News Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Disneyland opening reports/reviews

[Disney Analyst]

FYI Canadian friends, one needs a passport to be served.

I guess it feels good to be denied service at 32!

And the bar tenders were reasonably nice about it, even if I was a bit argumentative.

Wait a moment. You’re Canadian?

One time I went to the jazz bar(?) on the boardwalk and couldn’t get in as I didn’t carry my passport with me...

 

[waltography]

I'm sure it's already been mentioned before, but I still find it very interesting how much more colorful WDW's Galaxy's Edge seems to be compared to ours. I wonder why the difference.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I'm sure it's already been mentioned before, but I still find it very interesting how much more colorful WDW's Galaxy's Edge seems to be compared to ours. I wonder why the difference.

View attachment 400444 View attachment 400446

It's simple. it is due to the weather and the geographical location of the lands in each park in relation to the sun.

 

[BrianLo]

As a fellow 32 year old Canadian I'll have to keep this in mind! If I read correctly they accept Nexus passes as well?

Glad to hear you enjoyed the land as well, I'll be at DHS in late October to check it out and am doing my best to be open minded and tempering expectations.

Actually I looked it up after and they indeed will take a mobile photo of your passport + secondary physical ID (which I had but they didn’t think that was enough and I didn’t know the actual policy). I just don’t like dragging around my passport if it can be avoided. They also accept Nexus, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that also confused them.

I actually was served the previous day when I wasn’t ID’d.

This I guess is a Disney thing in general, but I don’t recall ever being asked for my passport at DCA.

Have fun!

 

[LanceQ]

I really don’t think there’s any reason to debate it anymore -

Because not everyone agrees with you.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Going back on-topic, and to the reason @wdwmagic started this thread...

I finally experienced SWGE yesterday. So much has been written that I don’t think anyone needs a massive essay from me, but here’s a list of pros and cons IMHO:

Pros

1. SWGE looks like a legit movie set, and the initial impression is WOW even when you already know about its faults.

2. The queue for Smuggler’s Run is impressively faithful to the movies, even though you can sense the layout has been tweaked for the theme park queue.

3. The Cantina’s theming is superb.

4. Kudos to Disney for trying something new. WDI tried and gets an A for effort on the conduct card.

Cons (you can see where this is going)

1. The faithfulness to a strict storyline/place/etc. sounds great on paper and makes online fanboys get goosebumps with excitement, but in reality, it’s silly and doesn’t work. Tourists in modern clothes are walking around because SWGE is a make-believe place in a theme park. The refusal to acknowledge this fact gives the land a sense of being a playground for neckbeard weirdos who live in their parents’ basements.

Chapek helped develop the rules for this, and they are strange. Don’t acknowledge the fireworks. Don’t sign autograph books (I saw some very upset kids). Use cutesy phrases instead of plain English for simple needs. We’ve been told this was intended to replace entertainment (my point #3), but as a day guest, you don’t know that. You only know it feels wrong. These factors don’t feel like you’re in a different world, because you already know you’re not; and there are enough thematic disconnects to stop you from suspending disbelief (more on that in point #2).

At times, SWGE felt like boring cosplay on an expensive movie set.

2. The land lacks Star Wars creativity because it is permanently locked to a depressing, war-torn, third-world location. Disney cannot add attractions from throughout the SW universe because they didn’t build an all-encompassing SW land like the traditionally vague, inclusive themes of typical Magic Kingdom lands. Fantasyland can hold anything from European storybooks, regardless whether the setting is England, France, Germany, Italy, or Holland.

WDI built Batuu. Period. If something doesn’t fit into the Batuu storyline, it doesn’t get built.

3. With no entertainment, no music, and few “realistic” (i.e. diagetic) sound effects, the land is curiously quiet and feels unfinished. Sure, we’ve heard the excuses that this is supposed to make the place feel more realistic, but in a land of tourists in shorts and tees, you already know you’re not really on Batuu. The entertainment, music, etc. HELP suspend disbelief because it gives your brain audio/visual cues to believe in. Sound effects sound like that and nothing more.

4. OT should’ve been used. People have already talked about this. Screw Disney’s plans for synergy, new movies, etc. The public knows and loves the OT, and has done so for over forty years. The OT has a nostalgic connection; Batuu does not. With its marketing machine, Disney will manufacture nostalgia for the new films over the coming years, but that doesn’t mean they’re more popular than the OT right now. And as toy sales have repeatedly proven, they’re not.

5. Every single complaint about the placemaking and physical aspects is right. Closed doors lead to nowhere, emphasizing you’re on a movie set. The Cantina (I got in!!!) is tiny. I asked my friend, “How many idiots approved this minuscule space for a theme park?” Once you know it was intended to be the lobby for a larger restaurant, the stupidity is even more frustrating. The stores are too small for comfort. The walkways are huge, and the land feels like it’s full of empty space. Speaking of stores...

6. The exclusive merch is far too overpriced for plastic junk. The build-your-own lightsabers and plastic droids cost too much for what they are. The lightsabers aren’t close to what you’d get for a similar price from existing replica shops. The droids are basic remote-controlled vehicles that probably cost $20 wholesale.

