Damage Control PR Spin for Star Wars Begins

[WDW Pro]

We can start keeping track of the various PR maneuvers by Disney in regards to the Star Wars issue that is affecting Galaxy's Edge.

To start, just a few days into Ghost Town Disneyland and a 50%+ ticket discount, Episode 9 stars are telling publications and fans not to worry, Episode 9 will be NOTHING, nada, totally the opposite of The Last Jedi.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertain...-Johnson-Last-Jedi-backlash-fans-release-date

Damage control time.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Keri Russell? Way to damage control. That's a name I've not heard in a long time. I, of course, still remember her from another, much older Disney movie. I always enjoyed her in this one for some reason.

 

[socalifornian]

We can start keeping track of the various PR maneuvers by Disney in regards to the Star Wars issue that is affecting Galaxy's Edge.

To start, just a few days into Ghost Town Disneyland and a 50%+ ticket discount, Episode 9 stars are telling publications and fans not to worry, Episode 9 will be NOTHING, nada, totally the opposite of The Last Jedi.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertain...-Johnson-Last-Jedi-backlash-fans-release-date

Damage control time.

I’ll believe it when Mark starts giving his usual layered commentary

 

[Amidala]

We can start keeping track of the various PR maneuvers by Disney in regards to the Star Wars issue that is affecting Galaxy's Edge.

To start, just a few days into Ghost Town Disneyland and a 50%+ ticket discount, Episode 9 stars are telling publications and fans not to worry, Episode 9 will be NOTHING, nada, totally the opposite of The Last Jedi.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertain...-Johnson-Last-Jedi-backlash-fans-release-date

Damage control time.

Not sure that article has much to do with GE? Fans angered by TLJ "betraying the spirit" of the franchise (obviously YMMV on this, but I personally couldn't stand TLJ) won't necessarily overlap w/ potential visitors to GE, plenty of whom will be either casual fans or have no knowledge of the movies at all. Disney also doesn't really need help filling seats for RoS...this seems more like damage control for the polarized critical & fan reaction to TLJ–something they've been doing since the movie dropped, long before GE opened.

That being said, is GE really doing poorly? I won't be there until August and feel like I'm hearing a lot of conflicting accounts. I've heard some people say DL is still a Ghost Town and others say attendance has already picked up drastically since the reservation system lifted earlier this week. What's actually going on ?????

 

[socalifornian]

Not sure that article has much to do with GE? Fans angered by TLJ "betraying the spirit" of the franchise (obviously YMMV on this, but I personally couldn't stand TLJ) won't necessarily overlap w/ potential visitors to GE, plenty of whom will be either casual fans or have no knowledge of the movies at all. Disney also doesn't really need help filling seats for RoS...this seems more like damage control for the polarized critical & fan reaction to TLJ–something they've been doing since the movie dropped, long before GE opened.

That being said, is GE really doing poorly? I won't be there until August and feel like I'm hearing a lot of conflicting accounts. I've heard some people say DL is still a Ghost Town and others say attendance has already picked up drastically since the reservation system lifted earlier this week. What's actually going on ?????

Various texts/pic from family yesterday -

2:49PM: Yep. I’m only having to wait five minutes with max pass
3:50pm: Pirates

“One of the guys working at the ticket booth said he’s never seen it like this before”

I was sent one of these as I was driving through the back half of the overflow dirt lot at Magic Mountain. That was surreal, best (worst?) opposite day example I’ve ever seen. It’s not that people aren’t going to the parks, it’s that people aren’t going to Disney

 

[zooey]

This isn’t damage control. Star Wars celebration tickets sold out so fast, only Thursday and Sunday are left and that was in like a week of them going on sale and the convention is over a year away. Same convention space as D23 and D23 doesn’t sell out days that fast. Star Wars fandom is fine. GE is fine. They split the demand with WDW timeline moved up, opened without Rise, and for years all anyone talked about was the legendary crowds it would create scaring people away. They over corrected, but it’s not a failure of the land or Disneyland as a whole. All those people gonna be flooding back after the summer and/or when Rise finally opens.

