Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Creatives Panel

[lazyboy97o]

Most the more objective "problems" with the land that widelyagreed upon are stuff related to the sharp pencil guys, not the creatives. Where is the interactivity? The live performances? Roaming droids and aliens? Drones? Where is the full service restaurant with entertainment that was promised. Those are things that pretty much everyone agrees is missing and it wasn't the Lucasfilm story group who left them out.

Creatives with theme park design experience should have know such elements were going to be an easy target for cuts and that they had almost no control over them remaining in place.

 

[doctornick]

This never would’ve happened if they would’ve based Star Wars land on a pretty and inviting planet that isn’t full of sand colored buildings, random junk and seedy shops... Yeah, it’s basically Tatooine.

I do love all the people who complain about Batuu being depression or run down or what and if only Disney had built a classic established location then all would be right in the world. Because Tatooine and Hoth and Bespin are such happy, fun filled places!

(The closest thing to an endearing place to visit would be Naboo and who the heck wants to visit there?)

 

[doctornick]

Creatives with theme park design experience should have know such elements were going to be an easy target for cuts and that they had almost no control over them remaining in place.

Sure. But that's a cynical way to look at it. And since the execs were allegedly pushing WDI to be as bold as possible with SW, it's not crazy for the creates to believe that for once in the modern era that the buget guys were going to allow as much "plussing" as possible and have it stick.

Nonetheless, I'd argue that having droids and aliens would be pretty fundamental to any proper Star Wars land. So, if the budget folks were just not going to let it happen, then you are dooming the land to being underwhelming from the start. I don't see how you can put that on the creatives.

I mean Universal could have said that it costs to much to have a dragon breath fire multiple times an hour or have moving features to store fronts. But they didn't and Diagon Alley is better for it.

 

[Kram Sacul]

I do love all the people who complain about Batuu being depression or run down or what and if only Disney had built a classic established location then all would be right in the world. Because Tatooine and Hoth and Bespin are such happy, fun filled places!

Bingo, although Bespin is kind of nice. Impossible to build in a theme park though. The bottom line though is that Disney did the right thing is placing GE in an unknown but very familiar setting.

(The closet thing to an endearing place to visit would be Naboo and who the heck wants to visit there?)

Weirdo prequel fans.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Sure. But that's a cynical way to look at it. And since the execs were allegedly pushing WDI to be as bold as possible with SW, it's not crazy for the creates to believe that for once in the modern era that the buget guys were going to allow as much "plussing" as possible and have it stick.

Nonetheless, I'd argue that having droids and aliens would be pretty fundamental to any proper Star Wars land. So, if the budget folks were just not going to let it happen, then you are dooming the land to being underwhelming from the start. I don't see how you can put that on the creatives.

I mean Universal could have said that it costs to much to have a dragon breath fire multiple times an hour or have moving features to store fronts. But they didn't and Diagon Alley is better for it.

It may be cynical but it is reality. The Wizarding Worlds are not a similar scenario but the opposite. They understand the importance of not relying on the whims of operations for the heart of the land. There have never been wondering wizards or magical creatures in the lands.

 

[RobWDW1971]

I do love all the people who complain about Batuu being depression or run down or what and if only Disney had built a classic established location then all would be right in the world. Because Tatooine and Hoth and Bespin are such happy, fun filled places!

(The closet thing to an endearing place to visit would be Naboo and who the heck wants to visit there?)

Or....not build just one location/time and build a creative theme park land that allowed all of the eras to be represented. Saying Battu or Hoth is a false choice. And about 2% of the complaints are about the specific beige, concrete abandoned movie set background. The issue is what they did with it.

 

[RobWDW1971]

It may be cynical but it is reality. The Wizarding Worlds are not a similar scenario but the opposite. They understand the importance of not relying on the whims of operations for the heart of the land. There have never been wondering wizards or magical creatures in the lands.

And yet the Harry Potter lands are filled with music, magic, and whimsy and have been universally praised and are not considered dull and depressing. It's about understanding the brand and it's in the execution.

 

[Mickeyboof]

It may be cynical but it is reality. The Wizarding Worlds are not a similar scenario but the opposite. They understand the importance of not relying on the whims of operations for the heart of the land. There have never been wondering wizards or magical creatures in the lands.

But there is a dazzling amount of kinetic energy to make up for it.

Don’t forget, all us guests at the wizarding world ARE the wizards. There are hundreds of robed wizards with wands doings spells.

At Star Wars, there’s just not, besides Rey and her two pals.

Galaxy’s Edge says to live out YOUR Star Wars adventure... but there’s nothing to do with your droid, lightsaber, and the costumes are outright banned.

 

[Jones14]

It may be cynical but it is reality. The Wizarding Worlds are not a similar scenario but the opposite. They understand the importance of not relying on the whims of operations for the heart of the land. There have never been wondering wizards or magical creatures in the lands.

Diagon and Hogsmeade do rely on Operations to fund performers, though; they don’t have much in the way of wandering characters, but they do have Tales, Celestina, Frog Choir, and the Triwizard Tournament.

If all that were cut, you’d feel the difference, which is the situation Galaxy’s Edge is in right now.

 

[Quinnmac000]

Diagon and Hogsmeade do rely on Operations to find performers, though; they don’t have much in the way of wandering characters, but they do have Tales, Celestina, Frog Choir, and the Triwizard Tournament.

If all that were cut, you’d feel the difference, which is the situation Galaxy’s Edge is in right now.

