Since it opened in 2019, Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has focused exclusively on characters from the sequel trilogy of films, and almost entirely from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The land wasn‘t just a bunch of Star Wars themed rides; it was designed to be its own in-continuity location — the far-off planet of “Baatu” — within the galaxy of the franchise. Characters like Rey and Kylo Ren roamed the land, interacting with guests.
The immersive qualities were really fun — but they also posed a problem. More casual Star Wars fans who just wanted to see the characters from the classic films like Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader would walk away unsatisfied. Vader, for example, couldn’t show up because (spoiler alert) Darth Vader is dead by the time of The Force Awakens and Galaxy’s Edge paid shockingly close attention to Star Wars continuity. The only exception to the rule was Chewbacca, because Chewie appears in both the old films and the new ones, so it made sense that he’d be roaming around the Millennium Falcon with Rey.
That will change later this year. Disney Parks Blog announced that by the end of April, vintage Star Wars heroes and villains will appear in Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland. The site specifically calls out “Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker” as names of characters you will be able to see in the land.
In another big change: The land will now feature the famous Star Wars themes by John Williams. Williams previously composed a bunch of original music for Galaxy’s Edge — but as Baatu was supposedly a location within the movies, the score was far more subtle and ambient rather than typical Star Wars movie music.
Disney announced the news with a video on social media…
READ MORE: Why Does Every Theme Park Ride Have the Same Premise?
The article also notes that “Rey and the Resistance will continue their fight against the First Order in the Resistance Camp” — that’s the area of Galaxy’s Edge around the big Rise of the Resistance ride. Meanwhile Ahsoka and Mandalorian will be found “near the marketplace” that’s between the Resistance Camp and “Black Spire Outpost” — the name of the village portion of the land, which is where the Millennium Falcon is parked, and where the old school Star Wars characters will be found.
So if you do like Rey and Mando, and other more recent Star Wars heroes, you’ll still see them in Galaxy’s Edge. How any of this will be made to make sense in the continuity — or what the Rey character will say if you ask her if she’s going to go fight Darth Vader — remains to be seen. (My guess: They just won’t care about this stuff anymore.)
I am sure a lot of people will be very excited about this news; some visitors really disliked the way Galaxy’s Edge emphasized the new movies to the exclusion of the old ones. They wanted to see Han and they wanted to hear John Williams’ theme. Personally, I always liked the way you really felt like you’d fallen into Star Wars roaming Galaxy’s Edge. I had an amazing experience there last year with my kids, who were absolutely starstruck by Rey and Chewie. They still talk about it. (Of course, they might have equally memorable interactions with Princess Leia. We’ll see.)
The new (old) characters will debut in Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge on April 29. (The post makes no mention of if or when these changes will come to the sister Star Wars land in Florida.) And this is not the only update to Galaxy’s Edge coming in 2026; the Millennium Falcon ride, Smuggler’s Run, is getting a new ride video featuring the Mandalorian and Grogu, set to debut at the same time as their new film in late May.
