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

[TROR]

Getting rid of every attraction except for Space Mountain and the Monorail is what I want to happen at this point tbh. Although keep the lagoon somehow, just get rid of the subs. Send 'em to like Tokyo DisneySEA or something I don't know. They still have, what, 30 years of life left?

 

[Rich T]

Remember when, every day, we gush over the indiana jones adventure miniland that never was? The mine train, the railroad, jungle cruise, all sharing a large ride/show building with the ride we eventually got? 30 years later, they dedicate an entire land to another lucasfilm IP and everyone is upset about it. D***ed if they do, d***ed if they don't. If we got one star wars ride in tomorrowland or an overlay, people would have been livid. They did everything they could to separate the lands and to design Galaxy's edge to actually enhance the back splash of the rivers of america with new forests and new mountains. They have a style to them that is quite alien but overall, they are not in a cartoony art style like splash that doesn't fit the realism of frontierland. Every other attraction has an iconic facade and gets a free pass, but somehow star wars should be invisible? Nope.

Discovery bay was cool, but whereas the core disneyland lands were pure ideas and themes in strict isolation, discovery bay was an assemblage of frontierland, tomorrowland, and new orleans square. It was vague. I think it would be delightful at DCA but is redundant at disneyland. As much as SW:GE is a departure from the purity of the disneyland core lands, at least it doesn't try to compete with them thematically and muddy their clarity. It is an indiana jones adventure departure from Adventureland, on steroids, and it doesn't hurt the rest of disneyland. Not putting it in tomorrowland means that even though we are about to have a massive sci-fi presence at disneyland resort, with star wars and then marvel, each with grimey and often dystopian manifestation themes, tomorrowland has been left alone so that we can hope for a pure, clean, optimistic vision of tomorrowland in the future, rather than one littered with grafitti, aliens, dystopia, and IP.

Good post, but....I gotta argue a coupla things. First, Not everyone was happy about Indy going into Disneyland (or even Star Tours previously for that matter), but for most fans, the end result was worth the "invasion". And the huge size of SWGE required a much more drastic change to one of DL's most classic areas. It represent a major shift in everything the park will be about from here forward. I do think the Imagineers have done their best to make everyone happy under the circumstances. I'm optimistic.
Second, there's nothing vague about the Discovery Bay proposal. It's H.G. Wells/Jules Verne Sci Fi, which has a very distinct, colorful and wonderful flavor that forms the basis of Steampunk fantasy. If you've seen 20,000 Leagues, you've been there. If you've seen The Time Machine, you've been there. If you've ridden Space Mtn. in France, you've been there. If you saw Treasure Planet, you've been there. Yes, that kind of fantasy is a combination of Wild West, Science and high society. But it's its own thing which, properly realized, wouldn't muddy the uniqueness of the other lands at all. And, someday, if the public tires of Star Wars (Hey, weirder things have happened), the land could easily become a new take on Discovery Bay.

*Sigh* ... If only "Island at the Top of the World" had been a *good* film....

 

[Stevek]

When deep in discussion, it's easy to forget that 99.99% of all this boils down to nothing more than personal taste.

And who decides to be most vocal about their position on said taste

 

[Stevek]

And remember it's easier to hear the complainers,

Which will be even more pronounced on a Disneyland/parks message board.

 

[mickEblu]

Remember when, every day, we gush over the indiana jones adventure miniland that never was? The mine train, the railroad, jungle cruise, all sharing a large ride/show building with the ride we eventually got? 30 years later, they dedicate an entire land to another lucasfilm IP and everyone is upset about it. D***ed if they do, d***ed if they don't. If we got one star wars ride in tomorrowland or an overlay, people would have been livid. They did everything they could to separate the lands and to design Galaxy's edge to actually enhance the back splash of the rivers of america with new forests and new mountains. They have a style to them that is quite alien but overall, they are not in a cartoony art style like splash that doesn't fit the realism of frontierland. Every other attraction has an iconic facade and gets a free pass, but somehow star wars should be invisible? Nope.

Discovery bay was cool, but whereas the core disneyland lands were pure ideas and themes in strict isolation, discovery bay was an assemblage of frontierland, tomorrowland, and new orleans square. It was vague. I think it would be delightful at DCA but is redundant at disneyland. As much as SW:GE is a departure from the purity of the disneyland core lands, at least it doesn't try to compete with them thematically and muddy their clarity. It is an indiana jones adventure departure from Adventureland, on steroids, and it doesn't hurt the rest of disneyland. Not putting it in tomorrowland means that even though we are about to have a massive sci-fi presence at disneyland resort, with star wars and then marvel, each with grimey and often dystopian manifestation themes, tomorrowland has been left alone so that we can hope for a pure, clean, optimistic vision of tomorrowland in the future, rather than one littered with grafitti, aliens, dystopia, and IP.

