Is Disney unlikely to invest in buidling a "land" again?

[mickEblu]

These arguments are so odd...

Making it Tatooine would make it beiger, uglier. Short of recreating that one place we see for 5 seconds in Episode III, you know the one with the giant brightly colored plants? Short of recreating THAT planet that nobody knows, Star Wars takes place in somewhat ugly environments.

Yavin? I guess they could do Yavin, that's picturesque, but it's not really a location every fan is jumping up and down wanting to visit. I guess we're back to Endor with nothing to do but eat with the Ewoks.

Idyllic places in Star Wars are really hard to come by, and the more you lean into them, the less Star Warsy it feels.

That’s why you go Star Warsy on the attractions and theme park basics/ a place people want to walk around in for the land outside. It seems they got half of this right. Outside of the Falcon being underwhelming.

 

[britain]

They will really need to relaunch this land when the Resistance ride opens, and add back all that cool stuff and parlor tricks they said they were going to do three years ago.

It will be interesting to see if they add stuff back and act like "Alrighty, preview time is over, NOW the land is really open!"

But no - they will wait and see if RotR does the trick all by itself.

Just like Eisner did when he hoped ToT was enough for DCA.

 

[britain]

theme park basics/ a place people want to walk around in for the land outside.

So what should this have been?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Are they moving forward with the Star Wars hotel?
To me that always seemed like it was for much to specific of a group of people that the GP isn't gonna be like yeah let me book that resort.

 

[mickEblu]

It will be interesting to see if they add stuff back and act like "Alrighty, preview time is over, NOW the land is really open!"

But no - they will wait and see if RotR does the trick all by itself.

Just like Eisner did when he hoped ToT was enough for DCA.

I’m just really hoping that the part where we crash during the middle of the Falcon ride will NOT end up being the most thrilling/ fun moment in SWL right? Surely something in this 14 acre STAR WARS land will be more fun that that brief jolt.

I have big hopes for that ROTR finale.

 

[britain]

Are they moving forward with the Star Wars hotel?
To me that always seemed like it was for much to specific of a group of people that the GP isn't gonna be like yeah let me book that resort.

Still proceeding in Florida.

 

[Rich T]

No one is not going to Galaxy's Edge because it's Batuu!

Yes and no. Batuu isn't causing vacation cancellations, but the non-recognition factor is not helping bring people in.

 

[mickEblu]

So what should this have been?

It could have been a more colorful version of Batuu. Get some moss on those rocks. Vines on those buildings. Put a big waterfall in the middle of the land. Mix up the color scheme a little bit.

They got started off the wrong foot when they thought “desert.” Like I’ve said before it’s obvious they were trying to give us a sequel trilogy version of Tatooine.

 

[Rich T]

And I'm just throwing this out there as a casual gut reaction: The name "Batuu" sounds pretentious. It just *sounds* like something a SW nerd would toss around to impress anyone in earshot. At least if the land was called "Puh-tooie" it would be entertaining.

 

[mickEblu]

Frontierland is technically a desert but it doesn’t depress me. Why? Because you have the ROA and TSI as a backdrop. Music. Kinetic energy with the boats. A color scheme that isn't dominated by 2 boring colors that go on for 14 acres. Instead You have the reddish rocks. The landscape and colors get broken up and aren’t so continuous/ dominating as they are in SWL.

 

[Rich T]

Idyllic places in Star Wars are really hard to come by, and the more you lean into them, the less Star Warsy it feels.

That's why building SW Land as a single place wasn't a good idea. The land should just be a really dazzling, classy celebration of the franchise that captures in its architecture, music and sound effects the general look and feel of SW. A place that's appealing-looking and pleasant to be. NO ONE wants hang around in an intergalactic dump. Save the darkness, the villainy and the ugliness for the INTERIOR ADVENTURES ON THE RIDES. I enjoy adventuring among hairy, gross pirates on a great ride. I don't want to hobnob with them in New Orleans Square.

 

[mickEblu]

The first time I walked through SWL was the worst. I must have taken the most boring route into the land. It was peak heat at 2pm and we were herded in like cattle through the Critter Country entrance. I went though Big Thunder Trail West, Was blocked from going through the market place so I stayed on the main path. I passed what seemed like endless buildings with shut doors and windows right into the prison compound, the uninspiring First Order area. I didn’t run into anything remotely interesting until I got to the Falcon. Then made my way to Rontos and the bazaar which are two of the better areas in the land. Then lastly checked out the droid depot which at least has energy and R2D2. I also like the pod racers or landspeeders (?) next to the coke stand.

 

[mickEblu]

I enjoy adventuring among hairy, gross pirates on a great ride. I don't want to hobnob with them in New Orleans Square.

This really says it all.

 

[britain]

That's why building SW Land as a single place wasn't a good idea. The land should just be a really dazzling, classy celebration of the franchise that captures in its architecture, music and sound effects the general look and feel of SW. A place that's appealing-looking and pleasant to be. NO ONE wants hang around in an intergalactic dump. Save the darkness, the villainy and the ugliness for the INTERIOR ADVENTURES ON THE RIDES. I enjoy adventuring among hairy, gross pirates on a great ride. I don't want to hobnob with them in New Orleans Square.

I get your point, but 3 of the other Pirate rides out there are in lands that consist of pirate destruction and they’re mighty popular.

 

[rsm]

I honestly feel like any SW fan diehard enough to know that Batuu was not in any of the movies is enough of a fan to want to goto GE no matter what planet it takes place on.

And everyone else just doesn't even realize it's not a place from the movies. They see the TV commercial with the millenium falcon, stormtroopers, and tan domed buildings and they say "hey, that looks like Star Wars!".

I really think Disney got this one right. But time will tell. Either way, I'll betcha $5 one of these SW live action TV series shoots an episode on Batuu and then we'll have a more complicated argument.

 

[britain]

That's why building SW Land as a single place wasn't a good idea. The land should just be a really dazzling, classy celebration of the franchise...

So maybe more of a Hollywood Studios soundstage?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I honestly feel like any SW fan diehard enough to know that Batuu was not in any of the movies is enough of a fan to want to goto GE no matter what planet it takes place on.

And everyone else just doesn't even realize it's not a place from the movies. They see the TV commercial with the millenium falcon, stormtroopers, and tan domed buildings and they say "hey, that looks like Star Wars!".

I really think Disney got this one right. But time will tell. Either way, I'll betcha $5 one of these SW live action TV series shoots an episode on Batuu and then we'll have a more complicated argument.

I disagree with your opinion.
There's really 3 types of SW people.
Die hards of the originals, die hards of the new movies, and people that don't care about SW at all.
Disney is only enticing the new movies fans which I don't think is really that large of a crowd.

 

[Rich T]

I get your point, but 3 of the other Pirate rides out there are in lands that consist of pirate destruction and they’re mighty popular.

But they're colorful and lively and very "Disney Interpretation of Pirate Attack", right? At least in WDW and Paris.

 

[Rich T]

So maybe more of a Hollywood Studios soundstage?

Not soundstage. Think the Lucas Tomorrowland that was once proposed. With lots of attractions.

 

[shambolicdefending]

Chapek gets all the darts thrown at him, but ultimately it's Bob Iger's vision being executed. He views the theme parks more like a merchandising business, whereas most of us think of it as a creative production. I think almost every critique can be directly or indirectly traced back to that disconnect.

Whatever they do or don't invest in going forward, it will continue reflecting Iger's view until there's somebody new at the top that sees things differently.