Star Wars Trading Post In Downtown Disney – SOON
While the theme and story of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is epic — supported by numerous media and reinforced by the lands themselves — the timeline is restrictive.
You won’t see anyone like Luke or Anakin Skywalker in either Batuu West or East. Nor will you find Boba Fett or The Mandalorian. They don’t fit in the timeline. Nor do most corresponding toys and merch. However, the new Star Wars Trading Post in Downtown Disney in Anaheim will have not such issues.
Spanning Canon: Star Wars Trading Post
Last week, Brady MacDonald tracked down one of the Imagineers who worked to make Galaxy’s Edge a reality, even as they decide how to deliver a more relaxed version of a galaxy far, far away.
For the OCRegister.com MacDonald wrote:
If Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland is locked into a very specific timeline in the epic space opera, then the new Star Wars Trading Post in Downtown Disney will encompass every story, character, and era from a galaxy far, far away.
“It’s a place to celebrate all things Star Wars,” Walt Disney Imagineering Art Director Kirstin Makela said in a video interview. “We want this to be a space that grows with the fandom and has the ability to celebrate all the different characters and adventures that unfold.”
The new Star Wars Trading Post will debut on Feb. 19 in the former Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney with a Legacy Passholder preview event set for Feb. 16-18.
Turning A Cafe Into A Temple
In a wide-ranging interview, which explains why Disney might be rethinking the strict timeline of Galaxy’s Edge, MacDonald goes step by step through the new location’s business plan. And, with Makela’s help, he recounts why the former Rain Forest Cafe can neatly substitute for a temple in the Star Wars universe; and why that would be a perfect outcome for many fans.
“We have so many fans that love all the different movies and adventures that have come out — whether they’ve been there from the start or if they are new fans or somewhere in between,” Makela said to the OCR. “We want to create a space where they can shop for all the new merchandise that goes along with all these different adventures and different stories, especially as the Star Wars universe continues to grow, change and evolve.”
You have to read the full story. And I can’t wait to see how the completed Star Wars Trading Post in Anaheim turns out.