Disney world merges the Star Wars universe into theme parks

Last week, news broke that Disney will survey customers for a new name for their Hollywood Studios based on Florida. Apart from the fundamental reimaging the park and attractions like Star Tours and the Tower of Terror of Twilight , the studio will have a more interactive field and will be more immersive in line with the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy Edge “Enter this newly named Disney Theme Park and completely immerse yourself in the realm of some of your favorite stories,” the survey read, promising guests the chance to “step into imagined worlds made real, and take the lead in an adventure that surrounds you at every turn.” Immersive entertainment is the unavoidable future of big movie and television productions, and you can find Disney already edging towards this realm. Reimaging Hollywood Studios in this context will be a welcome move for all those who are interested in these kinds of experiences.

The company is trying to create its own unique style of immersive entertainment, combining theme parks, resort hotels, live actors and interactive environments.

Looking down the road, there is a bigger option that is even more exciting. Talk with the visionaries of ILMxLab and they describe an interconnected landscape where movies, television, virtual worlds and other immersive media coexist simultaneously, part of a gigantic and persistent world of story. It echoes the team behind Westworld: The Experience, which views immersive experiences as film and television extensions that can offer new avenues in the worlds of existing story. In these visions, everything is immersive in one form or another - and when that is the case, the term may not be necessary at all.

At the annual D23 expo in Los Angeles, Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, revealed plans for the Star Wars-themed luxury resort at Walt Disney World, which he says will be "100 percent immersive." When guests check in, they'll become a "citizen of the galaxy," which includes Star Wars garb and interactions with characters and stories from the Star Wars universe. “It’s unlike anything that exists today,” said Bob Chapek.

"It's got to be big. Go big or go home with Star Wars," Chris Beatty, Disney Imagineer and executive director of the new expansions, told ABC News.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open at both parks in 2019, first at Disneyland and later in the year at the Walt Disney World, though exact dates have not yet been released.