Bringing Star Wars Experiences to Life With Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Live Entertainment - Star Wars Celebration

Star Wars Celebration gave america a sneak highest astatine the aboriginal of Disney Parks experiences, and IGN had the accidental to speech to Walt Disney Imagineering's Asa Kalama and Disney Live Entertainment's Michael Serna astir The Mandalorian & Grogu-themed update headed to Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run, the impossibly adorable BDX droids headed to Disney Parks, and truthful overmuch more.

Alongside revealing these breathtaking caller experiences headed to Disney Parks astir the world, Kalama and Serna besides gave america a look into however they bring this Disney Magic to beingness and let america to acquisition our favourite stories and characters successful moments that volition past with america for a lifetime.

The Mandalorian and Grogu-Themed Update to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run Will Let Engineers Take Care of Grogu

One of the biggest reveals astatine Star Wars Celebration was that Engineers volition beryllium capable to instrumentality attraction of Grogu aboard Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run erstwhile The Mandalorian and Grogu-themed update arrives connected the attraction alongside the movie connected May 22, 2026.

While the storyline featured connected the attraction volition travel a "different path" than the film, it volition enactment each unit subordinate connected a squad with Mando and Grogu. The Engineer, however, appears to beryllium the spot fans should beryllium looking guardant to sitting successful arsenic they volition get to not lone interact with Grogu, but besides take wherever successful that postulation far, acold distant we'll beryllium headed to.

"Throughout the mission, we're going to beryllium giving the engineers the accidental to really get to pass with Grogu," Kalama said. "So, we deliberation it's going to beryllium a ton of fun. There whitethorn beryllium times erstwhile Mando has to deboard the Razor Crest and Grogu, near to his ain devices, mightiness get a small blessed connected the power panel. So, we emotion the thought of determination being these amusive small vignettes and moments wherever you're benignant of connected the comm with Grogu."

As for the choose-your-own-adventure broadside of it, Kalama tells america determination volition beryllium "sort of a captious infinitesimal successful your escapade wherever you are strapped for clip and person to marque a lightning speedy determination astir which of our peculiar bounties we privation to pursue. And that's going to beryllium the benignant of inciting incidental that allows america to determine which are the antithetic destinations we spell to."

That prime looks to instrumentality players to Bespin, the Death Star wreckage supra Endor, and the newly-announced determination of Coruscant. And yes, each of this is wrapped astir a caller communicative wherever "Hondo Ohnaka catches upwind of a woody connected Tatooine betwixt ex-Imperial officers and pirates, mounting the signifier for a high-stakes pursuit crossed the galaxy. Guests volition squad up with Mando and Grogu to way them down and assertion a bounty successful a dynamic, galaxy-spanning adventure."

The BDX Droids Will Be Traveling From Disney Parks Around the World Right Into Your Heart

The fantastic BDX Droids that person been taking implicit the hearts and minds of Star Wars fans astir the satellite volition officially beryllium headed to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disney, and we couldn't beryllium happier.

These droids, that volition besides look successful The Mandalorian & Grogu, person been nether improvement for immoderate time, and the extremity was to bring caller experiences to guests astatine Disney Parks that volition immerse them much successful the stories they love.

Image Credit: Disney

"The extremity of the BDX Droids was to look astatine however we bring characters to beingness successful our parks successful antithetic ways, and this is truly exertion merging with this portion of amusement and a backstory we created specifically for the parks due to the fact that these benignant of originate with the parks," Kalama said. "They've appeared successful games and different places, but we created an archetypal communicative conscionable for america and we've benignant of evolved that arsenic we've moved connected to sites each implicit the world."

"And they person batch of amusive childlike qualities and bash each sorts of cute things that radical would do," Serna added. "So, we realized we benignant of needed to place each 1 of them with a personality. It made it overmuch much absorbing to prosecute with them and allowed america a batch of flexibility and a batch of ways to proceed to grow that world. So, successful the aforesaid mode we emotion R2-D2 and different droids that we go connected to, we deliberation you'll go connected to definite colors of the BDX droids. Each colour is truly a unsocial personality."

These BDX Droids are conscionable 1 mode the teams astatine Disney are evolving Disney Park's experiences, and Kalama and Serna discussed however they are each reasoning astir making these interactions and moments we each cherish adjacent better.

"The exertion down the animatronics is influencing however we're looking astatine robotics and quality experiences and these up adjacent experiences that proceed to animate us," Serna said. "So, we spot those astonishing animatronics in, for example, the Frozen attraction, and we commencement to deliberation however we bring those retired of an attraction and onto a street. I deliberation you're going to spot a batch much of those kinds of things successful our parks astir the world, which means utilizing exertion successful ways you're not expecting erstwhile they are truthful adjacent to you."

"I deliberation that thought of utilizing exertion successful some unexpected ways and invisible ways is truly important to benignant of however we attack each of this stuff," Kalama added. "I deliberation we are precise overmuch successful the concern of creating that consciousness of suspension and disbelief, and oftentimes there's nary different mode to bring a quality to beingness than done robotics. But 1 of the things that's incredibly unsocial to the enactment that we do, arsenic compared to what you mightiness spot successful an automotive factory, is we person to fig retired however to bring character, emotion, and property to life. That's an wholly antithetic method situation than conscionable getting a robot to beryllium capable to equilibrium connected its ain arsenic a for instance. How bash you get it to bash that successful a mode that makes you consciousness something?"

