Lack of crowds and Disney's response

[crystal1313]

I hope I get to hear this some day!

It's AWESOME!

 

[interstate70s]

My husband got in an argument in his office last week when he told some of the guys he works with he was going to see the new Star Wars land at Disneyland. I think most were fans of the franchise, but they thought it wasn't opening until August. One guy was adamant. He said he'd seen the commercials on TV advertising it... I'm guessing Disney World commercials. Lots of people don't probably realize the difference. I wonder if this is a factor too.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

My husband got in an argument in his office last week when he told some of the guys he works with he was going to see the new Star Wars land at Disneyland. I think most were fans of the franchise, but they thought it wasn't opening until August. One guy was adamant. He said he'd seen the commercials on TV advertising it... I'm guessing Disney World commercials. Lots of people don't probably realize the difference. I wonder if this is a factor too.

Wow. No words. This is up there with Deluxe passholders not realizing they could go to DCA.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I hope I get to hear this some day!

It happens about once an hour, I was told.

 

[njchris]

Some of the things people are complaining about could be easily adjusted if Disney got enough feedback about it, other than the architectural design of the land, of course.

I also think a big part of the complaining (wait, I was told they weren't complaining when I said that!) is mob mentality. I love star wars. Love the original trilogy. I love SWGE. I'm local (15 miles away) and have been 3 times. I did NOT get bored. I loved taking in the atmosphere and the detail and going on MFSR. I had fun in each position.
I've never been one of those people that are so attached to a movie or thing (even ones I love to death) that I can't see beyond it and enjoy things attached to it.

So much doom and gloom, yet there are still lots of people in the parks. And how many of these people haven't even been and are just armchair Disney executives all of a sudden?

I can see SWGE being a PART of my visits to DL, but I can also spend lots of time there and be happy too.

 

[Trevler]

No they should NOT as that does not fit the timeline or the planet Batuu. Again SWGE Batuu planet is set AFTER The Last Jedi so anything from the OG trilogy does not belong

But... they do play it. DJ R3X plays it in the Cantina, and when he takes over the 'radio station' by Rondo Roasters, he plays it there too.

 

[HairyChest]

They need to DUMP the whole idea of the timeline. Just add things in from all the star wars. Music, characters, destinations on smugglers run (trench run on death star, missions set in set pieces from all movies ala star tours). Make this land a celebration for all star wars fans. If they do that plus the rise of resistance ride, id be going back constantly and really excited to do so.

 

[Trevler]

They need to DUMP the whole idea of the timeline. Just add things in from all the star wars. Music, characters, destinations on smugglers run (trench run on death star, missions set in set pieces from all movies ala star tours). Make this land a celebration for all star wars fans. If they do that plus the rise of resistance ride, id be going back constantly and really excited to do so.

They're going for an immersive world like Wizarding World. That would defeat the purpose. You can get that in Tomorrowland if thats what you want.

 

[pharmama]

I think for SWGE, it might have fitted better in DCA, themewise, near Hollywoodland, and focus there on live-action movies. With the lounges and all, to me it that part feels more geared towards adults. SWGE feels out of place in Disneyland Park.

You have a point with SWGE fitting into DCA more than DL. I haven’t been yet, but from an outside perspective you’re on point with how it would flow better at DCA. I think HS is the right fit for WDW.

Perhaps, but they don't have unlimited real estate at DLR. There really was basically nowhere else at DLR they could have put it, even taking over a different backstage area and DL was/is already home to the other SW based attractions at DLR (Star Tours, Launch Bay, RIP Jedi Training Academy, sometimes Hyperspace Mountain). I think it would have been a bit strange to have SWGE in DCA but I can see how it makes sense at DHS vs MK (and again, DHS is where the SW stuff already is at WDW). But at the end of the day I really don't think they had a ton of options even with extensive relocation of backstage space (which they did) for where to put SWGE at DLR.

SWGE has ONE lounge in the Cantina. And while I could have stayed there longer than my kids wanted to they didn't hate it. It is a fun environment and DJ-R3X is awesome! My kids had an absolute BLAST building droids and playing with them after we got home. They LOVED the ride too-and two of them have only seen about half the movies (we didn't quite make it through all of the movies with them prior to our trip but we tried!). They also enjoyed poking around in the marketplace (especially the creature stall) and playing with the datapad some on my phone. I think the criticism that this is an adult only area and kids don't like it isn't necessarily fair. I saw tons of kids enjoying the area during our visits, both during our day reservation and the night time one. We saw (and had) some fantastic interactions between characters (First Order and Resistance) and kids and there are tons of videos online of adorable moments as well.