7. Blue milk is awful and the food was mediocre. I didn’t order anything alcoholic.

8. In Disneyland, the worst offense is that SWGE doesn’t feel like DL. The scale is wrong, the theme is depressing, the Batuu location is too specific. If this had been built at DCA or DAK, many of these issues wouldn’t be a problem; look at the poverty-stricken realism of Africa and Asia at DAK. They work in the park’s context; they’d be out of place in the MK.

Yet at Disney’s most charming theme park it’s ever built, SWGE has zero charm and feels like design by committee.

I’m sure this won’t be a problem at DHS in Florida because DHS isn’t the MK.

9. The interactive elements simply translate some crap that doesn’t matter and make lights blink. That is, that’s what they do if the app actually loads and connects to the network. The app sucks, btw.

10. Since I was not the pilot for two rides on Smuggler’s Run, I had a subpar experience, and I also asked my friend how this was never mentioned in any of the ride tests. Why make an attraction that only one rider can look forward and see from beginning to end? Again, this is one of those head-scratching decisions to make everything hyper realistic—but it’s stupid. The decision-makers drank the Kool-Aid through every planning, testing, and adjustment phase.


Bottom line: weird creative decisions, mostly made to shill the new movies and lock the entire land into a single storyline, make SWGE feel more like a movie set into a third-world country, and less like an exciting visit to a galaxy far, far away.

But I do think WDI can fix most of the problems! Add rooms to the Cantina. Add OT elements to get out of the silly, locked-down Batuu storyline. Add music and entertainment — FUN entertainment that doesn’t depend on Stormtroopers or Emo-Villain-Kylo’s threats.

It will never be the Tatooine, Bespin (Cloud City), or Ewok Village that fans wanted to visit, but Batuu can be better than it is.

After I left the land, I rode HM to cleanse my palate.

I’m in the same ballpark...they should just retheme it now and get it over with. After they tar and feather the idiots that decided to rename “rebellion/alliance”’and “empire”...of course.

Great review. What did you think of the Falcon?

I thought it was fun...then rode it again and realized it had near zero repeat value.

Boy...ain’t that a problem in Disneyland??
And maybe even the fools in Florida might notice (who am I kidding? )

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

That was part of Lucas' original intent and aesthetic for SW. "The future should look used." It was actually a pretty ground-breaking notion at the time and it's why Tatooine looks like a sh*thole in ANH.

Having a junky-looking droid is pure Star Wars.

...but this ain’t 1978...or 1998...or 2014...

You follow?

Disney biggest Star Wars mistake is not paying close enough attention to THE mistakes.

The “narrative” now is that Star Wars fans are just a bunch or impossible to please malcontents.

I actually agreed with that for about 20 or so years...but recently I realized that I am wrong and so is Disney...George...

It just takes decent characters and a plausible, coherent story. That was what the OT was even with the ewoks. You didn’t have to roll your eyes too much and it was shot on a grand scale.

Disney has not only reduced the scale...they haven’t bothered with the characters at all.

Eventually someone will shoot a movie that tries to capture the spirit with basic story elements...not lens flare and “pacing”...

Somehow the fog will clear...I hope

 

[TROR]

Because not everyone agrees with you.

You don’t have to like or dislike the land to see it’s not a success.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

You don’t have to like or dislike the land to see it’s not a success.

It’s not easy to figure out why though. If the land had the droids, the actors, the stunt show, and even the restaurant and c ticket would it be a huge success right now? I’m not sure.

If the same land had opened up without the insane price hikes we’ve recently seen....

If the land had opened with both attractions....

So many questions.

 

[mickEblu]

It’s not easy to figure out why though. If the land had the droids, the actors, the stunt show, and even the restaurant and c ticket would it be a huge success right now? I’m not sure.

If the same land had opened up without the insane price hikes we’ve recently seen....

If the land had opened with both attractions....

So many questions.

I think a bit of all 3 but if I had to rank them I’d say ...

1. Chapeks cuts

2. ROTR being down (DL fans get excited about stuff like Tropical Hideaway so they would have been fine with SWL with only Falcon for the time being if it had all the other stuff)

3. Price Hikes ( DL fans spend crazy amounts of money in merch, hard ticket events etc. I’m not sure I buy the narrative that the price hikes all of a sudden coincidentally scared everyone away.


Then of course there are also the aggressive AP blackouts which I would probably put at either 2 or 3.

 

[Phroobar]

I think a bit of all 3 but if I had to rank them I’d say ...

1. Chapeks cuts

2. ROTR being down (DL fans get excited about stuff like Tropical Hideaway so they would have been fine with SWL with only Falcon for the time being if it had all the other stuff)

3. Price Hikes ( DL fans spend crazy amounts of money in merch, hard ticket events etc. I’m not sure I buy the narrative that the price hikes all of a sudden coincidentally scared everyone away.


Then of course there are also the aggressive AP blackouts which I would probably put at either 2 or 3.

