Why Star Wars Land and not an entire park?

[Pluto 32]

So I’ve given this some thought but I wanted to get some other people’s perspective on it as well.

We all know how amazing Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge (SWGE) is. How incredibly detailed and immersive they have made this land.

As it is I now feel that Start Tours is now completely out of place as is all of Tomorrowland but I will save that for another thread...

Now instead of just a SWGE within a Disney park why not make an entire park all Star Wars theme?

Think about it, every land within this park would be a different planet and story in the SW saga. Instead of just one out post there would be multiple environments like what you see when you ride Star Tours. There would be a land dedicated to the Residence and a land dedicated to the Darkside, etc.

I’m sure Disney had thought of this prior to going with the single land option and I’m quite sure that the main reason they did not go with the entire park idea was because of what the price tag would have been. We know that SWGE cost over $3 billion alone so to create so a park with multiple of these lands in it would probably be in excess of $20 billion.

But if we take the example of what happened with Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) where they scrapped the original idea of Wescott because they thought the price tag was too high. So then they built DCA instead it was not what was received. It just sucked, not very many people wanted to go to it as it lacked so many Disney elements. So in 2011 they needed to spend double the money to revamp the entire park to gain popularity. If they would’ve gone with their original idea and spent the money on Wescott they would’ve spent less money than what they had to do with DCA to make it attractive. Even today we are still seeing the mistake of them scrapping the Wescott plans as they continue to revamp DCA with the recent change from Paradise Pier to Pixar Pier, Removing Bugs Land and to be replaced by a new Marvel Land, etc.

Yes the price tag on an immersive Star Wars immersive theme park would be extremely expensive but if they did it right I think it would be extremely lucrative and they would see profits quickly.

What are some of your opinions?

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

I don't think that Disney has ever been about building a whole PARK for just one fandom. Of course this may change (Disney changes their tune once there's a large enough competitor) but at the moment Disney's parks are more general. The parks encapsulate multiple stories and pull them all together through attractions. I feel like having a whole park dedicated to Star Wars would be WAYYY too much and far. Maybe it's just me. But the description you gave, "Think about it, every land within this park would be a different planet and story in the SW saga. Instead of just one out post there would be multiple environments like what you see when you ride Star Tours. There would be a land dedicated to the Residence and a land dedicated to the Darkside, etc." just doesn't sound.... like a Disney park.


PS - I'm a huge OG Star Wars fan myself so this has nothing to do with disliking Star Wars or something.

 

[hertamaniac]

I think that building an entire park dedicated to a single IP would be financial suicide. Undeniably, Star Wars has had plenty of legs since 1977, but it will end. Imagine building that very expensive park, not knowing if you've reached a marketing crest, and if you misplaced your shot, you've got an ultra-incredible loss on your hands.

I am not sure if this is a good example, but when Hard Rock Theme Park opened in Myrtle Beach, we went. It had some various IP, but really wasn't a strong fit for the summer audiences. It struggled and closed in real short-term. Certainly, it's not Disney, but I want to a draw a parallel about dedicating 100% of a park to that single IP.

Also, having to close a single IP park would be a major egg-in-your-face PR nightmare. And to that end, what would you do with this closed park?

 

[rteetz]

I think that building an entire park dedicated to a single IP would be financial suicide. Undeniably, Star Wars has had plenty of legs since 1977, but it will end. Imagine building that very expensive park, not knowing if you've reached a marketing crest, and if you misplaced your shot, you've got an ultra-incredible loss on your hands.

I am not sure if this is a good example, but when Hard Rock Theme Park opened in Myrtle Beach, we went. It had some various IP, but really wasn't a strong fit for the summer audiences. It struggled and closed in real short-term. Certainly, it's not Disney, but I want to a draw a parallel about dedicating 100% of a park to that single IP.

Also, having to close a single IP park would be a major egg-in-your-face PR nightmare. And to that end, what would you do with this closed park?

