1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
only those that pay may go to outer space
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News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
"An evening with Jar Jar Binks"
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
I would pay for that
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
And you want it to happen in a pool too don't you?
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
Is there any other way to meet Jar Jar than in a pool? He is a Gungan afterall. He comes from a underwater city afterall.
AEfx
Well-Known Member
It's not that there isn't an audience - as we know, this will be sold out, at least initially, and I'm sure it will be incredibly hard to get reservations for some time. I think his point was - there isn't a huge "general" audience out there for this once the "die hards" have their fill - who want to spend $5-6K to sleep in basically bunk beds for two nights. The people that spend that kind of money aren't looking for this type of experience.
It's also that even among the "die hards", the cross-section of huge Star Wars fans who have the disposable income to spend a lot of money on it as a "hobby", the issue is that a large majority of that crowd does not spend on Sequel Trilogy stuff. There doesn't need to be a debate about the quality of the new films or not - it's just simple, hard economic fact. It is pretty easy to tell this because of the products that companies produce. They begrudgingly made Sequel Trilogy merch when the films were coming out, it all pretty much flopped, and as soon as the films were done they largely all stopped and went back to making more Original Trilogy stuff (with Clone Wars and limited Prequel stuff mixed in).
I could give many examples that prove this - but if you want to know what is popular among Star Wars fans, one good indicator of that is Sideshow products. For those that don't know them, Sideshow sells collectable figures/statues (basically dolls targeted to an adult audience) that sell for $200-$500+++ each. New ones every month. They are limited in number, and sell out regularly in presales, sometimes many months in advance. The audience that buys these is the audience who would spend $5K+ on this.
The last set of figures they did for Kylo and Rey that came out to coincide with the last ST film two years ago are still in stock. They actually are on the low end of the price range, too. You can buy them right now. They have been warming the virtual shelves. Yet, also right now, there are no less than 4 different upcoming Luke Skywalker packages up for pre-order, and some of them will easily sell out before they are even released. And let's not even talk about the constant demand for anything Darth Vader. It seems almost yearly that they come out with a new bust for $1000 (you can even get a new full-size Vader on pre-order for $8K right now - something they have such demand for that previous versions have sold out and they are offering it again this year).
I could go on...but needless to say, those super-fans who spend that kind of dough - just think of it this way - if you are going to dump this much money into Star Wars...would you rather have a 45-hour cosplay experience with arts and crafts themed around the sequel trilogy, or buy a life-size Darth Vader that will live in your house forever...
TLDR? = There certainly will be an initial audience, of absolute "I'll pay for anything Star Wars" - but even among them, as I noted above - it's only going to be a portion of that group - and then the "I like spending tons of money at things at WDW, mostly for bragging rights on social media" group...but beyond that? The future is very cloudy...
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
You are absolutely correct about one thing "The future is very cloudy..." Master Yoda was way ahead of you though "The Dark Side Clouds Everything. Impossible To See The Future Is." and "Difficult To See. Always In Motion Is The Future."
For people who think $6,000 sounds high. Just wait. In the 1977 to 1978 school year my tuition with room and board was $3,500. In 1980 to 1981 it was over $8,000. Today it is $45,700. That is inflation. In 1977 WDW tickets cost $6.00 plus ride tickets. Using an $18.25 cost for an 18 ride ticket book and saying that lasted over 2 days the per day cost was $15.12 a day. Now, comparing college costs to WDW tickets, they should cost $197 a day today, since college costs have gone up just over 13 times. Even just admission to the parks with no ride should cost $78 a day and anyone with an annual pass today is paying much less than that.
I'm sure there are a lot of fans of Kylo and Rey... but the vast majority of them are about 10 years away from getting a bank account, much less having thousands of dollars in disposable income. Maybe if Disney World is around 40 years from now?
(I'm surprised they don't have "Rey for a Day" or "Pretend Kylo" experiences for kids, a la the Princess boutiques.)
