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

[Mickeyboof]

there’s a difference between misspelling words and writing in AP style on a disney message board but thanks for trying

lol good one

I forgive all misspellings and wacky punctuation on this board. I don’t even “forgive,” I just don’t care.

I only visit this website on my iPhone, which is seriously bugged. I have to manually capitalize all first letters of a sentence, spell check doesn’t work, and the backspace goes back two spaces instead of one.

I don’t care about your errors, and if you care about mine well then maybe sift through the whole board and correct the millions of silly errors.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

A Mandelorian Meet and Greet has been confirmed by Paul Southern of Lucasfilm as coming to the parks "in the near future".

Original quotes:
The Know: "There’s no question that “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge,” which opened inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2019, would make a great home to a real-life Mando — and perhaps even an animatronic Child. So when will these hotly-anticipated photo ops become a reality?"
Paul Southern: “So, the reality is that we feel it’s really important for our guests at the parks to be able to meet all of our key characters on a first-hand, personal basis. And so it’s something we’re working on. We think it’s appropriate, and I think it’s something the guests at the parks can look forward to in the very near future.”

 

[RobWDW1971]

.

A Mandelorian Meet and Greet has been confirmed by Paul Southern of Lucasfilm as coming to the parks "in the near future".

Original quotes:
The Know: "There’s no question that “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge,” which opened inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2019, would make a great home to a real-life Mando — and perhaps even an animatronic Child. So when will these hotly-anticipated photo ops become a reality?"
Paul Southern: “So, the reality is that we feel it’s really important for our guests at the parks to be able to meet all of our key characters on a first-hand, personal basis. And so it’s something we’re working on. We think it’s appropriate, and I think it’s something the guests at the parks can look forward to in the very near future.”

Excellent....and the dismantling of the ridiculous time/place lock continues....

 

[ProjectXBlog]

I forgive all misspellings and wacky punctuation on this board. I don’t even “forgive,” I just don’t care.

I only visit this website on my iPhone, which is seriously bugged. I have to manually capitalize all first letters of a sentence, spell check doesn’t work, and the backspace goes back two spaces instead of one.

I don’t care about your errors, and if you care about mine well then maybe sift through the whole board and correct the millions of silly errors.

i truly do not care either; i can barely spell my own name most days. i’ll buy you a blue milk sometime

 

[DavidDL]

Watch the Mando/Child photo op end up over in the Star Wars Launch Bay, haha.

-and if not, it still wouldn't technically undo the canon-ization of Galaxy's Edge.. yet. If anything, the only thing Mando/Child wandering around Galaxy's Edge does is stifle the creativity of the show makers because it pretty much would confirm the survival/lack of separation between those characters throughout the show up until the events of Episode 9 (who knows what the show makers will want to do with them in the end).

Unless the show's timeline ends up moving past the sequel trilogy at some point (which is possible now). Or as others have said, if they end up doing away with the time/place setting of Batuu, which in turn would undo some of the story telling of some Star Wars canon novels and films.

 

[ProjectXBlog]

Watch the Mando/Child photo op end up over in the Star Wars Launch Bay, haha.

-and if not, it still wouldn't technically undo the canon-ization of Galaxy's Edge.. yet. If anything, the only thing Mando/Child wandering around Galaxy's Edge does is stifle the creativity of the show makers because it pretty much would confirm the survival/lack of separation between those characters throughout the show up until the events of Episode 9 (who knows what the show makers will want to do with them in the end).

Unless the show's timeline ends up moving past the sequel trilogy at some point (which is possible now), or as others have said, they end up doing away with the time/place setting of Batuu, which in turn would undo some of the story telling of some Star Wars canon novels and films.

i have the feeling they will just do away with the “plot” of batuu after a while. they tried to make a cohesive timeline that GE fits into but more or less failed. i can imagine a future where characters from all trilogies are spread out across the land, maybe starting with random “weekend events” that eventually bleed over into full-time status to avoid thematic whiplash

 

[DavidDL]

i have the feeling they will just do away with the “plot” of batuu after a while. they tried to make a cohesive timeline that GE fits into but more or less failed. i can imagine a future where characters from all trilogies are spread out across the land, maybe starting with random “weekend events” that eventually bleed over into full-time status to avoid thematic whiplash

It's definitely a bit of a hassle for them. I enjoy it personally and think they did a good job but I can understand why the idea may not be sustainable in the long run. At this point, I too believe it's going to change inevitably some day, as well.

