News Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening day reports - Disney's Hollywood Studios

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’m still gonna contend that:

1. The land opened EARLIER THAN PLANNED, because:

a. Make more $$$ now & get a 2nd grand opening like crowd for ROTR

b. Hopefully spur an increase in industry wide flatter attendance than normal (which means more $$$)

c. Will make the opening of ROTR less of a nightmare of people, thereby keeping guest satisfaction higher, keeping people spending $$$

d. Save money on performers/shows cause $$$ and land is jammed with people that it’s not needed and kinda gets in the way.

They can easily spin this two ways:

- we promised characters/shows, we now have it by the FALL/WINTER (original opening date)

- we listened to guests and giving them more of what they want

Now I’m not saying I trust management or have any delusions that a corporate monolith has any pure intentions. BUT maybe there was a fraction of truth (albiet small) that they figured they could budget those additional things for the next quarter?

Just...no...

I can’t even process how off this is.

You’re saying they torpedoed their whole summer and got tons of lackluster PR...so they could have a bad opening and “outsmart” everyone with another opening??

Congratulations...you finally blew my gasket...

Or...just maybe...they miscalculated the entire Star Wars fan base...what people were willing to tolerate/spend to go to this...and what was built hasn’t made up for it due to bad PR and word of mouth?

To each their own.

 

[Hawg G]

Finally visited Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge today...

First up, the grand entrance is VERY underwhelming. Not Star Warsy at all, just rocks, and some faint music.

Once you get in further and saw a Gonk droid, and X- Wing, you felt it a bit, but still not much. The Falcon wa really cool, but ust seemed like it was out of place in an otherwise non Star Wars area.

I did luck on to what I think was about as much interaction as you could get. Chewie chose me to help him. Then got 5 other guys. Ultimately we found out it was because we were tall and had facial hair, and could be mistaken for Wookiee’s. And the First Order was after Wookiees. The Chewie character was very good, especially the voice. We had a contest to be the most like a Wookiee, and a I tied with another guy as winner. We won nothing, which was a let down. A cool coin or something would have been awesome.

Before the final battle, Rey came over and told me to fluff my hair out (I have a lot). She had the perfect voice and look. Both charactera were quite good, but the whole thing was ultimately pointless.

HOWEVER, later on, an hour later, 2 Stormtroopers walk by and one came up to me, asking if I was a Rebel, and was helping Wookiees. I said I had not hugged any Wookiees today ( a lie), and he walked on. I’m sure it was a coincidence, but for me, the whole “you will be tracked” sorta was true. It was sorta neat, but didn’t help the other problems.

The stores, I just looked in some, I wasn’t planning on spending money, so didn’t tempt myself. I did buy a Coke detonator.

Blue Milk: drank out of a screen authentic Tupperware cup I brought. It smelled and tasted “cheap”. Very artificial, not much flavor. Not “bad”, just not something I’d pay $1 an ounce for likely ever again. Especially since I’m not sure there is a single place to sit down in all of Batuu.

Smugglers Run: my wife has an assistance pass, and we were just let in, no wait. The Hondo AA is top notch, but since his face is so non human, it’s easy to pull off. His movements as a whole were good. I’m not a huge fan of the new trend of putting AAs in queues, not rides, but he is obviously top of he line, as he should be for this ride.

I was amazingly given a Pilot card, as was my three year old daughter. My wife got gunner. We went in to the chess room, and NO ONE was at the table. No interest. I went over for a quick video and pics, and got griped at for holding up my group. We were in there like 30 seconds. What’s the point? No wonder no one was at it, they weren’t given time. Remember when the insiders said we’d have time to enjoy the area as just our small group?

The jerk behind me was a backseat driver, telling me to pay attention to piloting, not videoing me and my family, I would have felt bad, if I noticed ANY connection between my lever moving and the ship movements. I know both jumps to warp speed happened at the instant I started moving the lever, not after I’d said “punch it Chewie”, and pulled it.

The interactive portion was just bad all around. We did harpoon the second stupid container, but lost it. We ended up owing money, likely due to my daughter. And she said we broke the ship, seeing the sparking and flashing, as we walked out what was ultimately the INSANELY long exit.

