And so, how many of "THOSE" type of couples are out there.. and will drop 5K on this thing. No doubt, 10, 20 maybe 50.. maybe 200 couples.. and then after that?... The pool of candidates runs quickly out for this thing.
No argument here on that at all.
Watching one of the first clips on here today which showed the "grand" finale, my thoughts were first "cute and funny" and then, this feels appropriate for a theme park stage show where the stage wraps around or as an in-the land "experience" like what they've done with apparently varying success with Avengers' Campus... and what was rumored to have been cut from Galaxy's Edge.
It felt like theme park entertainment which would have sat well near the Indy stunt show; not quite as impressive as Lights, Motors, Action! but worlds better than TLM or BATB.
The problem I have is that the high point of a $5k+ "immersive" Star Wars experience probably shouldn't be something people want to describe as cute, funny, and good for the kind of entertainment one would expect to be included in the cost of a day at the Parks.
The Sabacc table game thing reminds me of the typically run-down low-roller gambling machines in Vegas casinos that appear to have been built in the 70's-80's for people that want to play games like blackjack, poker, etc. but don't like the idea of betting the $10+ minimums required to play at tables with live dealers.
That in particular, looks like an embarrassment compared to what the concept art showed.
Otherwise, there are things that look better and worse than I anticipated.
I've noticed a trend with many of the written reviews where they're always quick to point out that they got it for free (a good honest admission) and then when it comes down to if it's worth it, they get wishy-washy.
They're not exactly pushing it the way Steve and Len had concerns they might be but it's also pretty clear they don't want to directly say it isn't woth the asking price and instead, kind of default to the notion that it might be geared more to an audience that can afford it than them.
It's like they want to say it's great but don't really want to go on record of saying people should do it because they want to make Disney happy, probably did genuinely have a good time (plus one gave the impression they had access to a free open bar during their stay*) but also don't want to totally trash their own credibility if customer reviews start piling in after about how either it was crap for the price or that the day-to-day experience isn't as good as what these guys were given.
Up to this point, I take everything every reviewer has had to say with a grain of salt since there is nothing to suggest any of them are all that objective or that their experience will truly be typical for an average guest a month or two out. These people were getting what they were told would be a $5k+ experience for free which for many of the journalists, likely makes this one of the biggest free perks of their careers and it appears free alcohol was in play.
All that said, what I do believe is the footage the cameras captured. While that can be edited to look more interesting and dynamic in a 10 minute or even 2 hour run-down than in an entire 48 experience, it's kind of hard to lie with that. And to that I'll say,
overall, it all looks better than I was expecting up to this point.
I'm truly baffled why Disney's own promo videos did such a horrific job conveying stuff. It couldn't have been to save things and surprise guests since clearly, they let the media show everything so why not show off details like the plant behind the glass in a room or the
thing in a tank or other small nice touches that might have countered some of the internet chatter about how lame what they were showing was?
Why did they shoot that first video in hallways that apparently represented some of the most bland locations in the entire place? Instead of a crappy meme invoking video of the lounge singer, why didn't they interview her character and maybe show things like the alien with working head features and stuff like that instead of only showing the blue shirt folks like that was going to get anyone excited?
I still have seen nothing to suggest this is worth anything even remotely close to the asking price but it's clear that the suggestion of this being a (for someone like me) embarrassing LARPing experience was off-base. I know that might be upsetting for some but what I've seen from the media footage (aside from the line dancing lesson) at least makes me think I wouldn't be miserable if I were to get comped for something like this the way these people were.
Honestly, given what others around here were excited for it to be, I was of the opinion I would not have wanted to try this even if it
were free or included in park admission so however backhanded of a compliment as that may seem,
my view of it has at least improved.
Still very interested in hearing what real guests who haven't tied their identities to trying to defend their choice to book this think and feel about it after having experienced it. There will definitely be a lot of commentary in the coming weeks and just like Amazon reviews, most of the truth won't likely be found in either the 1
or 5 star reviews.
If it's
really worth the asking price, I hope it succeeds. If not, it looks like they've got some already paid for solutions on hand to address some of feelings of lifelessness in Galaxy's Edge.
*They don't directly say they were getting drinks for free but they make a comment about the drinks and then go on to say that those won't be included in the cost for paying guests which to me, implies they weren't paying and it's a lot easier to get cheers and enthusiastic crowds when they're a little ginned up while also making memories of the experience more positive - was Disney providing this crowd intergalactic beer goggles? Surely they're above such a thing, right?
