Batuu Gets a Timeline Expansion and the Galaxy Gets Bigger

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Finally Breaks Free of Its Own Timeline

When Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened in 2019, Imagineering made a bold creative bet: lock the land into a single moment in the sequel trilogy timeline, between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. The result was deeply immersive and frustratingly narrow. Guests could meet Rey and Kylo Ren but not Luke Skywalker, not Han Solo, not Darth Vader. For a franchise built across nearly five decades of storytelling, the land represented only a sliver of what fans actually loved.

That changes tomorrow. On April 29, Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge launches its expanded timeline, and the shift is significant. According to MickeyBlog, Darth Vader will roam Batuu accompanied by Imperial Stormtroopers, while Leia Organa and Han Solo appear near the Millennium Falcon. Luke Skywalker will wander the outpost. These are original trilogy characters finally walking through a land that has never included them, standing alongside the existing roster of Ahsoka Tano, the Mandalorian, Grogu, Rey, and R2-D2.

The character additions are the headline, but the texture changes might matter more. MickeyBlog reports that John Williams' iconic scores will play throughout the land for the first time, pulling themes from the first six films. The "Main Title" and "Force Theme" will echo through the tunnels of Batuu. "Han Solo and the Princess" and "The Emperor" will drift through the outpost. Oga's Cantina gets the original "Cantina Band" track. For years, the land's ambient audio was designed to feel alien and unfamiliar. Now it will sound like Star Wars in the way generations of fans have always heard it.

The shops are getting reworked too. First Order Cargo transforms into Black Spire Surplus, selling Imperial and Rebel artifacts from multiple eras. Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities will carry items spanning the saga's full history, and an earlier generation of the Mubo family will operate Droid Depot. New merchandise includes the Aurebesh Collection featuring the Star Wars logo in the franchise's fictional alphabet, plus May the 4th novelties like a Salvaged Protocol Droid Bucket, a Bantha Sipper, and Lightsaber Swizzle Sticks.

Disney Tourist Blog confirms that Hyperspace Mountain has also returned to Disneyland Park for a limited run, giving the park two major Star Wars draws simultaneously. Season of the Force is not officially back for 2026, but the combined effect of the timeline expansion, the overlay, and the new merchandise push amounts to the most substantial Star Wars moment at Disneyland in years.

Editorially, the timeline expansion reads like Imagineering acknowledging what guests have been saying since 2019: the best version of Galaxy's Edge is one that celebrates the whole saga, not just one chapter. The land's architecture and design were always strong enough to hold multiple eras. Now they finally will.

The Parks

The biggest construction story at Walt Disney World right now is happening inside the former DINOSAUR building at Disney's Animal Kingdom, and it picked up momentum this week. BlogMickey reports that Walt Disney Imagineering filed two new Notice of Commencement permits for set installation at the address tied to the former attraction. The work is part of the Tropical Americas transformation of DinoLand USA, which includes a new Indiana Jones attraction that will use the existing ride layout but tell a completely new story set in a Mayan temple. The contractors listed on the permits are Adirondack Studios and Scenario, both longtime Imagineering collaborators. BlogMickey notes that Adirondack has handled scenic work on projects like Pandora, Galaxy's Edge, and Frozen Ever After, while Scenario served as the sole rockwork vendor for Galaxy's Edge, contributing more than 200,000 square feet of rockwork across more than 20 distinct zones. A 2027 opening timeframe looms for the broader Tropical Americas project.

Meanwhile, WDW News Today reports that dates for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2026 at Magic Kingdom have been announced, with tickets going on sale soon. Disney is teasing new villains roaming the streets and has confirmed both new and returning entertainment for this year's event. Separately, WDW News Today notes that the EPCOT "Welcome" sign has returned to the toll plaza, Branded Coca-Cola cups and soda flavors are back at Club Cool, and the Spike's Pollen-Nation Exploration scavenger hunt maps at EPCOT's Flower and Garden Festival have sold out, with a replacement prize now available.

Over at Disneyland, WDW News Today reports that the Jungle Cruise has reopened following its refurbishment, with a notable change: the piranha fish have been removed from the attraction. The article does not specify whether the removal is permanent or what replaced the scene element. WDW News Today also notes that Disneyland is discontinuing on-property MagicBand+ sales.

On the cruise side, DCL Blog took a deeper look at Disney Cruise Line's new preferential berthing agreement with the Port of San Diego, which extends through at least 2031. The four-year agreement, with a one-year renewal option, was signed in February. DCL Blog notes that the deal includes a sneak peek at future sail dates from the port.