Agreed.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Also I think Disney wants every park to ha e "something for everyone" and while I am sure an entire Star Wars park would be amazing, not everyone cares about Star Wars (I know, I know, hear me out) so that portion of your fan base feels disconnected from an entire park

And even within families you may have some big Star Wars fans and some that can't stand it. With it just being a land in a park it is much easier for the non-fans to deal with or even split up - "ok, while you and Mom go ride MFSR, I take your brother and ride Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad"

 

[DanBoris]

Also I think Disney wants every park to ha e "something for everyone" and while I am sure an entire Star Wars park would be amazing, not everyone cares about Star Wars (I know, I know, hear me out) so that portion of your fan base feels disconnected from an entire park

And even within families you may have some big Star Wars fans and some that can't stand it. With it just being a land in a park it is much easier for the non-fans to deal with or even split up - "ok, while you and Mom go ride MFSR, I take your brother and ride Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad"

Yeah, I think this is the biggest issue with doing a single IP park. Even though DHS has a large Star Wars presence, people not interested in Star Wars will still visit for other things and a lot will still do the Star Wars attractions. With a single IP park, you are immediately biased against anyone who doesn't like the IP, so those people will be less likely to go. If the popularity of the IP starts to wane then the problem becomes even worse. Also, what happens if you decide you want to re-theme, do you shut down the entire park for a couple years to do it?

 

[glvsav37]

wait...isnt that what DHS is now? I mean with a dash of toy story and Pixar thrown in, its pretty much 85% SW.

 

[Tink1987]

I’ll be completely honest I never understand this whole it should have been a separate park stance for anything. HP at Universal, GE at Disneyland/WDW.

If you think about what the US domestic parks have in terms of attractions, restaurants, snack carts, even restrooms. You can’t just build a park based on one IP/fandom. There aren’t 6 Dumbo rides in DL. There aren’t 3 Toy Story rides in DCA. Do you expect them to come up with 5 totally different rides for a one IP/fandom park? It would be boring and too much of an overload. Then think of the infrastructure of restaurants, snack carts etc. It would just never work.

 

[GoingSince1990]

As a huge “Doctor Who” fan, I would absolutely love a single park devoted to the whole Whoniverse. But I’m realistic enough to understand that there is nowhere near enough appeal to the public in general to justify the massive expense. And the same thing (admittedly to a lesser extent) applies to “Star Wars”. My daughters, for example, are more excited about the projected lower crowds resulting from SWGE for the attractions they enjoy as opposed to SWGE itself.

 

[jbish]

While I can see where you're coming from, I think you've actually made a salient point that supports NOT doing a single-IP park:

But if we take the example of what happened with Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) where they scrapped the original idea of Wescott because they thought the price tag was too high. So then they built DCA instead it was not what was received. It just sucked, not very many people wanted to go to it as it lacked so many Disney elements. So in 2011 they needed to spend double the money to revamp the entire park to gain popularity. If they would’ve gone with their original idea and spent the money on Wescott they would’ve spent less money than what they had to do with DCA to make it attractive. Even today we are still seeing the mistake of them scrapping the Wescott plans as they continue to revamp DCA with the recent change from Paradise Pier to Pixar Pier, Removing Bugs Land and to be replaced by a new Marvel Land, etc.

For DCA, Disney was able to retro-fit/redo/revamp it when it wasn't resonating with the visitors. (I've never been to DCA so I can't weigh in on your thoughts directly.) If there was a dedicated single-IP park, there's no room for a revamp. They would spend even more money (than the initial gargantuan investment) to redo the park to make it relevant to whatever the market would want.

 

[DisLiss]

I think as a land, people who are just "Meh" about SW might still walk by the entrance to the land, decide to check it out, and find they like or enjoy at least some of it. But I doubt the same people would bother just "checking out" an entirely different park devoted to SW. And if there was a separate ticket required to visit, then I think the number of folks who would check it out "just because" would drop even further.

Plus there's so much more required with an actual additional park.....another parking lot, depending on the park location; transportation to another park, again, depending on location; security for everyone to pass through; plus duplicates of buildings that each park has one of...like guest services, first aid, etc.

 

[sponica]

I think as a land, people who are just "Meh" about SW might still walk by the entrance to the land, decide to check it out, and find they like or enjoy at least some of it. But I doubt the same people would bother just "checking out" an entirely different park devoted to SW. And if there was a separate ticket required to visit, then I think the number of folks who would check it out "just because" would drop even further.

And really a lot of people are meh about Avatar. Yes it sold a lot of tickets, but it's a movie that delivers best on the big screen. I honestly saw that movie on DVD and went, ok this is dances with wolves with blue people....I still LOVED every waking minute I spent in Pandora (except the throngs of people). SW being it's own land makes sense....and thankfully at WDW it's in a park that thematically makes sense.

 

[serenitynow]

I’m not sure the next generation of Disney fans is as obsessed with the Star Wars stuff as the current one. I have a teenager whose friends are constantly Netflixing in my living room and none of them are ever even interested (or even arguing) about watching Star Wars. Zip.

