General Star Wars Discussion

[mdmost]

My only issues with Galaxy's Edge were not enough rides and only one mission for Smuggler's Run. You get variety with Star Tours so it makes it a lot of fun to ride again and again. The current variety for Smuggler's Run is to pick different positions on the ship. So that addition of new missions is a great thing. The original plans had two missions but was cut back to just one. The land itself is incredible and is right up there with New Orleans Square and Pandora for fully immersing you in a world where shops and restaurants don't feel out of place. The first time you see the Millenium Falcon is breathtaking and shows you how good Imagineering can be. We give it a half day each time we go to a Disney park.

 

[Gabby01]

I thought KK de-canonized the EU. So now that they realize the Disney characters stink, the EU is ok it seems.

PolymerSkywalker, do you think you could even be civil in here for like two seconds?! We are all aware that you do not like Disney Star Wars. This isn't contributing to the discussion.

 

[BrianL]

I thought KK de-canonized the EU. So now that they realize the Disney characters stink, the EU is ok it seems.

They have been releasing "Legends" stories and books since the begining. There was never a rule about that, and it has nothing to do with one being better than the other. George never paid much heed to the print media stories either.

 

[BrianL]

My only issues with Galaxy's Edge were not enough rides and only one mission for Smuggler's Run. You get variety with Star Tours so it makes it a lot of fun to ride again and again. The current variety for Smuggler's Run is to pick different positions on the ship. So that addition of new missions is a great thing. The original plans had two missions but was cut back to just one. The land itself is incredible and is right up there with New Orleans Square and Pandora for fully immersing you in a world where shops and restaurants don't feel out of place. The first time you see the Millenium Falcon is breathtaking and shows you how good Imagineering can be. We give it a half day each time we go to a Disney park.

They did just announce new missions for Smugglers Run, which is cool.

 

[Gabby01]

I'm with you, @Gabby01! The theming of GE is fantastic. I don't care that it's a planet I had never heard of before it was created at Disneyland. (I haven't read any of the SW books or comics.) It feels to me like an alien planet in the SW universe, and that's all that matters. And I've been happy with the characters I've encountered, including Kylo, Stormtroopers, Rey, Chewie, Vi, and R2D2. I don't need Luke, Leia, and Han to enjoy GE.

I had some friends over for dinner the other night and showed them my GE Coke, Sprite, and Dasani bottles, so I was explaining Aurebesh to them. Another friend was just at DL and we were discussing the dianoga in the water fountain. So fun!

I love those soft drink bottles because the logos are still recognizable, they just look like they were adapted for a new market--which is exactly what Coca-Cola really would do if we discovered intelligent life on another planet, LOL.

I still haven't managed to see the dionaga in the water fountain! Do you have to do something in the app to make it show up?

 

[Kit Jackson]

Rise is one of the best rides/experiences that WDW has IMHO.

The rides in Galaxy's Edge are fantastic. I have no complaints about them. From my earlier post you could tell I loved Smuggler's Run. Rise of the Resistance is next level amazing. It may be one of the most amazing theme park rides I've ever been on, even though it was pretty close to my limit for intensity. (Quick note/full disclosure: I'm a ride coward).

My problem/issue with Galaxy's Edge (and I think it's one that other people also have) is the overall land. The space/environment that the rides exist in is the issue for me (and others as well I think), not the rides themselves.

 

[irlandaise]

I love those soft drink bottles because the logos are still recognizable, they just look like they were adapted for a new market--which is exactly what Coca-Cola really would do if we discovered intelligent life on another planet, LOL.

I still haven't managed to see the dionaga in the water fountain! Do you have to do something in the app to make it show up?

I was just wondering that the other day, when I was trying to find a video of the dianoga to share with friends. I thought it rose up every so often automatically, but then I read reports of people using the SW:GE part of the Disney Play app to trigger it, or having to press the water button on the actual fountain. I've been to GE a couple of times and it was active both times. Anyone here know for sure??

 

[HokieRaven5]

My problem/issue with Galaxy's Edge (and I think it's one that other people also have) is the overall land. The space/environment that the rides exist in is the issue for me (and others as well I think), not the rides themselves.

That’s kind of a Star Wars problem in general and creating a land for it. Making a land that’s a hodge podge of known locations can be erratic in implementation, and there’s not really one planet above all else that’s more Star Wars than the next.

So Imagineers kind of went for making something unique that at least tried to capture the vibe/essence of Star Wars. Doesn’t always land with people when there isn’t a familiarity with everything vs Potter drawing direct to nostalgia with familiar places and feel.

Honestly the biggest miscue for me was just their budgeted cuts of kinetic energy. To have roaming droids or creatures in addition to the characters they have roaming around was the big miss for me.

