Our last stop of the first day of Awaken Summer was the Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see a scale model of the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks coming this summer. While no photos were permitted, J. Michael Roddy, show producer for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, channeled his inner child to make us all feel very excited for the upcoming show.
This will be the biggest fireworks presentation in the history of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Not only will the show include an amazing pyrotechnic display but will also feature projections covering the Chinese Theater facade, the attraction show building, and the One Man’s Dream building to the right of the main facade.
The show itself will not be a retelling of the Star Wars saga but will pull those iconic moments that will all make us feel like we did first seeing the films. Roddy pointed out that one of his inspirations for this show was to bring Star Wars back to where it all began in May of 1977: the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, as represented by The Great Movie Ride facade. He also let us know for the show they have been working closely with Industrial Lights and Magic on bringing scenes to life that we’ve seen before but in different ways, even working with original models.
With new projections will come an upgrade to the park’s sound system, bringing the sounds of a Galaxy Far, Far Away very close with a 7.1 surround audio feel. An example of this upgrade would be seeing a Tie Fighter flying toward you and as it flew “off screen” hearing it fly around the guest before returning and being destroyed, but not only hearing it feeling it with explosions close enough guest will feel it. Of course, it wouldn’t be Star Wars without the iconic John Williams score and, for a show of this size, they went right to the maestro’s own music editor. The score was even signed off on by the man himself. Lasers and SuperSharpy lights will be added to make guests feel like they are in the middle of a fight between Stormtroopers and Jedi with blaster and lightsabers. All of this promises to make Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular the must-see evening event of the summer!