Would it be fun with 5 friends, yelling out quotes? Absolutely. But for the other 99.9% of riders, it is nothing more than a failure. The screen LOOKS like a screen. That’s why everyone likes FoP, it looks real, not like a screen. I don’t understand why they haven’t turned up the brightness, it’s an obvious issue. As a so called E ticket, it is definitely less impressive than StarTours 2, and about on par with the Original. Even In the pilot seat, the screen didn’t seem to totally envelop you, and who was the moron who didn’t put anti glare coating on the cockpit glass?

My wife, not a huge SW fan asked “how much did they spend on this” after riding.

Rise of the Resistance is going to have to be the mother of all E tickets to save this land.

 

[ChrisFL]

Even In the pilot seat, the screen didn’t seem to totally envelop you, and who was the moron who didn’t put anti glare coating on the cockpit glass?

Agreed, or how bad would it look if they just removed the cockpit glass I wonder? (the screen is farther out so it might be ok)

 

[Kram Sacul]

Finally visited Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge today...

First up, the grand entrance is VERY underwhelming. Not Star Warsy at all, just rocks, and some faint music.

Once you get in further and saw a Gonk droid, and X- Wing, you felt it a bit, but still not much. The Falcon wa really cool, but ust seemed like it was out of place in an otherwise non Star Wars area.

I did luck on to what I think was about as much interaction as you could get. Chewie chose me to help him. Then got 5 other guys. Ultimately we found out it was because we were tall and had facial hair, and could be mistaken for Wookiee’s. And the First Order was after Wookiees. The Chewie character was very good, especially the voice. We had a contest to be the most like a Wookiee, and a I tied with another guy as winner. We won nothing, which was a let down. A cool coin or something would have been awesome.

Before the final battle, Rey came over and told me to fluff my hair out (I have a lot). She had the perfect voice and look. Both charactera were quite good, but the whole thing was ultimately pointless.

HOWEVER, later on, an hour later, 2 Stormtroopers walk by and one came up to me, asking if I was a Rebel, and was helping Wookiees. I said I had not hugged any Wookiees today ( a lie), and he walked on. I’m sure it was a coincidence, but for me, the whole “you will be tracked” sorta was true. It was sorta neat, but didn’t help the other problems.

The stores, I just looked in some, I wasn’t planning on spending money, so didn’t tempt myself. I did buy a Coke detonator.

Blue Milk: drank out of a screen authentic Tupperware cup I brought. It smelled and tasted “cheap”. Very artificial, not much flavor. Not “bad”, just not something I’d pay $1 an ounce for likely ever again. Especially since I’m not sure there is a single place to sit down in all of Batuu.

Smugglers Run: my wife has an assistance pass, and we were just let in, no wait. The Honda AA is too notch, but since his face is so non human, it’s easy to pull off. His movements as a whole were good. I’m not a huge fan of the new trend of putting AAs in queues, not rides, but he is obviously top of he line, as he should be for this ride.

I was amazingly given a Pilot card, as was my three year old daughter. My wife got gunner. We went in to the chess room, and NO ONE was at the table. No interest. I went over for a quick video and pics, and got griped at for holding up my group. We were in there like 30 seconds. What’s the point? No wonder no one was at it, they weren’t given time.

The jerk behind me was a backseat driver, telling me to pay attention to piloting, not videoing me and my family, I would have felt bad, if I noticed ANY connection between my lever moving and the ship movements. I know both jumps to warp speed happened as the instant I started moving the lever, not after I’d said “punch it Chewie”, and pulled it.

The interactive portion was just bad all around. We did harpoon the second stupid container, but lost it. We ended up owing money, likely due to my daughter. And she said we broke the ship, seeing the sparking and flashing, as we walked out what was ultimately the INSANELY long exit.

Would it be fun with 5 friends, yelling out quotes? Absolutely. But for the other 99.9% of riders, it is nothing more than a failure. The screen LOOKS like a screen. That’s whey everyone likes FoP, it looks real, not like a screen. I don’t understand why they haven’t turned up the brightness, it’s an obvious issue. As a so called E ticket, it is definitely less impressive thanStarTours 2, and about on par with the Original. Even In the pilot seat, the screen didn’t seem to totally envelop you, and who was the moron who didn’t put anti glare coating on the cockpit glass?

