It's A Big World After All

Disney Is Tapping Into Star Wars, Marvel, And More To Upgrade Its Theme Parks.

- Yasmin Gagne

The opening of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s

Edge attraction at California’s Disneyland this month marks the biggest move Disney has made to enhance its global theme-park business. The company, which posted a $4.5 billion operating profit last year for its parks and resorts division, is expanding its six resort complexes, upgrading older attractions, and capitalizing on the valuable intellectual property of its movie franchises. “We’re using everything from robotics and machine learning to augmented reality and autonomous vehicles to create the next generation of immersive, experiential storytelling,” says Bob Chapek, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products. Below, a look at Disney’s plans to keep us amused.

New Galaxies

In addition to this month’s opening of a 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area in Disneyland, a Star Wars area of the same size will arrive this fall at Orlando’s Disney World (already the size of San Francisco). Marvel themed areas are planned for Disneyland (in 2020), followed by Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland (1).

Flights of Fancy