And the fact the internet for four years has been warning people to stay away to due massive crowds. People stayed away and the crowds never materialized.

 

[LanceQ]

...but this ain’t 1978...or 1998...or 2014...

You follow?

Disney biggest Star Wars mistake is not paying close enough attention to THE mistakes.

The “narrative” now is that Star Wars fans are just a bunch or impossible to please malcontents.

I actually agreed with that for about 20 or so years...but recently I realized that I am wrong and so is Disney...George...

It just takes decent characters and a plausible, coherent story. That was what the OT was even with the ewoks. You didn’t have to roll your eyes too much and it was shot on a grand scale.

Disney has not only reduced the scale...they haven’t bothered with the characters at all.

Eventually someone will shoot a movie that tries to capture the spirit with basic story elements...not lens flare and “pacing”...

Somehow the fog will clear...I hope

Um, I have literally no idea what you're saying here.

Talk about a fog...

 

[mickEblu]

And the fact the internet for four years has been warning people to stay away to due massive crowds. People stayed away and the crowds never materialized.

Yup this too and I forgot to mention the Falcon ride experience being a little underwhelming.

EDIT: but you would think these people got the hint after the first few weeks of their being no crowds.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Um, I have literally no idea what you're saying here.

Talk about a fog...

I don’t expect anyone to know anything about references or history....so no foul

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

And the fact the internet for four years has been warning people to stay away to due massive crowds. People stayed away and the crowds never materialized.

IF the Star Wars fanbase existed in the droves that it once did (the type of fans...not so much the number of casuals)...then the price and crowds would not have mattered.

It’s like Iger and Kathy Kennedy were asleep from the mid 90’s through 2010?

“Rip Van Tanning Booth”

 

[Snow Queen]

And the fact the internet for four years has been warning people to stay away to due massive crowds. People stayed away and the crowds never materialized.

Disney looked at how they handled the opening of Disneyland Paris and went "yeah, let's do that again."

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Disney looked at how they handled the opening of Disneyland Paris and went "yeah, let's do that again."

...I just shot Starbucks.

You win

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Was it partially advertising too? I mean they advertised Pixar Pier more than Star Wars it seems.

 

[Phroobar]

IF the Star Wars fanbase existed in the droves that it once did (the type of fans...not so much the number of casuals)...then the price and crowds would not have mattered.

It’s like Iger and Kathy Kennedy were asleep from the mid 90’s through 2010?

“Rip Van Tanning Booth”

I think that is true. It's like when they rereleased Episode 1 in 3D and flooded the toy stores with released products and new stuff. All of that collected dust since the collector market isn't there anymore. I even still know of a RiteAid that has a figure from that wave. It's been there for over ten years!

 

[SSG]

From Star Wars.com:

AUGUST 21, 2019

GET TO KNOW THE WORLD OF STAR WARS: GALAXY’S EDGE IN THE STARWARS.COM DATABANK

LEARN ALL ABOUT OGA GARRA, DOK-ONDAR, AND OTHER CHARACTERS, SHIPS, AND LOCATIONS BEFORE YOU STEP INSIDE BLACK SPIRE OUTPOST.
Few have seen Oga Garra, the notorious crime boss, in the flesh, but today StarWars.com has captured an image of the elusive owner of Oga’s Cantina on Batuu.



As she remains hidden, don’t expect (or even wish) to cross her path if you make your way to Black Spire Outpost inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the new themed land inside Disneyland Resort and opening August 29 at Walt Disney World Resort. But through the official Databank, we’ve collected some helpful intel to help you navigate this strange new world on the Outer Rim with a primer on some of its most notorious inhabitants, noteworthy ships, and local hotspots.



Inside Oga’s Cantina, the music isn’t provided by a live band but rather by a familiar former pilot. DJ R-3X spins the latest hits from around the galaxy.



In contrast to his neighbor, Dok-Ondar has a prominent role at his shop, Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, where the Ithorian patiently waits for those of refined taste to stop in and negotiate a deal for his rare and sought after merchandise.



Hondo Ohnaka, the Weequay pirate who was known for kidnapping Jedi during the Clone Wars and working to take down the Empire in the early days of the Rebel Alliance, has reinvented himself once more with Ohnaka Transport Solutions, a perfectly legitimate business, we’re sure. Although he has his own ship, the Katooni, when he’s hiring a new crew for a gig he prefers to borrow someone else’s hunk of junk for the job, including the Millennium Falcon.

Strono “Cookie” Tuggs once held the title of head chef at Maz’s castle on Takodana. But after the First Order arrived, he left to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning his own restaurant and travelled to Batuu to open Tuggs’ Grub, an exotic eatery located inside a modified Sienar-Chall Utilipede Transport.



The conflict between the Resistance and the First Order has recently come to this far-flung planet, and visitors will no doubt see the first seeds of the struggle. Keep an eye out for Vi Moradi, who has traveled to Batuu under the orders of General Leia Organa, and a Resistance Intersystem Transport Ship (I-TS) as well as an assault shuttle, the First Order TIE echelon and the First Order Short-Range Evacuation Vehicle, or SREV for short.