Disney Downlink: Imaging Disney Parks & Star Wars Land from Space

Written by Mike Rubel, Chief Mouseketeer at Planet

Construction of Star Wars Land, Disneyland’s first new “land” in decades, is proceeding apace. Disney has been tight-lipped about the project, revealing only occasional hints and teasers to curious fans.

Fortunately, Planet’s constellation of Earth-imaging satellites — the world’s largest — helps us keep an eye on the progress from orbit high above the planet’s surface. Which, for Star Wars Land, seems somehow appropriate.

Below, we’ll see how, over the past few months, the site has grown from nothing to cover an area larger than Fantasyland and Tomorrowland put together:

Before we get to our timeline of the progress so far, let’s take a moment to explain how and why Planet collected these images.

Most satellite imaging companies have a few large satellites and operate on a “tasking” basis. This means that they take orders to photograph specific sites or areas; nothing gets photographed unless someone — typically a national government or major corporation — orders it in advance. Planet, by contrast, has many tiny satellites, allowing it to photograph everything in the world regularly. The level of detail is such that one can make out cars but not individuals.

Photographing everything means we have images even when the importance of an area is not recognized at the time, such as immediately before an unexpected weather event or earthquake. Being able to compare before and after imagery helps rescue workers direct aid resources more effectively, and can help piece together a history whenever something unanticipated happens, such as illegal mining or deforestation.

A fortunate side-effect of whole-earth imaging is that Planet employees get to indulge their geographic curiosities in ways that would be impossible elsewhere. We follow world events, cultural centers, home towns, personal idiosyncrasies. One co-worker keeps a close eye on Area 51. (No aliens yet.) Another follows blooming flowers in the Amazon rainforest and rivers as they meander. We all love to watch lakes and rivers freeze and thaw with the seasons. And I, as it happens, have a soft spot for Disneyland.

The video below shows our timeline of Star Wars Land construction so far. The first image, which was taken on a clear Christmas Day 2015, two weeks before the closure, shows the “before” state of the park. Rivers of America extends to the railroad berm at the northern edge of the park, just west of Mickey’s Toontown.

Disney cast members tell me informally that plans and backstage preparations for Star Wars Land began about a year ago, but construction only began in earnest around the second week of January.

On the tenth of that month, all Rivers of America attractions including Fantasmic, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Big Thunder Ranch area closed. Service terminated on the venerable Disneyland Railroad, one of the park’s original attractions. Backstage animal areas were relocated off-property. (This worked out well for the animals, who were apparently never too fond of the nightly fireworks).

Over the following weeks, views from Critter Country just east of the Hungry Bear Restaurant were obscured. The pathway between Fantasyland and Big Thunder closed. The Mark Twain riverboat and Disneyland Railroad trains became non-moving museum pieces; the sailing ship Columbia returned to dry dock; the Tom Sawyer Rafts and Davy Crockett’s Explorer canoes all shuttered.

Meanwhile, in our satellite imagery, a bald patch had begun to appear behind Rivers of America. Ten days later, the patch was wider, and land had been cleared all along the north bank of the Rivers of America. The Big Thunder Ranch barbecue area was in the process of being removed, and the Circle D Ranch backstage area had been cleared.

By March, railroad tracks had been removed, and several backstage buildings had been demolished. By April, dams had been installed on both sides of Rivers of America and the rear part drained and leveled, with construction hidden behind large green fences. Clearing had continued all the way to New West Service Road.

By early July, the entire area was brown and uniform, and had reached practically its full extent, east to the border with Mickey’s Toontown. The last backstage buildings to the west were razed. Through July and into late August, area of the site does not change significantly, but large quantities of earth were transported around, including accumulation of a great pile of dirt on the northern part of the site. By the middle of August, the entire site had been leveled, and crews had begun to lay concrete and steel.

On the ground, construction can be seen from the top of the Mickey and Friends parking structure, a thousand times closer than orbit, but without the helpful overhead vantage point. This photograph was taken August 30, on the same day as the last satellite image in the time series video:

According to the official Parks Blog, many of the shuttered attractions will be re-opened in the summer of 2017. The current plan is to shorten Rivers of America by cutting through the middle of what used to be Tom Sawyer Island. There will be a waterfall feature along its new northern bank, which will separate it from Star Wars Land, and the Disneyland Railroad will follow a new trestle bridge along the falls.