The celebration of Star Wars gave us an overview of the future of the experiences of Disney Parks, and IGN had the chance to speak to Michael Serna of Walt Disney Disney Imagineering and Disney Live Entertainment about the race of the Mandalorian and the groan at the head of Millennium Falcon: Smuggler, and at the same time more adorable.
In addition to the revelation of these exciting new experiences heading towards Disney parks around the world, Kalama and Serna also gave us an overview of how they give life to this Disney magic and allow us to live our favorite stories and characters in moments that will last a whole life with us.
The update on the theme of the Mandalorian and the Grogu to Millennium Falcon: the gateway smugglers will allow engineers to take care of Grogu
One of the greatest revelations of the celebration of Star Wars was that the engineers will be able to take care of Grogu aboard the Millennium Falcon: the stubbornness race when the Mandalorian update and the growing theme arrives on the attraction alongside the film on May 22, 2026.
Although the scenario presented on the attraction will follow a “different path” of that of the film, it will put each crew member in a team with Mando and Rogu. The engineer, however, seems to be that siege fans should look forward to sitting because they can not only interact with growled, but also choose where in this galaxy far, far we will go.
“Throughout the mission, we will give engineers the opportunity to communicate with Grogu,” said Kalama. “So, we think it will be a ton of pleasure. There can be moments when Mando must dislodge the razor and growled, left to himself, could become a little happy on the control panel. So we like the idea that there are these little funny vignettes and moments when you are somehow on communication with Grogu.”
As for what you choose your adventure side, Kalama tells us that there will be “a kind of critical moment in your adventure where you are attached to time and will have to make a quick decision on which of our particular premiums that we want to continue. And it will be the kind of incited incentive that allows us to decide what the different dupes are.”
This choice seems to bring the players to Pépin, the wreckage of the death of death over Endor and the newly announced location of Coruscant. And yes, all this is rolled up around a new story where “Hondo Ohnaka catches the wind of an agreement on Tatooine between ex-officers and pirates, preparing a prosecution with high issues through the galaxy.
BDX droids will go from Disney parks around the world to your heart
The wonderful BDX droids that have taken control of the heart and spirit of Star Wars fans in the world will officially head to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney, and we could not be happier.
These droids, which will also appear in the Mandalorian & Rogu, have been under development for some time, and the objective was to bring new experiences to the guests of Disney Parks who will plunge them more into the stories they love.
“The goal of the BDX droids was to see how we give life to the characters in our parks in different ways, and it is really the fusion of technology with this entertainment and a background that we have created specifically for parks because this kind of origin of parks,” said Kalama. “They appeared in games and other places, but we have created an original story just for us and we have somehow evolved this as we went to sites from around the world.”
“And they have a lot of funny children’s qualities and do all kinds of cute things that people would do,” added Serna. “So, we realized that we should somehow identify each of them with a personality. It made much more interesting to engage with them and allowed us a lot of flexibility and many ways to continue to extend this world. So, in the same way that we love R2-D2 and other droids. Each color is a unique personality.”
These BDX droids are only a way in which Disney teams evolve the experiences of Disney Park, and Kalama and Serna explained how they all thought they were doing these interactions and moments that we all cherish even better.
“The technology behind the animatronics influences the way we look at robotics and the experiences of characters and these narrow experiences that continue to inspire us,” said Serna. “So, we see these incredible animatronics in, for example, the frozen attraction, and we start to think how we make them come out of an attraction and on a street. I think you will see a lot more of this kind of things in our parks around the world, which means using technology in a way that you do not expect them to be so close to you.”
“I think the idea of using technology unexpectedly and invisible ways is really important to somehow how we approach all of this,” added Kalama. “I think that we are very in the field of this feeling of suspension and disbelief, and there is often no other way to give life to a character than robotics. But one of the things that is incredibly unique to the work we do, compared to what you might see in a automotive factory is that we have for a deadline. As for example.
From Peter Pan and Star Tours to the creation of the future
Summary for many of us, those like Kalama and Serna in Disney have grown up by loving the Disney parks and certain attractions that have inspired them to be part of the team that creates new experiences that they hope will do the same for a new generation.
We spent a few moments talking about our common love for certain attractions and it was a surprising overview of how the future is made.
“As a small child, going up Peter Pan was the most exciting for me,” said Serna. “To fly in this vehicle … I think it really breathtaking me. I didn’t know how it worked. I just thought:” Oh my God, we fly! “And then, as I get older and I thought that the Star Wars themed parks, Peter Pan, was really an incredible story, but it was something in the past. You remember at the time, we were at a time of No New Star Wars Stuff and it was a new adventure and I could not believe that I was now in a story of Star Wars.
“I think it inspires me every day when I think about the work we do. This is not necessarily what I want to do, but that’s especially what Michael, 10, really wanted to do. This is what I want to put there for our guests. I have the impression that if Michael, 10, will probably love him too, whatever age.”
“I did not have the opportunity to visit the park once before becoming a member of the distribution, and I was probably eight years old and I was so obsessed with everything about science fiction,” said Kalama. “I literally refused to leave Tomorrowland. So, the first time I met one of the other lands, it was as an adult. But again, for me, as Michael said, I have a RAM and it was visits. THE Attraction for me. I mean, the suspension of disbelief was through the roof and I fully believed that I was on a star speeder and that I had traveled through the galaxy. I think that this sense of the magic of dissociation with reality and entering this complete fantastic world is powerful, not only for children, but I think it is just as important for adults. And so I think that when we do our job well, we invite the whole family, whatever your age right now, to feel really transported and completely lost in a fantasy. “”
And now, thanks to these rides, Kalama and Serna help make the future of Disney Parks experiences. Finally, we wanted to see what they were proud of in the work they have accomplished so far, and they have shared some great stories.
Serna has helped give life to shadows of memory: a Skywalker saga in Disneyland, which is a projection show at Galaxy’s Edge which allows guests to live not only fireworks with a Star Wars flair, but also a special story even at night when there is none.
“It was actually a two-year process to look at something that happened in the parks daily, which was fireworks. People were sitting in Batuu and looked at the fireworks, but there was no music or anything. You were just sitting there in silence by looking at fireworks. to create it in the world of Star Wars.
“So, we worked in close collaboration with Lucasfilm to look at somehow what a type of fireworks would be in Galaxy’s Edge. We have created a character who was our storyteller. We created a droid that was part of the experience. We have created a whole piece of performance. Saga really plans to use arrows as a projection space and create something immersive that we have never done in a park theme before.
For Kalama, these are those little touches that you may never know, but add to something spectacular.
“I think something I hope is invisible to our fans, but something they appreciate is that there is just an obsessive level of attention to the details that we have put in everything,” said Kalama. “The number of very serious conversations that we have had around the type of head-on that we should put on a panel wall, because … well … Phillips does not exist in the chronology of Star Wars or the reception document that comes out of the printer when you make a purchase. We will really go beyond to think about what adapts together, they do that the space does not seem to be important, but when they are really. Authoritarian and does not seem to be important, but when they add together, they make space are really authoritarian and does not seem to be important.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow it on X / Twitter @Adambankhurst and on Tiktok.