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

[SuddenStorm]

I hope that the first time I ride, I'm not forced to work as an "engineer" flipping switches to keep the Falcon running. Sounds super lame when others get to shoot at oncoming ships and control where the ship goes.

If I wait 5 hours in line, I want to, you know, actually fly the Falcon.

Also, how does an "engineer" work in the confines of the cockpit? If you could run around the ship and explore the engine bay and stuff, that'd make far more sense. Definitely seems like a "filler" position designed to increase capacity.

Not sure I like the idea of my experience being impacted by strangers. I already get enough of that from guests loudly reciting the Stretching Room dialogue with Paul Frees.

I go to Disneyland to have an experience carefully crafted by the Imagineers- go to the places they deem best for the story, see the things they want me to see. I don't go to experience an open world flight simulator with the chance I won't get to actually fly the ship.

 

[Hatbox Ghostbuster]

I hope that the first time I ride, I'm not forced to work as an "engineer" flipping switches to keep the Falcon running. Sounds super lame when others get to shoot at oncoming ships and control where the ship goes.

If I wait 5 hours in line, I want to, you know, actually fly the Falcon.

Also, how does an "engineer" work in the confines of the cockpit? If you could run around the ship and explore the engine bay and stuff, that'd make far more sense. Definitely seems like a "filler" position designed to increase capacity.

Not sure I like the idea of my experience being impacted by strangers. I already get enough of that from guests loudly reciting the Stretching Room dialogue with Paul Frees.

I go to Disneyland to have an experience carefully crafted by the Imagineers- go to the places they deem best for the story, see the things they want me to see. I don't go to experience an open world flight simulator with the chance I won't get to actually fly the ship.

In my mind, I see you as the engineer facing a large bay of switches and buttons and its essentially a game of whack-a-mole where you have to turn stuff off and push buttons to "keep the ship running". Honestly, that sounds really lame out loud, so I hope I'm 100% wrong!

 

[SuddenStorm]

In my mind, I see you as the engineer facing a large bay of switches and buttons and its essentially a game of whack-a-mole where you have to turn stuff off and push buttons to "keep the ship running". Honestly, that sounds really lame out loud, so I hope I'm 100% wrong!

Especially if it's imperative you hit the right switch by a certain time. Will they light up? What happens if the engineer doesn't actually do their job, since stalling out and crashing aren't options?

How much time will it take to learn what everything does? Will this mean that in order to get the best experience possible, you have to ride repeatedly? How does that work for one time guests who might never come back?

Video games are fun. Flight simulators are fun. But the best of em require practice, and the best co op ones require repeated hours with the exact same team to be effective.

Once again, having the experience dependent on other guests seems like a huge red flag. Could cause a lot of frustration.

 

[Travel Junkie]

Another guesstimate on capacity.

 

[Disney Irish]

Another guesstimate on capacity.

If this is true wouldn't that put it in line with what Star Tours capacity is today?

 

[Rich T]

Tomorrowland had nothing to do with star tours. They just share some manifestation themes of outer space.

You're right. Disneyland should not deliver to its audience things they actually want. That way, the park can remain empty and pleasant for those who remain hooked.

You're saying DL would be empty of guests without SWGE. Now, you know that's just silly. DL hasn't been empty since the two days a week it used to close in the off-season. It would continue to thrive and be over-crowded with or without SW. Of course, creating amazing, crowd-pleasing attractions *not* based on another studio's work-- well, that would take some heavy duty imagination and engineering. If only there was a word for people who were once able to do that...

(EDIT) The original theme of Star Tours was that it was a shady, dishonest intergalactic travel company setting up a franchise in Tomorrowland because it was a source of tons of potential rubes-- er -- customers. That was a perfect way to slide SW into Disneyland and have it blend in. The new ST, not so much.

 

[SuddenStorm]

You're saying DL would be empty of guests without SWGE. Now, you know that's just silly. DL hasn't been empty since the two days a week it used to close in the off-season. It would continue to thrive and be over-crowded with or without SW. Of course, creating amazing, crowd-pleasing attractions *not* based on another studio's work-- well, that would take some heavy duty imagination and engineering. If only there was a word for people who were once able to do that...