My wife, not a huge SW fan asked “how much did they spend on this” after riding.

Rise of the Resistance is going to have to be the mother of all E tickets to save this land.

Katiebug?

 

[RobWDW1971]

Finally visited Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge today...

First up, the grand entrance is VERY underwhelming. Not Star Warsy at all, just rocks, and some faint music.

Once you get in further and saw a Gonk droid, and X- Wing, you felt it a bit, but still not much. The Falcon wa really cool, but ust seemed like it was out of place in an otherwise non Star Wars area.

I did luck on to what I think was about as much interaction as you could get. Chewie chose me to help him. Then got 5 other guys. Ultimately we found out it was because we were tall and had facial hair, and could be mistaken for Wookiee’s. And the First Order was after Wookiees. The Chewie character was very good, especially the voice. We had a contest to be the most like a Wookiee, and a I tied with another guy as winner. We won nothing, which was a let down. A cool coin or something would have been awesome.

Before the final battle, Rey came over and told me to fluff my hair out (I have a lot). She had the perfect voice and look. Both charactera were quite good, but the whole thing was ultimately pointless.

HOWEVER, later on, an hour later, 2 Stormtroopers walk by and one came up to me, asking if I was a Rebel, and was helping Wookiees. I said I had not hugged any Wookiees today ( a lie), and he walked on. I’m sure it was a coincidence, but for me, the whole “you will be tracked” sorta was true. It was sorta neat, but didn’t help the other problems.

The stores, I just looked in some, I wasn’t planning on spending money, so didn’t tempt myself. I did buy a Coke detonator.

Blue Milk: drank out of a screen authentic Tupperware cup I brought. It smelled and tasted “cheap”. Very artificial, not much flavor. Not “bad”, just not something I’d pay $1 an ounce for likely ever again. Especially since I’m not sure there is a single place to sit down in all of Batuu.

Smugglers Run: my wife has an assistance pass, and we were just let in, no wait. The Honda AA is too notch, but since his face is so non human, it’s easy to pull off. His movements as a whole were good. I’m not a huge fan of the new trend of putting AAs in queues, not rides, but he is obviously top of he line, as he should be for this ride.

I was amazingly given a Pilot card, as was my three year old daughter. My wife got gunner. We went in to the chess room, and NO ONE was at the table. No interest. I went over for a quick video and pics, and got griped at for holding up my group. We were in there like 30 seconds. What’s the point? No wonder no one was at it, they weren’t given time.

The jerk behind me was a backseat driver, telling me to pay attention to piloting, not videoing me and my family, I would have felt bad, if I noticed ANY connection between my lever moving and the ship movements. I know both jumps to warp speed happened as the instant I started moving the lever, not after I’d said “punch it Chewie”, and pulled it.

The interactive portion was just bad all around. We did harpoon the second stupid container, but lost it. We ended up owing money, likely due to my daughter. And she said we broke the ship, seeing the sparking and flashing, as we walked out what was ultimately the INSANELY long exit.

Would it be fun with 5 friends, yelling out quotes? Absolutely. But for the other 99.9% of riders, it is nothing more than a failure. The screen LOOKS like a screen. That’s whey everyone likes FoP, it looks real, not like a screen. I don’t understand why they haven’t turned up the brightness, it’s an obvious issue. As a so called E ticket, it is definitely less impressive thanStarTours 2, and about on par with the Original. Even In the pilot seat, the screen didn’t seem to totally envelop you, and who was the moron who didn’t put anti glare coating on the cockpit glass?

My wife, not a huge SW fan asked “how much did they spend on this” after riding.

Rise of the Resistance is going to have to be the mother of all E tickets to save this land.

Well, consider yourself lucky as that is more interaction with characters than I have ever witnessed or even heard about. The rest of the review is exactly what the masses are feeling - a generally tepid "meh".

And the sad part is that even if ROTR is the greatest ride ever, it still won't change everything you mentioned. It will just serve as a welcome distraction from the shortcomings of the land and MFSR.

