Anyone else not like Star Wars?

[cruisehopeful]

Feel like everyone is going to have a melt down, but walking through Tomorrowland and seeing all the Star Wars stuff is kind of annoying, considering there's a whole different land for Star Wars. I guess I am hoping for something different in Tomorrowland now. I realize that they cannot move a major ride, but they can change other stuff.

Maybe technology is making futuristic stuff happen too quickly? I remember back when they said in the future we'd be able to see the people that we were talking to on the phone! I thought that was impossible. Using lasers to heal was totally "space age" when they were doing it in Star Trek episodes, but now it's standard medical practice.

 

[dieumeye]

I like Star Wars, but I agree that Star Wars’ time as Tomorrowland’s major focus should end. Pre-pandemic it felt like we might have been close to the very beginning of a major Tomorrowland overhaul, but that’s probably now far far in the future, if they’re even thinking about it anymore.

 

[Wedgeout]

Funny too because it’s in Tomorrowland. Star Wars all happened “A long time ago…”

 

[ck2d]

I'm indifferent to both Star Wars and Marvel, but I do think seeing their stuff kind of pulls me out of the "Disney bubble".

 

[shh]

can't stand star wars - although I do like sci fi and the original star trek. To me, waaay too much star wars at disney

 

[Dory92130]

Disney IS marvel and star wars and pixar.

People can be nostalgic for only old days and stick to frontierland and fantasyland, sure. Imagineering goes far beyond the smaller arc of cell animation.

Remember that Disney ultimately wants to lighten your wallet with the merch and SW is by far the most productive group aside from the mickey balloons.

 

[Jaina]

I like Star Wars, but do wish it could all be contained since it has its own land now, and -really- wish the could update Tomorrowland.

 

[StormyCA]

I like the 'original' SW trilogy and I loved The Mandalorian. The rest? Meh.

But I agree 1000%, SW has NO place in TL. But then again neither does Buzz Lightyear. TL is so far removed from the TL of my youth that it is pretty much meaningless as far as representing 'the future' goes.

The problem is that these days the future becomes the present too fast for imagineers to keep up with it. They either need to go with a 'space colony' theme since I don't think we're going to be living on Mars in the next 20 years (but who knows?) OR they need to just do a 'classic' TL-redux with ATIS, PM, Journey to Mars a la TL67 + SM and let it represent 'Days of the Future Past'. They could carve out some small spaces for 'future tech' exhibits (like the old Bell System phone booths back in the day) that could be updated more frequently.

 

[WonkaKid]

I like Star Wars but not the way they do it at DL with an emphasis on the modern stuff and/or on the kind of world they’ve created for it. Is that what most people want when they come to DL? Perhaps, but it’s not my preferred cooking method ;-).

 

[MonocularVision]

The very idea of “Tomorrowland” is an outdated idea. When it opened, there was an optimism about the future and people would imaging what it was like. It was the birth of modern sci-fi when stories were built around what folks might imagine the future was like with new technology. You can see it a lot with the original Star Trek.

Now? Most sci-fi is dystopian. Or, at a minimum, emphasizes the negatives that come with changes in technology. The idea of a land celebrating the Future is… out of sync with today.

 

[Dory92130]

@MonocularVision - exactly. SciFi today is not very Star Trek at all. More MadMax level and very unDisney theme park.

@Wonkdakid - If you've visited the Innovation wings over the 30 years it really reflected how hard it is to maintain updates with nominal overhead. This has been the challenge of EPCOT from the beginning and a large reason for its reimagining into different Worlds.

 

[Aspencreek]

I don't mind a bit of Star Wars, but would rather have them go back to some old classic rides in Tomorrowland like the Inner Space shrinking one or something. What's crazy to me is that they spent so much money and effort building the Galaxy Edge area, but my family was bored of it after one walkthrough. It is visually impressive, but not much to actually do there we thought. Conversely, we could spend all day in Fantasyland riding the dark rides, Storybook boats, etc and have a great time.