 

[irlandaise]

My problem/issue with Galaxy's Edge (and I think it's one that other people also have) is the overall land. The space/environment that the rides exist in is the issue for me (and others as well I think), not the rides themselves.

I'm not clear what issue you're referring to. Do you think there isn't enough else to do in Batuu besides the two rides? Even with stores, restaurants (especially Oga's), Savi's, the Droid Depot, and characters walking around? And the Disney Play app to interact with various objects around GE.

 

[irlandaise]

Honestly the biggest miscue for me was just their budgeted cuts of kinetic energy. To have roaming droids or creatures in addition to the characters they have roaming around was the big miss for me.

Yesterday's Disney presentation at SXSW included several adorable BDX droids that supposedly wander around SW:GE in both California and Florida. Is that not the case? I found some video of them at Disneyland last May. I saw R2D2 rolling around when I was at Disneyland a few months ago.

 

[mdmost]

That’s kind of a Star Wars problem in general and creating a land for it. Making a land that’s a hodge podge of known locations can be erratic in implementation, and there’s not really one planet above all else that’s more Star Wars than the next.

So Imagineers kind of went for making something unique that at least tried to capture the vibe/essence of Star Wars. Doesn’t always land with people when there isn’t a familiarity with everything vs Potter drawing direct to nostalgia with familiar places and feel.

Honestly the biggest miscue for me was just their budgeted cuts of kinetic energy. To have roaming droids or creatures in addition to the characters they have roaming around was the big miss for me.

Precisely. I love the concept of Galaxy's Edge being a brand new world and not trying to carbon copy an existing Star Wars destination. Having it set in an existing world from canon would take a large sense of disbelief. You can't do Tatooine in Orlando where it rains all the time. That might've worked better in Anaheim but who wants to hang out in a desert planet? You can't do Endor because it's a primitive world. What other options from the OT can you do then? Yavin? That's not that exciting. You can't do prequel ones because then you're setting it back in that time frame. Naboo? I think a brand new world that they could build from the ground up was the best choice and they did a fantastic job with it. I am in awe each time I go because it has the level of detail that Animal Kingdom has. The droid parts hanging from the buildings, the creature in the water tank, the foliage that looks alien, the market is incredible, even Ronto Roasters is a fun take on a food court. It's also a beautiful place to walk through at night.

I agree that not making it more immersive is the larger problem. I think it's a lot cooler to stumble upon characters like you get to in Disneyland. It would've been cooler to have droids going about and alien characters walking around for you to interact with if you chose to. We don't cosplay or buy droids and lightsabers but I love that those options are available there. We did the whole thing at Harry Potter world with our kids and the wands. They loved it. Would we go back and do it again, probably not but it does offer some repeatability.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Yesterday's Disney presentation at SXSW included several adorable BDX droids that supposedly wander around SW:GE in both California and Florida. Is that not the case? I found some video of them at Disneyland last May. I saw R2D2 rolling around when I was at Disneyland a few months ago.

The BDX droids have only been out sporadically and exclusively at Disneyland up until the recent announcement.

ETA: the BDX droids made their debut last year, while the lands have been open since 2019

 

[Gabby01]

I think the datapad adds another layer of interactivity to the land. I like using the "hack" feature to get the various droids to talk. It's interesting that Universal now has a second generation interactive wand that ties into their app--I feel like that was inspired by the datapad, and I love that Disney and Universal are trying to one-up each other again--the results can only be good!

 

[Kit Jackson]

Doesn’t always land with people when there isn’t a familiarity with everything vs Potter drawing direct to nostalgia with familiar places and feel.

My reply to this comment will also answer what @irlandaise wanted to know. Harry Potter at Universal works because (if you are a fan) you walk into the land and instantly know/recognize the space/fictional location. Maybe some things are slightly off or different, but it's recognizable enough that you are there in the place that you have fantasized about being in since you were a kid/younger. I don't get that at Galaxy's Edge outside of the Falcon and maybe the Cantina.

Disney went all in on immersive theming without fully thinking all of it through.

Galaxy's Edge is Star Wars because Disney tells me it's Star Wars. It's okay. I don't hate it, but it could have been so much better. The marketplace is meh. Remove the Star Wars merch and with no IP characters around you could probably convince me it's Indiana Jones themed.

You can't do Endor because it's a primitive world.

You could totally do Endor and it has the potential to be amazing. Speeder bike chase would be awesome. Cook-out type of food for the restaurant (with some plant/vegetarian options). Energy bars and fruit or dried fruit for grab and go snacks. C3P0 and Ewok storytelling. Meet and greets with Ewoks and OT characters. Epic Ewok village walkthrough with some play/interactive elements mixed in.

