MGM expands Jedi show

[brownie]

Not sure if this has been posted yet or not...

OrlandoSentinel.com
TOURISM & TRAVEL
MGM expands Jedi show
Christopher Boyd, Jason Garcia and Scott Powers

Sentinel Staff Writers

July 16, 2007

One of the most popular features of Disney-MGM Studios' Star Wars Weekends will become a permanent show this fall when Walt Disney World completes construction of a new stage for the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy.

The Jedi stage will cover a large patio area outside the Star Tours attraction at Disney-MGM. Disney officials would not say whether the construction would force removal of the Ewok forest or AT-AT Walker structures. However, project paperwork filed by Disney World with the Orange County Comptroller's Office earlier this month shows the facility covering a rectangular area approximately 140 feet long and 96 feet wide -- more ground than two NBA-size basketball courts.

During the Jedi Training Academy shows -- popular events during the park's Star Wars Weekends each June -- costumed Jedi masters select children for training with light sabers and in other Jedi skills drawn from the movie series. Other costumed characters portraying Darth Vader and storm troopers later join in.

Disney spokewsoman Zoraya Suarez said the academy should have as many as eight shows a day, each with a dozen or more children, starting this fall. "They loved it, so we'll build it," she said.

[ibrowse17]

Impressive. Most impressive.

[JPL]

I just hope they build some sort of covering for people watching and participating in the show. I saw part of it during Star Wars Weekends and it was hot standing there watching it.

[Clotho]

Any word on when it will begin construction? Selfishly, I have never seen Star Tours at MGM (only DLR), and I would love to be able to see all the theming that it has there over DLR.

[brownie]

I'm hoping they don't remove the forest and the AT-AT. The show is cool; at Disneyland you can sit under the pavilion at the Tomorrowland Terrace to watch the show. I don't know if they'll be able to do anything like that at Disney-MGM Studios.

[JT Mac]

The Construction has already begun and no, the forest won't be affected. It's said that the stage, once completed, will blend very well into the current theming.