News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
WoundedDreamer said:
This is an elephant in the room with Star Wars... The films are about a dystopic sci-fi future (err... past) where an oppressive empire dominates the lives of innocents. The environments in Star Wars are designed to show the social decay that occurs within oppressive regimes. Tatooine is an example of a planet that has been neglected and passed over by the Imperial government. Overtime this has created a vacuum of crime and degeneracy. The planets under Imperial control are dominated by a regime that is willing to kill, steal, and destroy to increase its stranglehold on the planets it governs. The installations of the imperial military are designed to demonstrate a cold and lifeless efficiency that will be ruthless in its quest for domination. One of the messages of Star Wars is that no one is safe from the regime. Naboo and the Cloud City are two examples of beautiful environments filled with people who want to be left alone. But ultimately, war is the outcome regardless. Why? Because evil will not stop at a few conquests or a little oppression. Eventually, the evil will come to your doorstep.

This is the problem with a Star Wars land. The world of Star Wars is not a place we're supposed to want to visit or emulate. They function as warnings. The films are inviting us to stop the evil empire from rising, address social problems and suffering before they metastasize into threats, and fight evil where it exists. The Star Wars world is different from Disneyland and Walt Disney's core ethos. Disney is about inspiring people to take chances and have optimism in the future. Star Wars is about a fight to bring balance to the force, in other words to root out evil and oppression until none is left in the world. Both have their place in the pantheon of great entertainment and storytelling. I love both of these different properties. But it's not entirely unsurprising that Galaxy's Edge is a little uncomfortable to be in. It's materially different from Disneyland and Walt Disney.

Of course... I might be overthinking this. 🧐;)🤣
Click to expand...

Valid point, but this should not have prevented the success of GE. I pirate siege on a town would not be a fun place to be in real life. A real old west town would probably not be a fun place for most people. A minority of people would be entertained by a trek through a real jungle. The magic of Disney is creating fun, idealized version of these things so people do enjoy them. This is what is missing from GE, a sense of fun.
 
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
Epcot81Fan said:
And Star Wars music. And characters from the actually popular, iconic films. And…..
Click to expand...

Thankfully, the Imagineers designed RotS to be easily skinned. There is very little inside the ride that actually hard ties it to the ST - they could easily change it over to the OT by: swapping out the helmets on the Stormtroopers, replacing the Kylo costumes with Darth Vader (they wouldn't even need to change the AA's out), switch Hux over to Tarkin, and replace the Rey hologram with Leia (the original intention to begin with). Boom, pretty much it.

If we are lucky, they would also rework the hangar scene (new heads on the AT-AT's) and add Luke, Leia, Han, 3PO, and R2 to the ride as AA's as well...but I'm not counting on that, LOL. I do think we will see the above at least, likely in the next few years.
 
RoysCabin

RoysCabin

Well-Known Member
James Alucobond said:
Most properties don’t have a Hogwarts analogue. The setting is really central to the narrative of Harry Potter, whereas Star Wars just hops planets regularly, with many being nondescript swamps, forests, or wastelands. The droids, vehicles, props, and costumes are much more central to the Star Wars identity than is any particular location.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's a more succinct form of what I was trying to say: Star Wars is not about the actual settings, so even if they did try to recreate some places from the original trilogy...would you really want to spend a lot of time in them? It's "desert world", "ice world", "forest moon", "city planet", "lava planet", "swamp planet", etc., and the locations you can remember tend to not exactly be very inviting - the Imperial ships are sterile, metallic, and cold, while places like Jabba's palace are dirty and filled with people who'd kill you for looking at them wrong. Each of these environments exist against a backdrop of conflict and oppression. How do you make an entire themed land/hotel/etc. out of that? Again, the one location I can see people wanting to experience in an immersive manner is the Mos Eisley cantina, and that'd just be something you can experience for an hour here or there for a meal and a couple of drinks...though it'd be hard to replicate all the weird creatures around since you'd need space for the (very human) guests.

