Am I the only one that is unimpressed with SWGE - where is the juice?

[Lashed34]

They need to rebrand the land soon, divide it into 3 trilogies. Prequels, Originals, Sequels.

I wonder which one would be the most popular...?

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

They need to rebrand the land soon, divide it into 3 trilogies. Prequels, Originals, Sequels.

The problem with this is this presume Disney won't do anything with the land beyond the movies and that doesn't really afford them the flexibility they would need as the Star Wars story progresses under their banner.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The problem with this is this presume Disney won't do anything with the land beyond the movies and that doesn't really afford them the flexibility they would need as the Star Wars story progresses under their banner.

That's why Universal expanded Harry Potter into 2 theme parks. Hogsmeade is set earlier with Diagon Alley set later. Plus a 3rd theme park on the way giving more room if desired.

With Disney they would have to expand on the existing area if adding a decent new part with new source material but that would in all liklihood mean closing rides/areas to do that. I also don't think Disney would do the same thing as Universal in that they would expand into more than one theme park for the same theme (i.e. Star Wars) but rather keep it contained within one theme park at least that's my thought.

 

[Lashed34]

I really think that Disney is in trouble with this, unless they're willing to review what SWGE can offer visitors. With TWWoHP performing amazingly for USO and with Epic Universe looking set to be even more inclusive and interactive they really are pushing boundaries within theme parks.

Some of their decisions of late have been questionable, I really think they need to invest in their visitors by giving value for money. I just looked at booking for 2021 and the resort/ticket packages from the UK are horrendously expensive compared to what we paid to come over this December.

People are being priced out, and the ones that are visiting new attractions seem to be reacting with a rather luckluster enthusiasm (it seems from my personal opinion).

 

[DYNSC]

I went to WDW StarWars Galaxy for the 1st time last week and was blown away by the magnitude of the details put into the land itself, amazing. I didn’t do the ride (motion sickness but my husband & friends went. They were underwhelmed. Hoping the Dec 5th opening for the Resistance will be more exciting for them. Went again yesterday & enjoyed the land even more and had some photpasses done. Really interring photos. Love how the CM’s wander around & interact. Lots of fun. 13 yr old coming on our Nov trip and sure she’ll be thrilled, she LOVES StarWars. This will be a special birthday trip for her.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

With TWWoHP performing amazingly for USO and with Epic Universe looking set to be even more inclusive and interactive they really are pushing boundaries within theme parks.

I hope so.
I sometimes feel like both Disney and Universal kinda re-use some of the same ideas in too many attractions, especially Universal. The Spiderman ride is super, but alas...a number of their rides use almost the same format just with different movie-overlays. Take your pick: Spiderman, Forbidden Journey, Fast and Furious, Gringotts, Jimmy Fallon, Transformers.

Universal needs to now make more rides that aren't roller coasters, and don't have a video screen. Unless maybe they are the new sorta-coasters like Slinky and Hagrid's (not too extreme, good storytelling, multiple launches, plus something unexpected)

We also don't need another Dumbo in any park.

What would be nice is a revision of the classic dark ride with 21st century animatronics, and something unexpected. In a way, Hagrid's kind fits that description. I think that's why it has been well received.

Both need more rides that are interactive. I think SW had the right idea, it just wasn't 100% well-executed. Perhaps it would have been better if they'd gone with 4-person pod racers, where everyone had a real job. Also, if someone is supposed to be the gunner, the should have a gun. As dated as Buzz is, people still like to play the game.

Maybe the parks could have some kind of ride...where top scorers actually get some kind of reward. Not something we have to pay to play, just something where high scores = something. Maybe we get a copy of our ride photo if we reach a certain score.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

while having rewards for achieving a score would be nice, it also opens up a whole new potential for abuse. even if its something as small as a ride photo it probably won’t be long until groups emerge to charge people for “runs” through mfsr with a high score.

happens in every single mmo, and there really isn’t a good way to stop or regulate it. it seems plausible that this is why the credits don’t actually do much of anything.

smugglers run seems like long term it may end up seeing similar usage to mission space (another disney ride where your experience depends on others). while that may be great for those who enjoy it right now...it likely also means it will get “re-imagined” at some point soon...disneylands luigi’s flying tires didn’t last very long...needed to do it 2 or 3 times before you could figure out how to move the tires...and probably not many people willing to wait through a slow loading queue that many times before it got fun...

