Darth Vader arrives at 'Star Wars' Land, marking a pivot for Disneyland

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Not every crowd will gleefully applaud and cheer a known notorious villain.But the Disneyland faithful certainly will, as when Darth Vader set foot in the park’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on Wednesday morning and the audience erupted in approving hollers.

Travel & Experiences Kylo Ren is out and Darth Vader is in.Galaxy’s Edge changes course to spotlight “classic ‘Star Wars.’”Kylo Ren has officially been evicted from the fictional “Star Wars” town of Black Spire Outpost.

Vader has instead taken up residence, and he will appear multiple times daily in front of the land’s militaristic TIE fighter before stalking the area on the prowl for Luke Skywalker.In Vader’s first two appearances Wednesday, he spoke of his quest to hunt down the young Jedi.He was flanked by two classic Stormtroopers, who had different dialogue in each showing — one time critiquing Black Spire Outpost and later talking of a run-in with a Jedi.

Vader isn’t the only new addition to the area.Leia, Han and Luke, the latter of whom previously appeared in the land for a limited time last year, are also now regularly appearing in Galaxy’s Edge.

Their presence marks a major shift in direction for the 14-acre theme park land.When Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019, it was set at a fixed point in the “Star Wars” timeline, namely one in the middle of the latest films in the series.

This was done in part to promote the new cinematic works, but to also facilitate interaction, placing guests on an unknown adventure rather than one with a fixed outcome.It was a theme park experiment to see how much Disneyland attendees would lean in and role play.But Disneyland wisely hasn’t completely pivoted on the Galaxy’s Edge mission.

The characters appear out in the land and on a quest rather than simply standing and posing for photos.Leia, for instance, spent the bulk of one appearance working...