News Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge - Historical Construction/Impressions

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
Disney can call the land whatever they would like, most guests are going to call it Star Wars Land. Nobody calls it "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter." Heck, people still call Splash "The Log Ride" and The Haunted Mansion "The Haunted House." Branding won't change what it is called by guests.

Careful- don't give them any ideas. They might just settle on "Star Wars Land"

*cough* cars *cough cough*
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I'm risking a demerit from the thread police here because this involves boat rides (longer than 4 minutes) and lands that are not Star Wars, but...

Our favorite lady blogger just posted a new video late tonight, taken Tuesday late afternoon from Frontierland and Critter Country showing off the progress on the Rivers of America and all-new Disneyland Railroad berm...

 
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Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
I'm risking a demerit from the thread police here because this involves boat rides (longer than 4 minutes) and lands that are not Star Wars, but...

Our favorite lady blogger just posted a new video late tonight, taken Tuesday late afternoon from Frontierland and Critter Country showing off the progress on the Rivers of America and all-new Disneyland Railroad berm...



The level of progress since the last update is astounding! Those weird rock structures along the river really confused me, but they look so much better painted! They are really getting the areas closer to water finished up, and fast.
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
From a Bloomberg Article...

If Scott Trowbridge, leader of the creative team developing Disney’s Star Wars lands, is feeling the pressure of the company’s expectations—not to mention those of fans of perhaps the most beloved movie franchise of all time—he isn’t betraying it. To the contrary, as he greets visitors at the project’s main office in Glendale, Calif., where the Imagineers are headquartered, one morning in late March, he’s eager to share some secrets.

A sturdily built 51-year-old, Trowbridge is dressed comfortably in a black quarter-zip sweater, jeans, and black leather shoes. He also wears a tag with his first name spelled in Aurebesh, a runic tongue spoken in Star Wars, and the slogan, in English, “The Force is strong with us.” Everybody on the team has a similar name tag. Trowbridge leads his guests through a cathedral-like room guarded by a life-size Darth Vader statue. The room is usually occupied by architects, designers, engineers, and software people. Today, most of them are in Anaheim, where Disneyland’s Star Wars attraction is under construction, so it’s pretty quiet. In the back, a smaller workspace features hand-sculpted models of two virtually identical Star Wars lands. In true Imagineers fashion, the only parts that have been painted are the mountains.

The attractions are set on a yet unspecified planet that flourished in what Trowbridge describes as the “sub-light-speed era,” before the galaxy’s more adventurous residents could, for instance, make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. “We decided to not build a place that you knew from movies,” he says. “We wanted to create a brand-new planet, a remote frontier outpost somewhere on the edge of wild space that is rife with opportunities for you to discover your Star Wars story. It used to be a trading port. But with the advent of hyperspace, it kind of got left behind, which made it a perfect place for those who didn’t want to be in the mainstream, our rogue’s gallery. All the interesting people? This is where you’re going to find them now.”

Visitors will enter the Star Wars world through a doorway in a surrounding berm, plunging into one of the science fiction saga’s familiar-looking desert outposts, marked by low, circular buildings. “It’s this exotic marketplace,” Trowbridge says. “It’s like a souk street market filled with stalls where you can buy fragrances and spices and clothes and toys and equipment from all across the galaxy, sometimes from the black market, but don’t ask too many questions.”

At a cantina, park guests will be served by some unusual characters. Trowbridge points to two sculptors in the rear of the room who are carving alien prototypes. The artists look up and wave. One is working on a large fish-headed creature. “He’s one of our cooks,” Trowbridge says of the character. “He’s awesome. Just ask for the special. It will be worth it.” The Imagineers will play around with these chiseled figures until they get their look just right. Then they will fashion molds based on the forms to create life-size robotic doppelgängers. “You’re going to see aliens,” Trowbridge promises. “You’re going to see droids. You’re going to see beasts.”

Beyond the bazaar, the attraction will feature a First Order spaceport and an ancient forest compound where members of the Resistance can be found. Trowbridge says visitors will meet some favorite characters (“no names,” he says when asked for specifics), choose between the light or the dark sides, and, unavoidably, wait in line for either of two anchor attractions—one of which is a ride that will involve “a very epic battle, everything that makes Star Wars Star Wars.”

Trowbridge is reluctant to say much more about the ride, in part because it will incorporate aspects of future films, whose secrets are zealously guarded. “We’re looking at this through the lenses of an audience that’s arriving in 2019 and what they know,” he says. He’s more forthcoming about the second ride, which involves the Millennium Falcon. “We’re going to give you an opportunity to not just fly on it but to actually be at the controls,” he says.

Trowbridge leads his guests to an SUV for a short trip to a nondescript warehouse. No signs signify what’s going on in the building; if there were any, fans would no doubt be sifting through the trash bins outside. Trowbridge heads into the main space of the warehouse, where a round, black sphere resembling a small Death Star sits. Inside the malevolent-looking structure, the Imagineers are testing a prototype of the Millennium Falcon ride. A ladder leads up to a crude version of the cockpit, made with plywood, foam, and thumbtacks. It’s surrounded in front by a screen that gives the Falcon’s riders the illusion that they’re in some kind of docking bay, ready for takeoff. From there, they can go for a test run in an Imax-like environment, navigating their way through tunnels and out into space, where they must dodge the Imperial fleet’s TIE fighters.

