When designing an out-of-this-world land, Imagineers have to have out-of-this-world imaginations, with concept art to match. But as I was looking through Galaxy’s Edge concept art, I was amazed to discover that most of it is remarkably close to the final product, especially compared to other lands at the resort. While sometimes scale is a little off, the look/feel, and details are right on the money.
First, let’s start in what I consider the land’s “main” entrance – the courtyard controlled by the First Order.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
The docked ship is different than the one in the concept art, and the art doesn’t show an elevated platform. But otherwise, the sheer scale, presence of stormtroopers, and walls/buildings surrounding the open area look like they’re ripped right off the page.
Continue straight ahead, and you’ll wind up in another courtyard. This one is home to the Millennium Falcon, and you can get amazingly close to it. While the concept art doesn’t show the protective fencing around the ship, you can still walk right up to it to see every detail.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
This particular view in the concept art is probably closest to the extended ride queue, where you walk along the back exterior of the ship, but there’s no exact comparison. However, check out the photo below to see what I mean about how close you can get to the ship.
The photo below is probably the farthest removed from the final product. Based on the environment, my best guess is this is the Rise of the Resistance area. The massive rock faces, docked ships, and winding walkways came to life, but it’s not quite in such a clear and open courtyard. In fact, what I like so much about the final product is how little you can see; you don’t know where you are going and that feels authentic for a hidden rebel base.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
This is the view if your back is to the ride entrance. You’ll see the docked ship, rock formations, and thick tree line behind – just like in the concept art.
In the marketplace, the biggest different between concept art and final product is store depth. In the artwork, it appears that stores have some decent floorspace, with walls covered in treasures to buy. But in reality, the stores are quite tiny.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
The Toydarian Toymaker is a great example; it still has the design elements you’d expect, but you can see how shallow the store is. Half of the merchandise is in front of the store, not within.
Any Star Wars nerd felt incredible excitement when seeing the cockpit of the Falcon as part of the concept art. And happily, the final product is quite close.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
The window’s scale is slightly smaller in the final product, but the cockpit does have those six seats, tons of buttons and controls, and basically non-stop action.
And finally, I wanted to end on my favorite place in all of Galaxy’s Edge, what I call “the big reveal”. When I saw the concept art for this area, I remember thinking: “there’s no way it will look like that.”
Source: Disney Parks Blog
Sometimes, being wrong is the best. This scene is just as jaw-dropping and massive in scale as it looks in the artwork.
Overall, the biggest changes from art to life seem to be practical things: guardrails to limit how close guests get to props, smaller scaled scenery due to space limitations, etc. But the land 100% conveys the spirit of the artwork, which exactly the point!