As I was standing in line at DHS...

[Silock]

As for breaking Jurassic World's record, I highly doubt it since it's a December release. It would have to more than DOUBLE the current December record for an opening weekend. I hope it happens, but I don't think Disney is expecting it to happen, or they would have released it in the summer. It will gross more than JW in the overall run though as it will be raking in tons every weekend even in February, while JW will be phased out completely within the next month.

People will take off of work to see Star Wars. Jurassic Park is a great film, but the fanbase for it absolutely pales in comparison to Star Wars. And that's not even counting the people who are moderate fans that will still want to see it on opening weekend.

 

[wareagle57]

People will take off of work to see Star Wars. Jurassic Park is a great film, but the fanbase for it absolutely pales in comparison to Star Wars. And that's not even counting the people who are moderate fans that will still want to see it on opening weekend.

Care to make some kind of friendly wager? I don't really have anything in mind.

I love Star Wars. I'm going to buy tickets for opening night at midnight (or whenever they show it, I wish they still did midnight premieres) as soon as they go on sale and will see it at least one more time that weekend. But December just has too many obstacles to overcome. A huge part of Star Wars core fan base are 40-50 years old and have kids and responsibilities. It premieres the week before Christmas. People will be bust traveling, shopping, cleaning, spending time with family. More people will go see it overall for sure. But I really doubt it breaks JW's opening weekend record. If it does, this movie is going to take the overall record as well, no question.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

a lovely older gentleman cast member who was shared some things with us

Did the guy happen to be an ex-bus-driver?

 

[Bay Max]

A Star Wars dinner better be in the cantina, and that idea of the hotel with windows looking out on different planets. Or locations made me want to hand over my wallet. In my life, people age 3-50 LOVE Star Wars! But if they wimp out and do it half way it will be a disaster.

If they're gonna build a Star Wars hotel I might as well just give them my savings account number so they can just take all my money now.

 

[ammag]

I was so excited when I heard about pizza planet, then......not.

 

[Carol Mouse Bogerd]

I would love if they made Star Wars character meals a year round thing!!! we always miss it because we go in the fall. It would be fabulous if they kept it!!!

That would be awesome. I love Star Wars and would definitely go every time we vacationed there.

 

[StarWarsJez]

The opening weekend to some extent is irrelevant, what counts is it's overall global box office figure (although clearly the opening weekend contributes to the total), however reliably industry pundits are all predicting the new Star Wars to be MASSIVE ($1.5 - 2 billion)

But from a parks perspective it's so frustrating that three years on from their purchase of Lucasfilm. Disney still has nothing to show for it. I have no doubt they'll announce something in the fall, but given the snails pace they work at it will be near 2020 before it's truly 'ready'

Disney will do a great job with the movies, but I wish Universal had the theme park rights!

 

[Golden Rose]

We did both Star Wars meals last year when they first introduced them. They were expensive, but we loved both experiences. I don't understand why they don't offer them, or some variation on them, year round. It's not like Disney to leave so much money on the table. Sure, initially they were testing the market, but my understanding is that both meals sold out early this year. They clearly have the costumes. They might have to hire a few extra cast members, but they had enough to make it work for almost 2 months without real problems. Would they be better in a space specifically designed for Star Wars? Sure. Were they a lot of fun in H & V and Sci Fi in the meantime? Absolutely.

Honestly, if they continued to offer the meals, we'd do multiple Star Wars meals every single trip. We easily spent more than $1000 on our Star Wars day on just meals and merchandise, and we had a fantastic day and didn't come away feeling taken advantage of or ripped off despite parting with so much money so quickly. DS is so tired of princess this and princess that (and DD is still VERY princess) that he was over the moon excited to have Star Wars meals as options. They have worked so hard to develop properties with as much appeal to boys as their princess lineup has for some girls. They've got the properties now (Marvel and Star Wars), which have the considerable added bonus of appeal to many adults and girls as well, but they're moving ridiculously slowly to capitalize on them. Character meals, particularly if they can use what was an existing restaurant that was either habitually slow or closed at certain meals, would seem like a no brainer.

I'd like to think this rumors are right, that we're getting Star Wars Meals and Toy Story attractions pretty quickly. But I've been hoping for some sort of announcement for a while now. Honestly, I'd be very surprised if they didn't make some kind of announcement of a new vision to go with the name change, with at least some cool concept art attached to start getting the fanbase talking even more and dreaming.

