A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Star Wars Secrets of the Empire
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
STAR WARS: SECRETS OF THE EMPIRE AT DISNEY SPRINGS
By Jim Korkis
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, a multi-sensory environment that combines groundbreaking technology, virtual reality and the art of illusion, opened at the Marketplace section of Disney Springs on December 16, 2017.
The Disney Accelerator program that started in 2014 backs around ten companies every year providing financial investment and a three month mentorship program providing access to the Disney creative campus based in Los Angeles.
(c) Disney
In 2017, The Void was one of the companies selected for the accelerator. The Void is a location-based entertainment company that combines interactive sets, virtual reality, real-time effects and state-of-the-art technology to bring guests into their experiences.
“There’s a lot we’ve learned working closely with the Walt Disney company,” The Void’s CEO Cliff Plumer said. “It’s not just what happens in the virtual world; it’s that whole journey that we’ve worked really hard on.”
For the attraction, The Void also collaborated with Lucasfilm and ILMxLab, which is the collaboration between Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound that’s solely dedicated to creating “immersive experiences.”
Plumer feels that the attraction was truly a collaboration with the Lucasfilm story team. “They spent time with us understanding our process and looking at how we go about creating our experiences, and they had a storyline in mind.
“I wanted to be in the film industry the moment I saw the original Star Wars in 1977. I was fortunate enough to work with Lucasfilm on the original trilogy, and the second trilogy with George. I officially grew up with Star Wars, as did my kids. And this experience puts guests in that Star Wars universe making choices that have consequences, so each experience is different.”
The official description is that “Under the orders of the budding rebellion, your team will travel to the molten planet of Mustafar. Your mission is to recover Imperial intelligence vital to the rebellion’s survival. Alongside the pragmatic droid K-2S0, your team must navigate through an enemy facility walking into danger at every turn. Disguised as storm troopers, grab your blaster, solve puzzles, and fight giant lava monsters in an effort to fulfill your team’s orders.”
This story, which takes place in the same era of the film Rogue One (2016), features movie cast members from that movie Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, and Sam Witwer as Athex.
Each group of four guests are now Rebel Alliance operatives tasked by Mon Mothma to go undercover disguised as storm troopers. The experience includes firing weapons, teetering near the edge of disasters, facing off with the enemy and coming virtual-face-to-virtual-face with familiar characters. All of this is complemented by visual and auditory stimulation as well as more elemental effects, such as changes in temperature, smells, air blasts, rumbling floors, and more.
“Instead of just seeing a virtual world around you, you can feel it and touch it and interact it. If you see heat you can feel it,” said Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer of The Void. “If you see a chair to sit down on, you can actually sit down on the chair. The world isn’t just virtually imaginary around you. It’s there; it’s with you.
“We designed this so that anybody can enjoy the experience and sort of know where they’re going and what they’re doing and why they’re there. But that being said, if you are a Star Wars fan, there’s definitely a lot here for you and a lot of really cool moments designed just for you including the final climax.”
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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Call Me Walt, and his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.
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2 comments
I’ve got this lined up for the first full day of our trip in June, and the kiddo has no idea it even exists. This article could NOT have come at a better time!!! 😀
Cool, Jennifer, have fun and let me know what you think!
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