Star Wars Land announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[tonymu]

For some reason this comparison is the best I’ve seen yet for showing the give and take differences between both lands. The entrance is different sure, but the lack of the river also gives more space equaling out whatever was lost.

Absolutely. In Florida you don't have to walk so far to get into the land. You get into the land much quicker and then will be able to enjoy the much more spacious land than the squeezed in tight land in California. In Florida you won't have to worry about the intrusion of an old steam train and river boats ruining the immersive space outpost.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Absolutely. In Florida you don't have to walk so far to get into the land. You get into the land much quicker and then will be able to enjoy the much more spacious land than the squeezed in tight land in California. In Florida you won't have to worry about the intrusion of an old steam train and river boats ruining the immersive space outpost.

I like how WDW will get its own SW hotel and DLR can’t even build a non SW simple hotel.

 

[MisterPenguin]

For some reason this comparison is the best I’ve seen yet for showing the give and take differences between both lands. The entrance is different sure, but the lack of the river also gives more space equaling out whatever was lost.

In the end, the lack of river will give SWL in Orlando more space since that's an expansion pad. However, in the short term, all that extra space will be bermed and landscaped to match the Anaheim profile.

When the lands open up, Anaheim will indeed have a little more space... until that pad is used for another ride/attraction (if ever).

 

[BrianLo]

For some reason this comparison is the best I’ve seen yet for showing the give and take differences between both lands. The entrance is different sure, but the lack of the river also gives more space equaling out whatever was lost.

In the end, the lack of river will give SWL in Orlando more space since that's an expansion pad. However, in the short term, all that extra space will be bermed and landscaped to match the Anaheim profile.

When the lands open up, Anaheim will indeed have a little more space... until that pad is used for another ride/attraction (if ever).

Indeed. The opening day space and land borders is a little misleading right now as they are using the area for staging. Expect roughly this to be filled in and inaccessible.

A walking trail with some props would have been a better option, but alas.

 

[JohnyKaz2078]

I really don't understand why the can't just alter the land's layout and not them completely IDENTICAL. I'm not saying that WDW should have a 3rd ride (although that would help with HS' capacity problems) but they could at least fill it with something a little more interesting. Alas, we're getting a big space for expansion

 

[TP2000]

For some reason this comparison is the best I’ve seen yet for showing the give and take differences between both lands. The entrance is different sure, but the lack of the river also gives more space equaling out whatever was lost.

Thanks! I've always found the compare/contrast differences between the Disneyland rides/lands that are "cloned" for WDW to be fascinating as a Disney parks fan. This Star Wars project is the motherlode for nerds like me!

In the end, the lack of river will give SWL in Orlando more space since that's an expansion pad. However, in the short term, all that extra space will be bermed and landscaped to match the Anaheim profile.

When the lands open up, Anaheim will indeed have a little more space... until that pad is used for another ride/attraction (if ever).

Yeah, that's my take on it too. As this project moves toward completion on both coasts in 2019, we will be able to get much better aerial photos from each coast that can show the differences much better than we have now. But from what I've seen, the bulge in the middle at Disneyland taken up by the Rivers of America and the hidden Fantasmic! boat marina under the railroad berm is going to be almost identically replicated in DHS. In DHS it will just be a forested mound of earth as the backdrop to the land. But as @marni1971 says, it's an expansion pad for some future unknown date in the 2020's or 2030's.

 

[TP2000]

Indeed. The opening day space and land borders is a little misleading right now as they are using the area for staging. Expect roughly this to be filled in and inaccessible. A walking trail with some props would have been a better option, but alas.

I think that expansion land could have been an awesome option for the Star Wars Hotel to exist inside the land itself. But as you say, alas...

I mocked up these crude images to show how the Disneyland berm makes an S-curve on the southern perimeter of the land, and how that S-curve is almost exactly duplicated on the perimeter of the DHS land that we expect to be the "Expansion Pad".

The green line is the edge of the rockwork and forested berm at Disneyland that frames in the Rivers of America and northern flanks of Frontierland. As the point of reference for those not entirely familiar with the Disneyland version of Star Wars Land, here's the area in Disneyland where the green line forms the curved perimeter seen in the two aerial photos below. That's the friendly Indian Chief on horseback in the brown circle waving at us.

The slim orange rectangle is the buried Fantasmic! marina at Disneyland that sits under the berm and railroad tracks, accessed via a cave hidden by a waterfall off the Rivers of America. The red circle is the same identical Star Wars Land domed building at the same identical spots in both lands, which serves as a great point of reference for both lands.