 

[ahoyle]

I've long thought any Star Wars expansion should include a Tie Fighter vs X Wing hanging coaster. Think something like a combination of Dragon Challenge and Hulk at Universal. Theme the coaster well, add sound and various effects. It could be one of the best and unique coasters in the world, without even too much innovation going into it.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Honestly, if they continued to offer the meals, we'd do multiple Star Wars meals every single trip. We easily spent more than $1000 on our Star Wars day on just meals and merchandise, and we had a fantastic day and didn't come away feeling taken advantage of or ripped off despite parting with so much money so quickly.

It's really great that you had a lot of fun doing this.

For everyone who really loves rides more than anything else (like me) ... you can read this and weep. Instead of elaborate, generously-long and lavishly-themed rides, you're going to get a lot of targeted "experiences" which require very little cap-ex and which are cash earners in themselves.

For every hot property ... in other words every time they have a hit movie or film/tv franchise ... look for an "extremely deliberate" (slow and underwhelming) investment in rides ... preferably a makeover ... and a lot of "experiences" involving people wearing suits, meals and toys, more or less taking over an existing space with the most minimal possible cosmetic renovations.

Imagine if Hogwarts/Hogsmeade at Universal was only an overlay of the Atlantis walk-through show and surrounding area, and the entire experience was singing frogs, a character meal, wand shop, butterbeer carts and makeovers of Dueling Dragons and the kiddie coaster. Period. Universal couldn't have got away with that (and Rowling wouldn't have let them) but Disney sure as heck can and will get away with doing that for Star Wars, Marvel, Frozen, and any other hit property they have ... for the foreseeable future.

That's the bleak view, based on the last 10 years or so. It's always possible that someone in Disney top management will wake up one day and feel shame for squeezing the Florida cash cow just a little too hard for too long. Sometimes CEOs are shamed and humiliated by other CEOs, when they meet them at meetings, etc. and make fun of them. "Hey Bob, we've got another new land and monster ride coming on stream next year. What have you got in the pipeline ... an overlay of "Dinosaur" with video screens in like 2027 or something?" Sometimes ego can be a wonderful thing.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

People will take off of work to see Star Wars. Jurassic Park is a great film, but the fanbase for it absolutely pales in comparison to Star Wars. And that's not even counting the people who are moderate fans that will still want to see it on opening weekend.

Correct. Friends I know of all ages are planning parties already. We are all going to watch the originals and then go see this movie.

Care to make some kind of friendly wager? I don't really have anything in mind.

I love Star Wars. I'm going to buy tickets for opening night at midnight (or whenever they show it, I wish they still did midnight premieres) as soon as they go on sale and will see it at least one more time that weekend. But December just has too many obstacles to overcome. A huge part of Star Wars core fan base are 40-50 years old and have kids and responsibilities. It premieres the week before Christmas. People will be bust traveling, shopping, cleaning, spending time with family. More people will go see it overall for sure. But I really doubt it breaks JW's opening weekend record. If it does, this movie is going to take the overall record as well, no question.

Summer as the only blockbuster season is a fast fading myth. A number of big hits are now done throughout the year and end of November to December is the perfect time. That is when the LOTR movies were released. And a little movie that did so-so called Avatar - where it set the largest opening weekend for an original property. Frozen was released then too. While there is travel, shopping, cleaning, and family, there is also time off for almost everyone. And everyone needs a break from the cleaning. Opening weekend isn't that important, December is good for the long haul, but Star Wars is already - at this early stage - behaving like no other movie in history. We will be going into uncharted territory due to the cultural significance, world wide appeal, cross generational appeal, and anticipation. While vacation plans tend to stretch out movie going and can slightly depress opening weekends, Star Wars will be different. People will stop the cleaning, take a day off, make travel plans around opening weekend. Also, it will open mid-December so people can go before they have plans.

And what made Jurassic World so big - a loved franchise that hadn't had a release in years and the new release was expected to be better than the last entry - is all true for Star Wars X 100!!

I fully expect Star Wars to set a number of records including biggest Thursday night ever, biggest Friday, biggest weekend, and fastest to (insert any number).

 

[wareagle57]

Correct. Friends I know of all ages are planning parties already. We are all going to watch the originals and then go see this movie.



