News Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge - Historical Construction/Impressions

[Curious Constance]

Even more from our favorite lady blogger today, who I assume has finished all her Christmas shopping and can spend time bringing us cool stuff like this...

Have you finished purchasing all of the bobbles and trinkets for you're friends and family?

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Is the Mickey & Friends parking structure still visible from ROA?

 

[No Name]

They're so confined by their own canonity that they can't even include many important things from the original trilogy. What's a Star Wars Land without any Darth Vader? Or Yoda? People are going to expect to be able to see certain things and may be disappointed that they cannot. At some point, they have to stop bowing before the superfans to appeal to the general public.

I don't think they're striking the right balance.

 

[britain]

They're so confined by their own canonity that they can't even include many important things from the original trilogy. What's a Star Wars Land without any Darth Vader? Or Yoda? People are going to expect to be able to see certain things and may be disappointed that they cannot. At some point, they have to stop bowing before the superfans to appeal to the general public.

I don't think they're striking the right balance.

You think it's the superfans that would prefer Kylo Ren rather than Darth Vader? Not the general audience (and their children for whom Star Wars is a new thing) that's breaking box office records these days? I'm not following your logic.

 

[TROR]

You think it's the superfans that would prefer Kylo Ren rather than Darth Vader? Not the general audience (and their children for whom Star Wars is a new thing) that's breaking box office records these days? I'm not following your logic.

Star Wars (1977) has existed for 40 years and generations have been raised on it. It's considered a movie classic. The film is undeniably iconic around the world. Empire Strikes Back is praised as one of the greatest sequels all time. Return of the Jedi is good.

The Force Awakens was divisive, although I love it, and has only been out two years. The Last Jedi still isn't even out for another few hours at the time of posting this. We have no idea what Episode IX will even be called yet.

While yes, The Force Awakens did gangbusters, and The Last Jedi will probably do the same, the prequels did pretty well financially but they did not hold up at all. Imagine if Disney had started construction on a land themed to the prequel trilogy in 2000 and opened it in 2004? It'd have been a huge mistake. While I don't think the new trilogy will be hated like the prequels were, it feels like they're putting the cart in front of the horse a little bit. I'm all for risks, but unless the next two movies in the trilogy are praised higher by the general public than the Original Trilogy, then they're just playing it stupid imo.

 

[britain]

Star Wars (1977) has existed for 40 years and generations have been raised on it. It's considered a movie classic. The film is undeniably iconic around the world. Empire Strikes Back is praised as one of the greatest sequels all time. Return of the Jedi is good.

The Force Awakens was divisive, although I love it, and has only been out two years. The Last Jedi still isn't even out for another few hours at the time of posting this. We have no idea what Episode IX will even be called yet.

While yes, The Force Awakens did gangbusters, and The Last Jedi will probably do the same, the prequels did pretty well financially but they did not hold up at all. Imagine if Disney had started construction on a land themed to the prequel trilogy in 2000 and opened it in 2004? It'd have been a huge mistake. While I don't think the new trilogy will be hated like the prequels were, it feels like they're putting the cart in front of the horse a little bit. I'm all for risks, but unless the next two movies in the trilogy are praised higher by the general public than the Original Trilogy, then they're just playing it stupid imo.

Right, but they've hedged their bets by making the new films (and the land) feel like the old trilogy. And by really sweating the quality of the new films. Worst case scenario, Last Jedi is a dud (unlikely) and everything in this new era of Star Wars gets marked by the public as lame. What to do? Swap out the dish on the Millennium Falcon, replace Stormtrooper helmets, and change out Kylo for Vader. Not a big risk. It's not like they are building a large Gungan City right before Episode I premieres.

And the upside of the risk is that guests get to play in the era of Star Wars that's most relevant now.

 

[Phroobar]

Each trilogy has it's generation of fans. The 40+ year olds have the original trilogy, the 20+ year olds have the prequels. This land is based on the current trilogy for the 8+ year olds. Episodes 7,8,9 are for the kids not their parents.

Besides, The Force Awakens replaced Avatar as the top grossing movie of all time. I bet in the next few weeks the Last Jedi does the same.

 

[No Name]

You think it's the superfans that would prefer Kylo Ren rather than Darth Vader? Not the general audience (and their children for whom Star Wars is a new thing) that's breaking box office records these days? I'm not following your logic.

It's the superfans that would prefer the land stick to one trilogy or the other and exclude popular Star Wars elements either way for the sake of canonity.

Many regular people would want everything they most associate with Star Wars, which differs across generations, but includes Darth Vader for sure.

In my opinion.

Besides, The Force Awakens replaced Avatar as the top grossing movie of all time.

No it didn't.

 

[Disney Irish]

It's the superfans that would prefer the land stick to one trilogy or the other and exclude popular Star Wars elements either way for the sake of canonity.

Many regular people would want everything they most associate with Star Wars, which differs across generations, but includes Darth Vader for sure.

In my opinion.

What I expect to see is that over time you will see elements from the OT being sprinkled in the land on both coasts. You'll get the Darth Vader, Yoda, Luke, Leia, Han, etc references in all parts of the land.

