Star Wars Land announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[RobWDW1971]

I don't think it's such a huge misstep, but I see your point and agree it's a missed opportunity. I still think the way forward is to please the mainstream by aiming at the superfans (as you mention, they're currently missing both). Designated areas (the two sides of the land, for example, would be a great way to differentiate and include a broader array of characters. Or the daily schedule approach to story I mentioned above. Either way, they should do something to adapt and adjust!

The more you think about, the more insane it really is. Disney has access to AFI 's #3 villain in all-time cinema history. And they are going to make a $100M+ attraction where you come face to face with a villain and are chased by them for the entire ride. Nah, we're good.

Heck, at least in the 80's they were smart enough to include the #4 Wicked Witch of the West and make her the focus of the finale of the park's signature attraction! Luckily, there wasn't some WDI cubicle dweller smoking their own dope trying to convince everyone they should use the cast of Return to Oz that had just opened a few years earlier - "But it is so much more relevant! Who wants a 50 year old villain?!"

Also, I would have paid good money to watch the marketing executive's recent interaction with the (much lower paid) WDI executive:

M: Great news, the Mandalorian is blowing up! It's the centerpiece of the entire Disney+ launch! So how fast can we get him and Baby Yoda into your little Star Wars land thingy in the parks?

WDI: Um, well, you see, Batuu takes place in the time period between "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker" while "The Mandalorian" takes place after "Return of the Jedi", which is about 25-30 years before our time period so we really can't introduce him in his current state as it would be a disconnect to the world we created.

M: Shut up, nerd.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

This. Exactly this. “Disney was trying to do something different” - yes. That’s the problem. We didn’t want something different, we wanted what Disney has always done best!

I do think that if actors were all over the place like originally planned... by the droids, by the garage, on the rooftops, by the various flying contraptions (I was scolded once for mixing up a tie-fighter and an x-wing... I won’t make that mistake again!) now that would help for sure.

I mean why isn’t there a cantina band playing somewhere!? Or whatever music they play in that exact moment of time in the SW universe.

You are exactly right about Fantasyland - and that is why it has worked beautifully for 60+ years and will for the next 100 years.

I agree, Disney was trying to do something different - they tried and failed miserably. They ended up with the worst of both worlds - leaving out complete eras of past and future Star Wars stories and didn't execute on a "living, breathing world" at all. So we are stuck with a boring, deserted "Batuu" that is stuck in the middle of a single saga -

 

[Tom Morrow]

It's time for my recurring reminder that you can still interact with more known characters in SWGE than you can in WWoHP, in which you can meet: 0.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It's time for my recurring reminder that you can still interact with more known characters in SWGE than you can in WWoHP, in which you can meet: 0.

So? You see them in the attractions, and you get to walk through the environments they lived in. And both HP lands have a decent amount of atmosphere entertainment.

 

[Mike S]

It's time for my recurring reminder that you can still interact with more known characters in SWGE than you can in WWoHP, in which you can meet: 0.

And the other reminder that you see Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the rides. Also plenty of other fan favorites. The Harry Potter equivalent to SWGE would be if the parks only included characters from Fantastic Beasts.

 

[drod1985]

And the other reminder that you see Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the rides. Also plenty of other fan favorites. The Harry Potter equivalent to SWGE would be if the parks only included characters from Fantastic Beasts.

No, only including characters from Fantastic Beasts would be the equivalent of only including characters from Rogue One, Solo or The Mandalorian.

 

[Mike S]

No, only including characters from Fantastic Beasts would be the equivalent of only including characters from Rogue One, Solo or The Mandalorian.

Well Potter doesn’t really have any other equivalent to the sequel trilogy where new main characters are introduced. Also your comparison doesn’t work as Rogue One and Solo would allow the use of Princess Leia and Han Solo, 2 of the 3 big main characters. Galaxy’s Edge is set when both Han and Luke are dead and for whatever reason even Leia isn’t present.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Also your comparison doesn’t work as Rogue One and Solo would allow the use of Princess Leia and Han Solo, 2 of the 3 big main characters. Galaxy’s Edge is set when both Han and Luke are dead and for whatever reason even Leia isn’t present.

