagineering Portfolio Creative Executive Scott Trowbridge, a La Cañada Flintridge resident who has guided the development of the highly anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge experience, just wants to tell stories.
Taking its theme, of course, from the media franchise, the attraction at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim covers 14 acres and is set to open to the public this Friday, May 31. The version at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, is scheduled to open in late August.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a more compelling set of story universes that we can have than what we have in front of us right now,” said Trowbridge in a video interview with Future of StoryTelling that previewed his 2015 appearance at FoST’s invitation-only event with 500 leaders in the arts, media, technology and business. “If you look around the Walt Disney Co., oh my gosh, the worlds of ‘Star Wars’ or Marvel. All of this work we’re doing is kind of geared toward this idea of creating emotionally meaningful, transformative, shared experiences in these environments and these places you otherwise can’t do it on your own.”
The new land will feature attractions like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, in which attendees can “fly” Han Solo’s iconic starship in an interactive mission, while later this year Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will allow participants to “battle against the First Order,” according to the Disneyland website.
Trowbridge noted in the 2015 interview that his talk of creating story universes did not include virtual reality but something even more real that people can touch, taste and smell.
“That’s all Walt Disney wanted to do … make magic real,” Trowbridge said. “And that’s all we’re still trying to do today … find ways to give people these amazing experiences they couldn’t possibly be having, but they are.”
Online reservations, from May 31-June 23, are no longer available, but it may be possible to get a reservation with a hotel stay, according to Disneyland statement. No reservations are required starting on June 24. For more information, visit disneyland.disney.go.com.
“I absolutely remember waiting in line with my friends to watch ‘A New Hope’ in 1977,” said Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, referring to the first “Star Wars” film during an interview with Disney twenty-three, a quarterly publication of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club. “Looking back, it’s incredible that 40-plus years later, I’d be part of bringing that story to life.”
Trowbridge wrote on a Disney Parks website in late February that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the “largest single-themed land expansion” at both Anaheim and Florida.
“We have previously shared that while the land is epic in size, every detail in the land has been designed to have an authentic ‘Star Wars’ feel,” Trowbridge said. “You hopefully have also seen the teasers of our two anchor attractions — Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, where you will find yourself in the middle of an epic battle between the Resistance and the First Order, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, which allows you and your flight crew to take the controls of the fastest ship in the galaxy on a special mission. We have also said that Oga’s Cantina is a great place for guests to grab a beverage, catch up on the latest gossip while R-3X, formerly the Starspeeder pilot on the original Star Tours, DJs a collection of new music.”
On May 20, he wrote that visitors will be able to play on a Star Wars Datapad for a “landwide interactive experience” through the Play Disney Parks mobile app.
“Through the app, visitors will be able to turn their mobile device into their own Datapad and within it will find several tools at their disposal to use while exploring the planet Batuu, and may even uncover some surprises!” Trowbridge said.
At the “Challenge Success: Building Your Path” event in April 2017 at La Cañada High School, Trowbridge told 25 students that he worked with Universal Parks & Reports’ Research and Design Division, The Outlook reported at the time. He said he and a team of hundreds developed a ride titled the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man that was the first to use moving vehicles with 3-D and synchronized film projections. He said engineers, computer scientists, artists and story writers all helped in the ride’s creation and execution.