Making a land that’s a hodge podge of known locations can be erratic in implementation, and there’s not really one planet above all else that’s more Star Wars than the next.

Honestly, I would have happier with something more like this than the immersive Galaxy's Edge that actually exists (just on a smaller scale due to location constraints).

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/1b3ei1c/i_wished_this_was_the_next_major_theme_park_in

 

[HokieRaven5]

You could totally do Endor and it has the potential to be amazing. Speeder bike chase would be awesome. Cook-out type of food for the restaurant (with some plant/vegetarian options). Energy bars and fruit or dried fruit for grab and go snacks. C3P0 and Ewok storytelling. Meet and greets with Ewoks and OT characters. Epic Ewok village walkthrough with some play/interactive elements mixed in.

Honestly, I would have happier with something more like this than the immersive Galaxy's Edge that actually exists (just on a smaller scale due to location constraints).

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/1b3ei1c/i_wished_this_was_the_next_major_theme_park_in

But Endor still affixes it to a set place and timeline where at least with a non-centralized locale like batuu they do have some ability to pull back on the forced timeline and broaden things to include other stories later. Was it an error to focus solely on what they owned at the time of kicking things off, yeah, and hopefully in time they make adjustments and bring other elements to it.

As you pointed out you’d have to reduce that theme park to about 15% of what’s there just to fit it in, and for a land they’re going to want it to feel a little more homogeneous than erratic with different areas. If you have over 100 acres to work with for just Star Wars, sure it works better.

 

[Gabby01]

My reply to this comment will also answer what @irlandaise wanted to know. Harry Potter at Universal works because (if you are a fan) you walk into the land and instantly know/recognize the space/fictional location. Maybe some things are slightly off or different, but it's recognizable enough that you are there in the place that you have fantasized about being in since you were a kid/younger. I don't get that at Galaxy's Edge outside of the Falcon and maybe the Cantina.

Disney went all in on immersive theming without fully thinking all of it through.

Galaxy's Edge is Star Wars because Disney tells me it's Star Wars. It's okay. I don't hate it, but it could have been so much better. The marketplace is meh. Remove the Star Wars merch and with no IP characters around you could probably convince me it's Indiana Jones themed.



You could totally do Endor and it has the potential to be amazing. Speeder bike chase would be awesome. Cook-out type of food for the restaurant (with some plant/vegetarian options). Energy bars and fruit or dried fruit for grab and go snacks. C3P0 and Ewok storytelling. Meet and greets with Ewoks and OT characters. Epic Ewok village walkthrough with some play/interactive elements mixed in.

Honestly, I would have happier with something more like this than the immersive Galaxy's Edge that actually exists (just on a smaller scale due to location constraints).

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/1b3ei1c/i_wished_this_was_the_next_major_theme_park_in

The thing is, this is not viable from a business perspective. The map you linked to, while cute, consists of really basic amusement park elements with the barest theming (clouds, forest, snow) that have been given cute Star Wars puns for names. It's not on Disney's level at all. Disney is an industry leader and has always pushed the limits of innovation.

Sure, a lot of what we see in the Disney parks now is only still there because of nostalgia. But to base an entire new theme park around a 50-year-old movie trilogy is putting the nostalgia before the innovation, which is the wrong way around. Kids these days haven't seen the OT. In a generation no one would even know what the cute puns were referring to.

And it's just bizarre to completely ignore Disney's recent Star Wars projects, most of which have been profitable and successful, despite all the complaining on the internet. Why would you not cross-promote your own media in your own theme park? It would appear as a complete lack of confidence in your own products to go reaching back 50 years for inspiration, when you currently employ world-class talent whose entire job is storytelling.

The ONLY reason I can think of to do this would be to attempt to appease people who actively dislike your company and its products. I can't think of any company that operates that way, because it makes no sense.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

The thing is, this is not viable from a business perspective. The map you linked to, while cute, consists of really basic amusement park elements with the barest theming (clouds, forest, snow) that have been given cute Star Wars puns for names. It's not on Disney's level at all. Disney is an industry leader and has always pushed the limits of innovation.

Sure, a lot of what we see in the Disney parks now is only still there because of nostalgia. But to base an entire new theme park around a 50-year-old movie trilogy is putting the nostalgia before the innovation, which is the wrong way around. Kids these days haven't seen the OT. In a generation no one would even know what the cute puns were referring to.

And it's just bizarre to completely ignore Disney's recent Star Wars projects, most of which have been profitable and successful, despite all the complaining on the internet. Why would you not cross-promote your own media in your own theme park? It would appear as a complete lack of confidence in your own products to go reaching back 50 years for inspiration, when you currently employ world-class talent whose entire job is storytelling.

