Disney has released a new illustration depicting the physical layout for its upcoming Star Wars theme park expansions — in an idealistic, concept-arty kind of way. According to the Disney Parks Blog, the artwork went up today on a fence in Frontierland in Disneyland, near a trail that will serve as an entrance to the new land when it eventually opens. It depicts a sprawling series of marketplaces and buildings, nestled amongst trees and foliage, with the Millennium Falcon attraction seemingly cut from the side of a massive mountain. (You can peruse the image in its full-sized glory right here.)
Now, if you've been to Disneyland you'll know that there aren't actually any massive mountain ranges surrounding the park to build a Millennium Falcon ride into. The area where Disney's Star Wars land is being constructed previously consisted of a slew of buildings butting up against a boring old street. Of course, creating fake topography, and cutting off all lines of sight to help guests forget that they're actually in the middle of crowded Southern California is a big part of what Disneyland does, so while the park may never actually look like this in its entirety even after it's completed, it's no doubt the kind of geographical layout that guests will think they're in.
There aren't really any massive mountains in Anaheim
Selling that illusion will likely be key to the success of the new expansion, as part of the pitch since it was first announced was that everything inside the new Star Wars land would be completely in-world. There will be no Disneyland sales clerks, no Disneyland sanitation workers, and no Disneyland ride attendants, the company has said. Instead, every staffer that guests interact with will be playing a character inside the Star Wars universe — so if you go into a shop to buy some blue milk, it's going to be sold by someone that's playing the role of a vendor in a Star Wars world.
There's still no official name or opening date for the Star Wars expansions, which are being built at both Disneyland and at Disney World Resorts in Florida, but with a new movie scheduled every year for the foreseeable future, there will no doubt be plenty of hype to peg the opening to.