Season of the Force

leaveittobeavs · Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 10:05 am Post subject: Season of the Force

Hi all...

So I went to the park this week (Monday, Nov 23) and got to experience all of the Season of the Force offerings, so I thought I would share some info.

Space Mountain has been turned into Hyperspace Mountain and it is pretty incredible. It's a similar overlay to Ghost Galaxy, where they use various surfaces for projections and it turns it all into a battle between rebel and imperial forces. It's pretty cool hearing the Star Wars score on the ride and they incorporate some interesting lighting and effects. Fastpasses are gone within the first two or three hours of the park being open, so by 11am I had no choice but to wait the 1hr55minutes for it, but as a passholder, I had no problem with that.

Star Tours has new scenes from The Force Awakens and it's pretty awesome to go flying through the wreckage of the imperial ships that you see in the new trailers.

The Captain EO theatre has "Path of the Jedi" which is a 10-minute film that gives backstory on all of the films and then incorporates the new trailer. It's awesome seeing that material in that theatre where they use the lighting and shake effects. And hearing the score come out of those speakers is epic.

Innoventions has been redone into two different levels (as it always was) with SuperHero HQ on top and Star Wars Launch Bay on bottom. SuperHero HQ is basically the same just with Spiderman replacing Captain America and the Asimo theatre being replaced by a merchandise area. Launch Bay is cool with lots of miniature models of the various ships and fighters from the movies. There are a few costumes and props too, but it looks like it is all recreations and not actual items from the films. The Darth Vader and Chewbacca meet and greet areas are cool and the waits were only about 30 minutes (which is amazing considering they were 120minutes on opening day the week before). There is also a huge merchandise area where you can personalize phone cases and get lots of models and figurines.

Tomorrowland Terrace has been renamed Galactic Grill with some new offerings, but I didn't head that way. I had lunch at Pizza Port, which offered a new awesome pasta, called the Forest of Endor, which had pine nuts and broccolini and kale and other awesome stuff. It was delicious. The BB-8 sippers were available there and proved to be a popular item.

I had a lot of fun with all of the Season of the Force stuff. My favorite was probably the Path of the Jedi film. I just love that theatre and would love to see a full-length film in there using all of the effects and lighting.

The only downside to all of this Star Wars stuff is how BUSY the park was. It was the first day of Thanksgiving Break for the schools in the area, so that combined with the Star Wars offering made the break incredibly busy. No line was less than 60 minutes (including Astroblasters and Pirates of the Caribbean), so it was definitely peak season (there are 2 Christmas parades, 2 Paint the Night parades, 2 firework shows, 2 Fantasmics, and 2 World of Colors almost every day). Additionally, given all of the events happening around the world, security is really taking their time at Bag Check. Lines for that were down past World of Disney, so getting off the parking tram was a bit interesting. I didn't mind it though, because it meant they were being very careful. There were police officers stationed just inside bag check too.

Has anyone else experienced the Season of the Force offerings yet? I would be curious to hear other folks' opinions.

Have a good one!

-Brent

ocmsma · Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 12:41 pm Post subject:

Sounds pretty awesome - I know onecutemoose will want to experience it all at least twice during our week long stay starting Sunday - can hardly wait - anxious for Holidays in the Parks - our favorite time of year - thanks for the report and maybe our paths will cross one day ...

Smile

ma

bison74 · Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 5:49 pm Post subject:

We just got back from Disneyland two weeks ago. My 10-year-old daughter loves Big Thunder (from WDW), but she shied away from Space Mountain - she thought a roller coaster in the dark would be too much.

The Star Wars overlay intrigued her though. She stood in line with my wife and I, the entire time claiming she was going to jump through the chicken exit when the time came. Finally, she decided to give it a go.

We had a blast. Something about the familiarity of Space Mountain (for me anyway) + the Star Wars soundtrack just made it a magical combination.

My daughter discovered that "roller coast in the dark" though scary is also a blast. I told her she still has to take some time to ride Space Mountain with the "standard" overlay.

Space Mountain remains - in my humble opinion and regardless of what soundtrack they put over it - one of the slickest roller coasters ever.

ocmsma · Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 6:48 pm Post subject:

I totally agree - Space Mountain is my all time favorite attraction - really enjoy the Star Wars overlay and have enjoyed several others, but, I am a purest at heart and love the original - if we can swing it this is our first attraction of the day and the last or next to last as we also love last train and last car on Big Thunder ... so glad your daughter bit the bullet and enjoyed an amazing attraction.

Smile

bison74 · Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 7:27 pm Post subject:

Yes, we were quite proud of her. We're going to Orlando in a few months, so now I'm trying to convince her that Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Rollercoaster are a breeze.

Razz