Harrison Ford to help hype Star Wars theme park attractions during Disney special

By Adam Poltrack January 28, 2016

official secrets cast harrison ford anthony hopkins — Helga Esteb/Shutterstock

In case you haven’t heard, Star Wars is getting its very own, 14-acre swath of both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The theme parks are currently under construction, but according to Variety, Harrison Ford himself will tease some of the upcoming attractions during The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60, a two-hour TV special airing Sunday, February 21, at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Back in August, Disney CEO Bob Iger described the future Star Wars worlds thusly: “We are creating a jaw-dropping new world that represents our largest single-themed land expansion ever.” Iger also teased two big attractions, one that would drop park-goers into “a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance” and another that would allow fans to pilot the Millennium Falcon “on a customized secret mission.”

Here’s hoping that Ford gives us a closer look at the latter during this spot, and for those anxiously awaiting the completion of the Star Wars-themed stretches of Disneyland and Disney World, this should be a fun little sneak peak into their development.

Once they’re up and running, you can bet they’ll be a hot commodity and — while the franchise isn’t exactly hurting for sources of revenue — these parks could create yet another cash cow to add to Disney and Lucasfilm’s ever-expanding herd.

For the time being, their opening date is TBA, but we’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60 will be hosted by Dancing with the Stars winner Derek Hough, and will include Elton John, Josh Gad, and Hough’s DWTS co-star Witney Carson. Hough and Carson will perform a Disney-themed dance routine, while John will debut a new song called Wonderful Crazy Night and will also perform Circle of Life from The Lion King.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…

Entertainment

Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 coming to Disney+ in May

Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 will premiere on May 4 on Disney+. May 4 is Star Wars Day, which is known for the catchphrase, "May the 4th be with you."

Star Wars: Visions is an animated anthology series that includes short films set in or inspired by the Star Wars universe. These films can exist outside of the Star Wars canon, but they still capture the themes and emotions of the Lucasfilm franchise. The series offers a global perspective on Star Wars, as Volume 2 will consist of nine short films from nine studios from around the world. Lucasfilm also revealed that each short film features unique animation styles.

Entertainment

7 things we wished Disney did differently with the Star Wars sequel trilogy

Fortnite Star Wars Scene

The Star Wars sequel trilogy was a divisive return to the galaxy far, far away. While it held so much promise with the success of The Force Awakens, subsequent films became the target of hate and ridicule from fans and critics to the point that everyone's hopes for the franchise seemed to have been dashed (at least until The Mandalorian came around).

The sad truth is that this trilogy was never going to live up to everyone's expectations, especially not with the astronomically high pedestal they had all placed the franchise on. Despite this, Disney could've done certain things differently that would've made it a more worthy follow-up to the original Star Wars movies.
7. Spacing out the films more

Entertainment

The best Star Wars movies on Disney+

The cast of Star Wars.

A long time ago, in this very same galaxy, streaming Star Wars movies was a lot trickier than it is now. Ever since Disney+ became the home of the beloved sci-fi saga, though, it's a lot easier to plan a Star Wars movie marathon.

Disney's streaming service is now the only place you can find the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and all the spin-off films (both animated and live-action). And they've never looked better. The original trilogy and the prequel trilogy are both available in 4K Ultra HD, while other Disney-produced films in the franchise support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos streams (just ignore the weird new edits).
Sign up for Disney+ now
Disney+ has a massive library of films that just keeps getting bigger, too, so if you only have time to catch three or four Star Wars movies, here's what we recommend.