And at Walt Disney World, the Disney Parks Blog announced that the company is celebrating Disney Week of Wishes in partnership with Make-A-Wish. Disney VoluntEARS are assembling more than 10,000 wish kits for Make-A-Wish chapters across the U.S., and Walt Disney World recently rededicated a newly reimagined Wish Lounge at Magic Kingdom, a space reserved exclusively for Make-A-Wish families. Since the first official wish was granted at Disneyland 45 years ago, Disney has worked with Make-A-Wish to grant more than 175,000 wishes worldwide, according to the Disney Parks Blog.

Tuesday's crowd data at Walt Disney World told an interesting story. Lightning Brain's daily park report showed Magic Kingdom running at 7/10 (Heavy) with a 19.5-minute median wait, while every other park sat at 4/10 (Moderate) or below. Hollywood Studios posted a 3/10 (Moderate) crowd level, which is genuinely light for a Tuesday in late April. EPCOT was the easiest tour of the day at 4/10 (Moderate), with festival traffic concentrated at food booths rather than attraction queues. The day's biggest operational story was Tiana's Bayou Adventure going down at 1:08 PM and never reopening, nearly seven hours of lost capacity at one of Magic Kingdom's headliner attractions. Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom followed a similar pattern, going offline at 2:35 PM through park close, and Kali River Rapids was down for more than five hours starting in the morning.

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The Screen

Disney Animation's newest project is small in scale but large in ambition. Songs in Sign Language, now streaming on Disney+, reimagines three musical numbers from recent films in American Sign Language. The Walt Disney Company reports that the project, directed by Hyrum Osmond, was made in collaboration with Deaf West Theatre and reimagines "The Next Right Thing" from Frozen 2, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto, and "Beyond" from Moana 2. More than 20 animators worked on the project, many of them volunteers. Approximately 95% of the shots required entirely new animation, according to Deaf West Theatre artistic director DJ Kurs. "Sign language and English are not a direct translation," Osmond said. "It was very important for us both to work with the Deaf community to identify exactly how these signs should look, because we want them to be real, to be genuine." The project debuts during National Deaf History Month.

In a quieter corner of the pipeline, The DisInsider reports, citing Deadline, that Ellen DeGeneres is reportedly returning to voice Dory in a new Pixar short film. Early reports suggest the short is still in development and would revisit the world of Finding Nemo. If confirmed, it would be DeGeneres' most high-profile project since her talk show wrapped in 2022.

WDW News Today also notes that Pixar's Toy Story 5 is likely the last film Andrew Stanton will direct at the studio, as Pixar considers two additional projects. And two titles, Gatto and Hexed, will be previewed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

The Vault

D23 published a rich retrospective this week connecting two of entertainment's most iconic fashion villains: Cruella de Vil and Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada. With One Hundred and One Dalmatians celebrating its 65th anniversary and the live-action 101 Dalmatians turning 30 this year, D23 dug into the production history behind both characters. The piece reveals that Walt Disney originally wanted actress Lisa Davis to voice Cruella, but Davis felt her voice sounded "very young and fresh" and ended up cast as Anita instead. Betty Lou Gerson got the role and, according to D23, her performance directly inspired Disney Legend Marc Davis' animation. Davis animated nearly all the most iconic Cruella scenes, and the character would be the last he oversaw at the studio before moving to WED Enterprises, now Walt Disney Imagineering.

Elsewhere in Disney business news, WDW News Today reports that Disney has decided not to spin ESPN into a stand-alone company. The same outlet notes that the FCC will review Disney's ABC broadcast licenses two years early, a review linked to controversy involving Jimmy Kimmel. And in a fashion-meets-legacy development, Disney Experiences announced a new Visionary Designer Initiative with Vogue ahead of Mickey Mouse's 100th anniversary. According to Disney Experiences, select fashion designers will be invited into Disney's archives to reinterpret Mickey Mouse through their creative lens. Ami Paris founder Alexandre Mattiussi will be the first to launch his collection in early 2027. Vogue contributing editor Mark Holgate called the collaboration "a reminder that creativity is always at its best when there's an openness to reimagining what we all already know and love."

Sources

MickeyBlog · Disney Tourist Blog · BlogMickey · WDW News Today · DCL Blog · Disney Parks Blog · Lightning Brain · The Walt Disney Company · The DisInsider · D23 · Disney Experiences