Star Wars fans anxious for a certain new experience at Disney World and Disneyland will soon have something to keep themselves busy with until 2019. Disney just announced that they will be opening a new “hyper reality” VR experience from ILM and The VOID called Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire later this year.

The Star Wars virtual reality experience will debut at Disney Springs in Orlando and Downtown Disney in Anaheim. Read on for more details.

A bit of background: The VOID is a virtual reality company that specializes in what they call “hyper reality.” They craft experiences that mix real-world props and environments with digital/virtual spaces. The immersive results have garnered The VOID some pretty glowing reviews, specifically for their Ghostbusters: Dimension experience in New York. For Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, The VOID partnered with ILMxLab, which has been exploring the possibilities of telling Star Wars stories in virtual reality for a few years.

Opening this holiday season at Disney Springs and Downtown Disney, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire transports guests to that famous galaxy far, far away, where they will engage in a social, multi-sensory Star Wars story. Technology like haptic feedback promise to make this the most immersive Star Wars experience yet. The concept art for Secrets of the Empire show Darth Vader’s castle on Mustafar and a KX-series Imperial Droid (like K-2SO), so this might be set around the time of Rogue One/A New Hope.Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire VR ExperienceFrom The VOID’s press release:

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire will plunge guests directly into the iconic Star Wars galaxy. They will move freely throughout the untethered, social, and multi-sensory Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire experience in a way that allows them to interact and engage with friends, family and Star Wars characters. This ground-breaking experience will open to the public at two new VOID Experience Centers at Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort and Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort beginning this holiday season.

“At The VOID, we combine the magic of illusion, advanced technology and virtual reality to create fully immersive social experiences that take guests to new worlds,” said Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer at The VOID. “A truly transformative experience is so much more than what you see with your eyes; it’s what you hear, feel, touch, and even smell. Through the power of The VOID, guests who step into Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire won’t just see this world, they’ll know that they are part of this amazing story.”

Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge of ILMxLab, said, “At ILMxLAB, we want people to step inside the worlds of our stories. Through our collaboration with The VOID, we can make this happen as guests become active participants in an unfolding Star Wars adventure. By combining Lucasfilm’s storytelling expertise with cutting-edge imagery, and immersive sound from the team at Skywalker Sound, while invoking all the senses, we hope to truly transport all those who experience Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire to a galaxy far, far away.”

Are you excited to try a Hyper Reality Star Wars experience? Let me know in the comments below!