(EDIT) The original theme of Star Tours was that it was a shady, dishonest intergalactic travel company setting up a franchise in Tomorrowland because it was a source of tons of potential rubes-- er -- customers. That was a perfect way to slide SW into Disneyland and have it blend in. The new ST, not so much.

The new Star Tours is yet another example of current imagineering tampering with popular attractions without understanding what made the original good.

 

[nevol]

You're saying DL would be empty of guests without SWGE. Now, you know that's just silly. DL hasn't been empty since the two days a week it used to close in the off-season. It would continue to thrive and be over-crowded with or without SW. Of course, creating amazing, crowd-pleasing attractions *not* based on another studio's work-- well, that would take some heavy duty imagination and engineering. If only there was a word for people who were once able to do that...

(EDIT) The original theme of Star Tours was that it was a shady, dishonest intergalactic travel company setting up a franchise in Tomorrowland because it was a source of tons of potential rubes-- er -- customers. That was a perfect way to slide SW into Disneyland and have it blend in. The new ST, not so much.

Imagineers would create experiences based on the studio's IP most of the time, or literature, or history. Save for a few standout attractions here and there, they were not creating attractions based on stories/ideas from scratch. They were completely separate teams from the team animating/writing sleeping beauty, Snow White, etc.

Nowhere did I say disneyland would be empty without Star Wars. But your metric of right and wrong use of star wars or what is right or wrong for a park designed to capture the most collective imagination possible, measured largely in popularity won't make any sense when attendance jumps 15% in 2019.

Anddd star tours 2.0 is trash. Something we can agree upon. I'd rather have one good experience than a possible 56 experiences, all of which are trash.

 

[BrianLo]

Another guesstimate on capacity.

I don't agree with the load times (even if the cycle time is closer to being right). It doesn't take that long to load 6 guests. This isn't Flight of Passage, Star Tours or Soaring.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

I don't agree with the load times (even if the cycle time is closer to being right). It doesn't take that long to load 6 guests. This isn't Flight of Passage, Star Tours or Soaring.

I have long said that I expect Falcon to fall somewhere between Mansion 1600-1800 and Pirates 2100-2300 (I haven't talked to CMs in NOS in a few years so humor me). I'm guessing in the range of 1680-2000. Let's say it's equal to the low end of Mansion. That means we're looking at crowds at the levels of Haunted Mansion Holiday with the added enhancement of a new attraction. I'm less clear on the numbers for the trackless ride system. It's like a scaled-up version of Mystic Manor. My biggest concern is the single shuttle at the beginning versus the dual stretching rooms at Mansion. I wonder what the throughput of Ratatouille and Mystic Manor are.

Will it be bigger than Star Tours/Indy/Racers? I don't know. There's the potential for this reaching a level of critical mass that we've never seen before. OTOH, you can expect massive AP and CM blockouts. Be aware that while this year's holiday offering for CMs at Disneyland is still imited to DCA (like last year) they are giving them additional tickets for Disneyland Park during the October to February window of their Holiday Celebration tickets, but for a specific date. CMs have to go to one of the employee stores to select one of the available dates. This is a model I have been expecting for APs for some time.

As Disney increases blockouts for lower-level APs and CM admissions, I would not be surprised to see them roll out something like this. For example, offering a choice of one day in a peak season, like summer or holiday, for you and your linked group of passholders, subject to availability. The model of large blocks of alternatively open and blocked availability is unsustainable. But giving APs (and CMs) a limited choice within peak periods is much more manageable for Disney and better for passholders than no availability at all. They'll need to scale up the technology, but I think it's very possible down the line.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Don't forget "seven pods carrying six seats each"

That's [checks calculator] 42 people. And there are four bays. That's [checks calculator] 168 people per ride. This doesn't sound like brilliant capacity.

I've heard insiders throw 7 minutes around and more recently 6 minutes (which included un- and reload).

6 minutes = 1680 pph.
7 minutes = 1440 pph.

