So what changes will we see at DHS GE based on DL GE?

[RobWDW1971]

You are right. Those who love HP will say Universal is more immersive and Star Ward lovers will say Disney is more immersive. As for the truth it is probably that they both are extremely immersive and wonderful to experience. Too many people here will only give credit to one company and not appreciate what every park offers, even Cedar Fair and Six Flags.

Well, I can only speak for me - I am a Star Wars fan and although having seen a few of the HP films, never read the books, and couldn't really care less about the IP and the HP lands are incredible, whimsical, fun, and alive and make we want to buy a school robe and a wand. SWGE is soulless, deserted, and makes me sad. YMMV, but I have yet to hear (although I sense I'm about to) somebody honestly tell me that SWGE (in today's form not some imaginary version of what it "could" be) is more alive and fun than the HP lands and I've talked to countless people over the past six weeks.

Give me the train conductor welcoming guests as I enter, the soaring John Williams score, someone handing be a butter beer, a fire breathing dragon, and a bunch of kids singing with frogs on pillows any day over silence and rusted droids in a planter.

 

[peter11435]

This is such a ridiculous line of thinking. John Williams' film score (one of the most iconic elements of the Star Wars franchise) is forbidden in Star Wars Land, but we're going to bend over backwards to figure out a way to make Coca-Cola canon? No joke - there is now an in-universe explanation for the role Coca-Cola played in the clumsily named First Order-Resistance War. And what about illuminated Exit safety signs and "Made in China" labels on the back of Galaxy's Edge toys? The immersion can never be watertight because none of it is real, and that's ok. It's a film fantasy land in need of a supporting film score.

It’s not ridiculous at all. It’s the exact reason the soundtrack isn’t blaring around the land. There is BGM around the land that includes sounds that contribute to being immersed in the environment. Star Wars music playing over speakers in the land would not contribute to that immersion. The examples you provide are ridiculous comparisons because they are all things they were legally or contractually required to incorporate and in most cases they bent over backwards to make those things blend in as seamlessly as possible.

 

[Villains0501]

It’s not ridiculous at all. It’s the exact reason the soundtrack isn’t blaring around the land. There is BGM around the land that includes sounds that contribute to being immersed in the environment. Star Wars music playing over speakers in the land would not contribute to that immersion. The examples you provide are ridiculous comparisons because they are all things they were legally or contractually required to incorporate and in most cases they bent over backwards to make those things blend in as seamlessly as possible.

But this is exactly why this demand for complete immersion at the expense of basic and essential park design principles is so misguided. It's a Rabbit's Hole. If everything present in the land has to fit into some in-universe backstory, the land will be constantly constrained by what it can and can't do. A theme park land isn't like a comic book or ancillary novel. It's not intended to strictly adhere to some wider canon of literature. It's a living, breathing place of smoke and mirrors. With Disney's current approach GE, if they do ever decide to add John Williams' music to the rest of the land, I assume they'll invent some contrived backstory for him as well. Today's music is brought to you by Wohn Jilliams, a humanoid composer from the planet Pops Bostonia who famously performed for Chancellor Palpatine at the Galaxies Opera House... It's just absurd. I don't know why they feel the park design techniques that have worked so famously for them for 60+ years will fail them now.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

silence and rusted droids in a planter.

This sums up the land so well.

 

[RobWDW1971]

This sums up the land so well.

And BTW, this is not some planter tucked away in a corner, this is right in the center of the walkway greeting you in one of the entrances.

"Welcome to Batuu! Are you immersed yet?!"

 

[bclane]

And BTW, this is not some planter tucked away in a corner, this is right in the center of the walkway greeting you in one of the entrances.

"Welcome to Batuu! Are you immersed yet?!"

View attachment 389685

I haven’t been to GE yet but I don’t personally mind props like droids or scap parts laying around in strategic places as I do think that can add to the realism of the land. It’s what’s missing that concerns me. If they are gonna have broken down droids, there should also be working droids roaming the land. And what would be amazing would be some outdoor alien animatronics. Imagine if instead of those broken down droids there was worm or frog like alien animatronics “living” in a cave in that little green space those droids are currently rusting away in. And I’m In the camp of wanting Star Wars music in the land. If they can make the Imperial March in universe (like they did at the recruiting station at the space port in Solo), they can figure out a way to make other themes in universe as well and pipe them into GE. jmo

 

[Stripes]

I get Williams music not being used throughout the land for the reasons @peter11435 outlined. However, they should totally be pumping in diegetic music throughout the land.

They should play songs that one might expect to hear in Batuu. Not songs like Imperial march. More like the Cantina song.

 

[danlb_2000]

They should play songs that one might expect to hear in Batuu. Not songs like Imperial march. More like the Cantina song.

The Imperial March has actually been established as in-world-music.

I understand the idea that having a background music loop would not be true to full immersion, but I would be ok with it. The Harry Potter lands use background music from the movies and I think it enhances the experience.

