Disneyland Closing Much of ‘Frontierland’ in January to Make Way for ‘Star Wars Land’

If exploring the frontier at Disneyland is high on your list of to-dos, you may want to get on that within the next week!

On January 10, 2016 Disneyland will close multiple Frontierland attractions ahead of construction slated to begin on a new ‘Star Wars Land’ that, once completed, will be the largest expansion in the park’s history.

Per the L.A. Times, Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland, Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue, Big Thunder Ranch petting zoo and the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree will all be closed permanently, while a number of other rides/attractions will be going on indefinite hiatus, including  Fantasmic, the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, the Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, the Disneyland Railroad and the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes.

Big Thunder Railroad, which for many is the top roller coaster at the entire park, will remain open during the construction period.

The new Star Wars Land expansion will feature two new signature attractions, including the ability of ride-goers to take control of the Millennium Falcon on a customized secret mission (woot!)

Of course even before any of this gets built it’s pretty clear the Star Wars-ization of the Disney theme park is well underway, with a Jedi Training Academy for kids and a Season of the Force celebration both fully operational, plus the insertion of clips and imagery from the Force Awakens into existing attractions such as Star Tours and Space  Hyperspace Mountain.

There’s no official word on the launch date for the new Star Wars Land, but speculation is it will be at least a year until everything is finished, but one would guess they’ll have it ready before Episode 8 hits theaters in May of 2017.

The closures come just a couple months after the resort increased the price of annual passes (in some cases as much as 31%).

Not cool!