 

[Hawg G]

Well, consider yourself lucky as that is more interaction with characters than I have ever witnessed or even heard about. The rest of the review is exactly what the masses are feeling - a generally tepid "meh".

Yeah, it seemed I got more interaction than almost anyone. Honestly, when the Stormtrooper asked me about Wookiees, it was pretty cool. I am going to try to make a video of the whole experience when ai get home.

 

[Kate F]

I’m not going to get to see GE for myself until early January, so until then, I only have others opinions to go by. And there seems to be more people here that are underwhelmed by it than are in love with it and it’s had quite an influence on my thoughts to say the least. I won’t know for sure until I go of course.

 

[RobWDW1971]

I’m not going to get to see GE for myself until early January, so until then, I only have others opinions to go by. And there seems to be more people here that are underwhelmed by it than are in love with it and it’s had quite an influence on my thoughts to say the least. I won’t know for sure until I go of course.

You at least will have a benefit many of us who went early didn't, low expectations.

 

[Stripes]

I think it's interesting that many comment that Galaxy's Edge is "dull" but Hogsmeade never got this response despite a much duller color scheme.

But, I don't think this is hypocritical. I actually think it's a genuine feeling that is the result of a lack of auditory stimulation rather than visual.

 

[RobWDW1971]

I think it's interesting that many comment that Galaxy's Edge is "dull" but Hogsmeade never got this response despite a much duller color scheme.

But, I don't think this is hypocritical. I actually think it's a genuine feeling that is the result of a lack of auditory stimulation.

It's not just the color scheme - it's the difference between Hogwarts Castle and snow covered quaint shops from the movies and books vs. unknown war-torn, beige, windowless, cement buildings that are depressing that are neither magical nor inviting.

You are also correct, the lack of music is a terrible fundamental creative choice.

And you're right, the last words anybody has ever used for the two Harry Potter lands were dull and depressing.

 

[Stripes]

unknown war-torn, beige, windowless, cement buildings that are depressing that are neither magical nor inviting.

On this, I really don't know what people want considering that...this pretty much summarizes every possible Star Wars location from the films that Disney could've possibly adapted to a land.

Take Mos Eisley:

Theed is an exception, but it’s basically European neoclassical architecture that doesn’t feel like Star Wars at all. And I question whether there is any interest among Star Wars fans to visit said city.

I don't consider the land to be "beige" especially at WDW, where I see a lot of colors and a lot of contrast. Disneyland has a more "toned down" color scheme, likely due to the quality of the sky there. On (mostly) windowless and cement buildings, I think these are accurate descriptions of the land. But they're also characteristics that are typical of Star Wars locations. You have brick, glass, wood, cement, and metal themed exteriors to pick from (did I miss any?). Only 2 of these are characteristic of Star Wars, and they're both found in the land (cement more so than metal).

Obviously, both Diagon and Hogsmeade are heavy on brick, combined with wood-framed-glass displays. Transparent glass definitely makes a building feel open and inviting. But completely opaque buildings arouse interest as to what's inside, and give the buildings a feeling of secrecy.

Personally, I think the building style is definitely less "happy" but also more interesting. Again, I attribute this to the differences of the two series. In Harry Potter, the "good side" is coming from a position of strength. In Star Wars, the "bad side" is in that position. This makes for vastly different tones. There is absolutely a more uplifting tone in the Harry Potter series compared to Star Wars. And the architecture of the two series are well represented in each of their lands.

 

[Hawg G]

I think it's interesting that many comment that Galaxy's Edge is "dull" but Hogsmeade never got this response despite a much duller color scheme.

But, I don't think this is hypocritical. I actually think it's a genuine feeling that is the result of a lack of auditory stimulation rather than visual.

I think it’s a difference that HDR exists on most phones now, but didn’t when Hogsmeade opened. And those pictures are cherry picked.

Oh, and I SAW Hogsmeade in the movies, then visited it! A near exact copy of it!

 

[Stripes]

I think it’s a difference that HDR exists on most phones now, but didn’t when Hogsmeade opened. And those pictures are cherry picked.

I Googled "Hogsmeade" and picked what I thought were the best pictures of the land. Feel free to post one that you feel better captures the land.