 

[WDW Pro]

Daisy Ridley Understood and Expected Fans to Hate "The Last Jedi"
https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...st-jedi-backlash-feminist-ophelia/1612188001/

Funny how that works... as I recall, they all said the haters were misogynistic trolls and alt-right loons. Remember? Everyone loved The Last Jedi and it was just a tiny vocal online minority. The fan reviews were by some guy in his basement who screwed up the Rotten Tomatoes stuff. All the female Star Wars celebs were getting off of social media because the Star Wars fans were a toxic, awful bunch.

Two years later, a movie that lost hundreds of millions, and a billion dollar investment that currently looks like a massive flop... oh yeah, they all knew people would despise that movie. This next one's nothing like it... nothing. Oh, and they love the fans. They're wonderful people.

Panic Mode Engaged.

 

[WDW Pro]

You'll also note that two major stars in the upcoming Episode 9 have suddenly come out explicitly against Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi" days after Galaxy's Edge opened to minimal crowd and excitement. They never, never spoke out against that movie until now. You can bet it's coming from the top to turn this ship around fast.

 

[Monorail_Orange]

You'll also note that two major stars in the upcoming Episode 9 have suddenly come out explicitly against Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi" days after Galaxy's Edge opened to minimal crowd and excitement. They never, never spoke out against that movie until now. You can bet it's coming from the top to turn this ship around fast.

And yet, another explanation here is that Episode 9 is close enough to release that they can't just fire those major stars and start over. So those people are now more free to speak their minds without worry of getting tossed from Episode 9 or any other Star Wars film, for that matter, as IIRC, both of those major stars made it clear they are now done with Star Wars films.

 

[WDW Pro]

Aaand the YouTubers are beginning to catch on that the sequel trilogy is to blame.

 

[shortstop]

I might regret asking this, but I can’t help wondering what your agenda is here. Clearly Disneyland hasn’t been crowded but I’m halfway to believing this is the result of some villainous plan you had to sabotage TDA.

 

[WDW Pro]

I might regret asking this, but I can’t help wondering what your agenda is here. Clearly Disneyland hasn’t been crowded but I’m halfway to believing this is the result of some villainous plan you had to sabotage TDA.

If I wanted to sabotage anything, it wouldn't be via providing public information on a fan forum. I like the Walt Disney Company. I don't like the Walt Disney Company making horrible entertainment and financial decisions due to extremist political ideologies pushing them that way through their subsidiaries.

 

[RescueTheDay]

If I wanted to sabotage anything, it wouldn't be via providing public information on a fan forum. I like the Walt Disney Company. I don't like the Walt Disney Company making horrible entertainment and financial decisions due to extremist political ideologies pushing them that way through their subsidiaries.

I didn’t realize my eyes could roll so far back...

 

[DanielBB8]

Galaxy’s Edge is one billion dollars flop even while waiting for Rise of Resistance. It’s all sequel trilogy that we hate. I have no idea if one movie will redeem the first two. That’s not how it works. A trilogy doesn’t go from good to bad to great. Sequels always go worse. I just learned Solo was actually supposed to be a trilogy. The Solo character was a good one that latter became the bad one as portrayed by Harrison Ford. The character arc was only one-third developed in Solo.

If Rise of Skywalker proves to be a success, then maybe the fandom will embrace Galaxy’s Edge. Otherwise, they need to make major changes to bring in original trilogy characters and plot arcs. I have some ideas myself. Make the design a cross of Tatooine and Naboo. Add a white wash to suggest a desert landscape. Add green roofs to be like Naboo.