And then here's how those areas correlate to the DHS plot, where the blue shaded Expansion Pad area takes over where the Rivers of America is in Disneyland. Fascinating how it's built and executed on both coasts, don't you think?!

 

[Mike S]

I think that expansion land could have been an awesome option for the Star Wars Hotel to exist inside the land itself. But as you say, alas...

I mocked up these crude images to show how the Disneyland berm makes an S-curve on the southern perimeter of the land, and how that S-curve is almost exactly duplicated on the perimeter of the DHS land that we expect to be the "Expansion Pad".

The green line is the edge of the rockwork and forested berm at Disneyland that frames in the Rivers of America and northern flanks of Frontierland. As the point of reference for those not entirely familiar with the Disneyland version of Star Wars Land, here's the area in Disneyland where the green line forms the curved perimeter seen in the two aerial photos below. That's the friendly Indian Chief on horseback in the brown circle waving at us.
View attachment 306398

The slim orange rectangle is the buried Fantasmic! marina at Disneyland that sits under the berm and railroad tracks, accessed via a cave hidden by a waterfall off the Rivers of America. The red circle is the same identical Star Wars Land domed building at the same identical spots in both lands, which serves as a great point of reference for both lands.
View attachment 306399

And then here's how those areas correlate to the DHS plot, where the blue shaded Expansion Pad area takes over where the Rivers of America is in Disneyland. Fascinating how it's built and executed on both coasts, don't you think?!
View attachment 306360

Still likes like an extra bit of space next to the future berm.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

Making the two lands virtually identical probably saved them tens of millions of dollars, maybe even hundreds of millions. It's something they tried with Splash Mountain in Tokyo and WDW (although I heard they had to include separate load and unload in Tokyo with a drying station in between).

 

[ThemeParkTraveller]

Making the two lands virtually identical probably saved them tens of millions of dollars, maybe even hundreds of millions. It's something they tried with Splash Mountain in Tokyo and WDW (although I heard they had to include separate load and unload in Tokyo with a drying station in between).

Although Tokyo's was a much bigger spend overall because it included a whole land rather than just the attraction as part of that expansion. The budget for Tokyo's project was around $250 million at the time (a very hefty sum by 1992 standards). The differences in the ride itself are indeed very subtle, but the queues are very different (Tokyo's is more elaborate and entirely within the mountain).

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Popping in with a quick question for those who have been paying attention. If my goal were to avoid SW: GE, how safe should I feel with dates November 16 - 24?

 

[Goofyernmost]

Popping in with a quick question for those who have been paying attention. If my goal were to avoid SW: GE, how safe should I feel with dates November 16 - 24?

Depends on what year! This year would be safe.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Depend on what year!

Oh you.

2019

 

[Kamikaze]

Popping in with a quick question for those who have been paying attention. If my goal were to avoid SW: GE, how safe should I feel with dates November 16 - 24?

I'd say 75% its open then.

Edit: Actually more like 90% that its operating in some capacity at that time. Might not be all day though.

 

[danlb_2000]

Popping in with a quick question for those who have been paying attention. If my goal were to avoid SW: GE, how safe should I feel with dates November 16 - 24?

It could be open by then.

 

[TP2000]

I'd say 75% its open then.

Edit: Actually more like 90% that its operating in some capacity at that time. Might not be all day though.

That's confusing. Are you saying they are going to try and open it for partial day operation before it officially opens? Seems like a nightmare to try and keep a new land open partial days before it officially opens on.... Thanksgiving weekend, November 29th/30th?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Casts or soft or the dreaded and rumored paid previews are a good possibility for mid-November. Smaller chances for not ready for anything at all, or, totally open. It's a wide target at this point.

 

[TiggerDad]

You could also visit AK, MK, or Epcot and successfully avoid it.

 

[drod1985]

AK, MK or Epcot will definitely be getting overflow crowds from HS though. Fall 2019 and the immediate future is going to get pretty crazy.

 

[RSoxNo1]

So there's a Slash Film article stemming off a Jim Hill podcast about the Millennium Falcon ride. I believe the capacity numbers to be wildly incorrect. Jim references a 3.5 minute "ride cycle time" with 7 capsules operating at once.

My understanding is 4 "centrifuges" each with 7 capsules that can seat 6 guests each. I suspect the 3.5 minute "ride cycle time" is the ride time, not the cycle time.