To me, it's just why the whole "let's make an entire 'land' out of one property" idea is mostly a losing proposition unless you know you've got an IP on your hand that is capable of engaging all five senses (e.g. distinct views, tastes, scents, items, and sounds people will recognize and seek out) and can create a space in which people just want to spend time existing in, whether it's due to that "coziness"/familiarity factor I mentioned or because the overall pace and vibe of the environment it creates is welcoming. I'm not really a big fan of Pandora, but it at least meets some of that criteria; it's not hard to imagine someone seeing a place like that and thinking they'd like to see it firsthand. I honestly think Universal could expand their Simpsons area if they wanted to, and like I said I definitely think a Tolkien-inspired space like that would fit the bill. Star Wars...it doesn't really fit that as well, since the pace is meant to be a lot more frantic due to the constant threat of the Empire/crime lords/etc.

Of course, there's the bigger issue with these individual IP 'lands' - too many of them are just two rides, a couple food options, and then tons and tons of gift shops and markup options, but that's its own set of issues...
 
Tha Realest

Tha Realest

Well-Known Member
RoysCabin said:
Yep, that's a more succinct form of what I was trying to say: Star Wars is not about the actual settings, so even if they did try to recreate some places from the original trilogy...would you really want to spend a lot of time in them? It's "desert world", "ice world", "forest moon", "city planet", "lava planet", "swamp planet", etc., and the locations you can remember tend to not exactly be very inviting - the Imperial ships are sterile, metallic, and cold, while places like Jabba's palace are dirty and filled with people who'd kill you for looking at them wrong. Each of these environments exist against a backdrop of conflict and oppression. How do you make an entire themed land/hotel/etc. out of that? Again, the one location I can see people wanting to experience in an immersive manner is the Mos Eisley cantina, and that'd just be something you can experience for an hour here or there for a meal and a couple of drinks...though it'd be hard to replicate all the weird creatures around since you'd need space for the (very human) guests.

To me, it's just why the whole "let's make an entire 'land' out of one property" idea is mostly a losing proposition unless you know you've got an IP on your hand that is capable of engaging all five senses (e.g. distinct views, tastes, scents, items, and sounds people will recognize and seek out) and can create a space in which people just want to spend time existing in, whether it's due to that "coziness"/familiarity factor I mentioned or because the overall pace and vibe of the environment it creates is welcoming. I'm not really a big fan of Pandora, but it at least meets some of that criteria; it's not hard to imagine someone seeing a place like that and thinking they'd like to see it firsthand. I honestly think Universal could expand their Simpsons area if they wanted to, and like I said I definitely think a Tolkien-inspired space like that would fit the bill. Star Wars...it doesn't really fit that as well, since the pace is meant to be a lot more frantic due to the constant threat of the Empire/crime lords/etc.

Of course, there's the bigger issue with these individual IP 'lands' - too many of them are just two rides, a couple food options, and then tons and tons of gift shops and markup options, but that's its own set of issues...
Click to expand...
1) I think a land based around the most popular aspects of the IP with the same care and craftsmanship given to SWGE would be complete home run.

2) The “merch everywhere!” aspect of all this wouldn’t be a problem if the merch wasn’t bizarrely locked in-universe, and wasn’t also time limited to mid/late Sequel Trilogy storylines.
 
Rich Brownn

Rich Brownn

Well-Known Member
WaltsTreasureChest

WaltsTreasureChest

Well-Known Member
EPCOT-O.G. said:
1) I think a land based around the most popular aspects of the IP with the same care and craftsmanship given to SWGE would be complete home run.

2) The “merch everywhere!” aspect of all this wouldn’t be a problem if the merch wasn’t bizarrely locked in-universe, and wasn’t also time limited to mid/late Sequel Trilogy storylines.
Click to expand...
A pod racer ride would be so sweet, but we would never get one with the stupid sequel trilogy lock they set in
 
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
EPCOT-O.G. said:
1) I think a land based around the most popular aspects of the IP with the same care and craftsmanship given to SWGE would be complete home run.

2) The “merch everywhere!” aspect of all this wouldn’t be a problem if the merch wasn’t bizarrely locked in-universe, and wasn’t also time limited to mid/late Sequel Trilogy storylines.
Click to expand...
On #1 - the thing is, Batuu was actually an excellent idea. And the reason they chose to make it a new location was precisely because they could work in pretty much any Star Wars character into it, regardless of time frame. I believe the original intent was just that - to not have it locked in a time period, but at different times different sets of characters could appear. But just as you point out in #2, they decided to go bizarrely full in on the supposed "immersion" aspect, locking it in time and theme.

