I rode Smuggler's Run several times and thought that there would be many assumptions in order to fully enjoy it. For instance, the most important role, pilot, one controls vertical, the other controls horizontal. They need to both do well. Basically it is star tours + the interactive part, and the interactive part is highly dependent on the whole team. So I feel that it might be much fun only if either the whole crew is one party or the whole crew do really well.
Agree 100%. We rode SR twice. Once as a family (3) and once as single riders. As a family we got 2 pilots and a gunner. The rest of our group was adults and they rode before. I was very nervous being the pilot and I'll admit, I crashed once in the beginning. But the guy who had been on the ride 10 times said we got the highest score he's ever had. He was stoked, to say the least.
Second time as single riders. Had a mom and children with me and dd. Her kids complained they didn't want to be the pilots. DD took one of the spots. Mom was other pilot. Kids were gunners and engineer with me. Engineer is a nothing spot. I didn't like it after being the pilot. It also didn't help that the kid in front of me was crying and I was trying to help her be a gunner. Mom was too busy taking pictures of her kids to be a pilot and we crashed at least 6 times. My daughter tried to help the mom but she didn't care. It was not a fun experience.
No doubt, that ride is dependent upon who you are with. I wasn't a huge fan.
Not true, Im a single rider and did Smugglers run 5 times. 3 Times on one day and twice on the second day. I got all 3 positions. Each of the 5 times I was with random people. The ride was amazing fun all 5 times, even when there was a child as the pilot. Everyone was shouting and cheering, the ride enjoyment was NOT diminished just because all 5 times we were groups of strangers. Going to hyperdrive is a rush, no matter WHO is pilot.
I am glad you had a different experience than I did. I had no cheering and happiness on my single rider experience. I had tears and fighting from a family and no one paying attention. It sucked. It really did. Good thing I didn't wait long.
I overheard an interesting conversation re: GE while waiting in line for Mission Breakout (disclaimer: we loved GE and visited multiple times on our week long trip)
One middle age woman and two younger women were talking about GE. Here are some sample quotes:
“I liked it, but I am not a huge Star Wars fan.”
“Smugglers Run is just like Star Tours with buttons.”
“There is not enough to do in the land, it only took us 2 hours to see it.”
“I don’t like Avatar, but I loved World of Avatar at Disney World and I would definitely go back. I don’t feel the same about Galaxy’s Edge.”
Although this wasn't me, it definitely could have been.
1. I did like it, but not in awe of it. Granted, I am not a huge SW fan. The only ones I sorta know are the early ones. This land felt very spartan and cold. Yeah, I know it is supposed to be, but I didn't feel immersed. No music to get me pumped up. Only 1 ride which I felt was just ok. (It really is the Navi River Journey of SWGE), and shops I had no interest in.
2. It was kind of like Star Tours but amped up a bit. I feel each ride is really dependent upon who you are with. (read above)
3. Agree. We did it all in 2 hours. We went to Oga's twice. Rode SR twice. Looked around and watched the storm troopers (probably my favorite thing) and looked in the gift shops even though we had no interest in buying anything. It is all based on the new SW's which we knew going in, but man we really miss the old. Even when we were in Oga's the DJ played a new techno version of the original bar scene music. People went NUTS!!! IMHO, they are doing themselves a HUGE disservice by not incorporating more original SW's things. People want to recognize things ... if you only know the old (like me) you won't see much. DH grew up with SW's. He felt the same way. He could recognize a lot more than I could, but he missed the old.
4. I did like the movie Avatar. And I loved the look of Pandora at WDW. It is beautiful. I guess that is where SWGE differs, but it cannot be beautiful and lush. It is not supposed to be. I just didn't get that wow factor like I did at Pandora. DH (who by far loves SW over Avatar) said Pandora was better. I was more sad for him as he was really looking forward to SWGE.
Even with WWOHP I don't know anything and really felt immersed. I felt like I was inside of this world. I just didn't get that same feeling in SWGE. I can't put my finger on why, but the magic I wanted to feel just wasn't there.