Disney Parks have been making huge promises that Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is going to be unlike anything we've ever seen before and a new patent may indicate that Disney isn't kidding around. It seems that Disney has submitted paperwork for a patent that would replicate a Star Wars style blaster shot that would be visible as it travels through the air. Based on the way the technology works, it seems likely it is destined for Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, probably inside one of the new attractions.
The technology, as uncovered by WDW News Today, is actually fairly simple and just uses a series of reflective surfaces to show off the blaster shot in motion. These reflective surfaces are attached to arms that disappear when they're not needed but the fact that something like that is necessary, it would seem that making blaster fire appear as part of a stage show or parade would be difficult without making the larger apparatus visible. In a dark ride like the Millennium Falcon flight or the First Order "Battle Escape" attractions, which we know are on the way, the arms can be better hidden and they won't need to move around.
This is just one of several patents that Disney has filed in recent months that indicates that Galaxy's Edge is going to be one of the most immersive experiences that theme park guests have ever had. Other patents have included technology that could make lightsabers appear to be real as well as another more recent patent discovery that could make Force Ghosts exist in the park as objects that guests might even interact with.
All this combines with the fact that, rather than being simply a place where all things Star Wars will exist together, Galaxy's Edge is being designed to exist as an actual place within the Star Wars universe. Galaxy's Edge will send guests to the planet Batuu, a place never before seen in Star Wars, but one that is already being referenced in the Star Wars movies as well as associated material like novels. It's been said that you won't even be able to buy a t-shirt with the Star Wars logo on it inside the land, because that would break the immersion.
With every new detail Galaxy's Edge is looking more and more amazing. While exact opening dates have not yet been announced, we're around a year away from Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening at Disneyland, as that park will see its land open next summer. Disney's Hollywood Studios, who saw the new Toy Story Land officially open today, will get its own Galaxy's Edge in the late fall of 2019.
