Coming April 29, 2026, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Resort will welcome an expanded timeline that introduces classic, iconic characters — such as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker — alongside new narrative layers in the award-winning land. These updates will enable guests to experience the classic-era storytelling spanning Return of the Jedi, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka.
Developed through close collaboration among Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Live Entertainment, Disneyland, and Lucasfilm, this evolution marks a bold new chapter in how guests step into the Star Wars galaxy.
Extra care was taken in crafting an expanded story for the land as engaging and authentic as the films and streaming series, because, as Asa Kalama, Executive, Creative & Interactive Experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering, explained, “Your first experience with Star Wars might be a film, but it honestly might also be a theme park experience.”
“A Platform for Storytelling”
“Since the very inception of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, we envisioned it as a platform for storytelling,” Kalama noted.
Upon opening in 2019, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge immediately transported guests to Black Spire Outpost on Batuu — a trading port alive with adventure, resistance activity, and the unmistakable hum of starships overhead.
But, the stories within Black Spire Outpost didn’t need to remain static.
“One of the great things about the Star Wars universe and the Star Wars canon is that it is expansive and it continues to grow.”
So, as new Star Wars stories are released across film and television — such as with Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22 — the concept of expanding the story of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has developed into an abundance of creative opportunities.
As Kalama states, Disney’s unique ability to bring stories on screen to life in physical environments, “allows us to continue to expand the storytelling and the world building.”
And not only are there new stories to incorporate, but the franchise will also be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2027, which will include a rerelease of the film that started it all, Star Wars: A New Hope.
Given these upcoming moments celebrating the entire breadth of the Star Wars saga, “There was this sort of critical mass of more classic leaning characters, and it felt like the right time to celebrate those in the land as well,” Kalama stated.
Disneyland is celebrating these moments with more than just an expanded timeline at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Starting the same day The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives in theaters, guests will also be able to team up with Din Djarin and Grogu on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, showcasing Disney’s unrivaled ability to simultaneously bring stories to fans across linear and experiential storytelling.
A Deep Collaboration with Lucasfilm
Every detail — visual, written, structural, and sonic — has been developed in close partnership with Lucasfilm.
“Since the very beginning, we’ve had the most incredible integrated and blended team with Lucasfilm,” Kalama said.
Rather than Imagineering ideating and then sending proposals to Lucasfilm for approval, the collaboration functioned as true co-creation between the units. “It was the same writing team, the same production design team — everybody was working together,” he explained.
That partnership was especially essential when expanding the land’s timeline.
“We spent a lot of time on every last possible detail,” Kalama noted, ensuring the meticulously crafted original story remained cohesive as it expanded.
The timeline evolution goes far beyond the introduction of beloved characters such as Princess Leia and Han Solo. From architecture and props to background dialogue, Imagineering revisited myriad story cues to ensure alignment with the expanded eras.
As a result, guests will step into a land that “feels refreshed and full of new elements for guests to discover,” according to Kalama.
Key Updates Coming to the Land
- Revitalized Locations and Expanded Backstories
Several in-land locations will be reimagined to better reflect the broader Star Wars canon. First Order Cargo, will be rethemed as Black Spire Surplus, and will feature artifacts from both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. - New Artifacts and Screen-Used Props
Speaking of artifacts, at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, the expanded timeline will unlock new treasures. Working closely with Lucasfilm, Imagineering is curating authentic, screen-used props from recent streaming series, further grounding the land in the on-screen saga. As Kalama puts it, the props “literally came directly off the screen.” - An All-New Sonic Landscape
Music — long central to Star Wars storytelling — will also evolve. Guests will hear a new celebratory soundscape that includes themes from John Williams’ iconic scores from the first six films, adding emotional depth throughout the land. “I think it will take on a different emotional resonance for fans,” Kalama said.
A Park Experience Only Disney Can Deliver
The timeline expansion underscores something uniquely Disney: the ability to bring evolving stories on screen into fully immersive physical environments.
Kalama described Disney as one of the few entertainment companies capable of delivering both linear media and experiential storytelling at this scale.
Through Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, guests don’t just witness the saga — they step inside it.
“The theme park is about embodying a character and truly living the story through your own eyes,” Kalama said.
While the updated timeline will debut only at Disneyland Resort, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World Resort will continue to celebrate the sequel era throughout the land — giving fans distinct ways to experience the saga on each coast.
“Our guests now have two different experiences on either coast where they can explore the full breadth of the canon,” Kalama said.
East Coast guests can engage with stories inspired by The Force Awakens (which takes place during the Rise of the First Order) and beyond, while West Coast fans can immerse themselves in eras of the Galactic Civil War and the New Republic, as well as the Age of the Resistance and the First Order.
Ultimately, the evolution of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge reflects a broader Imagineering philosophy: attractions don’t just bring stories to life — they extend them.
Disney parks exist, Kalama notes, “in the business of creating emotion and memories.” And beginning in late April, guests will discover a reimagined Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that feels both timeless — and new.