 

[DLgal]

The fact that there is still so much "classic star wars" presence in Tomorrowland speaks to how much Disney messed up in placing the new land in the specific timeline they did. Now, they CAN'T relocate that merch over there because it doesn't work thematically. Although, it could be argued that the classic trilogy characters were "historical legends" and thus they live on in toys and t shirts. But, it would still look weird. Also, the continued presence of all that merch means it's still selling well enough to justify all the real estate it has. Again, the heavy handed focus of Baatu on the new trilogy was misguided. Luke, Han, Leia, R2D2, C3PO, and Vader continue to be more popular than Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren and BB8 when it comes to merchandise sales.

Disneyland's Tomorrowland is suffering from a massive identity crisis. Nothing about it is "tomorrow", except maybe Space Mountain (although we are quickly approaching the ability for the everyman to board a rocket ride into space). Autopia, the Nemo Subs, Buzz Lightyear and Astro Blasters have absolutely nothing to do with the future and Star Tours is a relic from the 80s in terms of technology, so it's like a quaint throwback ride at this point. The entire land needs to be redone, but the pandemic pushed that job WAY down the line.

So, the Star Wars stuff will be sticking around for a few more years at least, because there is nothing else they can put there and nowhere else they can realistically relocate all that merch.

 

[StormyCA]

I don't mind a bit of Star Wars, but would rather have them go back to some old classic rides in Tomorrowland like the Inner Space shrinking one or something. What's crazy to me is that they spent so much money and effort building the Galaxy Edge area, but my family was bored of it after one walkthrough. It is visually impressive, but not much to actually do there we thought. Conversely, we could spend all day in Fantasyland riding the dark rides, Storybook boats, etc and have a great time.

I agree. We experienced GE at WDW and it was hot, unshaded, the layout seemed pretty random with dead ends and twists and turns, and the funky 'alphabet' signs were very confusing. Thank God I finally figured out what the word 'restroom' looked like!!!

To quote Gertrude Stein, "There is no 'there' there."

 

[Dory92130]

Yeah, tomorrowland will be rebranded to something like To Infinity and Beyond. Frontier exploration. --that will match nicer with the current rides -- It would REALLY be cool to see EV cars replace in Autotopia and Elon is really missing a huge opportunity IMHO

I do miss the academy and jedi training and dance stuff that brought a lot of kids into the land.

Could Carousel and the people mover return? Perhaps --Doubtful though I do miss the people mover dearly .

 

[DLgal]

Yeah, tomorrowland will be rebranded to something like To Infinity and Beyond. Frontier exploration. --that will match nicer with the current rides -- It would REALLY be cool to see EV cars replace in Autotopia and Elon is really missing a huge opportunity IMHO

I do miss the academy and jedi training and dance stuff that brought a lot of kids into the land.

Could Carousel and the people mover return? Perhaps --Doubtful though I do miss the people mover dearly .

If anyone is going to sponsor an EV conversion of Autopia, it's gonna just continue to be Honda. Honda is actively developing EVs to replace their entire global fleet by like 2040. Their US timeline is the most aggressive, and they will reach 80% EVs by 2035.

Tesla spends exactly ZERO dollars on advertising. Their model of word of mouth/FOMO seems to be working just fine for them and Elon has said he doesn't believe in advertising because his products sell themselves. He would never pay Disney to showcase his cars. He doesn't need to. There would be nothing in it for him.

Honda has had a long standing partnership with Disney going back to 2005. They won't give up that prime real estate in the parks without a fight.

 

[MrBellatrixLestrange]

I loved the first trilogy, the rest were kind of hit or miss. It's a big part of why I'm more into the Harry Potter stuff at Universal, the movies were more consistently good.