With regard to Galaxy's Edge, I used images from cchard, whose images are frequently used in wdwmagic articles. Here are a few of my other favorites from bioreconstruct:

Also, how much of Hogsmeade did you actually see in the movie to know that it’s a “near exact replica”. I can’t think of a single shot from the movies where all of the buildings weren’t 80% blocked by snow. As someone that has watched the HP movies probably 50 times and read the series cover to cover more than 10, I can assure you there’s no way of knowing that. In fact, of the few shots of Hogsmeade that there are in the films, you can tell that Hogsmeade Village has a lot of elevation change and it’s a lot bigger than a single street.

 

[Kram Sacul]

HogsMeade and Galaxy’s Edge are both spectacular in their own ways. The people that say either are boring should not be taken seriously.

 

[Steph15251]

I’m not going to get to see GE for myself until early January, so until then, I only have others opinions to go by. And there seems to be more people here that are underwhelmed by it than are in love with it and it’s had quite an influence on my thoughts to say the least. I won’t know for sure until I go of course.

I was not underwhelmed by it but for me it was just another land.I am not a Star Wars fan and I do not go to the parks just for one land I go for the rides and shows.For me the land needs more to do.

 

[seascape]

My first impression of SWGE on Saturday September 21 was that the land was fun but MFSR was not. I was a flight engineer and if I wanted to do my job, I couldn't see the screen. That said the rest of the land was great. My wife and I loved building the Droid and Lightsaber and found them well worth the cost. Olga's was a bit too noisy so we could not hear Rex that well but the drinks and snacks were good and I believe in the future it won't be as crowded or noisy. The land is full of ships, and tons of things to see. We spent 8 hours the first day and 5 the second day and still want to go back on the 28th and see things we know we missed. The stores are full with things we will buy. but we didn't want to spend all our money on this trip. I can't see how anyone can consider this land a failure. GE is in a themepark not an amusement park. If all you want are rides go elsewhere but if you want immersion GE is great and hopefully with RotR opening in December it will have a ride worthy of the land, but even if it doesn't live up to all the hype SWGE is still a great immersive and fun place to visit and relax in.

Now I did regret not participating in the Droid races because I did not know about them and had shipped my Droids and Lightsabers home just after making them, which was a major disappointment. Disney should let everyone know about the race. Ray and Chewie are there but other than walking around iimited areas they didn't interact with many of the guests. As others have said, the different Droids snd characters need to move around the land in the future. Having characters only in certain locations and not fully integrated in the land needs to be adressed but I will give them a pass for now since there are so many new visitors but that has to change in the future.

Finally, comparing GE with Pandora, I have to have the edge to Pandora. Both lands are great but Disney made a mistake opening GE before it was ready. I hope in January I will feel GE is finished and equal to or better than Pandora but today it is not. GE also needs a Full Service Restaurant and more QS options, the best QS restaurant at WDW is not even close, Satuli Canteen. Oh and I was disappointed in Coke why did they make them plastic? That was a stupid choice.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

On this, I really don't know what people want considering that...this pretty much summarizes every possible Star Wars location from the films that Disney could've possibly adapted to a land.

Take Mos Eisley:

Theed is an exception, but it’s basically European neoclassical architecture that doesn’t feel like Star Wars at all. And I question whether there is any interest among Star Wars fans to visit said city.

I don't consider the land to be "beige" especially at WDW, where I see a lot of colors and a lot of contrast. Disneyland has a more "toned down" color scheme, likely due to the quality of the sky there. On (mostly) windowless and cement buildings, I think these are accurate descriptions of the land. But they're also characteristics that are typical of Star Wars locations. You have brick, glass, wood, cement, and metal themed exteriors to pick from (did I miss any?). Only 2 of these are characteristic of Star Wars, and they're both found in the land (cement more so than metal).

Obviously, both Diagon and Hogsmeade are heavy on brick, combined with wood-framed-glass displays. Transparent glass definitely makes a building feel open and inviting. But completely opaque buildings arouse interest as to what's inside, and give the buildings a feeling of secrecy.

Personally, I think the building style is definitely less "happy" but also more interesting. Again, I attribute this to the differences of the two series. In Harry Potter, the "good side" is coming from a position of strength. In Star Wars, the "bad side" is in that position. This makes for vastly different tones. There is absolutely a more uplifting tone in the Harry Potter series compared to Star Wars. And the architecture of the two series are well represented in each of their lands.

