To have a area/hub/land of this setting is not really a conflict nor a flip flop from the changes you outlined. It's not claiming the place is a working studio or a return to a fake studio.
I don't think they are promoting it as anything more than that... a look into how it's made. Just like we don't pretend One Man's Dream was really where Walt used to work...
Hey @lentesta , any thoughts on if the Indy/Star Tours/Backlot area is being considered for Phase 2? Especially if this AC refurb ends up being unexpectedly and overly popular? Aside from the typical detractors on these forums I have the feeling that the normy crowd is going to eat this up as an offering.
Star Tours finds away to escape again, like always.
It's a huge amount of space though so I imagine the new ride system similar to Spiderman at Universal that they're using could do a similar capacity of about 2,000 guests per hour + maybe a flat ride and/or smaller show depending on how much you take from that area.
Star Tours is awesome, and I hope it stays. The great tragedy of our most recent trip is that we only got to ride twice.
It's pretty cool but it's just in the most inconvenient space of all time. I think we could get a similar enough experience if they keep plussing up Millenium Falcon to retheme it. I would say go for an Incredibles themed ride with you helping the Incredibles with Syndrome/Omnidroid or something. Could have that whole area around still themed to California since iirc that's where Incredibles takes place. Dare I say a western branch of the Sanctum where a new midnight suns ride would be. Very speculative on if that movie releases/does well but it would be a blast and skirt the Universal copyright.
To ensure it sticks around, it should honestly just get plopped in over at the former Starcruiser entrance as a Batuu travel agency, with First Order Cargo as its gift shop. That plus the planned table service restaurant and rideabout beast would help the land feel more complete and potentially open up a pathway to a new area for development east of Monsters without disrupting IJ.
I think that would be great, but they'd never do it. Moving rides around isn't exactly something they do, though this one seems really simple. But I'll bet if the doors close on Star Tours, they never reopen.
Star Tours is the best Star Wars ride at the Studios. It’s also the most rerideable attraction at the entire resort. It’s ALSO the best anttraction overhaul WDW has ever done and it isn’t close.
Tatooine is no more compelling than Batuu. It’s basically just Batuu with more sand and fewer trees. In no universe should they build both next to each other. Just abandon the timeline and move in some of the characters people want, or legitimately commit to the timeline and bring in the originally promised entertainment necessary to actually make that pay off.
Because it’s a great attraction. That said it didn’t stop them from closing muppet vision so maybe they do have plans to replace it.
We prefer Star Tours to the Millenium Falcon ride, that may change if the Falcon ever starts rotating scenes like ST but we got bored of Falcon after the first half dozen rides.
MuppetVision was very dated though.
I think Muppets 3D was much more than a 3D show, the entire theater around us was the show. It should have stayed in my opinion.
While I agree that at first this move seems really counter-intuitive to the park's new "high concept" (being a bit generous calling it that), I honestly don't think it makes the park feel less cohesive. If the park was entirely "enter the worlds of films" then there would be no glue to hold the lands of such a park together. Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, and Echo Lake all portray an idealized Hollywood and having attractions in those spaces which reflect that idealized Hollywood (including ones about studios making movies) bolsters the significance of those lands, and one's reason for being able to visit the immersive film lands in the park. An experience in this spot that serves as a fanciful look at animation studios is a boon to this park's thematic integrity, imo.
