A famous quote from Walt Disney emphasizes the appeal of change at Disneyland. In Walt’s filmmaking career, once a movie was released, there was no changing it. “I can’t touch it. There’s things in it I don’t like? I can’t do anything about it,” Walt said. Disneyland, however, presented Walt with a creative product that could be adjusted, keeping up with technological advances or responding to guest feedback. “I wanted something live, something that could grow, something I could keep plussing with ideas, you see? The park is that.”
This principle has been put to work this year within Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disney’s Star Wars theme park land located at both Disneyland Park in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Disney made 7 changes to Galaxy’s Edge this year, stemming from reasons as varied as marketing, guest complaints, and tech. All of these changes have been aimed at reinvigorating guest interest in the land. Below, we break down each change and what caused it. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including new Disney Hanukkah merchandise and a Disney World free vacation sweepstakes for teachers.
Characters from the Original Trilogy (California)
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The attractions and storyline of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge were firmly placed within the Star Wars sequel trilogy when the theme park land first opened in 2019. The sequel trilogy contains the three films released from 2015 to 2019 starring Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, Poe, and BB-8. Disney chose this exact point within the Star Wars timeline for Galaxy’s Edge for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and ensured that everything in Galaxy’s Edge supported this timeframe.
This meant that any characters or stories from other Star Wars media were off the table, including the original trilogy starring Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Darth Vader.
Following a gradual openness to more walk-around characters, including the Mandalorian and a limited-time appearance of Luke in 2025, Disneyland fully and permanently shattered the Galaxy’s Edge timeline in April 2026. Luke, Leia, Han, and Vader all now appear in Galaxy’s Edge daily on the West Coast, and so do Rey, the Mandalorian, and other characters from various different points in the Star Wars timeline.
Characters from different time periods cannot interact with each other and aren’t seen in the same areas, but they do now all coexist in Galaxy’s Edge. Read more insight from Walt Disney Imagineers and Lucasfilm artists on this huge change.
The original trilogy characters do not appear at Walt Disney World.
New Version of Millennium Falcon Ride (California & Florida)
Similarly with the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge walk-around characters, the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride was originally firmly planted in the sequel trilogy. This changed in May 2026 when Disney added the Mandalorian and Grogu to the attraction permanently. Mando and “baby Yoda” are now along for the ride as the main characters of the adventure.
In the updated version of Smugglers Run, guests fly to multiple planets, not just one, and the destination may be different each time they ride. Following guest complaints about the attraction’s engineer position being the most boring assignment in the previous version of the ride, the update puts the engineer in charge of choosing the secondary planet location and of looking after Grogu.
Disney also took the opportunity to upgrade the ride’s technology, advancing the graphics and real-time interactivity of the visuals.
These changes were introduced at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and arrived on the same day that The Mandalorian and Grogu movie was released in theaters. Impressively, the switchover didn’t require any downtime refurbishment for either coast.
Free Version of Paid Experience (California)
Savi’s Workshop – Handbuilt Lightsabers has been an add-on, paid attraction at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World since Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019.
For $250 in California or $275 in Florida, guests participate in a 30-minute guided experience in which they build their own lightsaber. Guests pick their kyber crystal, hilt, sleeve, emitter, pommel cap, activation plate, and switch, and get to keep their creation.
In May 2026, Disneyland launched Youngling Saber Building Expo – A Loth-Cat Crew Experience, a free version of Savi’s Workshop. In this new take on the attraction, guests visit Savi’s Workshop and still get to build their own lightsaber, but they don’t get to keep it.
Disney says the Youngling Saber Building Expo is a limited-time experience, but it’s still available as of this writing in October 2026. It’s available from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM daily via a standby line. See more details here.
The Walt Disney World version of Savi’s Workshop remains a paid-only attraction. Read our review of the paid version of Savi’s Workshop.
John Williams’s Soundtrack (California)
Walt Disney Imagineers approached the creation of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge differently from previous Disney theme park areas in a few ways, and one of the most noticeable was the decision to not play any background music. Instead, ambient prerecorded audio would include the sounds of shopkeepers at work or unseen ships flying into the sky.