Summer as the only blockbuster season is a fast fading myth. A number of big hits are now done throughout the year and end of November to December is the perfect time. That is when the LOTR movies were released. And a little movie that did so-so called Avatar - where it set the largest opening weekend for an original property. Frozen was released then too. While there is travel, shopping, cleaning, and family, there is also time off for almost everyone. And everyone needs a break from the cleaning. Opening weekend isn't that important, December is good for the long haul, but Star Wars is already - at this early stage - behaving like no other movie in history. We will be going into uncharted territory due to the cultural significance, world wide appeal, cross generational appeal, and anticipation. While vacation plans tend to stretch out movie going and can slightly depress opening weekends, Star Wars will be different. People will stop the cleaning, take a day off, make travel plans around opening weekend. Also, it will open mid-December so people can go before they have plans.

And what made Jurassic World so big - a loved franchise that hadn't had a release in years and the new release was expected to be better than the last entry - is all true for Star Wars X 100!!

I fully expect Star Wars to set a number of records including biggest Thursday night ever, biggest Friday, biggest weekend, and fastest to (insert any number).

All those movies you mentioned did very well, but it was for the long haul. Yes Avatar broke the record for an original movie but JW still more than doubled it's opening weekend. I agree that Star Wars will probably break the overall record, but breaking the opening weekend record is going to be a tall order.

 

[cart-mom]

Honestly, have you no faith in Disney? Do you think they are going to announce plans and be all like "in ten years from now..." Don't you think they had plans long before they even went to Lucas to buy the franchise? Why do you think the backlot tours closed? As old as it was, it still drew a crowd. They have avatarland opening and lets admit, it was good, but it's no star wars. Just like Jurassic world. It's doing so good because lets admit that we all want to see chris Pratt. Sure, I went to see it opening weekend. I liked it but thought they filled the gaps (and there were lots of them) with references to the first movie. This isn't their first rodeo. As for the cm' s that leak info...it's what gets people talking. Don't you think they plan that info as well?

 

[Planogirl]

As a self-professed nerd when it comes to both Star Wars and Jurassic Park, I can't decide whether Star Wars will break all the records. I think that it will make more money overall but I'm not sure if it can beat opening weekend or yearly earnings due to the time it's coming out. Whatever happens, it's a win-win for someone like me. That is unless the movie is bad...

I really hope that Disney handles the Star Wars expansion well. When I see how lame their response to Frozen's popularity has been it worries me a little.

 

[DisitDisitgood]

A security guard was telling me about how Disney has only developed 10% of the land they own there, and there's a new high-speed rail line being built from New Jersey to Miami, and Disney is lobbying for a stop.

I file it all under "too much pixie dust." Yes, that's a recognized psychological disorder.

Bets on which gets done first the government run high speed rail line or the rides at DHS. It's a fair bet because it's 50/50.

 

[skier_pete]

Star Wars VII will be huge, but I agree it may not beat opening weekend records. Coming out right before the holidays not everyone will be able to take the time to go to a movie. Still will be massive piles of cash before it's all over.

 

[MrsNesbet]

Wow! If they built a "star wars land" similar to how US did Harry Potter with making it a whole "street", that would be EPIC. People would come from near and far. Add a restaurant or two plus several gift shops and they are back in the game.
If they also added a Pixar land complete with meet/greets from a lot of the movies! and/or dinners/rides (coffe shop from Big Hero 6) (a ride with the Inside out through the brain) (racing Wreck it Ralph cars) (. HS would become a very large threat.

 

[Justin Mendoza]

"But I love the idea that has been thrown around on this forum over the years of making multiple "lands" in DHS that captures the various studios Disney owns and creating an all-day/multiple-day park for the whole family - Star Wars/Lucas Land, Pixar Place (not just Toy Story or just Cars), Disney Animation Studios (Frozen, Big Hero 6), and Marvel (for whatever characters they can get in DHS). This really would change the landscape of DHS dramatically and would provide something for everyone."

THE BEST IDEA. GO WORK FOR DISNEY.

 

[Jon84]

Obviously the total is more then DCA's overhaul, I don't know if the whole 3bn will be spent on DHS?

 

[rteetz]

Obviously the total is more then DCA's overhaul, I don't know if the whole 3bn will be spent on DHS?

No it won't 2.8 is the estimated number for DHS. The rest goes to MK and Epcot.