Hogsmeade vs Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

[DisneyAndUniversalFan]

vs.

 

[Minthorne]

I want both chocolate and peanut butter!

 

[JIMINYCR]

I give SW my vote. I truly enjoy both and my choice I know is more swayed because I am not a HP fan and am unable to appreciate the details there as I can SW. I can connect with the SW movies and characters more which increases my excitement. But I truly was impressed with what Uni did with the build up.

 

[doctornick]

Both are great, but Hogsmeade to me wins mainly just by having more attractions (which are also of high quality). It also helps that you can do Ollivanders and see the "show" without buying anything - GE needs stuff like that instead of the paid experiences for the droids and lightsabers.

 

[Texas84]

HP Land gets my vote. I love GE and I'll spend 4-5 hours there. But HPL is an amazing re-creation of something from the movies. I have no connection to GE.

 

[wdw2011por]

SW Galaxy's Edge gets my vote. My sons and I agree that we could spend an entire day there just enjoying the atmosphere. Hogsmeade is well done and along with Diagon Alley it is the best area of Universal, but I didn't get the same feeling as SWGE.

 

[dodgr98]

I’d not seen the HP movies or read the books when we visited Universal. When we got home, the first thing I did was put the first HP movie in and had a Potter film fest for the next several days. I visited SW:GE last month with friends and we were underwhelmed. The only thing that lets you know it’s Star Wars is the presence of the ships. Remove the ships and it could be any sci-fi movie. Disclosure: We’d all grown up loving the original trilogy, tolerating or enjoying the prequel trilogy and being “meh” or worse on the Disney sequels.

 

[correcaminos]

After a lot of thought, I give star wars the edge simply because HP is far too cramped and I dislike how more feels like a facade vs areas I can walk into. That's the only massive negative of HP to me. I was disappointed with HP world at USF. Was not at GE

 

[UNCgolf]

Hogsmeade and Galaxy's Edge are pretty close, but I think Hogsmeade wins simply by virtue of being an iconic location -- Galaxy's Edge doesn't do enough to make up for that. Galaxy's Edge could have been set Batuu and still been an incredible overall experience, but what they built isn't that. I was actually disappointed by both GE and Hogsmeade.

Diagon Alley blows Galaxy's Edge out of the water, though. It was not a disappointment.

 

[erasure fan1]

I think Hogsmeade wins simply by virtue of being an iconic location

I think this is exactly it. I'm not at all a Harry Potter fan. But I can say they did a much better job giving Potter fans what they wanted to see than Disney did with star wars.

For me it boils down to the fact that my deepest connection to star wars is the original trilogy. So while I appreciate what they did with GE, it just won't have that hit for me in its current state.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

SWGE is a well done land. Immersive on a level that Disney has not done in a very long time. It just holds no connection for me. Hogsmeade does. FWIW, I think Diagon is better than both Hogsmeade and SWGE.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Diagon Alley blows Galaxy's Edge out of the water, though. It was not a disappointment.

IMO Diagon is the best land in any Florida theme park. Better than Pandora, Better than Hogsmeade, Better than SWGE. I do hope that the rumors are true and Uni will repurpose Fear Factor into a FoP type Potter ride and expand Diagon.

 

[KikoKea]

A few weeks ago, we visited USO for the first time (Orlando Informer Meetup) and had a great time. HP was absolutely amazing- beautiful, interesting, full of fun things to see or watch, great rides, and a great castle show, among others. Both DH and I agreed that SWGE was no match. SWGE is well-made, but it does not have to appeal that HP land does. We spent a good bit of time just looking at the windows of Diagon Alley shops and the little details. Walking through SWGE offers little other than impressive rockwork and scattered ships. As for rides, USO HP has some amazing queues and rides, while SWGE can boast of one- Rise, if it is running.

 

[Karakasa]

Galaxy's Edge no question. My issues with the IP aside (suffice to say I used to be a HP fan... I'm decidedly not any longer for various reasons), Hogsmeade just doesn't feel as immersive to me; I can't really place why but I feel like the fact you can see the castle from decidedly UN-HPish lands detracts from the overall experience. By the same coin, I feel Pandora is more successful than Hogsmeade. Maybe it's because I just unluckily went when there wasn't a lot of "streetmosphere" going on but there was nothing about it that really wowwed me after the initial "oh, cool details".

Now when we get Super Nintendo Land over here, based on video from USJ... THAT will be a game-changer. I can feel it. I'm not impressed by the Yoshi ride but the land itself? That looks spectacular.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Hogsmeade<Galaxy"s Edge<Diagon Alley

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Hogsmeade gets my vote.

Galaxies Edge feels very sterile. I think the original design intended to have droids and actors all over the place to make the static sets come alive.

Hogsmeade feels like a living place. I mean just compare the 2 counter service places... one feels plastic, one feels like the real thing.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Hogs Meade doesnt require you to jump through hoops

 

[Djsfantasi]

Hogs Meade doesnt require you to jump through hoops

…neither does Galaxies Edge. Have you been there?

 

[Skibum1970]

Hogsmeade gets my vote.

Galaxies Edge feels very sterile. I think the original design intended to have droids and actors all over the place to make the static sets come alive.

Hogsmeade feels like a living place. I mean just compare the 2 counter service places... one feels plastic, one feels like the real thing.

I think that it also has to do with the fact that Hogsmeade is, obviously, set on Earth and has the connection that people keep mentioning. Galaxy's Edge just doesn't resonate. The droids/actors might have helped but no planet from Star Wars is so iconic that it could have been used and felt "right". Also, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley have the immersive feel buttressed by music and thus is more like stepping into a movie.

It probably is also dependent on the person. Seeing Hogwarts or the outside of Gringotts is pretty inspiring. Seeing the Falcon is fun and maybe the one time that Galaxy's Edge really grabs you. It would also help if Rise was slightly more accessible than Fort Knox (actually this statement applied to when BG's were in use as opposed to now).

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

…neither does Galaxies Edge. Have you been there?

Every time I visited there were several “hoops” required to ride Rise, see the lightsaber training, and visit the cantina.

That may have improved recently although I’m not sure.