Rogue one would allow for Darth Vader as well.

 

[Mike S]

Rogue one would allow for Darth Vader as well.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEES

 

[RobWDW1971]

No, only including characters from Fantastic Beasts would be the equivalent of only including characters from Rogue One, Solo or The Mandalorian.

I'd prefer the Rogue One, Solo, and Mandalorian cast over Rey, Hondo, and Vi Moradi any day.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

I feel like the one factor everyone overlooks when arguing what trilogy Galaxy’s Edge should have been based on is the age of the actors that have appeared in each trilogy. If they wanted to make an OT land, we’d have to have uncanny CGI versions of Luke, Leia, and Han appear in the attractions. Having the actors available from the ST while they are the same age as they are in the movies is a huge plus and is probably part of the reason Disney chose to go with that trilogy for the land.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I feel like the one factor everyone overlooks when arguing what trilogy Galaxy’s Edge should have been based on is the age of the actors that have appeared in each trilogy. If they wanted to make an OT land, we’d have to have uncanny CGI versions of Luke, Leia, and Han appear in the attractions. Having the actors available from the ST while they are the same age as they are in the movies is a huge plus and is probably part of the reason Disney chose to go with that trilogy for the land.

if they can have a walkaround Rey they can have a walk around young Luke, obi wan, Han, etc. nice try but you are wrong.

 

[RobWDW1971]

I feel like the one factor everyone overlooks when arguing what trilogy Galaxy’s Edge should have been based on is the age of the actors that have appeared in each trilogy. If they wanted to make an OT land, we’d have to have uncanny CGI versions of Luke, Leia, and Han appear in the attractions. Having the actors available from the ST while they are the same age as they are in the movies is a huge plus and is probably part of the reason Disney chose to go with that trilogy for the land.

Who are these people saying the entire land should be only OT based? I honestly never hear those people make that claim, just people arguing against it.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

if they can have a walkaround Rey they can have a walk around young Luke, obi wan, Han, etc. nice try but you are wrong.

The walk around characters aren’t the only thing affected by the trilogy that was chosen.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

Who are these people saying the entire land should be only OT based? I honestly never hear those people make that claim, just people arguing against it.

I may be in the minority here but I think there would be more criticism if we were jumping from timeline to timeline while we were in the land, it’s one of the main complaints I hear from Star Wars fans about Star Tours. Different time periods work in lands like Fantasyland because each attraction kind of exists in a bubble and just aren’t in the same franchises/stories as the other attractions in the same land. If I’m supposed to feel like I’m on a specific planet in the Star Wars universe, I shouldn’t be time traveling as I walk around it or looking at the landscape of a different planet just down the path.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I'd prefer the Rogue One, Solo, and Mandalorian cast over Rey, Hondo, and Vi Moradi any day.

Agree on everything except Hondo. Sorry Hondo's a great character and I'm a huge fan of Clone Wars. But that's just my opinion.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

If I’m supposed to feel like I’m on a specific planet in the Star Wars universe, I shouldn’t be time traveling as I walk around it or looking at the landscape of a different planet just down the path.

Does it really feel like the marketplace and the resistance area are the same planet?

It’s pretty obvious where they ran out of money. “Umm let’s just plant some trees and put a few plastic airplanes up... that will work!”

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

Does it really feel like the marketplace and the resistance area are the same planet?

Yes?

 

[Jones14]

Galaxy’s Edge is set when both Han and Luke are dead and for whatever reason even Leia isn’t present.

I think Leia’s absence is due to Fisher’s passing. They filmed the sequences for Rise of the Resistance during IX’s filming, and I imagine the Rey hologram would’ve been Leia if Fisher were still around by then.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Does it really feel like the marketplace and the resistance area are the same planet?

Does an undeveloped forest feel different than a nearby small town marketplace?

Yes.

All the time.