Star Wars Galaxy's Edge now open at Disney World's Hollywood Studios (PHOTOS)

Social media posts show hoards of fans waiting outside the gates of Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida during the wee hours of Thursday morning — all in an effort to be amongst the first to enter the newly-opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land.

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This is Disney’s second Star Wars-themed land, replicating the same land that opened at Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in late-May 2019.

The opening of Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios was timed with the Labor Day long weekend, but the expectation of throngs of crowds over the coming days could be more than dampened by the forecast of Hurricane Dorian.

According to NOAA, Dorian is expected to build up into a Category 4 strength storm over the coming days, and it will make landfall in Central Florida — a path that could mean a direct hit to Disney World — on Monday.

Florida’s governor declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm’s arrival.

In recent years, there have been increased frequencies of hurricanes forcing the closure of Disney World.

Disney is not expected to make a decision on park closures until a more accurate projection of the storm’s route is made.

Tropical-storm-force winds from #Dorian could begin in parts of Florida *as early as* Saturday evening or Saturday night. Now is the time to begin thinking about what kinds of preparations you might need to make over the next couple of days. https://t.co/yChCF6oWL9 pic.twitter.com/sY8jyYVaxz

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 29, 2019

Galaxy’s Edge has been billed as Disney’s most immersive and interactive land yet, themed after the planet of Batuu.

The new land received its dedication on Wednesday, and it officially opened to the public today, with local reports indicating the land reached its maximum capacity just minutes after opening. The wait in the snaking line to ride the land’s feature ride attraction, ‘Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run’, allowing guests to operate Han Solo’s famous spaceship, reached over six hours at one point.

 

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Guests can also enjoy the characters of the Star Wars universe, build their own lightsabers and droids, and eat and drink from the unique menu items from various eateries and food stands, including the ‘blue milk’ from Star Wars: A New Hope.

A second feature ride attraction, a dark ride, called ‘Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance’, will open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on December 5, 2019, while the version for Disneyland Park will open on January 17, 2020.

Galaxy’s Edge and the recent opening of Toy Story Land were strategically constructed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to provide Disney World’s least busy theme park with a major equilibrium boost.

Of the four Orlando-area Disney theme parks, Disney’s Hollywood Studios — the smallest of the parks — has the lowest annual attendance, with 11.3 million attendees in 2018. In contrast, during the same year, Magic Kingdom saw 20.9 million attendees, Disney’s Animal Kingdom saw 13.8 million, and Epcot saw 12.4 million.

Last weekend, Disney announced sweeping renovation and expansion plans for Epcot in a comprehensive plan to revitalize the 1982-built park, the second theme park that opened at Disney World.

 

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See also:

• Disneyland’s epic new Star Wars theme park opens this week (PHOTOS)
• 10 ways Disney World’s Epcot theme park will be completely transformed
• Third “epic” theme park to be built at Universal Orlando Resort
• Fans waited 10 hours for new Hagrid-themed roller coaster and they aren’t even mad about it
• Disneyland’s epic new Star Wars theme park opens (PHOTOS)