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Credit: Disney Last week at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, Disney announced that four new characters are flying into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland.
Related: Six Intriguing Characters Revealed for Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Hotel
Starting this weekend, Guests can encounter bounty hunter Boba Fett (portrayed in film by Temuera Morrison) and mercenary Fennec Shand (portrayed in film by Ming-Na Wen), with Din Djarin (portrayed in film by Pedro Pascal), known as the Mandalorian, and Grogu, also known as Baby Yoda, meet-and-greets scheduled to begin later this year. No similar plans for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World have been announced.
This announcement has excited Star Wars fans but caused concern for those with a passion for Disney Park-theming. Some fans in particular feel that adding these characters means Batuu’s timeline has officially been altered, even if characters from different periods don’t interact.
Batuu, the planet Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is located on, is set somewhere between the events of The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Since the lands opened at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 2019, Guests have been able to encounter characters like Rey (portrayed in film by Daisy Ridley), Chewbacca, Kylo Ren (portrayed in film by Adam Driver), Stormtroopers, and more who fit into the planet’s unique timeline in the Star Wars universe.
Some fans are ready for this change and would prefer Disneyland and Walt Disney World scrap the timeline altogether. Twitter user @countrybearsam writes:
unpopular opinion; idc about the timeline in Batuu. if something is star wars related, put it in galaxys edge. you could literally have rey and darth vader standing next to eachother and i wouldn’t care
unpopular opinion; idc about the timeline in Batuu. if something is star wars related, put it in galaxys edge. you could literally have rey and darth vader standing next to eachother and i wouldn’t care
— sammy 🦋 (@countrybearsam) May 28, 2022
Another Disney Parks fan, @NikkiLA22, agreed. She tweeted:
This! When it comes to the parks it shouldn’t matter. I want to see characters walking around like Avengers Campus. That land has but mostly a let down. Get rid of some of the shops, there’s so many!
This! When it comes to the parks it shouldn’t matter. I want to see characters walking around like Avengers Campus. That land has but mostly a let down. Get rid of some of the shops, there’s so many!
— NikkiLA22🍕 (@NikkiLA22) May 29, 2022
While Walt Disney World Guests desperately want the same experiences Star Wars fans will get at Disneyland, the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel experience makes that more complicated. To fully immerse Guests in their own Star Wars adventure, visits offship to Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ version of Batuu must be set firmly in the Starcruiser’s timeline, and additional characters could muddy the immersion.
All hope is not lost for Star Wars fans! The reopening of Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is officially on the horizon and character meet-and-greets have been confirmed to be returning to the location, though no official character announcements have been made. One Star Wars fan, Twitter user @coasterg, hopes Walt Disney World will use this as its opportunity to incorporate Disneyland’s new characters:
Reopen Launch Bay. Theme the autograph area like The Sanctuary from Boba Fett. Expand the cantina photo area. Insert the cool characters and give us Bo-Katan and Vader as compensation.
Reopen Launch Bay. Theme the autograph area like The Sanctuary from Boba Fett. Expand the cantina photo area. Insert the cool characters and give us Bo-Katan and Vader as compensation.
— CoasterG (@coasterg) May 29, 2022
Perhaps Walt Disney World Guests will finally get a chance to greet Boba Fett, Grogu, Fennec Shand, and the Mandalorian.
Related: There’s Actually TWO Millennium Falcons at Disney World’s Galaxy’s Edge
Would you like to see more characters in Batuu or would you prefer Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge stick to its timeline? Let us know in the comments.