 

[Mickeyboof]

Watch the Mando/Child photo op end up over in the Star Wars Launch Bay, haha.

-and if not, it still wouldn't technically undo the canon-ization of Galaxy's Edge.. yet. If anything, the only thing Mando/Child wandering around Galaxy's Edge does is stifle the creativity of the show makers because it pretty much would confirm the survival/lack of separation between those characters throughout the show up until the events of Episode 9 (who knows what the show makers will want to do with them in the end).

Unless the show's timeline ends up moving past the sequel trilogy at some point (which is possible now). Or as others have said, if they end up doing away with the time/place setting of Batuu, which in turn would undo some of the story telling of some Star Wars canon novels and films.

I wouldn’t mind if the Batuu storyline continued, but there was some sort of un-canon list for those who care. It’s dumb, but an actual “This is Canon, This is Not For Those Who Care by Margaret Kerrison” definitive list would be fine by me.

Technically, I don’t think DJ Rex is canon. Rex was painfully and loudly omitted from the canon Black Spire book. Also, we suspend our disbelief when it comes to Coke and that Rey is wearing the wrong costume. We suspend our disbelief as Kylo Ren wears a mask he just destroyed.

If the Mandalorian’s schedule and path was such that he didn’t cross paths with Vi, Rey, Stormtroopers or the like, I think we as human beings can process this in a meangiful way that separates the stories.

 

[DavidDL]

I wouldn’t mind if the Batuu storyline continued, but there was some sort of un-canon list for those who care. It’s dumb, but an actual “This is Canon, This is Not For Those Who Care by Margaret Kerrison” definitive list would be fine by me.

I think they have this, since they de-canonized the EU when Disney took over the timeline split into "Canon" and "Legends". I guess they could list certain events or characters as "Legends" events if they wanted to.

Technically, I don’t think DJ Rex is canon. Rex was painfully and loudly omitted from the canon Black Spire book.

Technically he is, he even appeared in the Canon show Star Wars Rebels (at least, it hasn't been de-confirmed as him). The character in question is voiced by Paul Reubens.. so that might say all that is needed.

Also, we suspend our disbelief when it comes to Coke and that Rey is wearing the wrong costume.

Agreed, to an extent we MUST do this. Especially when you consider someone like Dok Ondar selling multiple copies of Vader's Lightsaber. There are certain actions/events that we have to just sort of overlook.

We suspend our disbelief as Kylo Ren wears a mask he just destroyed.

I actually do have a somewhat solid, in-universe head canon explanation for this, though the issue has admittedly not been addressed or confirmed by Lucasfilm. I think we all know the boring, "real world" reason why he is wearing the mask (easier and less expensive than a face character) but for anyone feeling nerdy/cruious enough to know my personal explanation, I made a post about it over on the Galaxy's Edge reddit. I can't imagine many people care, though.

If the Mandalorian’s schedule and path was such that he didn’t cross paths with Vi, Rey, Stormtroopers or the like, I think we as human beings can process this in a meaningful way that separates the stories.

Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of Legacy characters that could be added to GE without breaking the park's currently established canon, I totally agree with you there. I don't even think them crossing paths would be that big of an issue unless some future media that comes out directly contradicts it. Only time will tell where things go from here and it's not like they can't make changes if they see fit. They have erased events in the timeline before.

 

[Mickeyboof]

I think they have this, since they de-canonized the EU when Disney took over the timeline split into "Canon" and "Legends". I guess they could list certain events or characters as "Legends" events if they wanted to.



Technically he is, he even appeared in the Canon show Star Wars Rebels (at least, it hasn't been de-confirmed as him). The character in question is voiced by Paul Reubens.. so that might say all that is needed.





Agreed, to an extent we MUST do this. Especially when you consider someone like Dok Ondar selling multiple copies of Vader's Lightsaber. There are certain actions/events that we have to just sort of overlook.



