Disney’s Star Wars Land Will Include ‘Real’ Lightsabers
Walt Disney World and Disneyland already have a few Star Wars-based attractions, including the Star Wars Launch Bay, where you can interact with characters from the movies like BB-8, and Star Tours: The Adventure Continues, a simulator ride that brings guests on a journey at lightspeed through various corners of the galaxy far, far away. But that’s nothing compared to what’s coming: A full “Star Wars Land” opening in theme parks on both coasts, which will boast some of the most advanced theme-park technology to date.
While these rides are still a few years off (Star Wars Land is currently scheduled to open in 2019), a panel at Star Wars Celebration last weekend offered a few hints of future attractions. Here’s the video that was played at the panel:
While the video and the panel were scant on concrete details, there were a few solid clues about what to expect. According to Inside the Magic, panel host David Collins said that he had visited Imagineering and got to see some of what was in store. “I saw them,” he said, “and they’re real. Lightsabers are real.”
While this sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, io9 had previously reported on a patent Disney filed that might shed some light on this specific saber and how it would work without actually slaughtering people who grab it by the wrong end. Basically, it would allow guests to believably deflect laser blasts with their saber, the way real (“real”) Jedi do in the Star Wars movies. Neat! And less potentially litigious than an actual lightsaber!
Between a trip on the Millennium Falcon and actual working lightsabers, Star Wars Land sounds like the theme park of your impossible childhood dreams. I personally hope the concession stands sell real death sticks. That’s the only thing missing to complete the true Star Wars experience.