Disney has big plans for ‘Star Wars’ franchise

By Jen Weddle

Video games, movies, theme park additions—what do all of these have in common?

They’re all part of Disney’s magical plans for the Star Wars franchise. Many fans have probably waited a decade for Star Wars to introduce something amazing, but Disney is the one who will make their dreams come true.

StarWars.com reported that Star Tours would be opening in Tokyo in 2013 for Tokyo Disney Resort’s 30th anniversary, and it’s sure to be a crowd favorite. The ride has had a renovation with 3D images, and it features over 50 new story combinations, which means new thrills for everyone. Guests get to go on a sightseeing tour riding in a Starspeeder 1000 with C-3PO as the pilot and R2-D2 as the co-pilot.

That’s pretty exciting, although it seems to be in a galaxy far, far away.

Disney and Star Wars’ history together began with the first Star Tours and Star Wars Weekends opening in California’s Disneyland Park in 1987.

During these special Star Wars Weekends, fans get to meet some of the characters for shows, panels, presentations and more. Fans can receive celebrity autographs from some of the Star Wars characters attending the event. For the little ones who are 12 and younger, there is a Jedi Training Academy to train with light sabers to defeat Darth Vader. At the end of the day, there is more fun at the Hyperspace Hoopla, where you can dance with Ewoks, Wookiees, Stormtroopers, Jawas and other out-of-this-world creatures.

Star Wars also has a new, special edition Angry Birds called Angry Birds Star Wars. The goal of the game is to destroy the Pig Star and defeat the evil Pigtroopers. It’s now available for iOS for 99 cents, Android for free, Amazon Kindle Fire for $2.99, Mac for $4.99, PC for $4.95, Windows Phones for 99 centsand Windows 8 for $4.99.

“I think Disney buying Lucasfilms is a great way for the Star Wars franchise to keep moving in a positive direction” said Andrew MacDonald, mechanical engineering graduate student and huge fan of Star Wars. “More movies can be made, with the kind of budgets required for such a large-scale production, without quality having to suffer.”

I know I’m excited to see additional features in Disney theme parks and more video games inspired by the franchise, but I’ll wait patiently while Disney announces more plans for new and exciting things to improve the beloved series.