Original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy coming to Galaxy’s Edge timeline
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland in California will expand its timeline narrative with the arrival of music and characters from the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
The music and character changes will be introduced on April 29, 2026, as announced by Disney on Jan. 14. Crucially, the updates will only apply to the west-coast Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. — not the east-coast Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios near Orlando, Fla.
(It’s worth noting, though, the previously announced changes to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run — which will introduce the Mandalorian and Grogu to the ride — will still debut on both coasts on May 22.)
John Williams music
Composer John Williams’ score from the “Star Wars” movies will play throughout Galaxy’s Edge for the first time. Until now, the land opted for sound effects only for its audio landscape (with the exception of its entrance tunnel and main rides), a nontraditional approach for a Disney theme park area.
Galaxy’s Edge in Florida will continue to be sound-effects-only.
More characters
Darth Vader, Han Solo, and Princess Leia will appear in California’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for the first time, appearing as their original-trilogy-era selves. Luke Skywalker will also appear, but he previously did so in 2025.
They will all be found in Galaxy’s Edge in addition to the existing roster of characters including Rey, Chewacca, R2-D2, Din Djarin aka the Mandalorian, Grogu, and Ahsoka.
Details to support the original trilogy backstory
In addition to music and characters, new prop-dressing and visual details in select areas of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will affirm the notion of guests visiting the time of the original trilogy within the “Star Wars” narrative. For example, the First Order Cargo gift shop will become Black Spire Outpost, and so on.
The land’s signature attraction, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, will remain in the sequel trilogy within the timeline, as it always has.
The timeline in Galaxy’s Edge
When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge first opened in 2019, the land was firmly fixated in the “Star Wars” timeline at the exact moment between 2017’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” with virtually no leniency to disrupt that continuity. At that point in the story, Luke has just passed away, and the narrative mainly focuses on the adventures of Rey and Kylo Ren, both of whom appear in Galaxy’s Edge as walk-around characters and in Rise of the Resistance.
Photo by Matt Stroshane / Disney
For any other point in the timeline, Disney has typically relegated such stories and characters to attractions elsewhere in the parks, such as Star Tours or the now-defunct Star Wars Launch Bay.
Over the years, Disney has gradually relaxed its timeline rules on both coasts’ Galaxy’s Edge to include characters from “The Mandalorian.” That series takes place about 20 years before the events of the Galaxy’s Edge attractions. As of April 29, the timeline expands even more, at least for California.
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