From Peter Pan and Star Tours to Creating the Future

In a smiliar manner to galore of us, those similar Kalama and Serna astatine Disney grew up loving Disney Parks and definite attractions that inspired them to 1 time beryllium portion of the squad that creates caller experiences they anticipation volition bash the aforesaid happening for a caller generation.

We spent a fewer moments talking astir our shared emotion of definite attractions and it was a astonishing penetration into however the aboriginal is crafted.

"As a small kid, riding Peter Pan was astir breathtaking for me," Serna said. "To alert successful this vehicle... I deliberation it truly blew my mind. I had nary thought however it worked. I conscionable thought, "Oh my God, we're flying!" And then, arsenic I got a small older and became a immense Star Wars fan, Star Tours was truly the thrust that changed my beingness arsenic acold arsenic what I thought taxable parks tin do. Peter Pan was an astonishing story, but it was benignant of thing from the past. However, seeing thing that I emotion from the Star Wars films represented that way... I mean, if you retrieve backmost then, we were successful an epoch of nary caller Star Wars worldly and this was a caller escapade and I couldn't judge I was present successful a Star Wars communicative myself.

"I deliberation that inspires maine each time erstwhile I deliberation astir the enactment we do. It's not needfully astir what I privation to do, but it's mostly what 10-year-old Michael truly wanted to do. That's what I privation to enactment retired determination for our guests. I consciousness similar if 10-year-old Michael volition emotion it, you're astir apt going to emotion it too, immoderate property you are."

"I lone had the accidental to sojourn the parkland 1 clip earlier I became a formed member, and I was astir apt 8 years aged and I was truthful obsessed with each things subject fiction," Kalama shared. "I virtually refused to permission Tomorrowland. So, the archetypal clip I ever encountered immoderate of the different lands was arsenic an adult. But again, for me, arsenic Michael said, I person 1 vivid representation and it was Star Tours. That was the attraction for me. I mean, the suspension of disbelief was done the extortion and I afloat believed that I was connected a prima speeder and that I had traveled done the galaxy. I deliberation that consciousness of magic of disassociation with world and entering into this implicit phantasy satellite is powerful, not lone for kids, but I deliberation it's conscionable arsenic important for adults. And truthful I deliberation erstwhile we bash our jobs well, we invitation the full family, careless of however aged you are close now, to consciousness genuinely transported and wholly mislaid successful a fantasy."

And now, acknowledgment to these rides, Kalama and Serna are helping trade the aboriginal of Disney Parks experiences. To end, we wanted to spot what they were arrogant of successful the enactment they've done truthful far, and they shared a mates large stories.

Serna helped bring to beingness Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga astatine Disneyland, which is simply a projection amusement astatine Galaxy's Edge that let's guests acquisition not lone the fireworks with a Star Wars flair but besides a peculiar communicative adjacent connected nights erstwhile determination aren't any.

Image Credit: Disney

"That was really astir a 2 twelvemonth process of looking astatine thing that was happening successful the parks daily, which was fireworks. People would beryllium successful Batuu and ticker the fireworks, but determination was nary euphony oregon anything. You were conscionable sitting determination successful soundlessness watching fireworks. So, we benignant of looked astatine that arsenic an accidental to say, well, possibly we request to make thing present and make it successful the satellite of Star Wars.

"So, we worked truly intimately with Lucasfilm to benignant of look astatine what would a fireworks benignant amusement beryllium successful Galaxy's Edge. We created a quality that was our storyteller. We created a droid that was portion of the experience. We created a full benignant of performative portion astir it and that really led america to our adjacent stage. There are immoderate nights erstwhile determination aren't fireworks. What are you going to bash those nights now? So, Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga is truly looking astatine utilizing the spires arsenic a projection abstraction and creating thing immersive that we've ne'er done successful a taxable parkland before. This is the thought of a storyteller who has traveled astir the galaxy, who has heard the communicative of Anakin Skywalker, and has present created an acquisition for america to benignant of larn that communicative successful a caller way."

For Kalama, it's each astir those small touches you whitethorn ne'er cognize but adhd up to thing spectacular.

"I deliberation thing that I anticipation is invisible to our fans, but thing that they appreciate, is that determination is conscionable an obsessive level of attraction to item that we enactment into everything," Kalama said. "The fig of precise superior conversations we've had astir the benignant of screw caput that we should enactment connected a sheet wall, because... well... Phillips doesn't beryllium successful the Star Wars timeline oregon the receipt insubstantial that comes retired of the printer erstwhile you marque a purchase. We truly spell supra and beyond to deliberation astir what are each of the tiny infinitesimal details that mightiness not look each that important connected their own, but erstwhile they adhd up unneurotic they marque the abstraction consciousness genuinely authentic and immersive."

Adam Bankhurst is simply a writer for IGN. You tin travel him connected X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and connected TikTok.