 

[TP2000]

John Williams never actually lives in a galaxy far far away. His music never played on Endor, Tatooine, or Dagobah.

I have to admire WDI for being this thorough. They obviously were trying. But it's also obvious that they were way overthinking this and these decisions were being made in conference rooms far from Disneyland by people who have never actually worked in a theme park. People who hired in to WDI straight out of college, rose through the ranks and bought a Tesla and a hip mid-century modern house in Glendale, and have no idea how to be a good host to 50,000 customers per day at an amusement park.

I spent an entire evening in Star Wars Land a few weeks ago. The place felt dead and lifeless and sterile. It was also completely silent, with a few weird sound effects on occasion. Because the composer John Williams was not born in that galaxy far, far away. Got it.

And yet Disneyland still puts tour guides in plaid outfits inside the land, with shiny Disneyland nametags. Did this Disneyland tour guide live in that galaxy far, far away and for some reason dresses up like a Disneyland tour guide every day as he wanders Black Spire Outpost?

And Disneyland security guards wander around in the land in their regular uniforms, Disneyland managers wander around in their usual droopy Dockers business casual look, etc., etc. But they can't play any Star Wars music to liven the place up a bit? Makes no sense.

They should play songs that one might expect to hear in Batuu. Not songs like Imperial march. More like the Cantina song.

That's the ironic part. There is music in Star Wars Land, but you have to pay extra to hear it. They play music inside the Cantina, but you have to make a reservation within the first hour or two each morning to get in, with a minimum bar tab required. They play short clips of music in the Savi's Workshop, but you have to make a reservation and agree to purchase a $200 entry-level lightsaber to hear it.

Something tells me the inclusion of music and better background soundtracks will be one of the big changes we notice when the DHS land opens in six weeks. And Disneyland is likely rushing these same changes into production and into the land now.

It will take much longer to get the droids and interactive characters and stunt shows and performers that were all promised for the land but cut by Bob Chapek into actual production, but adding some recognizable music to this dead and lifeless land shouldn't take more than a month.

 

[TP2000]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I keep coming back to all of Bob Chapek's cuts to this land's entertainment budget.

If the stunt show and the droids and the aliens and the interactive characters of Black Spire Outpost hadn't been cut from the budget by Mr. Chapek, the land would not feel so dead and lifeless. Mr. Chapek decided that lower paid ride operators and snack bar hostesses saying cutesy phrases like "Bright suns!" could fill the roles of pro AGVA performers and musicians and stuntmen. But it didn't work.

When I was there on a slow evening, most of the CM's just talked amongst themselves about their schedules and work gossip and ignored you.

I imagine the land would have had music and life if all the entertainment hadn't been cut. Even this short 15 second clip that WDI showed us a few years ago at Star Wars Celebration of the stunt show they were creating for Star Wars Land has music set to it.



The problem is that Mr. Chapek cut that stunt show out of the land's budget, along with nearly all other characters and entertainment. And then WDI didn't go back in and add background music and sounds to make up for the land's lack of activity, lack of life. Oops!

 

[RobWDW1971]

I have to admire WDI for being this thorough. They obviously were trying. But it's also obvious that they were way overthinking this and these decisions were being made in conference rooms far from Disneyland by people who have never actually worked in a theme park

I spent an entire evening in Star Wars Land a few weeks ago. The place felt dead and lifeless and sterile. It was also completely silent, with a few weird sound effects on occasion. Because the composer John Williams was not born in that galaxy far, far away. Got it.

This idea that WDI all of a sudden invented the concept of "immersion" in a theme park is just a sad, comical statement about the state of that organization. Does a real outpost on the outskirts of space have a single rider line?! Do they have Disney Play apps to activate things?! Do they have Fastpass?! Are there cash registers and union food employees ringing up your Coke?!

Truly this is PR nonsense and Imagineers smoking their own dope. They have done nothing here but make a depressing, soulless land void of humor, whimsy, and frankly just good old fashioned entertainment. I went to the park the other day with some friends and they had been to SWGE once during the original previews and I asked them if they wanted to go again and they just shrugged and said "nah". These are Disney theme park fans who had only been to this land one time and it was wide open and SR had maybe a 40 minute wait and they didn't even have the energy to walk inside.

Personally, I feel more "immersed" in New Orleans Square, Cars Land, Adventureland, Main Street, etc. any given day. Not to mention, the Harry Potter lands, any country in World Showcase, Asia or Africa at AK, most of IOA, etc, etc. And I'd like for them to compare this incredible level of immersion to the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas from 20+ years ago - now THAT was a great immersive experience!

But no, THESE Imagineers invented "immersion"! So no John Williams music for you! I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

[eddie104]

This idea that WDI all of a sudden invented the concept of "immersion" in a theme park is just a sad, comical statement about the state of that organization. Does a real outpost on the outskirts of space have a single rider line?! Do they have Disney Play apps to activate things?! Do they have Fastpass?! Are there cash registers and union food employees ringing up your Coke?!

