Following Disney announcing the opening dates ofStar Wars Galaxy’s Edgeat Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland Park in Anaheim, rumors have surfaced that Universe Studios Orlando is planning on countering this with a bit of competition. According to the rumor, Universal will be bringing aStar Treksection to their fourth park that is currently being developed.
Not long after the Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm, they announced that their two American theme parks will be receiving large sections based around theStar Warsfranchise. It has taken years for things to come along, but finally the opening dates have been announced. Galaxy’s Edge, which is the title of theStar Warssection, will open in the summer of 2019 at Disneyland, and in the fall of 2019 at Disney World. Many Disney parks already featured aStar Warsride, along with some small attractions featuring Disney staff members dressed asStar Warscharacters, but this new expansion will be much more immersive and exciting for fans of theStar Warssaga.
Clearly, this is going to attract a great number of people to Disney World in 2019, which could take away from the people who would regularly visit Universal Studios instead. A few years back, Universal Studios fixed their struggle to attract fans while competing with Disney World by adding two differentHarry Potter-themed sections to their parks. However, Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge may bring that attention and popularity back to Disney, as theStar Warsfranchise is currently a lot more popular today thanHarry Potter.
Adding aStar Trek-themed section to Universal Studios may not be the perfect counter to Galaxy’s Edge, as theStar Warsfranchise is much more prominent in pop culture than theStar Trekfranchise, but it’s still an incredibly smart move. While theStar Treksection won’t have iconic characters like R2-D2 or Darth Vader, it will still most likely have a similar aesthetic, being about space adventures. Because of this, over time, many people wanting to go to a theme park may see Universal’sStar Treksection as equally alluring as Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge.
Universal Studios previously featured aStar Trekattraction during the 1980s called Star Trek Adventures. It was a live, on-stage show that attracted quite a bit of popularity during its early years. However, as the popularity ofStar Trekdeclined more and more throughout the decade, it was eventually replaced with a different live show.
This rumor of aStar Trek-themed expansion to Universal Studios fromDisney and Moreis certainly great news forStar Trekfans. Because of all the attention and fame thatStar Warsgets,Star Trekregularly gets swept under the rug and forgotten, despite having a rather large fan base that has kept the franchise alive for over 50 years. Even if theStar Treksection at Universal Studios Orlando is being made to directly compete with Disney World, it should still be a fun attraction to visit, hopefully givingStar Trekfans the option to board the Enterprise as they have always dreamed of doing. One can only hope that this rumor turns out to be true.