I actually do have a somewhat solid, in-universe head canon explanation for this, though the issue has admittedly not been addressed or confirmed by Lucasfilm. I think we all know the boring, "real world" reason why he is wearing the mask (easier and less expensive than a face character) but for anyone feeling nerdy/cruious enough to know my personal explanation, I made a post about it over on the Galaxy's Edge reddit. I can't imagine many people care, though.





Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of Legacy characters that could be added to GE without breaking the park's currently established canon, I totally agree with you there. I don't even think them crossing paths would be that big of an issue unless some future media that comes out directly contradicts it. Only time will tell where things go from here and it's not like they can't make changes if they see fit. They have erased events in the timeline before.

I forgot about the whole Legends and Canon split!

I believe Batuu would be a perfect place to play with these two worlds. 99% of guests wouldn’t even know the difference of Legends vs Canon. Most people think baby yoda is in fact baby yoda.

I wonder why the book made every effort to omit DJ Rex from the Cantina. They only mention live performers in the bar.... maybe revealing of early concepts?

 

[DavidDL]

I forgot about the whole Legends and Canon split!

I believe Batuu would be a perfect place to play with these two worlds. 99% of guests wouldn’t even know the difference of Legends vs Canon. Most people think baby yoda is in fact baby yoda.

I wonder why the book made every effort to omit DJ Rex from the Cantina. They only mention live performers in the bar.... maybe revealing of early concepts?

You're right, most Guests probably won't notice or care.

Regarding DJ Rex, his Wookipedia entry says this currently:

"At some point, Rex crash landed on Batuu, where he was reprogrammed into a DJ by Mubo at the Droid Depot, and his appearance was slightly altered. Thereafter, Mubo gave the droid to Oga Garra to pay off a debt, and "DJ Rex" started providing the musical entertainment inside Oga's Cantina."

I guess this could have happened at any time.

 

[Phroobar]

I forgot about the whole Legends and Canon split!

I believe Batuu would be a perfect place to play with these two worlds. 99% of guests wouldn’t even know the difference of Legends vs Canon. Most people think baby yoda is in fact baby yoda.

I wonder why the book made every effort to omit DJ Rex from the Cantina. They only mention live performers in the bar.... maybe revealing of early concepts?

We would have so much fun if Batuu was in Legends. We could have the real Solo twins Jaina and Jacen battling it out after Jacen became a sith lord and killed his little brother Anakin. Mara Jade and her son Ben Skywalker could go on missions together. Grand Admiral Thrawn and Yuuzhan Vong aliens could be around. Luke/Leia/Han would be alive. Unfortunately Chewie had a moon land on him.

 

[Mickeyboof]

We would have so much fun if Batuu was in Legends. We could have the real Solo twins Jaina and Jacen battling it out after Jacen became a sith lord and killed his little brother Anakin. Mara Jade and her son Ben Skywalker could go on missions together. Grand Admiral Thrawn and Yuuzhan Vong aliens could be around. Luke/Leia/Han would be alive. Unfortunately Chewie had a moon land on him.

sorta sounds like what we have now.

who is Hondo again? Or Vi? Who is oga??

 

[Phroobar]

sorta sounds like what we have now.

who is Hondo again? Or Vi? Who is oga??

Kind of but Legends is better executed. However we got an cloned Emperor and Luke turning the dark side at one point.

 

[TP2000]

A Mandelorian Meet and Greet has been confirmed by Paul Southern of Lucasfilm as coming to the parks "in the near future".
Paul Southern: “So, the reality is that we feel it’s really important for our guests at the parks to be able to meet all of our key characters on a first-hand, personal basis. And so it’s something we’re working on. We think it’s appropriate, and I think it’s something the guests at the parks can look forward to in the very near future.”

Getting the Mandelorian into Star Wars Land is "something we're working on"???

So Mr. Southern admits that they feel it's "really important" for customers to see the Mandalorian in the parks. But his statement only seems to prove how bad Disney as a whole is at synergy, and how badly Mr. Chapek continues to manage the Star Wars Land experiences in the parks.

It's such a shame that no one from LucasFilm told anyone in the parks division that there was a big new TV show coming out called the Mandalorian with some really interesting characters that have tested well and that will likely be very popular with both casual and diehard fans.

Do they not have a working telephone system that can connect LucasFilm with WDI and TDA? Does Disney pay its Internet bill on time to keep the electronic mail system running between the various Disney divisions? Or was this whole Mandelorian thing a deep secret for the past two years that only Mr. Southern and a few folks at LucasFilm knew was in development?

