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Arts and Entertainment

The New Rendering Of Disneyland's 'Star Wars Land' Is Epic

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Since August of last year, announcements about the planned Star Wars-themed park at Disneyland have been trickling in. By now it's akin to torture; the details keep getting more and more enticing.

Today, the DisneyParks Blog announced that the latest artist's rendering of the new land has been unveiled on a fence by Big Thunder Trail in Frontierland. As you may recall, Disneyland had closed down a good chunk of Frontierland to make way for Star Wars.

The new rendering reinforces much of what we've known in the past. We know, for instance, that the park will be a kind of bustling trade port. There'll be a ride in which you can pilot the Millennium Falcon (see if you can spot Han Solo's ride in the image). And there'll be a cantina that harkens back to the one in Mos Eisley. You can see a larger version of the rendering here.

What makes the new rendering special is that it gives a better idea of the scope and size of the park. To put it simply: it looks huge. It also seems to incorporate a lot of the former Frontierland; the port is nestled in a terrain of jagged rocks and lush greens. We also see a collection of colorful canopies that remind us of the flags on the planet Takodana in The Force Awakens. Is this an indicator that the new park will devote itself to the new trilogy?

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This is, of course, the maddening thing about these kinds of unveilings; they bring up more questions than answers. Right now, one of the biggest questions is when the land will actually open. There's no official date confirmed, but, as the L.A. Times noted, these projects usually take 18 to 24 months to complete, and industry experts predict that the grand opening will come in 2018 or 2019.

In the meantime, you can knock back a couple brews at California Adventure as you daydream about hanging out with Wicket and Grand Moff Tarkin at the upcoming Star Wars Land.

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