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
Damn. Well said.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
No one is a fan of Rey.
You can make a Rey Halloween costume out of a bedsheet, so I'm assuming there are at least some parents who are fans of Rey. However, that is not the audience Disney is going for here...
donsullivan
Premium Member
'No one' is an awful lot of people
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
Then explain to me why Rey merchandise does not sell well and sits on store shelves collecting dust?
Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
I have several of the Sideshow figures from the original trilogy and sequel trilogy (and Marvel).
I still balk at the StarCruiser prices. Those figures can cost hundreds, but I get to enjoy them for a long time. It's not the same thing as spending over a hundred dollars an hour for an experience that lasts a day and a half.
I'm also not convinced I'd really get into the role playing aspect. It's not just about whether or not one can afford something, it's whether or not it's worth it personally.
And to clarify, the Kylo and Rey figures for Rise of Skywalker were just released. They haven't been sitting on shelves collecting dust for two years. People bought Rey and Kylo figures from Sideshow tied to the first movie, and these will sell as well. They may not have sold out in advance, but that's hardly uncommon for Sideshow figures.
AEfx
Well-Known Member
At the risk of being obnoxious by quoting my own post, I thought I would share this video in case anyone thought I was exaggerating.
This is the one they did three years ago. Even though it costs 8 grand, the demand is high enough that they are reissuing it again. It's over 7 and a half feet tall...
AEfx
Well-Known Member
That's what my husband and I think as well. It mostly sounds stuff that, if it was happening in the parks in front of us, we would stand back and watch, and be amused watching kids/others do, but it really isn't something we would probably get into ourselves.
Got ya - sorry, my wording was also confusing - I was pointing out that the film they are based on was two years ago, I wasn't aware of how long they had been out. Thank you for the correction.
In any case, the point I was trying to make was that they are producing very little ST stuff compared to the OT and other eras - just mathematically, we know they keep producing over and over the characters that sell the best. One Rey or Kylo (and very few others from the ST) every couple of years, versus multiples each year of characters that they have been selling over and over for the past two decades.
It's not that there aren't some people out there who like ST stuff, it's that there are just many many more who spend money on everything but - though primarily OT, of course. Though the Clone Wars and to a lesser extent the PT itself, and of course the Mandalorian. I would bet a Bantha-sized wad of cash that in just a short time, in terms of merchandising, Manalorian has brought in more money than all 3 ST films combined in collectables - and if not, it will reach that point soon, we've only had 2 seasons.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
Incorrect, (not talking about sideshow but normal retailers) Rey and Kylo figures did not sell well for force awakens, that there were very few figures released for The Last Jedi, and there was no offical toy line released for Rise of Skwywalker. They were collecting dust on Target and Walmart shelves.
That makes sense from a marketing perspective though. High-end format figures aimed exclusively at collectors are naturally going to skew in popularity towards OT trilogy merchandise. The consumer base is going to be more familiar with and have a closer attachment to those figures by virtue of having grown up with them.
And that’s the same reason that Mandalorian enjoys such a strong fan base. It is based heavily on the OT characters, vehicles, locations, and all the nostalgia that comes with them. Filoni and crew know exactly what they are doing in that regard. It gets a big boost in popularity simply from the benefit of association. Even though these are new characters, in a way, we’re already familiar with them as a result of everything being so closely tied to the original trilogy.
But none of that means the ST characters aren’t popular. They simply haven’t had the benefit of 40+ years of additional media, merchandise, and literature to evolve the characters and build their fan base and popularity. A quick scan of Amazon shows numerous listings for Rey with high ratings and feedback responses, and Sideshow even has a new premium Rey in the works. So fans are definitely out there buying it.
There was an official Rise of Skywalker line released as part of the Vintage collection, just like every movie since the original Star Wars.
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ChrisFL
Premium Member
I'm a fan of Rey....wait, I'm a fan of Daisy Ridley, not Rey...carry on