 

[OhMickeyUrSoFine]

I've lurked for several years and finally pulled the trigger on making an account, so please bear with me. Smugglers Run made be nauseated and ill. Beforehand, I asked the attending attractions Cast Member if this was a simulator like Mission Space because that one would make me ill. Her response was, "I can't do simulators either and this ride is the only one I can do." Sigh ... I should have done my homework. Afterwards, I was quite sick and disoriented for the entire day. I won't be going on that again. I'm hoping there will be something more calming like Pandora Na'Vi River Journey coming up?

Admittedly, I was disappointed in the overall experience. The area is amazing, don't get me wrong. Seeing the Millennium Falcon had me in 'awe'. However, if I wasn't aware of what the land was beforehand, I would have never walked into the Galaxy's Edge area and think I was immersed in the Star Wars Universe without the Falcon being there and the abundance of Star Wars Merch. Nothing about the GE area, to me anyway, is iconic Star Wars. Understand, I'm a female Gen X'er who grew up with the Original 3. What I personally imagined was seeing a water ride through Endor, where Chewie is walking around with Ewoks that are hiding and spying on us in canopied trees, Endor area would also mask as a children's play location with slides ... etc. (think former MGM 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure' on steroids). There would also be a cool speeder bike indoor roller coaster, a life-size animatronic Jabba The Hutt for a great photo op, a Death Star area where Storm Troopers abound, there's always Darth Vader somewhere, and I'd finally be able to touch Han Solo in carbonite ... etc. But, NOoooo! I guess that would be too easy? I mean ... Yeah, those last Star Wars movies did well in the box office and all - what were they called? Seeing the Falcon was cool though.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

smugglers run seems like long term it may end up seeing similar usage to mission space (another disney ride where your experience depends on others). while that may be great for those who enjoy it right now...it likely also means it will get “re-imagined” at some point soon...disneylands luigi’s flying tires didn’t last very long...needed to do it 2 or 3 times before you could figure out how to move the tires...and probably not many people willing to wait through a slow loading queue that many times before it got fun...

Some good points.
I actually wish M:S and FoP had a little more variety. (in the sense of multiple variations to the ride)

I like the concept of MF being a ride where you get variety, and also the opportunity to score points.

It does occur to me though...at the end of Buzz and MiB our score gets assigned a rank. Even on TSM and Test Track, we get an opportunity to see how we did compared to others.

I partly expected to see similar feedback at the end of SR.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

with buzz you are both pilot (to a small extent) and gunner, with MIB you just have a gun (well at some points you can get spun around by the other "team" and have to compete with your own team to hit a button...) so you have a far greater amount of control over your experience. and a rank is less...problematic...(same could be said for toy story midway mania)

with MIB and Buzz...if you and a friend or family member went on the ride...how often did you compare scores, and how often could you achieve a similar score...on smugglers run, seems like in many cases your score is highly dependent on up to 5 people who you may have never met before...and how would you compare scores between a gunner and a pilot for example. you can also compete against a single friend/family member just as easily as 11 others

test track you ride with others but you get scored and ranked purely on your own build

if you went with 11 friends/family...it would be very easy to compare scores/etc...but groups of 12 or more don't seem particularly common.

people who are very competitive hate stuff like that, and people who don't care about that type of comoetition are probably the ones who will give others a really rough ride as pilots or simply not get as far.

I think at least some of that gets considered by disney as they really do try to give the best experience they can (happy guests spend more and come back more than unhappy ones). however as with all things...designers will often have to compromise or just flat out give in to satisfy marketing/accounting demands, or some arbitrary requirement to use something (i.e. we need 6 people per vehicle and it has to be the falcon...probably not what happened...but who knows).

 

[rteetz]

I partly expected to see similar feedback at the end of SR.

This has changed a bit since it opened. They now do give you rankings.

 

[kyden]

Glad I'm not the only one who didn't like SR. I took my 3.5 year old on Tuesday night and the lineup was advertised 25mins. We probably spent closer to 35 mins in the line, but that wasn't the problem. My issue is that you spend so much time in line doing nothing. They should have it like Soarin where you at least get to see a video to get people hyped up. Maybe a video explaining what the roles are instead of having a cast member rushing you through? We literally got our cards and then roles explained in a matter of one minute.

