Does Disney Decorate Star Wars Land For Christmas? Life Day Celebrations in Galaxy’s Edge
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is the Star Wars-themed land in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge typically does not partake in any of the holiday celebrations, much to my dismay which I will cover below, but has been slowly making moves to incorporate Life Day (a Star Wars version of a winter holiday) into the land. I am a huge Star Wars fan and I have spent significant time in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge experiencing all the exclusive offerings like lightsaber and droid building, e-ticket attractions, and character meet and greets. I visit the Disney Parks every year for Christmas and I think incorporating more holiday decor into the land would be a large improvement.
Life Day is a holiday in the Star Wars world that nicely coordinates with the holiday season as a winter holiday that celebrates family, joy, and harmony. Disneyland appears to be embracing this Life Day celebration more each year with special merchandise, food, and acknowledgments of the holiday from cast members. Unfortunately for Walt Disney World, most of this focus appears to be in the Disneyland Star Wars land.
Keep reading as I cover the basics of what Life Day is in the Star Wars universe, special Life Day merchandise and food offerings at Disneyland plus why I think it is a big mistake that Disney does not further incorporate Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge into the Christmas celebration at Disneyland and holidays at Walt Disney World.
Disneyland Star Wars Life Day Food
New this year at Disneyland are specialty Life Day dishes coming to Docking Bay 7, Ronto Roasters, and Kat Saka's Kettle. More will be announced soon for the popular Star Wars bar Oga's Cantina.
These new Star Wars Life Day food items are only available at Disneyland's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge starting November 17th through January 9th. It is not expected to see these come to Walt Disney World, unfortunately.
Docking Bay 7
Docking Bay 7 will feature a Kashyyyk Cake and a Life Day Spork!
Ronto Roasters
Ronoto Roasers will feature Cheesy Blue Orbs.
Kat Saka's Kettles
You can find this Life Day Cheese Branch at Kat Saka's Kettle.
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Star Wars Life Day Merchandise
Disneyland and Walt Disney World have both featured a variety of Life Day merchandise in the past few years at the parks which include Chewbacca dressed in his Light Day robes, cups, ornaments, and blankets.
Now that I've covered the slim offerings for Life Day in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, let's get into why I think it's a mistake Disney doesn't do more with this fun holiday and use it as an opportunity to bring more holiday decor to the land.
Does Star Wars Land Decorate for Christmas?
Unfortunately, Disney does not decorate Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge for the holiday season at either park and I find it a huge disappointment and missed opportunity. While the rest of the theme parks incorporate festive decor and lights, these large lands remain untouched which is often a big letdown for guests visiting for the holiday season.
The closest Disney has done to acknowledge the holiday season at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is by incorporating Life Day merchandise in both theme parks. But new this year, we have seen Disneyland add specialty food items to celebrate Life Day in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. I hope this is a first step towards incorporating more holiday celebrations into the land but it still does not go far enough.
In this Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge article, I talk about how it's time for Disney to let go of the Batuu storyline and start incorporating all their popular characters into the land. This is a similar argument that relates to the strict hold Disney has on the timeline and storyline of the land. It's time to let that go and stop missing out on opportunities to breathe more life into the land. For repeat guests, once you've done all there is to do, there isn't much left that's worth repeating. This is why seasonal celebrations in the parks are so important whether they're related to a particular holiday or a Disney anniversary. Removing Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge from that fun is a huge mistake.
The new Jollywood Nights party at Hollywood Studios is a great example of how ignoring these holidays in Star Wars Land is often a deterrent to the parks. One of the common critiques of this party is that it felt clustered together in the front of Hollywood Studios while the back end of the park, where Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is located, was completely empty. Why did they not decide to decorate the land? Or at the very least, bring some type of fun Star Wars dance party or pop-up bar in this area. This would have helped spread the crowds out and added a great layer of additional fun to the event. Can you imagine the hype if Jollywood Nights included a special holiday party in Star Wars Land? Such a missed opportunity by Disney!
I hope that these efforts, even if they're moving at a turtle pace, continue to incorporate Life Day into Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. This is a step in the right direction to adding some festive touches to the land.
What is Life Day?
Star Wars Life Day advertisement from 1978
Life Day is a Wookie holiday tradition that celebrates family, joy, and harmony which takes place traditionally after the autumn season making it a winter holiday. After the destruction of the Galactic Empire (Return of the Jedi), the galaxy embraces the day with festive décor, lights, feasts, and music. Disney has directly connected this holiday to the planet of Batuu (the planet of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge) as it is said that the planet has celebrated this holiday since the fall of the Empire.
Life Day first appeared in Star Wars cannon when it aired in the Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978 featuring Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia all played by the original cast. The storyline follows the first Star Wars film with Han Solo and Chewbacca going back to the Wookie home planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day. The special introduces the new characters of Chewbacca's family: his father Itchy, his wife Malla, and his son Lumpy.
The Star Wars Holiday Special was extremely poorly received at the time and to this day is considered a bit of a joke in the Star Wars universe. So much so that George Lucas and the original cast like to pretend it doesn't even exist! See this clip of an interview with Harrison Ford on the Conan O'Brien show as he jokingly denies this holiday special ever took place when Conan presents him with a clip from the Star Wars Holiday Special:
So it's a bit entertaining that Disney is deciding to embrace this holiday special, at least on some level, to incorporate it into the parks. If you want to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978, it is hard to find as it mainly exists in bootleg copies you can find on websites like eBay or fuzzy versions on YouTube. You won't find it on Disney+ anytime soon.
However, Life Day exists in the Star Wars universe beyond just the holiday special in comic books, animated segments that you can find on Disney+ and novels. So at this point, Life Day is no longer solely associated with the holiday special and would be a perfect pathway to adding a full-blown holiday theme to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. We are seeing small, baby steps towards this acknowledgment with the merchandise and special food items, so I argue that it's time to let loose and decorate the entire land with the Life Day orbs and add some holiday cheer to this corner of the parks.
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