Obi-Wan and Beyond — Former Show · History & Timeline

Former Show · the memorial record

⚰ Permanently closed · Jun 14, 2015operated 4 years · 2011–2015

Also known as Obi-Wan & Beyond.

This show is gone, but its history stays documented — the full lifetime log is below.

Show history

the lifetime record

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2015

◆ Latest milestone

UpdateNov 9, 2015#

On November 9, 2015 Disney announced that Star Wars Weekends would not return, ending Obi-Wan and Beyond permanently as the park shifted to year-round Star Wars offerings ahead of construction on the Star Wars land.

An Attractions Magazine report dated November 9, 2015 states that "with work beginning next year on the Star Wars Land expansion at the park, the annual Star Wars Weekends will not be returning," published alongside the announcement of year-round replacements including Star Wars Launch Bay, Path of the Jedi, Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple and the Season of the Force. A Disney Tourist Blog update repeats that "Disney has announced that Star Wars Weekends will not be returning during Season of the Force and while construction for Star Wars Land occurs." Wikipedia dates the discontinuation to November 2015 and cites a November 9, 2015 Disney Parks Blog post and an Orlando Sentinel report of the same date; a Wayback capture of the blog post exists from November 10, 2015 but was not directly retrievable, so the openable November 9 reports are cited instead.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
RefurbishmentJun 14, 2015#

The show gave its last performances on June 14, 2015, the closing day of the fifth and final weekend of the last Star Wars Weekends, which ran Fridays through Sundays from May 15 to June 14, 2015.

The 2015 event dates are firmly sourced: the December 3, 2014 announcement lists Weekend I as May 15-17 through Weekend V as June 12-14, 2015. A May 30, 2015 touring guide confirms the show was still being performed during that final season, and a Disney Tourist Blog guide to the event describes it as a fixture of the weekend lineup. An Inside the Magic report dated June 13, 2015 covers that closing weekend but calls it only the "last Star Wars Weekends for the year" - the end of the event had not yet been announced. No source publishes the show-by-show schedule for the closing weekend, so this date is the event's last operating day rather than a separately reported final performance.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
Area Update2015#

By May 2015 the show was being staged at the Theater of the Stars, the large Sunset Boulevard amphitheater normally used by Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage, rather than the Premiere Theater where it had been performed in 2011.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
2013

UpdateMay 2013#

For Star Wars Weekends 2013, which ran May 17 through June 9, the show played every event day, alongside Ray Park's Visit to the Maul and Warwick Davis's An Ewok's Tale, which each played only selected weekends.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
2011

New2011#

Obi-Wan and Beyond, a one-man voice-acting show starring James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, was running as part of Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios by June 2011, staged at the Premiere Theater.

A first-hand trip report dated June 4, 2011 names the show, James Arnold Taylor and the venue: "I knew very little about James Arnold Taylor prior to his show at the Premier Theater." The published 2010 event schedule lists Taylor as a celebrity guest for June 11-13, 2010 but names no such show among that year's offerings (Stars of the Saga, Behind the Force, Visit to the Maul, Padawan Mind Challenge, Jedi Training Academy, Hyperspace Hoopla). Against that, Wikipedia's celebrity appearance table lists Taylor as attending the event from 2009 through 2015, so he was present before the show itself is documented. No source gives an exact debut date, so 2011 is recorded as the first documented season, not a confirmed premiere.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes

Questions & answers

When did Obi-Wan and Beyond open?

Per the documented record, Obi-Wan and Beyond at Hollywood Studios opened in 2011.

When did Obi-Wan and Beyond last close for refurbishment?

The most recent closure/refurbishment documented for Obi-Wan and Beyond is dated Jun 14, 2015: The show gave its last performances on June 14, 2015, the closing day of the fifth and final weekend of the last Star Wars Weekends, which ran Fridays through Sundays from May 15 to June 14, 2015.

What changed recently on Obi-Wan and Beyond?

The latest documented change (documented Nov 9, 2015): On November 9, 2015 Disney announced that Star Wars Weekends would not return, ending Obi-Wan and Beyond permanently as the park shifted to year-round Star Wars offerings ahead of construction on the Star Wars land.

How many changes are on record for Obi-Wan and Beyond?

5 documented changes, dating back to 2011 — the fan-kept show changelog nobody else keeps.

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