Truly this is PR nonsense and Imagineers smoking their own dope. They have done nothing here but make a depressing, soulless land void of humor, whimsy, and frankly just good old fashioned entertainment. I went to the park the other day with some friends and they had been to SWGE once during the original previews and I asked them if they wanted to go again and they just shrugged and said "nah". These are Disney theme park fans who had only been to this land one time and it was wide open and SR had maybe a 40 minute wait and they didn't even have the energy to walk inside.

Personally, I feel more "immersed" in New Orleans Square, Cars Land, Adventureland, Main Street, etc. any given day. Not to mention, the Harry Potter lands, any country in World Showcase, Asia or Africa at AK, etc, etc. And I'd like for them to compare this incredible level of immersion to the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas from 20+ years ago - now THAT was a great immersive experience!

But no, THESE Imagineers invented "immersion"! So no John Williams music for you! I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

[TP2000]

Personally, I feel more "immersed" in New Orleans Square, Cars Land, Adventureland, Main Street, etc. any given day. Not to mention, the Harry Potter lands, any country in World Showcase, Asia or Africa at AK, most of IOA, etc, etc. And I'd like for them to compare this incredible level of immersion to the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas from 20+ years ago - now THAT was a great immersive experience!

But no, THESE Imagineers invented "immersion"! So no John Williams music for you! I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Oh my gosh, I absolutely loved that Star Trek thing/experience/ride at the Las Vegas Hilton 25 years ago! My 1990's mind was blown back then, and I can't think of anything Disney has done since that has met that level, and certainly not surpassed it. And I've been to Tokyo Disneyland quite a few times in the last 15 years.

After riding it three times, it's obvious Millennium Falcon is just a milder and more intimate version of Star Tours. Nothing mind blowing.

I just think this is a land built by people who have no idea who their customers are and why they're at Disneyland or WDW. Today's Imagineers have no idea how to run a theme park. It doesn't help that after the land was mostly designed but several years away from opening they got a new boss in Mr. Chapek who is even more clueless about operating a theme park than the designers.

This thread is great though, because I really think a great test of WDI's current abilities will be to see what they can change in the 90 days between the opening of Disneyland's version and DHS's version.

 

[durangojim]

I haven’t read through all the posts so forgive me if this has been typed before but as a SW geek (I was at Celebration in Chicago) I would love to have the music at strategic areas in the land. Viewing the Falcon for the first time needs to have some kind of soaring soundtrack just like the intro of Kylo needs to have his theme. No one is being fooled that they’re on another planet. Just find a happy medium but the music of SW is as much SW as anything else in that universe.

 

[ParkPeeker]

I'm not a star wars fan, but maybe add music to the market place, live market place bazaar type music + maybe dancing by some castmembers? They don't even have to be alien lol. Then in the forest area maybe play the endor theme? Pardon me for my lack of star wars knowledge I just remembered the endor theme from lego star wars lol.

 

[TrojanUSC]

Continues to be insane to me they built a land that you've never seen in the movies, particularly the originals. It's like building a Wizard of Oz land, but instead of Oz you get some other place you've never heard of but the Tin Man happens to be there so it's okay.

 

[seascape]

Continues to be insane to me they built a land that you've never seen in the movies, particularly the originals. It's like building a Wizard of Oz land, but instead of Oz you get some other place you've never heard of but the Tin Man happens to be there so it's okay.

Think of it this way, from here you will be able to travel to other world in the Star Wars Universe when they build additions in the parking lot and across World Drive.

 

[Joesixtoe]

Continues to be insane to me they built a land that you've never seen in the movies, particularly the originals. It's like building a Wizard of Oz land, but instead of Oz you get some other place you've never heard of but the Tin Man happens to be there so it's okay.

I'm just not sure on which land they could have implemented. Endor moon is trees, Hoth is ice, Tatooine is desert. Croissant is a giant city (which would have been really cool). Ok yeah I would have done Croissant with different sections. You could implement the Jedi order, the Emperor and his apprentice at the time, and just about anything really. You could constantly update the land in terms of story as well.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Continues to be insane to me they built a land that you've never seen in the movies, particularly the originals. It's like building a Wizard of Oz land, but instead of Oz you get some other place you've never heard of but the Tin Man happens to be there so it's okay.

The difference is that Oz is important to that story and well described. The planets of Star Wars are generally not well described. You don’t see or know about much except some basic description like desert or cold or swamp. The Mos Eisley Cantina is a perfect example, a place that so many say they want to visit but if you look, most of the walls are just plain, beige walls without ornament or decoration.

 

[networkpro]

I'm just not sure on which land they could have implemented. Endor moon is trees, Hoth is ice, Tatooine is desert. Croissant is a giant city (which would have been really cool). Ok yeah I would have done Croissant with different sections.

I prefer my croissant with butter and a bit of jam. On Coruscant, however (the place we never see any slums on screen) its urban sprawl at its worst.