Agreed although I think IP will be present in any version of TL.

 

[mickEblu]

So when are we expecting the AP program restructuring announcements? Since we haven’t heard anything that means SWL opening is still at least a year out.

 

[mickEblu]

Rumor on Reddit is Hyperspace Mountain has been plussed. They didn’t say how though.

 

[TragicMike]

Video of Hyperspace

 

[mickEblu]

Video of Hyperspace

Cool. Are those red and green lasers new? They look pretty bad @$$. The tunnel in the lift hill seemed a little different too.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Cool. Are those red and green lasers new? They look pretty bad @$$. The tunnel in the lift hill seemed a little different too.

If I remember right, they were there before, but I could be wrong.

I remember some of the Hyperspace effects lighting up the track- which really bothers me.

 

[mickEblu]

If I remember right, they were there before, but I could be wrong.

I remember some of the Hyperspace effects lighting up the track- which really bothers me.

I vaguely remember them being there but for some reason they some more impressive now. Like there’s more of em or they are shot off more rapidly. Ya the lighting is a downgrade. When I went on classic Soace last week it was extremely dark in there. I couldn’t see the track for the life of me. Overall, I like the energy that HSM brings though and I may prefer it to classic. Wish I could ride them back to back.

 

[JD2000]

exactly,

These minor elements that pop up in the trees work as the weenie of the land that lures people to that area. I see it no different than other large icons that are seen throughout the park. kind of when you are walking into the park and you get a glance of Space mountain and the Matterhorn. those icons pull you towards that area of the park and gets you excited

I had always thought Disney made the decision to completely isolate the entirety of the land; as it does take place in another galaxy and would provide that feeling of stepping into a whole different place and time.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I predict that even if it’s a major overhaul, it will not be as major as “tear everything down” TL ‘67.

I hope you're wrong, but something tells me you won't be.

 

[mickEblu]

I hope you're wrong, but something tells me you won't be.

Yeah I think the most renovation we ll see (aside from the orbitron structure, people mover tracks and French fry rocks being removed is a possible demo of Autopia /Subs. Maybe they do something with the Magic Eye theatre. I’d put my money on the BLAB building, Star Tours buiding (too easy to stick another simulator attraction in there) and Innoventions building staying put. Although I’m more 50/50 on Inoventions because they could technically use that Space in conjunction with Autopias real estate next door. Monorail probably gets rerouted. I can’t see a scenario where they leave the Astro orbiter where it is. Hopefully they build a new structure and put it up high again or just get rid of it.

With all of this said I would irrationally miss the 70s vibe of TL.

EDIT: on second thought, it’s hard for me to believe they completely get rid of the original Autopia, especially since it still exists at WDW and other parks. Maybe they shorten it to the FL half?

 

[Curious Constance]

I'd miss the lagoon, but not the subs or Autopia. But again, if they're just going to replace it with more IP, why bother.

 

[D.Silentu]

Watching the video of Hyperspace, I noticed at least one improvement over the regular Space Mountain. The lighting on the short hill, just after leaving dispatch, is much more interesting. I also enjoyed the effect on the circular lights at the top of that hill; much better than simple flashing. These seem like a natural transition into the tunnel with the blue pulsing lights, so I wouldn't mind if they stuck around when Space returns to normal.

 

[nevol]

Way more lasers before the turns it used to be one or two drops. Ending is a little different too. I still love me the regular space mountain though!

 

[Deleted member 107043]

EDIT: on second thought, it’s hard for me to believe they completely get rid of the original Autopia, especially since it still exists at WDW and other parks.

It's been removed in Hong Kong and Shanghai doesn't have one, so there's that.

 

[Curious Constance]

It's been removed in Hong Kong and Shanghai doesn't have one, so there's that.

I have no clue with spacing or anything, but it'd be cute if they could keep a small track open on Autopia, and make it fit into Fantasyland some how. They could theme it to classic Disney characters or whatever and have it really be for little people. Just a small track for them to ride around in. Then a part is saved to preserve the experience and history, but it's not taking up a huge amount of space.

 

[mickEblu]

It's been removed in Hong Kong and Shanghai doesn't have one, so there's that.

True. So does that only leave WDW? I was thinking with the addition of Tron it would have made sense to put something at the MK that goes with Tron in that space but then again TDO is cheap.