A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Disney Parks were all about Mickey Mouse, princesses and animatronic presidents. Disney Parks still have all of those things, but they're about to make room for some more out-of-this world entertainment (pun obviously intended).
Disney Parks will have "a far greater 'Star Wars' presence", said Disney CEO Bob Iger during a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the company's third quarter results. Even though Disney acquired Lucasfilm in October 2012, the "Star Wars" attractions at the Disney Parks are pretty sparse right now, with "Star Tours," a 3-D motion simulated space flight ride, and a "Jedi Training Academy" at Disney World in Orlando. Already-announced "Star Wars Weekends" will bring more "Star Wars" entertainment to Disney World in Summer 2015.
Other than the fact that Disney Parks will include more "Star Wars" fun, we don't really know what that entails right now. Perhaps Disney will shed some light on the new additions to its parks at the Star Wars Celebration in April or the D23 Expo next August. Until then, we have some suggestions of our own for the new "Star Wars"-tastic attractions at the Disney Parks.
1. Have a lightsaber battle
This one's a given. How cool would it be to duke it out, imaginary lightsaber in hand, against your little brother or great aunt in some sort of virtual reality game where you play as Luke Skywalker facing off against Papa Vader in that ultimate scene? Sure, you could just buy one of those plastic lightsabers and do this (safely) at home, but nothing beats the Disney touch.
2. Play with the Cantina Band
Remember when "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" were all the rage? Well, Disney could bring that back with an interactive attraction where you pick up a kloo horn and play your heart out to some Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes tunes.
3. Try to stump Yoda
Yoda is the man, and as such, he's the wisest Jedi Master around. Seriously, is there anything this little dude doesn't know? This attraction could pit your knowledge against Yoda's to see if you have what it takes to stump this sage.
4. Podrace
Love it or hate it, "Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" had at least one sick scene: the podrace. Podracing has already been made into "Star Wars" games, but it would be too awesome for words if Disney could build some life-size pods for visitors to race around in like levitating go-karts.
5. Navigate the Death Star
From the movies, the Death Star looks like a maze. It's a wonder Darth Vader was able to get around with that heavy helmet covering his face. Disney could construct a monstrous Death Star replica that visitors have to find their way out of. Thinking about this just makes us want to visit that "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" movie set replica at Disney World. Such good times.
6. Is it a trap?
Admiral Ackbar's line, "It's a trap!" has taken on a life of its own in recent years as an Internet meme. Disney could capitalize on the catchphrase's popularity and create an attraction where visitors will be confronted with two doors, one that leads to an actual fun ride, while the other leads to the gift shop, which is always filled with awesome items that you really don't need to spend money on.
7. Something from the upcoming "Star Wars" movie
With "Star Wars: Episode VII" set to open in theaters in 2015, Disney must be planning some way to incorporate the new film into its parks. Since the plot of this new film is still shrouded in mystery, we can't really say how Disney should include an attraction based off of this movie, but we can't wait to find out if and how the company decides to do it.