Shh! Don't tell Disneyland! They'll just want to use it in their Billion dollar new land based on this IP!

If it's "really important" to you to have your newly minted Star Wars characters in the parks, why is there a six month lag between when the character is the hot trending thing with all the buzz that could help boost a struggling new land and when it actually arrives at Disneyland in that struggling new land?

 

[Mickeyboof]

Paul Southern: “So, the reality is that we feel it’s really important for our guests at the parks to be able to meet all of our key characters on a first-hand, personal basis. And so it’s something we’re working on. We think it’s appropriate, and I think it’s something the guests at the parks can look forward to in the very near future.”

So Mr. Southern admits that they feel it's "really important" for customers to meet the Mandalorian in the parks.

It's just such a shame that no one from LucasFilm told anyone in the parks division that there was a big new TV show coming out called the Mandalorian with some really interesting characters that have tested well and that will likely be very popular with both casual and diehard fans.

Do they not have a working telephone system that can connect LucasFilm with WDI and TDA? Does Disney pay its Internet bill on time to keep the electronic mail system running between the various Disney divisions? Or was this whole Mandelorian thing a deep secret that only Mr. Southern and a few folks at LucasFilm knew was in development?

If it's "really important" to you, why is there a six month lag between when the character is the hot trending IP that could help boost a struggling new land and when it actually arrives at Disneyland in that struggling new land?

Clearly their early 2000s modem can only handle a certain load of emails, and Pixar’s Onward marketing team is clogging the inbox!

 

[DavidDL]

I won't pretend to know what it takes or how the cogs turn when it comes to running the worlds biggest theme parks and studios but since it's a discussion forum I'll go ahead and venture my guess..

Disney obviously makes a ton of money but they also spend a ton of money. That money comes from all kinds of sources but it probably gets allocated all over the place. We're talking every employee at every park and studio, requests for repairs and upgrades to various shows and attractions, budgets for major motion pictures, the list is seemingly endless.

If each part of the company is given a budget to work within or needs to reach out to a certain individual higher than them (probably through a series of actions more than complex than we care to admit) via request for whatever they feel needs to get done.. requests and things that need to get done can probably get pretty messy or pile up in ways we can't even imagine. So while the addition of a costumed Mando character seems like a simple enough request, it, along with so many other requests (like maybe folks pushing for upgrades/maintenance to various attractions, changes to menus, or even something as small as new plants in the planter at whatever park they come from) are probably on a long, long Disney "consider and possibly do" list.

So while I'm certain Mr. Southern has probably put his request/idea for a Mando/Child character to wander somewhere in the parks out there, it may take a while for it to get approved and become a reality. Again, I know it doesn't seem like much at first to slap a guy into basically a Comic-Con cosplay and tell him to walk around and greet Guests but there is probably way more to it than any armchair Imagineer around here probably knows. Especially when you consider the possible long line of folks who are probably all asking for a piece of the proverbial piece of "Disney funds" pie being handled in the order of what they feel is important. Maybe Mr. Smith over in Tomorrowland upkeep has been asking to get his entry way repainted and the rocks removed for even longer now and they are just finally getting to it (-and even then, they couldn't spare enough to remove EVERY rock all at once). -and as a company who needs to keep making choices that will keep bringing money in to pay for seemingly small things like this, if the majority of Guests are not openly demanding the Mando/Child be walking around "immediately", then Disney probably doesn't see any pressing reason to get them in there ASAP, especially when it's going to be costing them money instead of making it during this time of them having two entire theme parks closed in Asia. They probably just don't see the value in investing in something like it.. yet, all things considered. If something pushes them in that direction, I'm sure that call will be made.

I think there are lots of cogs in the great big Disney machine that we don't account for or even know about as we sit comfortably behind our computer screens and tell this giant corporation how it should be running things. I'm not saying everything that they do is right.. some execs higher up probably shouldn't be in the positions they are and probably shouldn't be getting the giant bonuses that they do each year (which could be pooled back in to the company and be used to make more requests from folks become reality). But even with the additional funds you'd probably end up with endless tug and pull internally throughout the entire company.. Mr. Smith over in Tomorrowland is requesting that we get more plants into the planters while Mr. Johnson over in Florida needs money for his team to repair a static figure over on Dinosaur and needs approval to shutter the attraction for a month or two to make it happen.. or maybe Mrs. Whitley over in merchandising is asking for a modest financial investment for her new retro-inspired Disneyland line of tees while at the same time Mr. Akey in Burbank needs a piece of the pie to handle the increasing VFX costs brought on by the overtime work of Disney's latest animated film. The list goes on and on and on.