That sounded like a solid plan, in spite of the fact that I wish they had done otherwise, but in practice it has just turned out to be stale and off-putting, especially since they eliminated most of the "lived in" elements (droids, street shows, etc.) and just left the merch. Which I agree - it's a nice option, but really - a kid wants a cuddly little Ewok that looks like a baby Ewok, not some scary looking thing that looks like a well-meaning but not very talented grandma patched it together.

I almost understand how the films were mishandled in the Disney era, in spite of the fact that they could have been spectacular - but it confounds me how Disney so dropped the ball with the theme park aspect. My goodness, Super Star Limo and the Rocket Rods at Disneyland were pretty much the most embarrassing failures in domestic park history, and then The Star Cruiser came in and said, "Hold my beer..." to trump them all.
 
Robbiem

Robbiem

Well-Known Member
Rich Brownn said:
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. :) Also if Scrooge is Jewish, why is his nephew Christian? <I doubt he's supposed to be Jewish as the whole story revolves around him learning to embrace the spirit of Christmas)
Click to expand...
I agree people read far to much into too many things- I posted the link to give background to the previous post.
 
FettFan

FettFan

Well-Known Member
AEfx said:
On #1 - the thing is, Batuu was actually an excellent idea. And the reason they chose to make it a new location was precisely because they could work in pretty much any Star Wars character into it, regardless of time frame. I believe the original intent was just that - to not have it locked in a time period, but at different times different sets of characters could appear. But just as you point out in #2, they decided to go bizarrely full in on the supposed "immersion" aspect, locking it in time and theme.
Click to expand...

I was always wondering why they opted for an entirely new planet instead of going for one of the myriad of mentioned-but-never-seen planets from the movies. Iego, Malastare, Dantooine, Ord Mantell, Anoat, Sullust, Taanab, etc.
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
AEfx said:
On #1 - the thing is, Batuu was actually an excellent idea. And the reason they chose to make it a new location was precisely because they could work in pretty much any Star Wars character into it, regardless of time frame.
Click to expand...
Yes, Batuu as a location for Galaxys edge wasn't a bad idea. It was just poorly executed. They did a fantastic job on the rockwork, buildings and vehicles, they all look fantastic. And then proceeded to screw up just about everything else. From giving it zero exposure in your new movies outside of a name drop, to locking it into a set timeframe to the overall lack of any real atmosphere. It just wasn't what a lot of fans were looking for.
AEfx said:
I believe the original intent was just that - to not have it locked in a time period,
Click to expand...
If you watch the D+ show on the backstory of the attractions, they say it was planned to be the original films. But then during planning, they were told it needs to be in the new movie timeline.
 
el_super

el_super

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
The magic of Disney is creating fun, idealized version of these things so people do enjoy them. This is what is missing from GE, a sense of fun.
Click to expand...

I don't see how the fun of Galaxy's Edge is really all that different from the fun of Liberty Square or New Orleans Square. At least not as those lands were originally intended. Historical context. Colonization of a foreign land. Oppressive imperial oversight. The backstories and themes are pretty similar. I guess you could argue that the prior lands became fun over time as a lot of the reverence for historical accuracy/significance got washed out, but was that really a good thing? Does Galaxy's Edge need their own Muppet moment in order to be fun?


AEfx said:
I do think we will see the above at least, likely in the next few years.
Click to expand...

Why? Why spend all that money when it doesn't really change the ride? Or even really draw that many more people to ride? The rides are already pretty much running at max capacity every day.
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
el_super said:
Does Galaxy's Edge need their own Muppet moment in order to be fun?
Click to expand...
No, it needs a speeder/pod racer coaster, plus some background music with tie fighter sounds off in the distance plus some droids walking around. There's a lot they can do.
el_super said:
You think people want to buy Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader dolls instead? LOL no.
Click to expand...
Not if they look like they were made by some off world homeless person like what's there now.
 
G

GimpYancIent

Well-Known Member
erasure fan1 said:
No, it needs a speeder/pod racer coaster, plus some background music with tie fighter sounds off in the distance plus some droids walking around. There's a lot they can do.

Not if they look like they were made by some off world homeless person like what's there now.
Click to expand...
Have to agree with the idea of a speeder or pod racer or have one of each as additions to Batuu would be awesome! That would liven up the place an increase the guest draw. It will be interesting to see how guests do riding them after sucking down some blue or green milk. o_O
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom