A Journey to Galaxy's Edge, the Nerdiest Place on Earth https://www.wired.com/story/star-wars-disneyland-galaxys-edge/
How Disney's Imagineers created a whole new part of the Star Wars universe. In Star Wars movies, people flying the Millennium Falcon pull a very specific lever to jump the ship into hyperspace, which is technobabble for “Go very fast!” People do the same thing at Disneyland, on a ride called Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. It's part of Galaxy's Edge, a new billion-dollar, 14-acre expansion, and to get to that lever, visitors first navigate a queue that twists through a meticulous re-creation of a spaceport and the inside of the Falcon. Then six at a time are ushered into the ship's cockpit (the ride actually has several) to get rumbled and wobbled while a screen outside the window shows a first-person POV movie of a swooping, dogfighting space mission. It's a motion-simulator ride. The Falcon doesn't actually go anywhere. At least, not in our universe. In the Star Wars universe … well. So now, me, in the pilot's seat, a light flashing: I'm a fan, so I reach for the lever in, I'll admit it, a transport of delight. It's metal, a little cold, takes some real force to pull back. It feels perfect. I mean, this is exactly what it feels like to pilot the Millennium Falcon. Sure, under the dashboard are leaf springs and gears, shaking haptics torqued to within a play-tested centimeter of their lives to give good feedback. But, like, that's not what I mean. What I mean is, how could pulling that lever feel perfect? How could it feel like anything? There's no such thing as hyperspace. There's not even any such thing as a Millennium Falcon. It's Hollywood magic, polyurethane, and pixie dust. There's a full-size Falcon at the entrance to the ride, yes—and another in the corresponding park in Florida. They're props, basically, dressing for a heightened environment, like Hogwarts at Universal Studios or Gotham City at Warner Bros. World in Abu Dhabi. Except unlike those, Galaxy's Edge doesn't end here. It is, in native nerdish, “in canon.” What happens in Galaxy's Edge happens in the official Star Wars universe. ... https://www.wired.com/story/star-wars-disneyland-galaxys-edge/ _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews_etskywarn.net