I think the “general” sense is that it’s not grand enough from a stimulation point as Star Wars should be. But I’m an OT guy that’s kept the franchise going since the 80’s, so I don’t know anything and I’m being “replaced”

One thing I honestly don’t get...and they did it with the farce awakens and the lands...is the fascination with the desert locales?

They actually did it in the prequels too: the desert stuff was pretty dull of the motifs they used. Except maybe Jedi when it was pure, 100% kick-A. But that’s a 100% terrible movie in Hollywood revisiondom. That’s why it’s been on the tv every day for 36 years

I’ll say (again...so maybe I won’t get the usual patent dismissal all old fans get these days) that I did like a lot of what they built...but the overall story/creative choices leaves some wanting...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My first impression of SWGE on Saturday September 21 was that the land was fun but MFSR was not. I was a flight engineer and if I wanted to do my job, I couldn't see the screen. That said the rest of the land was great. My wife and I loved building the Droid and Lightsaber and found them well worth the cost. Olga's was a bit too noisy so we could not hear Rex that well but the drinks and snacks were good and I believe in the future it won't be as crowded or noisy. The land is full of ships, and tons of things to see. We spent 8 hours the first day and 5 the second day and still want to go back on the 28th and see things we know we missed. The stores are full with things we will buy. but we didn't want to spend all our money on this trip. I can't see how anyone can consider this land a failure. GE is in a themepark not an amusement park. If all you want are rides go elsewhere but if you want immersion GE is great and hopefully with RotR opening in December it will have a ride worthy of the land, but even if it doesn't live up to all the hype SWGE is still a great immersive and fun place to visit and relax in.

Now I did regret not participating in the Droid races because I did not know about them and had shipped my Droids and Lightsabers home just after making them, which was a major disappointment. Disney should let everyone know about the race. Ray and Chewie are there but other than walking around iimited areas they didn't interact with many of the guests. As others have said, the different Droids snd characters need to move around the land in the future. Having characters only in certain locations and not fully integrated in the land needs to be adressed but I will give them a pass for now since there are so many new visitors but that has to change in the future.

Finally, comparing GE with Pandora, I have to have the edge to Pandora. Both lands are great but Disney made a mistake opening GE before it was ready. I hope in January I will feel GE is finished and equal to or better than Pandora but today it is not. GE also needs a Full Service Restaurant and more QS options, the best QS restaurant at WDW is not even close, Satuli Canteen. Oh and I was disappointed in Coke why did they make them plastic? That was a stupid choice.

Well...you’re consistent in your views...I give you that.

So you didn’t like the ride, loved the $350 in upsells, and want a character meal??

Or did I miss something?

 

[seascape]

Well...you’re consistent in your views...I give you that.

So you didn’t like the ride, loved the $350 in upsells, and want a character meal??

Or did I miss something?

I said I want a full service restaurant. A character meal is completely different. I don't want Darth Vader. Luke or any of the other characters to serve my meal. I want good food, beverages and a sitdown restaurant. The stores are full of things any Star Wars fan would love to have, so yes sales are part of the fun. I think the Falcon ride should only have had the pilot position or had the control panel facing forward for all riders.

I also compared GE with Pandora, which one do you think is better today? And how do you define a successful land if not based on profits? GE has lots of things to do other than the currently open ride and RotR which will come soon and most things are free. The Droid race, the play app and window shopping. A fan can go and enjoy lots of things and spend nothing extra or they can spend a fortune. I won't buy a $25,000 Droid but they told me they have sold quite a few of them. I am going to hang a few Lightsaber in my home office, which are not expensive when looking at other things in my office. The one item I think is a complete failure is the Coke, who wants a round platic piece of junk? Coke should be ashamed of themselves for making it plastic.

 

[danlb_2000]

Katiebug?

HogsMeade and Galaxy’s Edge are both spectacular in their own ways. The people that say either are boring should not be taken seriously.

So it looks like to you, if someone doesn't give an overwhelming positive review of the land then they should not be taken seriously.