The ONLY reason I can think of to do this would be to attempt to appease people who actively dislike your company and its products. I can't think of any company that operates that way, because it makes no sense.

Nobody said to ignore the ST all together, but to base everything on it and ignore the more popular OT was stupid imho. Boomers and Genx have the most extra income right now, so you would be wise to give them what they want. Well only if you would like to maximize the money you make I guess.

The original plans for GE was to cover Prequel, OT, and ST stuff which would maximize appealing to the largest possible audience. This was a tactical error on Disney’s part, there is not doubt about it.

 

[Gabby01]

Nobody said to ignore the ST all together, but to base everything on it and ignore the more popular OT was stupid imho. Boomers and Genx have the most extra income right now, so you would be wise to give them what they want. Well only if you would like to maximize the money you make.

The original plans for GE was to cover Prequel, OT, and ST stuff which would maximize appealing to the largest possible audience. This was a tactical error one Disney’s part, there is not doubt about it.

I don't think it was a tactical error. Galaxy's Edge has been such a huge success that it's moved Hollywood Studios up in the pecking order of the parks. A one-day ticket to Hollywood Studios is the second most expensive, second only to Magic Kingdom. Rise of the Resistance alone (which, I might add, is the most obviously sequel-themed element of the entire land) has been so wildly popular that there's physically not the capacity to deal with it--the line often snakes through the Muppets area outside Galaxy's Edge. People are willing to pay ridiculous prices for Individual Lightning Lane to skip the hours-long line. Savi's has been so successful that they raised the price to an insane $250. Oga's quickly became one of the hardest restaurant reservations to get in all of Disney World. Galaxy's Edge has put Disney World in the news and attracted many first-time visitors to the parks. There are plenty of videos of grown men crying at their first glimpse of the Falcon. What part of this sounds like Galaxy's Edge has been unsuccessful to you?

Disney knows what they are doing because, again, they are industry leaders.

 

[Kit Jackson]

But Endor still affixes it to a set place and timeline where at least with a non-centralized locale like batuu they do have some ability to pull back on the forced timeline and broaden things to include other stories later.

It's a theme park, so it's going to be a fixed location no matter what you do. You do not have to set in a fixed point of time permanently in terms of characters. With Endor, from the start, you could have Original Trilogy characters there some days and Sequel Trilogy characters other days. It would leave out Prequel Trilogy, but you can't satisfy absolutely everyone.

If they had done this in Batuu from the start there would have been significantly fewer issues. Do I immediately recognize the location? No, but hey Han is over by Falcon and all is right with world. Going all in the sequels was the absolute biggest mistake. Rotate through the different trilogy characters on different days or even different seasons/months. It would have pleased a far larger portion of the fanbase.

It would appear as a complete lack of confidence in your own products to go reaching back 50 years for inspiration, when you currently employ world-class talent whose entire job is storytelling.

The ONLY reason I can think of to do this would be to attempt to appease people who actively dislike your company and its products. I can't think of any company that operates that way, because it makes no sense.

Disney bought Star Wars because people liked Star Wars. What people liked about Star Wars was what existed when they bought Star Wars (for the most part, the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy). If the sequel trilogy turned out to be a massive fan favorite hit, they could add in stuff related to the sequel trilogy. There's a reason one of the rides is the Falcon and not some new random ship we've never heard of or seen before. It's because the Falcon is iconic classic Star Wars.

The original plans for GE was to cover Prequel, OT, and ST stuff which would maximize appealing to the largest possible audience. This was a tactical error one Disney’s part, there is not doubt about it.

This is exactly what they should have done! You have sequel trilogy stuff in one section. You have original trilogy stuff in another section. You have prequel trilogy stuff in another section. Everyone sees their favorite era represented. People get to interact with their favorite characters.

Since Disney would develop new characters over time, they could put them wherever they were most appropriate, in whichever area was closest to their part of the timeline.

It doesn't have to be totally perfect. Universal Orlando has stores in the Harry Potter section that did not overlap in time, and absolutely no one cares.

 

[Gabby01]

There's a reason one of the rides is the Falcon and not some new random ship we've never heard of or seen before. It's because the Falcon is iconic classic Star Wars.

Well by this logic, the OT is represented, so what's the problem?

EDIT: What I gather is that y'all just really, really want to have Luke, Han and Leia in Galaxy's Edge. I think the solution here is for Disney to have an after-hours party in Galaxy's Edge where you can go meet them. They can charge an exorbitant price for tickets and everyone will be happy.