 

[TROR]

Seeing how much better Star Tours is when it focuses on a single time frame than when it travels all over the place, having SWL be set over multiple time periods would be a big mistake imo

 

[BrianLo]

They're so confined by their own canonity that they can't even include many important things from the original trilogy. What's a Star Wars Land without any Darth Vader? Or Yoda? People are going to expect to be able to see certain things and may be disappointed that they cannot. At some point, they have to stop bowing before the superfans to appeal to the general public.

I don't think they're striking the right balance.

Where did this comment suddenly come from? Not that it's not an interesting topic, but seems a little out of the blue.

(Edit: Oh I see someone else ran the Pixar Pier thread off-topic. Ha ha makes sense now.)

There were always two takes to the product, there is the Harry Potter take, the variable who's who of characters and a literal step into the movies at a specific time-point. Or there is the Pandora take - eschew the characters and build something specific to the park.

Both have their merits, the second is better for fans of themed entertainment and maintaining a sense of thematic congruity for the parks. The first is great when there are very, very specific moments or locales that people want to step into. I like both, but in some sense Gringott's is burdened by the need to include Potter characters. I think the new attractions they have on order will only worsen this situation.

Plan A - back in the Toontown days was what you mention. Meet Vader, meet Yoda, recreate a moment from the movie (bike coaster through Endor).

Plan B - create a new product and expand the bounds of the universe is what we are getting.

I think this is a slightly higher form of art, even if you can't meet Vader and Kylo at the same time.

 

[Phroobar]

Its just a theme park. You can meet Darth Vader and Kylo Ren at the same time. You meet Darth Vader and Darth Maul at the same time in the Jedi Academy. Whats the difference?

 

[TROR]

Its just a theme park. You can meet Darth Vader and Kylo Ren at the same time. You meet Darth Vader and Darth Maul at the same time in the Jedi Academy. Whats the difference?

Jedi Academy doesn't sell itself has hoghly themed.

 

[Disney Irish]

Its just a theme park. You can meet Darth Vader and Kylo Ren at the same time. You meet Darth Vader and Darth Maul at the same time in the Jedi Academy. Whats the difference?

 

[No Name]

After looking at Google's 2017 list of most popular searches, I looked some stuff on Google Trends out of curiosity, and thought this was worth sharing. In terms of searches, Darth Vader is still the highest and has always been the highest Star Wars character, by most metrics. Yoda (not displayed) is the second-highest. However, Kylo Ren does pull ahead of Darth Maul in the movie season. Commendable!

Of course, this doesn't tell nearly the full story, but I thought it worth sharing.

 

[Hattieboxghost110]

I wonder if the imagineers were inspired by Pinnacles in California to create the aesthetic and design for Star Wars Land?

 

[TP2000]

Have you finished purchasing all of the bobbles and trinkets for you're friends and family?

Yes! I'm all wrapped tonight and then down to the UPS Store in the morning, and then I'm just coasting towards the 25th and enjoying the season.

I hope you and your husband are making good progress towards Santa's visit too, although I imagine your little ones aren't so little anymore and have grown out of the Santa thing by now. Where does the time go?!?

Is the Mickey & Friends parking structure still visible from ROA?

On my last visit it has gone away from the riverbanks near PIrates/New Orleans Square. You can still see it from Critter Country when you walk down the ramp to the restrooms beneath Hungry Bear, but you need to be looking for it. And you can tell the rockwork is moving west and will obscure it completely very soon.

And I agree with you that the layers of rockwork behind the Rivers of America are a brilliant piece of Imagineering. It's going to give Disneyland's river the most elaborate backdrop and most impressive setting of all the four Rivers of America complexes around the world.

 

[Curious Constance]

Yes! I'm all wrapped tonight and then down to the UPS Store in the morning, and then I'm just coasting towards the 25th and enjoying the season.

I hope you and your husband are making good progress towards Santa's visit too, although I imagine your little ones aren't so little anymore and have grown out of the Santa thing by now. Where does the time go?!?



On my last visit it has gone away from the riverbanks near PIrates/New Orleans Square. You can still see it from Critter Country when you walk down the ramp to the restrooms beneath Hungry Bear, but you need to be looking for it. And you can tell the rockwork is moving west and will obscure it completely very soon.

And I agree with you that the layers of rockwork behind the Rivers of America are a brilliant piece of Imagineering. It's going to give Disneyland's river the most elaborate backdrop and most impressive setting of all the four Rivers of America complexes around the world.

My kids are now almost 14 and 10.

But that doesn't mean they aren't excited for Christmas . They have my genes after all

I'm doing great this year, nearly all done with everything, including wrapping!

 

[nevol]

I wonder if the imagineers were inspired by Pinnacles in California to create the aesthetic and design for Star Wars Land?

Compare a google search of Isle of Skye in scotland with star wars galaxy edge d23 model for a more accurate comparison, but they film all over the place. The rocks above the falcon entrance though especially look like isle of skye.

 

[nevol]

I wonder if the imagineers were inspired by Pinnacles in California to create the aesthetic and design for Star Wars Land?

Compare a google search of Isle of Skye in scotland with star wars galaxy edge d23 model for a more accurate comparison, but they film all over the place. North atlantic islands resemble rocky shorelines and islands in New Zealand as well. The rocks above the falcon entrance though especially remind me of isle of skye.