Disney talks world's first Mickey Mouse ride and drops big Star Wars hint too

There's finally going to be a Mickey Mouse ride in Disney's parks, as the brand announces an expansion of the partnership with Panasonic’s laser-illuminated projection system at CES 2019.

There's never been a Mickey and Minnie ride before, and that's what’s going to be coming at Disney’s Hollywood studios - with more immersive tech based on what Panasonic is putting together.

The Panasonic laser projection system is already used in attractions like The World of Avatar in other parts of the Disney empire, but the brands are promising 'greater immersion' than ever before with the new tie-in.

A better world coming

To be honest, that’s not really the most exciting thing about the heavily-scripted conversation between Disney’s Tom LaDuke and Panasonic’s Tom Gebhardt - this is basically a Mickey Mouse train ride with some projection around (albeit likely very colorful and vivid).

At the end, LaDuke was asked if there was any other news, and he said 'On this planet…?'

As the conversation played out, Gebhardt asked 'Or a galaxy far, far away…?' before wishing that 'the force be with you' to LaDuke as he exited the stage.

It seems likely we’ll be seeing a tech-filled, immersive Star Wars attraction from Disney in one of its parks in the near future, complete with Panasonic laser projection. 

Or they're just really excited about the Solo DVD release.

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Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.