This was a somewhat controversial choice, as guests are used to music being in the background of every other Disney theme park area, and composer John Williams’s soundtracks for the Star Wars movies are among the most famous in movie history. Music was still part of the rides in Galaxy’s Edge, but not in its outdoor areas.
In April 2026, Disneyland pumped in Williams’s Star Wars score throughout Galaxy’s Edge for the first time, instantly elevating the cinematic feel of the land. Walt Disney World still plays just the ambient soundscapes.
Interactive Toys (California Now, Florida Later)
Batuu Adventure Buddies, a new line of interactive Star Wars toys, debuted at Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge in August 2026 with its first toy, an Ewok. The $100 toys have expressive eyes, motorized facial movements, signature sounds, and responsive touch interactions that react to guests’ attention.
Batuu Adventure Buddies are available exclusively at Droid Depot at Disneyland. On launch day, guests lined up for hours to purchase the Ewok. Batuu Adventure Buddies are not yet available at Walt Disney World, but they will be eventually.
Future Batuu Adventure Buddies will include Rotta the Hutt and Grogu. Disney has not announced a release date.
Given Disney’s history of “interactivity” with toys in the parks and with MagicBand games within Galaxy’s Edge, we should note that the Batuu Buddies interact with the user, not with Galaxy’s Edge. The toys do not respond to anything specific within Galaxy’s Edge itself, and do not activate any special set moments within the Galaxy’s Edge architecture.
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Mandalorian Projection Show (California)
For several years, Disneyland’s version of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has featured nighttime projection shows displayed on the titular spires of Black Spire Outpost, just above the Millennium Falcon. On nights when the park presents a fireworks spectacular, these projections sync with the show. On other nights, they are still performed as projections-only.
Coinciding with the May 2026 movie release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disneyland debuted The Curious Child, a brief presentation after the usual projection show, Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga. The Curious Child features Grogu looking back on his memories.
This sets the precedent for Disneyland perhaps introducing similar projection shows in the future with the release of other Star Wars movies or TV series, similar to how Star Tours – The Adventures Continue in Tomorrowland is occasionally updated with new characters or destinations. This allows the new project to have a presence in Galaxy’s Edge without as big of an investment as a ride update.
New Lightsaber Features (California & Florida)
There are many different parts and pieces involved in building your own lightsaber, meaning there are tons of possibilities for unique lightsaber designs. It also means Disney can occasionally introduce new hardware to freshen up the experience for repeat visitors.
In spring 2026, Savi’s Workshop – Handbuilt Lightsabers at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World introduced “salvaged pieces” that were “originally forged by Dark Side warriors” after being retrieved from old battles in Star Wars lore.
In fall 2026, both coasts’ Savi’s Workshop debuted lightsabers with new effects, including spinning, better audio, and smoother blade activation. The shops also added new pieces inspired by the High Republic, the era of Star Wars when The Acolyte and Young Jedi Adventures take place. See more details about these updates.
Bonus: Galactic Starcruiser Episode of The Simpsons
This last section doesn’t pertain specifically to a change within Galaxy’s Edge, but it does speak to the land’s cultural impact, and I’d be remiss to not mention it given its timeliness.
A new episode of The Simpsons parodies Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, aka the failed Star Wars hotel, a short-lived companion experience to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World. The episode, titled “Kosmic Kruiser,” aired on FOX on November 8 at 8:30 PM. The official episode description reads, “Bart and Lisa break into Krustyland’s most notorious failed attraction, only to discover that it hasn’t been completely abandoned.”
The episode includes a guest appearance by YouTuber Jenny Nicholson, whose 4-hour video essay about the Starcruiser’s history and her own experience there has amassed 17 million views since debuting in 2024.
Last month, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who was leading the company during the opening of the Starcruiser, shared in his new book why he thinks it closed. See also our Mickey Visit analysis of the Starcruiser’s closure.
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