 

[Dr. G]

I'll preface this by saying I consider myself a HUGE Star Wars fan. I'm also more "old school" and favor the Original Trilogy, but I'm not opposed to the prequel Trilogy or the more recent 3 (except Force Awakens, while entertaining, is in large part a re-hash of New Hope's plot...). So:

I really, really wanted to like Galaxy's Edge. I just can't get to that point. I LOVE Rise of the Resistance as a ride even with it based on the whiny/non-scary Kylo Ren. Would have been better with Darth Vader. But, still an amazing ride and I'll go on it any chance I get. Falcon is just another simulator/screen ride. Otherwise, there just isn't much to do there. Yes, it is beautiful and so-well built! However, I think they totally missed the boat by sticking to the First Order/Resistance timeframe instead of all of Star Wars. Give me Yoda. Tying the land to a specific point in time was in my opinion a huge mistake. Embrace all of Star Wars. I think Vader, Luke, Leia, Yoda, Han etc would be very popular there. Yeah, I know they are trying to immerse me in the experience. But I don't we all actually know we are at a theme park. You know, people dressed normal everywhere, Mickey Head balloons, etc When I ask if you accept Disney Visa merchandise discounts, just say "yes" or "no". Don't try to re-word it into some other verbiage back at me. And "bright suns" makes me think to find some shade. Good morning would put a smile on my face.

The other huge miss in my opinion is the lack of Star Wars music. Every other land (I think) has music to draw you in to what you are experiencing. If Baatu had actual Star Wars music playing it would be a huge improvement, at least for me. I'm to the point now when I walk into the land that I just play Star Wars music on my phone.

As for Star Tours and the shop in Tomorrowland, I'm okay with those but Tomorrowland is our least-favorite land since it just doesn't feel Disney. We spend very little time there compared to the other lands.

So, I LOVE Star Wars, I'm IMPRESSED by the construction of Galaxy's Edge, but we basically just go their to ride Rise, take a quick walk-through of the area, then get out. I really wish I could have felt different about it. I really wanted to love the land but it just doesn't have an emotional connection for me, which really surprised me (and shocked my wife).

 

[Dory92130]

I'm with you Dr G. - I LOVE SW. Yet, I find myself in Galaxy's edge very little beyond ROTR. I do like hanging at the Falcon and people watch folk going through the Cantina.

There's a lot of interactive within the shops and the building areas. And love watching the troopers come through badgering people. I do wish there were resistance casts who preceed the troopers and ask people to slow down the troopers -- little simple interplay like that goes a LONG way. Something like the roving band that occasionally go running through 'join the resistance' and get a FP to ROTR. That's something really cool.

Yes, a SW music loop would be great instead of the drone of ships landing and tie fighters passing. How many times disney folk just sit in the Esplanade just to soak it in? I admit - I stream Parks music every now and then

 

[DodgerGirl]

Disney has had a huge love affair with Star Wars since the film came out and one of the reasons why Disneyland has Star Tours in Tomorrowland. But that's also the reason why Disneyland has Galaxy's Edge and used to have Star Wars Weekends. And since a lot of people are Star Wars fans Disneyland has always been a major hit with Star Wars fans because a lot of people buy merchandise of Star Wars from the shops at Tomorrowland. But another Lucasfilm franchise that Disneyland should pay more attention to is Indiana Jones because unlike Star Wars you don't see Indiana Jones anywhere else in Disneyland except for the ride in Adventureland and there is little merchandise for Indiana Jones sold anywhere in Disneyland. But I do agree that there should be more merchandise of Star Wars featuring the other characters such as Princess Leia Luke Skywalker The Ewoks and others and not just the popular characters like Yoda and Han Solo and Darth Vader Mandalorian and Grogu. I mean I can't find a plush Luke Skywalker doll or even a Mandalorian plush doll and i'm hoping that once the Boba Fett series premieres Disneyland will promote Star Wars more. But I can predict that in a few years Star Wars popularity will be outgrown by Disneyland and be replaced by Marvel as number one