Travel Professional – USA 2019

6 TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL / MAY 2019

TOP FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT

STAR WARS: GALAXY’S EDGE

2. IT WILL
   HAVE TWO
   MAIN
   ATTRACTIONS
   ‘Millennium Falcon:
   Smugglers Run’
   will launch in time
   for each park’s
   respective
   opening dates
   during phase one,
   while ‘Star Wars:
   Rise of the
   Resistance’ will
   open during
   phase two.
   3. IT WILL BE
   OTHER-
   WORLDLY
   On opening day
   for phase one,
   guests will be
   transported to
   the remote planet
   of Batuu, where
   they can sample
   galactic food and
   beverages and
   explore an
   interstellar
   collection of
   merchant shops.
   4. THERE’S
   AN APP
   Guests can fully
   immerse them-
   selves in the land
   through the Play
   Disney Parks
   mobile app,
   which allows
   them to aid a
   smuggler and join
   the Resistance.
   5. FOOD AND
   BEVERAGES
   AWAIT
   A bustling street
   market includes a
   ton of local
   delicacies, from
   flavoured popped
   grains at Kat
   Saka’s Kettle to
   ‘Blue Milk’ – a
   favourite of Luke
   Skywalker's – at
   the Milk Stand.

Each park spans an incredible 14 acres, making it the largest

and most technologically advanced, single-themed land expansion

in Disney’s history.

1. IT WILL BE HUGE

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open at Disneyland Park

in California on May 31 and at Walt Disney World Resort’s

Hollywood Studios in Florida on Aug. 29

For more information go to disney.com

BEI San Francisco opens

in Mid-Market

neighbourhood

San Francisco’s trendy Mid-

Market neighbourhood has wel-

comed a new standout hotel: BEI

San Francisco, formerly the

Holiday Inn San Francisco-Civic

Center. The hotel officiall

reflagged on Jan. 11, 2019 follow-

ing a top-to-bottom US$30 mil-

lion renovation. Under its new

name, BEI offers 396 guestrooms,

10,000 square feet of meeting and

event space, a fitness centre and,

coming in spring 2019, two new

food and beverage concepts on the

ground floor. Situated only 20

minutes from San Francisco

International Airport, BEI San

Francisco also offers seven com-

pletely remodelled room catego-

ries, each averaging 350-square

feet. Rates in Spring 2019 start at

$239 per night.

beihotelsf.com

New TODAY café

coming to Universal

Studios Florida

NBC’s TODAY show is heading

to Universal Orlando Resort! The

Universal Creative team has partnered

with TODAY to launched the TODAY

Café, featuring seasonal dishes inspired

by the anchors of the show. It will offer

specialty breakfast options like avo-

cado toast and an organic acai bowl, to

New York-inspired sandwiches and sal-

ads. One of the standout items will be

seasonal dishes inspired by co-anchor

Al Roker’s favourite recipes. And, in

tribute to a long-running tradition in

Kathie Lee and Hoda’s hour of TODAY,

guests can enjoy wine and beer on tap

with a delicious cheese platter for two.

The TODAY Café will be open this

spring and is located at Universal

Studios Florida, just inside the iconic

arches and across the street from the

Universal Studios Store.

universalorlando.com

All photos credit: Disney