If they did shave it to 5...

5 minutes = 2016

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Buena Vista Street tried to be a more immersive Main Street. It’s now an even less immersive than Main Street with the exception of the streetmosphere characters, which I fear may be on it’s last legs.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

The interactivity is what I am waiting to see on how it is reviewed... on paper, in a perfect setting, it sounds good... but in a public guest experience... well...

I'm awaiting to see how someone feels after waiting in line for 5 hours to end up sitting in the back flipping switches while the people in the front get to blast ships and fly the Millennium Falcon. Also, I know we don't know logistics yet and it is up for discussion... but ending up with someone's bratty kid piloting your ship and spending 3.5 minutes crashing into the walls or going in circles... that's a potential reality that can happen... vs. not allowing actual control... which then defeats the purpose of allowing guest control...

The thing is with the experience now actually being to CONTROL the ride, that is now more than ever a prized seat... it's no longer sitting in the driver seat for Radiator Springs Racers or Indiana Jones which is a novelty, you will now get an entirely better experience.

I assume there will be a pilot line that will be really long?

 

[Disney Irish]

The interactivity is what I am waiting to see on how it is reviewed... on paper, in a perfect setting, it sounds good... but in a public guest experience... well...

I'm awaiting to see how someone feels after waiting in line for 5 hours to end up sitting in the back flipping switches while the people in the front get to blast ships and fly the Millennium Falcon. Also, I know we don't know logistics yet and it is up for discussion... but ending up with someone's bratty kid piloting your ship and spending 3.5 minutes crashing into the walls or going in circles... that's a potential reality that can happen... vs. not allowing actual control... which then defeats the purpose of allowing guest control...

The thing is with the experience now actually being to CONTROL the ride, that is now more than ever a prized seat... it's no longer sitting in the driver seat for Radiator Springs Racers or Indiana Jones which is a novelty, you will not get an entirely better experience.

I assume there will be a pilot line that will be really long?

I wonder if there will be a lottery type system used for the different seats.

 

[SuddenStorm]

. Let's say it's equal to the low end of Mansion. That means we're looking at crowds at the levels of Haunted Mansion Holiday with the added enhancement of a new attraction. I'm less clear on the numbers for the trackless ride system. It's like a scaled-up version of Mystic Manor. My biggest concern is the single shuttle at the beginning versus the dual stretching rooms at Mansion. I wonder what the throughput of Ratatouille and Mystic Manor are.

Why are you comparing this ride to Mystic Manor? Are you thinking of the Battle Escape attraction?

 

[SuddenStorm]

I wonder if there will be a lottery type system used for the different seats.

An interesting idea. But I'm willing to bet the lottery will be:

"How many in your party?"

"2"

"Seats 4 and 5 please"

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

An interesting idea. But I'm willing to bet the lottery will be:

"How many in your party?"

"2"

"Seats 4 and 5 please"

Cue the uproar from parents upset that little Jimmy can't drive the falcon... because they've heard from reviews that unless little Jimmy sits in the front, he sits in the back not able to see well and doesn't do anything...

 

[SuddenStorm]

Cue the uproar from parents upset that little Jimmy can't drive the falcon... because they've heard from reviews that unless little Jimmy sits in the front, he sits in the back not able to see well and doesn't do anything...

Screw the parents, cue the uproar from 21 year old SuddenStorm for waiting 5 hours in line and losing the front seat to little Jimmy...

 

[Disney Irish]

An interesting idea. But I'm willing to bet the lottery will be:

"How many in your party?"

"2"

"Seats 4 and 5 please"

Cue the uproar from parents upset that little Jimmy can't drive the falcon... because they've heard from reviews that unless little Jimmy sits in the front, he sits in the back not able to see well and doesn't do anything...

And that is why I think there might be a lottery system.

Another thought is what if they can't fill all 6 seats? Is there seats less important than others that can remain empty?

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

As I mentioned and my friend says, he'll wait for 5 hours, end up in the back, and little jimmy will spend the 3.5 minutes smashing the ship into the wall.