Is it for little little kids? Not really, no. But frankly most of Frontierland, NOS and Critter Country (with the exception of Winnie the Pooh) isn't really for little little kids. Can they go on other rides like Pirates and HM? Sure, but they're not geared toward kids and lots of little kids are scared of them (DD8 still doesn't really like either one).

 

[fly girl]

By my previous post you can tell I’m not a SW super fan. In the same token, I know just as much about Harry Potter. (Some theme park needs to design a Seinfeld Land, then I’d be all giddy!)

But I digress...

So my question is for you Potter fans. Does WWoHP have things in places that don’t belong? Anything incorrect with timing to the series? And if so, does it really bother the super fans? As a regular visitor, I found it amazing. Lots of stuff I had no clue about, but my daughter filled me in.

I don’t think that WWoHP has to fit a timeline quite like SW. But I could be totally wrong. Just wondering if SWGE incorporates things from all movies, would sort of be in line to WWoHP incorporating all their movies? I don’t know if you could compare those two on this issue though. Oranges vs. Apples maybe.

 

[slpeters]

I think I put my response to what I read in this thread in the wrong thread.

I think it's interesting that everyone is casting around for why SWGE is such a failure pretty much simultaneous with the complaining that the shops and restaurants are too small and they're out of a lot of the merch. From what I've seen and heard it seems like SWGE is the only part of DL that has performed in a reasonable fashion since its opening. The issue wasn't so much that they didn't find their demographic, the issue is that the regular demographic staid home. Yes, the new land has not been totally swamped, but the real issue is that there's no one in the other lands.​

 

[Trevler]

By my previous post you can tell I’m not a SW super fan. In the same token, I know just as much about Harry Potter. (Some theme park needs to design a Seinfeld Land, then I’d be all giddy!)

But I digress...

So my question is for you Potter fans. Does WWoHP have things in places that don’t belong? Anything incorrect with timing to the series? And if so, does it really bother the super fans? As a regular visitor, I found it amazing. Lots of stuff I had no clue about, but my daughter filled me in.

I don’t think that WWoHP has to fit a timeline quite like SW. But I could be totally wrong. Just wondering if SWGE incorporates things from all movies, would sort of be in line to WWoHP incorporating all their movies? I don’t know if you could compare those two on this issue though. Oranges vs. Apples maybe.

Escape from Gringots is set around the time of the 7th and 8th movies, but I dont think they really enforce that timing anywhere else. Forbidden Journey is its own thing, and seems to be set earlier in the series.

I think Disney is trying to tell a specific story with galaxy's edge, and the tie in novel should be interesting. I also wouldn't be surprised if Batuu makes an appearance in the new movie.

 

[pharmama]

So my question is for you Potter fans. Does WWoHP have things in places that don’t belong? Anything incorrect with timing to the series? And if so, does it really bother the super fans? As a regular visitor, I found it amazing. Lots of stuff I had no clue about, but my daughter filled me in.

I don’t think that WWoHP has to fit a timeline quite like SW. But I could be totally wrong. Just wondering if SWGE incorporates things from all movies, would sort of be in line to WWoHP incorporating all their movies? I don’t know if you could compare those two on this issue though. Oranges vs. Apples maybe.

WB was clearly willing to take more liberties in their storytelling with WWoHP. Probably one of the most glaring is the locating of Ollivander's Wand Shop in Hogsmeade. In the books (and movies) Ollivander's is located in Diagon Alley. USO now actually has TWO Ollivander's locations- one in Hogsmeade and one in Diagon Alley- while USH only has a Hogsmeade location (since they don't have Diagon Alley) but really the shop should ONLY be in Diagon Alley.

As mentioned above, the timeline is clearly a bit more fluid as well with pieces from various books comprising the tapestry of the world which is very effective. But there are lots of things one could nitpick if so desired and I'm sure there are Potterheads who have and do.... You have the added complication there that the movies have already taken a number of liberties from the original books as well. I think Disney purposefully chose this "new" story to avoid some of that as others have mentioned.

 

[twitch]

By my previous post you can tell I’m not a SW super fan. In the same token, I know just as much about Harry Potter. (Some theme park needs to design a Seinfeld Land, then I’d be all giddy!)

But I digress...