 

[mikejs78]

Galaxy’s Edge is one billion dollars flop even while waiting for Rise of Resistance. It’s all sequel trilogy that we hate. I have no idea if one movie will redeem the first two. That’s not how it works. A trilogy doesn’t go from good to bad to great. Sequels always go worse. I just learned Solo was actually supposed to be a trilogy. The Solo character was a good one that latter became the bad one as portrayed by Harrison Ford. The character arc was only one-third developed in Solo.

If Rise of Skywalker proves to be a success, then maybe the fandom will embrace Galaxy’s Edge. Otherwise, they need to make major changes to bring in original trilogy characters and plot arcs. I have some ideas myself. Make the design a cross of Tatooine and Naboo. Add a white wash to suggest a desert landscape. Add green roofs to be like Naboo. View attachment 385727

How many times must this be said? If Galaxy's Edge was a flop, GE wod not be crowded but the rest of DL and DCA would have normal crowds. This isn't the case.

TDA shot themselves in the foot by raising the peak single day ticket to $149, a steep $15 increase and, I think, more than people are willing to pay for a base theme park ticket. They also blacklisted most APs, and told people to stay away because of the crowds.

The people who claim that GE is a failure are those who just wanted it to fail from the beginning. In reality, Disney's new ticketing structure is a failure. GE, it's too soon to say.

 

[mikejs78]

extremist political ideologies

You betray yourself here. Most of the criticism of TLJ focuses around the treatment of Luke's character. What is the extremist political ideology here? Having a woman Jedi? Give me a break, you are lending credence to the claim that the people who don't like the film are a bunch of sexist bigots.

 

[G00fyDad]

Hang on here folks..... This MAY blow your mind.....



They are MOVIES. Not documentaries.

Go, watch, turn off your brain for two hours and have fun. They were good movies. It is silly to see all the hate these things get but the same people that hate them seem to LOVE the prequels that were vomited on us with Jar Jar and a HORRIBLY bad acted (with an American accent) Anikan. Did I hate the prequels? Yes. Did I go watch them and have fun? Yes. Give it a try. You're not going to get Gone with the Wind or Casablanca here folks.

 

[DanielBB8]

How many times must this be said? If Galaxy's Edge was a flop, GE wod not be crowded but the rest of DL and DCA would have normal crowds. This isn't the case.

TDA shot themselves in the foot by raising the peak single day ticket to $149, a steep $15 increase and, I think, more than people are willing to pay for a base theme park ticket. They also blacklisted most APs, and told people to stay away because of the crowds.

The people who claim that GE is a failure are those who just wanted it to fail from the beginning. In reality, Disney's new ticketing structure is a failure. GE, it's too soon to say.

Keep saying that because there’s another explanation. Star Wars fans have every reason to visit and keep Disneyland busy (nothing to do with DCA). There’s millions of fans that will love a theme park representation, but it is increasingly clear, it’s not Galaxy’s Edge. The regular Disneyland visitors could be avoiding the parks because Disney sent the message that they are catering to Star Wars visitors. This message can’t be easily reversed.

 

[mikejs78]

Keep saying that because there’s another explanation. Star Wars fans have every reason to visit and keep Disneyland busy (nothing to do with DCA). There’s millions of fans that will love a theme park representation, but it is increasingly clear, it’s not Galaxy’s Edge. The regular Disneyland visitors could be avoiding the parks because Disney sent the message that they are catering to Star Wars visitors. This message can’t be easily reversed.

I personally know a lot of SW fans excited by GE but are avoiding it for at least a year due to how insane they think it will be.

 

[DanielBB8]

I personally know a lot of SW fans excited by GE but are avoiding it for at least a year due to how insane they think it will be.

Since this is not true, there’s no reason to avoid it now. Disney overshot their messaging about the crowds. But people are not lemmings. They know Rise of Resistance is not ready and the current land is all highly expensive merchandising and little else. No original trilogy Star Wars with things hardcore fans actually want to see. Bad tasting blue milk that has nothing to do with sequel trilogy. Who wants a Porg mug that you can get at the sequel trilogy Cantina? Not me.