The real ride will be much more polished and convincing, of course. The mock-up is designed primarily to see how test subjects respond. The Imagineers have put pilots ranging in age from 3 to 79 behind the controls, which tells you something about the franchise’s broad demographic appeal. The cockpit is rigged with cameras that record the grimaces and shouts of a few novices who repeatedly crash the world’s favorite spaceship while attempting to steer it out of a tunnel. We can’t all be Han Solo.

“Ultimately, we’re in the fun business,” Trowbridge says. “People have to laugh and scream. It’s OK to hit things.”

Two big takeaways I had - the MF does sound truly 'controllable' from what the writer describes. I imagine people are bumped back onto course, but we aren't talking Mission Space here where what you do poorly actually doesn't translate to what is happening.

The second is mention of lots of alien and beast animatronics. I feel like the land will be well populated with them akin to Diagon Alley. I know people scoff at the suggestions that a land can be an attraction, but if it features animatronics and narrative plots/missions, does an attraction truly require a ride vehicle to be considered an attraction?
 

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
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From a Bloomberg Article...



Two big takeaways I had - the MF does sound truly 'controllable' from what the writer describes. I imagine people are bumped back onto course, but we aren't talking Mission Space here where what you do poorly actually doesn't translate to what is happening.

The second is mention of lots of alien and beast animatronics. I feel like the land will be well populated with them akin to Diagon Alley. I know people scoff at the suggestions that a land can be an attraction, but if it features animatronics and narrative plots/missions, does an attraction truly require a ride vehicle to be considered an attraction?
Hans sent me that article earlier, it was a really good one. It truly gives you a feeling that they are going all in with Star Wars Land. It mentioned the alien that's going to be the cook at the Cantina. THE COOK!!! This is going to be awesome.

I'm hoping for Dexter
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
From a Bloomberg Article...



Two big takeaways I had - the MF does sound truly 'controllable' from what the writer describes. I imagine people are bumped back onto course, but we aren't talking Mission Space here where what you do poorly actually doesn't translate to what is happening.

The second is mention of lots of alien and beast animatronics. I feel like the land will be well populated with them akin to Diagon Alley. I know people scoff at the suggestions that a land can be an attraction, but if it features animatronics and narrative plots/missions, does an attraction truly require a ride vehicle to be considered an attraction?

In that case do not ride with me, I am dreadful with videogame like controls and will likely crash us within 30 seconds... But then we can all sit in the dark and contemplate your captain's life failures... Or maybe if you crash and die they can sync you up to a live feed from the hell room in Toads?
 
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DDLand

Well-Known Member
From a Bloomberg Article...



Two big takeaways I had - the MF does sound truly 'controllable' from what the writer describes. I imagine people are bumped back onto course, but we aren't talking Mission Space here where what you do poorly actually doesn't translate to what is happening.

The second is mention of lots of alien and beast animatronics. I feel like the land will be well populated with them akin to Diagon Alley. I know people scoff at the suggestions that a land can be an attraction, but if it features animatronics and narrative plots/missions, does an attraction truly require a ride vehicle to be considered an attraction?
Yeah, the question is how? Is this going to be almost a video game like Experience? How extensive is this? Is it a sandbox, or is there an assigned route and you can move it within perimeters? So many questions! Also the targeting of the other 5 people is another thing. What are you going to be up to? Exciting!

This is what I've talked about too, Story Engine is attraction 3. It's one thing if those characters are walking around, it's another thing if one comes up to you and knows your name and what you've been up to. You could conceivably spend days in Star Wars Experience using Story Engine. I expect a plentitude of APs to basically get addicted to Story Engine...

In that case do not ride with, I am dreadful with videogame like controls and will likely crash us within 30 seconds... But then we can all sit in the dark and contemplate your captain's life failures... Or maybe if you crash and die they can sync you up to a live feed from the hell room in Toads?
HaHaHa. Imagine if you went on single rider, were assigned Captain, and then you were an awful pilot. Apparently you can't die but you can fail big time.

Awkward...:banghead::facepalm: :hilarious:
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In that case do not ride with, I am dreadful with videogame like controls and will likely crash us within 30 seconds... But then we can all sit in the dark and contemplate your captain's life failures... Or maybe if you crash and die they can sync you up to a live feed from the hell room in Toads?

I can guarantee the attraction won't be lost at any point. More like bowling with the bumper rails up.

Although there is certainly a possibility to go different places or directions with this design. Hard to say if it takes the star tours route with that regard.
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
I can guarantee the attraction won't be lost at any point. More like bowling with the bumper rails up.

Although there is certainly a possibility to go different places or directions with this design. Hard to say if it takes the star tours route with that regard.

I don't think you understand... I always somehow find a way to do the thing you're not supposed to be able to do... Back in middle school I played Halo with a friend and got stuck facing a wall and couldn't move.... When I was a kid I was on go-karts and went right through the barrier, down a hill, and into a fence.... haha.
 

VJ

Well-Known Member
Star Wars land seems to be the culmination of all the playtesting that Imagineering has been doing lately, from Fortuna at D23 Expo to The Optimist to the more recent Ghost Post. Excited to see how their research affects, enhances and expands these experiences.
 

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
I don't think you understand... I always somehow find a way to do the thing you're not supposed to be able to do... Back in middle school I played Halo with a friend and got stuck facing a wall and couldn't move.... When I was a kid I was on go-karts and went right through the barrier, down a hill, and into a fence.... haha.
LOL!!!
 

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