So my question is for you Potter fans. Does WWoHP have things in places that don’t belong? Anything incorrect with timing to the series? And if so, does it really bother the super fans? As a regular visitor, I found it amazing. Lots of stuff I had no clue about, but my daughter filled me in.

I don’t think that WWoHP has to fit a timeline quite like SW. But I could be totally wrong. Just wondering if SWGE incorporates things from all movies, would sort of be in line to WWoHP incorporating all their movies? I don’t know if you could compare those two on this issue though. Oranges vs. Apples maybe.

I think the difference comes down to that of specific location. In HP, the location exists throughout the timeline... Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley all exist before, during, and after all of the movies. For SW, there is no real location (except the MF) that is consistent throughout all of the movies. The universe is geographically huge, and the story moves around a lot.

In other words, WWoHP is rooted in location. SWGE can’t be, so it’s rooted in time.

I posted elsewhere that the Imagineers had a daunting task to build a world that wouldn’t be rooted in a specific location.

 

[ChasRN]

I also think a big part of the complaining (wait, I was told they weren't complaining when I said that!) is mob mentality. I love star wars. Love the original trilogy. I love SWGE. I'm local (15 miles away) and have been 3 times. I did NOT get bored. I loved taking in the atmosphere and the detail and going on MFSR. I had fun in each position.
I've never been one of those people that are so attached to a movie or thing (even ones I love to death) that I can't see beyond it and enjoy things attached to it.

No doom and gloom. You are the target audience. Adults with lots of disposable income. I'm glad you are enjoying it. What I think I'm trying to say is that it doesn't hit a lot of the target Disney audience. The only thing there right now that doesn't cost is the MF ride. The others can cost up to 100's of dollars. Most families can't afford that after spending money on tickets, etc. There just seems to be not much right now in the land to do if you aren't paying for those very expensive experiences. Along with the lack of music, which a staple in every other part of the park, some people are saying it feels heartless and empty. I think that's a fair criticism if you don't have the money to spend on the light saber and droid building.

I'm going to check it out myself when I'm there for the D23 Expo in August.

 

[MillauFr]

The only times the parks are "packed" is on days Deluxe and So Cal APs can go

Agreed. And that is the root of the problem right there. The hard annual pass blockouts are a huge problem and need to be eliminated. The new Flex Pass is a huge improvement and step in the right direction.

 

[MillauFr]

Most families can't afford that after spending money on tickets, etc.

I think they are going after the families that are loaded with tons on disposable cash that live in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver.

 

[DLgal]

They need to DUMP the whole idea of the timeline. Just add things in from all the star wars. Music, characters, destinations on smugglers run (trench run on death star, missions set in set pieces from all movies ala star tours). Make this land a celebration for all star wars fans. If they do that plus the rise of resistance ride, id be going back constantly and really excited to do so.

I completely agree with you. This obsession with copying Universal with the "immersive themed land" has been taken too far. Disney built their parks on the concept of "themed lands" containing a mix of attractions and experiences that fit the general theme because it works. Fantasyland has several different movies represented, within a cohesive theme of "fantasy." A land with the general Star Wars theme would have allowed them SO much more flexibility and the uber fans would have been foaming at the mouth. This is the kind of land my husband would have wanted to see. When he was a kid and super into Star Wars and then visited Disneyland for the first time, all he could think about was how cool a "Star Wars" land would be. They could include so much more by doing it this way and it's just too bad they didn't.

 

[TarotFox]

By my previous post you can tell I’m not a SW super fan. In the same token, I know just as much about Harry Potter. (Some theme park needs to design a Seinfeld Land, then I’d be all giddy!)

But I digress...

So my question is for you Potter fans. Does WWoHP have things in places that don’t belong? Anything incorrect with timing to the series? And if so, does it really bother the super fans? As a regular visitor, I found it amazing. Lots of stuff I had no clue about, but my daughter filled me in.

I don’t think that WWoHP has to fit a timeline quite like SW. But I could be totally wrong. Just wondering if SWGE incorporates things from all movies, would sort of be in line to WWoHP incorporating all their movies? I don’t know if you could compare those two on this issue though. Oranges vs. Apples maybe.

Personally I've always been very bothered by the dragon on Gringotts. Breaks immersion. That happened one time, ever.

 

[DLgal]

Personally I've always been very bothered by the dragon on Gringotts. Breaks immersion. That happened one time, ever.

I am more bothered that it is static. It should at least move.