I'm certain we'll start to see more characters roaming around Galaxies Edge.. eventually. Once Disney reaches a point on their "to consider and do list" where they feel like they are satisfying the most possible parties both internally and externally. The issue of "is it priority?" is largely a subjective one without all the internal data in front of us. They may be content as a cucumber to bring in Mando at a later date given whatever they see in front them vs. what we as a relatively small fraction of hardcore Guests are seeing and demanding.

But I don't know. I'm just some guy posting about Disney parks while I should be focused on other things at work. I don't really know anything and could be totally wrong.

 

[Mickeyboof]

I won't pretend to know what it takes or how the cogs turn when it comes to running the worlds biggest theme parks and studios but since it's a discussion forum I'll go ahead and venture my guess..

Disney obviously makes a ton of money but they also spend a ton of money. That money comes from all kinds of sources but it probably gets allocated all over the place. We're talking every employee at every park and studio, requests for repairs and upgrades to various shows and attractions, budgets for major motion pictures, the list is seemingly endless.

If each part of the company is given a budget to work within or needs to reach out to a certain individual higher than them (probably through a series of actions more than complex than we care to admit) via request for whatever they feel needs to get done.. requests and things that need to get done can probably get pretty messy or pile up in ways we can't even imagine. So while the addition of a costumed Mando character seems like a simple enough request, it, along with so many other requests (like maybe folks pushing for upgrades/maintenance to various attractions, changes to menus, or even something as small as new plants in the planter at whatever park they come from) are probably on a long, long Disney "consider and possibly do" list.

So while I'm certain Mr. Southern has probably put his request/idea for a Mando/Child character to wander somewhere in the parks out there, it may take a while for it to get approved and become a reality. Again, I know it doesn't seem like much at first to slap a guy into basically a Comic-Con cosplay and tell him to walk around and greet Guests but there is probably way more to it than any armchair Imagineer around here probably knows. Especially when you consider the possible long line of folks who are probably all asking for a piece of the proverbial piece of "Disney funds" pie being handled in the order of what they feel is important. Maybe Mr. Smith over in Tomorrowland upkeep has been asking to get his entry way repainted and the rocks removed for even longer now and they are just finally getting to it (-and even then, they couldn't spare enough to remove EVERY rock all at once). -and as a company who needs to keep making choices that will keep bringing money in to pay for seemingly small things like this, if the majority of Guests are not openly demanding the Mando/Child be walking around "immediately", then Disney probably doesn't see any pressing reason to get them in there ASAP, especially when it's going to be costing them money instead of making it during this time of them having two entire theme parks closed in Asia. They probably just don't see the value in investing in something like it.. yet, all things considered. If something pushes them in that direction, I'm sure that call will be made.

I think there are lots of cogs in the great big Disney machine that we don't account for or even know about as we sit comfortably behind our computer screens and tell this giant corporation how it should be running things. I'm not saying everything that they do is right.. some execs higher up probably shouldn't be in the positions they are and probably shouldn't be getting the giant bonuses that they do each year (which could be pooled back in to the company and be used to make more requests from folks become reality). But even with the additional funds you'd probably end up with endless tug and pull internally throughout the entire company.. Mr. Smith over in Tomorrowland is requesting that we get more plants into the planters while Mr. Johnson over in Florida needs money for his team to repair a static figure over on Dinosaur and needs approval to shutter the attraction for a month or two to make it happen.. or maybe Mrs. Whitley over in merchandising is asking for a modest financial investment for her new retro-inspired Disneyland line of tees while at the same time Mr. Akey in Burbank needs a piece of the pie to handle the increasing VFX costs brought on by the overtime work of Disney's latest animated film. The list goes on and on and on.

