The immersive ‘Star Wars’ hotel just opened but Disney is already directing attention toward another long-anticipated attraction

After years of development and construction, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser welcomed the first paying guests at the start of this month. The hotel was first announced in 2017 as part of a D23 Expo Parks panel that saw Disney giving many details on the enhancements the company has been busy at work on across Walt Disney World.

Among the projects announced at the 2017 event, the new theme park lands Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios, the Skyliner transit system, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and Space 220 all opened ahead of the 50th anniversary with Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opening at the start of the celebration in October. A theater announced for the Magic Kingdom has since been canceled. With the Star Wars hotel now open, that leaves just two projects remaining from that 2017 announcement, with both likely to open in the coming months.

At Epcot, the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is readying to open this summer. While Disney hasn’t given an official timeline of when the omnimover style roller coaster will open, they have said it will open “this summer.” Many expected it to open by late May. That was all but confirmed last week when Disney’s chief corporate affairs officer Geoff Morrell tweeted a selfie from inside the attraction with a caption that encouraged his followers to “Check it out starting Memorial Day weekend!” The tweet also tagged a parody Twitter account.

The tweet by Morrell was quickly deleted, and a new one, without the Memorial Day mention, replaced it. That led some to label the event as a leak, but others aren’t so sure. While leaks of this nature aren’t unheard of among executives who may not be familiar with how quickly social media posts can become news items, Morrell is uniquely equipped to understand the nuances of classified information. While best known for leading BP’s U.S. communications department in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, Morrell previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the Press Secretary for the US Department of Defense.

This ‘leak’ also occurred the day before the grand opening for the Peppa Pig Theme Park and just days after new attractions opened at other Florida theme parks. Disney has been known to usurp the attention local rivals may get by releasing new announcements to correspond with news coming out of rival parks. Even if its timing is questionable, the ‘leak’ points to the next big project Disney World has in the pipeline.

Just as the first paying guests were boarding the Galactic Starcruiser, Disney released new images and details from the upcoming Guardians attraction. It is slated to open sometime this year at Epcot, replacing the slow-moving, mostly screen-based Universe of Energy.

Expected to be among the most thrilling rides ever built at Walt Disney World, the new Guardians coaster will fully immerse guests in the world of the Guardians. The new indoor roller coaster is built by Vekoma, the same manufacturer behind Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Expedition Everest. Like those coasters, Cosmic Rewind will surround riders with a fully immersive story. Disney is billing the new ride as a “one-of-a-kind storytelling coaster.”

In typical Disney fashion, they’re building hype around the new attraction via a slow drip of announcements of what guests will encounter when it does open. Previews of the loading area and photos of the exterior of the building have been shared in recent days.

Once it does open, likely in two to three months, Disney World will have one final project from the 2017 announcement to wrap up. Like everything in our pandemic world, the TRON Lightcycle Run at the Magic Kingdom has seen significant delays. Construction of the attraction’s large outdoor awning has been moving forward at a rapid pace in recent weeks. Originally slated to open in 2021, the motorbike-style roller coaster is thought to be opening in the next fiscal year, which begins in October.

Disney likely won’t give us an official timeline of when TRON may open until at least after Cosmic Rewind begins welcoming guests, but, in the meantime, there’s always the possibility of more ‘leaks’ from Disney’s own executives.

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This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 1, 2022.