Darth Vader has a new home at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – and honestly, it’s about time.
With the long-overdue closure of Star Wars Launch Bay (years after Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019), the Dark Lord of the Sith needed a new place to intimidate visitors. Rather than retiring one of the franchise’s most iconic characters, Disney relocated Vader’s meet-and-greet to a spot that actually makes sense.
As of late September 2025, Darth Vader greets guests in the outdoor queue area of Star Tours -The Adventures Continue, near the towering AT-AT. The meet-and-greet is set near the attraction’s Ewok Village-themed area, offering shade, familiar scenery, and a much more layered and immersive backdrop than the old indoor Launch Bay ever provided.
Vader’s appearances vary by day, but he typically shows up between 9 am and 4 pm. Be sure to check the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit for the most up-to-date times.
As a Disney parks and Star Wars fan, this feels like such a win. Rather than being phased out with Launch Bay’s closure, Darth Vader has been folded back into the park.
— Oh, there’s one teeny tiny thing we noticed… he’s missing his chain! How is his cape holding up?!
So, What’s Next?
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was originally designed as a “build-your-own-adventure” land set firmly within the sequel trilogy era. That decision famously sidelined original trilogy characters.
Now that the dust has settled (and internal workings have changed up), we’ll soon see these beloved characters at Disneyland, with the west coast’s Batuu timeline expansion happening very soon.
Back to Florida — For goodness’ sake, we have a Millennium Falcon attraction with no trace of Han Solo. Where the heck is Darth Vader in a Star Wars-themed land? Where’s the John Williams-crafted background music to amplify this entire cinematic experience? It’s difficult to imagine Batuu East would simply hold out on these updates, but sadly, there has been no expansion announcement for Walt Disney World. Help us Josh D’Amaro, you’re our only hope.
That original trilogy deserves to be celebrated alongside the other successful Star Wars stories, like the Mandalorian and Grogu. It’s okay if it’s no longer locked in a timeline already — especially now that the short-lived Galactic Starcruiser is closed, which supported the locked timeline.
For now, seeing Darth Vader set against the Ewok Village is just PERFECT. It’s giving us flashbacks to the park’s Star Wars Weekends we all loved so dearly.
So, next time you’re at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, take a few spins on Star Tours and hop in line to meet Vader. You don’t want to miss this fun blast from the past… or a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