That’s not to say the series doesn’t have its devoted fans, but it may not have the lasting power to sustain a park on its own. Universal has made the same choice with Harry Potter series, to make it a “world” within the existing theme park.

 

[Chickinvic]

I agree completely. It should have been a separate park. I think it will ruin Disneyland to a degree (which is already a very full park IMO). I like Star Wars, but I don't think it belongs there.

For those saying the IP won't be popular enough for a whole park - poppycock! A) Star Wars has been exceedingly popular for over 40 years now, hardly a "fad". B) If they do it well, then it won't matter what the theme is based on, people will still come.

I don't care a whit about anything Marvel, but I'll still go on Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout when I'm next at DCA. If the attractions are good enough, people will like them no matter what.

 

[Pluto 32]

I’m not sure the next generation of Disney fans is as obsessed with the Star Wars stuff as the current one. I have a teenager whose friends are constantly Netflixing in my living room and none of them are ever even interested (or even arguing) about watching Star Wars. Zip.

That’s not to say the series doesn’t have its devoted fans, but it may not have the lasting power to sustain a park on its own. Universal has made the same choice with Harry Potter series, to make it a “world” within the existing theme park.

I personally am a huge Harry Potter fan and would love an entire theme park of all Harry Potter. With eight books and 10 movies they could do so much with that IP.

 

[Pluto 32]

I think everyone has awesome and valid opinions on the subject. I definitely can view and appreciate the topic in a different light. Having too much of a good thing can turn out to be not so great so maybe just the single land option was the best way to go.

I am worried about the crowds once the reservation system is over though. As it is people are not able to get to the Cantina, build a droid, light saver, and ride the millennium falcon in under four hours.

I’ve been watching the YouTube videos nonstop and I am still boggled by the price tags on everything. Their profit margin’s are crazy! Eight dollars for a small glass of blue milk which probably cost them $.30, a $200 light saver which is about five dollars worth of material or a droid for $100 that is about three dollars worth of material. With all the different costumes the list goes on and on. I’m curious to know how long until the whole project has been paid for...

 

[BSBNess]

I think everyone has awesome and valid opinions on the subject. I definitely can view and appreciate the topic in a different light. Having too much of a good thing can turn out to be not so great so maybe just the single land option was the best way to go.

I am worried about the crowds once the reservation system is over though. As it is people are not able to get to the Cantina, build a droid, light saver, and ride the millennium falcon in under four hours.

I’ve been watching the YouTube videos nonstop and I am still boggled by the price tags on everything. Their profit margin’s are crazy! Eight dollars for a small glass of blue milk which probably cost them $.30, a $200 light saver which is about five dollars worth of material or a droid for $100 that is about three dollars worth of material. With all the different costumes the list goes on and on. I’m curious to know how long until the whole project has been paid for...

I can tell you your pricing is off. Yes companies do market ups but it isn't always as high as you think. But also think of the stuff they have to supply that they aren't charging you. Like toilet paper, and napkins and things like that.

 

[Pluto 32]

I can tell you your pricing is off. Yes companies do market ups but it isn't always as high as you think. But also think of the stuff they have to supply that they aren't charging you. Like toilet paper, and napkins and things like that.

I’m a former cast member and am pretty aware of Disney’s profit margins. You’d be surprised. But yes of course they’re are added costs of running a theme park. No matter the price, fans will still pay what Disney wants. Heck, I’m not even a huge SW fan and just watching all the YouTube videos makes me even wanna buy all the merchandise that I have absolutely no need for. Lol!

Oh, the the TP is only one ply... Haha!

 

[BSBNess]

I’m a former cast member and am pretty aware of Disney’s profit margins. You’d be surprised. But yes of course they’re are added costs of running a theme park. No matter the price, fans will still pay what Disney wants. Heck, I’m not even a huge SW fan and just watching all the YouTube videos makes me even wanna buy all the merchandise that I have absolutely no need for. Lol!

Oh, the the TP is only one ply... Haha!

I didn't say they didn't make a profit but some of the prices you are quoting are super low on the items that they are using. They would be low but not as low as you are quoting.

 

[sethschroeder]

Star Wars is popular but it's not that popular that would support a 10 to 20+ million visitors every year for the next 30 years.

Now I could see a land being built in every WDW Park though. Which basically makes it the equivalent of a stand alone park.

Think about Ewoks home world at AK, the Captial planet in Epcot, and not 100% sure but something for MK.