They have wondering characters now...

 

[lazyboy97o]

Diagon and Hogsmeade do rely on Operations to fund performers, though; they don’t have much in the way of wandering characters, but they do have Tales, Celestina, Frog Choir, and the Triwizard Tournament.

If all that were cut, you’d feel the difference, which is the situation Galaxy’s Edge is in right now.

You're talking about two shows per land that happen periodically. They are not all the heart of the lands or in any way similar.

 

[RobWDW1971]

Diagon and Hogsmeade do rely on Operations to fund performers, though; they don’t have much in the way of wandering characters, but they do have Tales, Celestina, Frog Choir, and the Triwizard Tournament.

If all that were cut, you’d feel the difference, which is the situation Galaxy’s Edge is in right now.

And turn off the music so you have awkward silence, take away everyone's robes, stop the waving of wands, remove all the owls, stop the frog choir, substitute the wildly popular butter beer with whatever blue milk is, shut down a ride with an incredibly immersive queue with a world class ride featuring every Harry Potter saga character, turn off the dragon, close up all the store windows so nobody can see inside, force the employees to say idiotic expressions that have nothing to do with the brand, and fill the restaurants with cargo containers and you are almost there.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I do love all the people who complain about Batuu being depression or run down or what and if only Disney had built a classic established location then all would be right in the world. Because Tatooine and Hoth and Bespin are such happy, fun filled places!

(The closet thing to an endearing place to visit would be Naboo and who the heck wants to visit there?)

They may not be happy, but they are not the heart of the Empire. The whole appeal of the Outer Rim Territories is that they are the Wild West. They exist outside the control of the central galactic government, be that the Republic or the Empire. They're design isn't much to look at, but that anarchy is their appeal and why everyone wants to set a Star Wars story in the Outer Rim.

 

[doctornick]

Diagon and Hogsmeade do rely on Operations to fund performers, though; they don’t have much in the way of wandering characters, but they do have Tales, Celestina, Frog Choir, and the Triwizard Tournament.

If all that were cut, you’d feel the difference, which is the situation Galaxy’s Edge is in right now.

And a talking goblin.

And I still go back to the dragon. The powers that be could have chopped off the dragon - either eliminated it all together or cut out the fire breathing. They could still eliminate the fire tomorrow if they felt it was too costly. Or only do it once an hour or once a day.

But they didn't. It's there and (IMHO) it's the best feature of the land. It would have been sad if the Universal Creative team just didn't bother to include it in the land simply because they were afraid of it being cut at some point. The designers should shoot for the stars.

I guess you can argue that WDI could/should have integrated aliens and droids into the land in a way that would prevent them from being eliminated once built - put them on second story ledges or in windows, etc. such that it would be tough or disruptive to remove them. But that doesn't help if said elements were never approved to be built in the first place.

And that doesn't even touch on performances. This is Disney and having live streetmosphere shows is a hallmark of the parks. It's not exactly crazy for WDI to expect to be able to perform shows on the platforms they designed and built specifically for that. Heck, DHS was already running March of the First Order and the Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away show - why would it be unreasonable for WDI to think they could and would put similar stuff in the land itself?

 

[Stripes]

And turn off the music so you have awkward silence, take away everyone's robes, stop the waving of wands, remove all the owls, stop the frog choir, substitute the wildly popular butter beer with whatever blue milk is, shut down a ride with an incredibly immersive queue with a world class ride featuring every Harry Potter saga character, turn off the dragon, close up all the store windows so nobody can see inside, force the employees to say idiotic expressions that have nothing to do with the brand, and fill the restaurants with cargo containers and you are almost there.

There are legitimate criticisms of the land and I‘ve highlighted many of them, but viewing every difference between the WWoHP and SWGE as a fault of SWGE is...a bit much. The land itself has great reviews. The Millennium Falcon ride has received a more mixed response.

 

[RobWDW1971]

There are legitimate criticisms of the land and I‘ve highlighted many of them, but viewing every difference between the WWoHP and SWGE as a fault of SWGE is...a bit much. The land itself has great reviews. The Millennium Falcon ride has received a more mixed response.
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Wow! 66 positive reviews out of the million people who have gone?!?! I stand corrected! It's clearly amazing!!!! Turn on the boarding groups on both coasts! When those 66 Google Maps reviews get out, the parks will be slammed!!!!

 

[Stripes]

Wow! 66 positive reviews out of the million people who have gone?!?! I stand corrected! It's clearly amazing!!!!

How do you think national polls work? You can also add the 140-ish glowingly positive 5-Star reviews of the land in Anaheim.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

They have wondering characters now...

Is this a nightly thing? When does it start?

I thought JK Rowling was totally against this idea?

 

[RobWDW1971]

How do you think national polls work? Have you ever taken a statistics class? You can also add the 140-ish glowingly positive 5-Star reviews of the land in Anaheim.

Hahahahahahaha...you're awesome. Thank you for making my night.

Everyone can go home now, 200 random unverified reviews on the internet have statistically confirmed SWGE is a resounding success that is loved by all! Nothing to see here, move along! Close the threads!

 

[Stripes]

Hahahahahahaha...you're awesome.

Not gonna lie, I get that a lot.

Everyone can go home now, 200 reviews are on the internet and SWGE is a resounding success!

Unequivocally, there are flaws in the present incarnation. But the problems are all easily fixable. Further, it would seem that the average guest really does love the land.