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

GoofGoof

Premium Member
It could be people who are just that disappointed. Heck it could even just be different people having similar negative sentiments. If it bothers you that much, reply and make a counter. Put more positive stuff and repeat yourself if you have to. If someone feels that great about it then hey keep repeating how great it makes you feel, express just how excited it makes you feel.
It could be, but it’s not. He isn’t talking about everyone who says anything negative. There are a handful of posters who have repeatedly posted the same things over and over.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
My full review:

What I Liked:
- Seeing the full size Falcon in person was awesome and it was incredibly well executed
- The chess room of the Falcon, the hallways, and effect of going into the "only" cockpit was great
- The feel of the Falcon cockpit
- The ride experience (assuming they eventually get to multiple missions rotating in)
- The pilot positions both left and right
- Ronto Roasters
- Cantina execution (see size issue below)
- Light saber building concept
- The design of the marketplace walkthrough area
- Build a droid experience/conveyor belts


What I Did Not Like:
- The land feels abandoned, bleak, and depressing
- Tying it to the new characters vs. the original trilogy that built the brand/fan interest was a mistake (note nearly all of the selfies are in front of the Falcon and X Wing from the original trilogy)
- The lack of wandering characters, droids, bounty hunters, or anybody makes it feel lifeless, static, and cold
- The decision to present the few droids and vehicles they have as rusted and abandoned behind fences
- The intentional decision to not use the iconic music to create an immediate and powerful emotional connection to the land (like Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, etc.)
- The misguided attempt at "immersion" that lead to the poor choice to exclude the music (yes, I've heard all of the convoluted explanations, just a terrible creative choice)
- The misguided decision to not rely on several entertainment cast members throughout the land, but instead assume that union food, merch, and ride operators can instantly become professional improv actors and both take on characters and tell a story (so painful, it hurts to hear them try)
- The merchandise cast member trying valiantly to "act" in the light saber experience - Good Lord Disney, pay for ONE entertainment cast member when you're selling $200 lightsabers!
- The decision to use BEIGE as your signature color throughout the entire land
- The decision to not have prominent water features, shade, greenery, or "soft" features to offset the bombed out, abandoned feel of the area
- The decision to have majority of the buildings be windowless (which feel "closed") including the cantina to ensure zero atmosphere or energy in the area
- The incredible amount of closed facades, walls, etc. that lead to nowhere - except a sea of bombed out beige
- The insanely short sighted capacity issues for the cantina, which should have been the signature experience of the land outside the attractions - and with the Lamplight Lounge experience at DCA, nobody can say they didn't understand the draw
- Setting the land in a place that nobody has ever heard of, have no emotional connection to, and a place, frankly, I have no interest in going (vs. Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, etc.)
- The decision to create the lone incredibly animated animatronic figure of....Yoda? Chewy? Boba Fett? Vader? Jabba? Admiral Ackbar? Nope....Hondo! Whoever that is.
- The Falcon gunner and engineer positions
- The queue of the Falcon (with the exception of all of the views of the Falcon) was just another pile of junk with two "Bros" talking
- The "stalls" in the marketplace seem like a good idea but don't work for the merchandise or the shopping experience
- The idea people want "Batuu" merchandise vs. Star Wars merchandise
- Made up things that aren't in the Star Wars universe like "Good moons" are whatever the heck they say to you. It's not Star Wars and nobody cares about "Batuu". I don't know, how about "May the Force be with you"!
- Blue/Green milk - a sad and forced attempt at a Butter Beer phenomenon
- A complete lack of humor, whimsy, activity, emotion, and charm throughout the land - it's like the Bizarro Harry Potter Land

What I Am Hoping For:
- ROTR is amazing on all levels and lives up its scope/expense and makes everyone forget about the land's shortcomings
- They immediately fill the land with professional actors, droids, characters, bounty hunters, etc. to give the place life, energy, and activity

Overall, after the immediate thrill of seeing the Falcon and the newness of it all, the place just made me feel depressed vs. how I feel in the rest of Disneyland or at, in my opinion, the far superior two Harry Potter lands in Florida. I love just being "there" in both of those and I'm not even a Harry Potter fan. They both are just full of magic, whimsy, music, joy, and a celebration of the characters and that universe. YMMV
Just to be clear I wasn’t referring to you as one of those people, just responding to your post.
 

EPCOT-O.G.

Well-Known Member
- They immediately fill the land with professional actors, droids, characters, bounty hunters, etc. to give the place life, energy, and activity

This poses an interesting paradox. They’ve apparently underperformed so much that they are forced to cut labor in the hopes of breaking even/salvaging the costs incurred to date. But the very thing that many are suggesting would add some vitality to the land is a heightened labor cost!
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
This poses an interesting paradox. They’ve apparently underperformed so much that they are forced to cut labor in the hopes of breaking even/salvaging the costs incurred to date. But the very thing that many are suggesting would add some vitality to the land is a heightened labor cost!
Assuming the downturn in attendance is temporary they should have no problem ramping up spending when RoTR opens and the park is packed on a regular basis again. Whether that actually happens is yet to be seen, but it shouldn’t be prevented for economic reasons.
 

RobWDW1971

Well-Known Member
This poses an interesting paradox. They’ve apparently underperformed so much that they are forced to cut labor in the hopes of breaking even/salvaging the costs incurred to date. But the very thing that many are suggesting would add some vitality to the land is a heightened labor cost!

Yup. It's what is so odd about the land - it feels so "incomplete". As if they spent $100M on rock work you can't even see when you're inside the land (which is even more odd because you can see it from all over the park), but then cheaped out on the atmosphere entertainment to make the place come alive. (Realize there is a difference between capital budgets and operating expense, but you get the point).

And can someone PLEASE cut WDI's rock work budgets?! With Cars Land, Pandora, and SWGE - good lord, we get it! You can shape rocks! All of that spending can be so better used for more interesting/memorable aspects of these lands. How many Sleeping Beauty's Castle and Hogwarts could we have built with all of that rock work spending?
 
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mickEblu

Well-Known Member
OK, so is this seeming like another DCA 1.0? Kernel of a good idea, done a bit cheaply and imperfectly executed, that Disney will have to spend 4x more to fix?

I think the fixes can be done relatively cheaply. What does it cost to add a waterfall and some more greenery? It’s the ongoing commitment to entertainment and streetmosphere that can add up.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Man, people weren’t kidding when they said Chapek had cut the budget down for entertainment and streetmosphere. He didn’t cut it. He slashed it to the bone. What did he leave? The random First Order show, Ren/ Chewie and the 2 borrowed storm troopers From TL? So these morons thought folks were going to walk through a bustling Town Square, Main Street/ Hub and NOS and not notice the difference when they walk into SWL? SWL was supposed to have more of that stuff. Not less.

And is it just me or does Chewie not even growl?
 

SSG

Well-Known Member
Man, people weren’t kidding when they said Chapek had cut the budget down for entertainment and streetmosphere. He didn’t cut it. He slashed it to the bone. What did he leave? The random First Order show, Ren/ Chewie and the 2 borrowed storm troopers From TL? So these morons thought folks were going to walk through a bustling Town Square, Main Street/ Hub and NOS and not notice the difference when they walk into SWL? SWL was supposed to have more of that stuff. Not less.

And is it just me or does Chewie not even growl?
DON'T YOU SAY A BAD WORD ABOUT CHEWIE!
 

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