Then, when we got on the ride (we were engineers), we rode with people who had been on it before. We got more of an explanation from them than anywhere else in the process. When the ride started, I was focused way more on looking to see if the buttons were flashing, rather than looking ahead at the ride. Why didn't they have the buttons on a console in front of you? The girl in front of me was literally facing sideways mashing the yellow button so fast that she wasn't focused on anything else. I honestly missed the whole mission/focus of where we were flying, what we were doing etc.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I am here to report that the OP's 11YO, after watching youtube reviews of ROTR, announced to OP, "Dad, there's the juice."

This thread can now be closed.

 

[mdsouth]

I am here to report that the OP's 11YO, after watching youtube reviews of ROTR, announced to OP, "Dad, there's the juice."

This thread can now be closed.

Too funny! And there you have it folks! This is who the land is targeting. Many of us would likely have set the whole land in the time of the originals but Disney is targeting the kids going to the movies now.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Too funny! And there you have it folks! This is who the land is targeting. Many of us would likely have set the whole land in the time of the originals but Disney is targeting the kids going to the movies now.

True, but I would have loved to get on RotR when I was down there. I just couldn't get up early enough as it was that point in my vacation where I just needed to sleep in and rest up (late nights the previous days). I'm actually very happy with the land overall. Can't wait to return.

 

[disneydreamer781]

I liked GE but didn't love it and I'm really looking forward to ROTR. I wish I had got to visit during evening hours but the main reason is there is not much streetmosphere. Nothing really there to pull me into a story! That was kind of what I was expecting. Also, I just read Disney announced no roaming droids will be coming to GE. No citizens, unless they are CMs and no droids just an occasional glimpse of characters from time to time but not a lot of interaction.

 

[ADM56]

I was at HS this past Friday the 13th.
The new Star Wars area gave me the same impression as the rest of the park...too many people in too small of an area. I didn't get a Star Wars vibe AT ALL.

Smugglers Run was underwhelming after about a one hour wait. Being able to look at the Falcon is only amusing for so long.

We did have a bit of fun when my young daughter ...dressed up in a Rey costume...got arrested by two Stormtroopers and then confronted by Kylo Ren. But ultimately it was just too crowded everywhere we went over our four days there. As apparently this is the new normal for WDW we won't be going back.

 

[realhousewife]

I'm wondering a little bit also. I think it'll be amazing to see but was always a little disappointed that this new "world/land" was only going to have 2 attractions. And that particular type of attraction isn't #1 on my list. I see it as very cool the first time and slowly diminishing in time spent.

I was just there and did both SWGE rides. ROTR is completely awesome. Smugglers Run was was too intense and I could not do it again. The problem with all thesebew Improved rides is that they are mostly high def video and cause motion sickness if you do too many. We did star tours 3 times since lines were short and also ROTR and Smugglers Run. We had to leave because our heads hurt. They need to tune it down or offer a “side” with less intensity like Mission Space.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

they can’t really do much to tone down smugglers run...except maybe not let guests be pilots...but that would cut capacity by 1/3...and I’d imagine many/most/almost all would not be happy that 50% of the time they get the engineer spot.

 

[MeridaAnn]

I was just there and did both SWGE rides. ROTR is completely awesome. Smugglers Run was was too intense and I could not do it again. The problem with all thesebew Improved rides is that they are mostly high def video and cause motion sickness if you do too many. We did star tours 3 times since lines were short and also ROTR and Smugglers Run. We had to leave because our heads hurt. They need to tune it down or offer a “side” with less intensity like Mission Space.

That's interesting, because for me Star Tours is still the more intense one, at least as far as nausea-issues. I always get queasy riding it and can't get right onto another ride afterwards until I've had enough time for my stomach to calm down, but I've been on Smugglers Run several times now, in all positions, and I've never felt even a little bit sick on it, even the time I had two kindergarten-aged kids as my pilots who had us crashing into stuff the whole time. I've also been on RotR twice and didn't feel sick on there at all. It's interesting how the slight differences between the rides can have different impacts on different people.