I'm certain we'll start to see more characters roaming around Galaxies Edge.. eventually. Once Disney reaches a point on their "to consider and do list" where they feel like they are satisfying the most possible parties both internally and externally. The issue of "is it priority?" is largely a subjective one without all the internal data in front of us. They may be content as a cucumber to bring in Mando at a later date given whatever they see in front them vs. what we as a relatively small fraction of hardcore Guests are seeing and demanding.

But I don't know. I'm just some guy posting about Disney parks while I should be focused on other things at work. I don't really know anything and could be totally wrong.

I’m sure you’re more than right!

Our humor about the whole thing, I believe, is rooted in the fallacy that this whole theme park charade should be so complicated. So many managers and big meetings with out of touch suits who have no clue how to curate a meaningful exposition.

There should be a rush to “fix” bad creative decisions, but instead we get the “Disneyland social club gay and his socially awkward twink boyfriend” meet and great at identity crisis DCA.

 

[Mickeyboof]

Even Hasbro has managed to R&D an animatronic Baby Yoda (with pretty impressive movements and expressions!) in the time Disney has done..... nothing?

...Oh! But Disney did draw a cartoon Baby Yoda and print it on coffee mugs (something I could do in a matter of minutes on Zazzle.com)!

Gold star Chapek!

 

[DavidDL]

I’m sure you’re more than right!

Our humor about the whole thing, I believe, is rooted in the fallacy that this whole theme park charade should be so complicated. So many managers and big meetings with out of touch suits who have no clue how to curate a meaningful exposition.

There should be a rush to “fix” bad creative decisions, but instead we get the “Disneyland social club gay and his socially awkward twink boyfriend” meet and great at identity crisis DCA.

You and others are correct (at least, imo) about certain individuals towards the top being where they shouldn't be. I'm sure there are a lot of out of touch decisions and priority-type decisions being made but in other cases I believe there may just be more to it than we realize, maybe a simple answer to why a decision that seems so stupid may have come to reality. For example, the brothers from Onward becoming park characters may have simply been a contractual obligation, a forced hand if you will, that came to reality a long, long time ago when Disney and Pixar were signing up paperwork for the new film long before Galaxy's Edge even debuted.

As a former VFX artist, this sort of thing happened all the time. Contracts were signed and credits/decisions were made/carved in stone long before we would ever being work on a project. So, despite me being put on a project shortly after it started and working 16 hour days to get the next big Hollywood flop out on time, my name wouldn't even be considered for the credits, because the paperwork had already been signed.

Even Hasbro has managed to R&D an animatronic Baby Yoda (with pretty impressive movements and expressions!) in the time Disney has done..... nothing?

...Oh! But Disney did draw a cartoon Baby Yoda and print it on coffee mugs (something I could do in a matter of minutes on Zazzle.com)!

Gold star Chapek!

To be fair, Disney licenses this sort of thing out to folks like Hasbro and I remember reading that the second the popularity of Baby Yoda/The Mando hit, Disney gave them the brightest green light ever to start pushing out product as fast as they could. They even put out information saying, "Hey, we know how much you guys love this thing, we just wanted to let you know that we are moving Heaven and Earth to make sure there are products for you folks to buy!".

It is only just now coming out/hitting shelves and going up for pre-order. As a Transformers collector I can safely say that it certainly takes more time to get products like action figures, animatronics, playsets, etc. out because so much more work is involved (modeling, testing, manufacturing, etc.) than it does to say, get T-shirts pumped out with Bumblebee's face on it. I think that's why we've only been seeing such basic merch like Mando spirit jeserys, stickers and yes, coffee mugs.

Now, should Disney have known these characters would be more popular? Maybe. I don't know, I wasn't a part of any test focus group or know if they even had any. But I do know that Disney's Star Wars has been trying to be more cautious after the negative alien feedback they saw from the prequel era, so instead they tried to push droids like D-O. Instead, the internet fell in love with someone like Babu Frik. Wrong calls all around but certainly not something they were predicting.

I'm sorry to sound so boring. Yours and other posters sense of humor regarding these matters isn't lost on me and I really do appreciate it. I don't think Chapek belongs where he is right now. But I guess I just like to peel back the curtain and try to understand the method behind so much madness or why certain decisions are being made. Truth is, I'll never really know so maybe I should stop trying to wrap my brain around it.