Star Wars Land announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[HMF]

Is this part of the reason we ended up getting the Toy Story Land 2.0 downgrade versus the initial concept art?

This makes sense but is also mind blowing. That's enough space for several E Tickets.

Could we see a return of Pixar Place to access TSMM if they decide to move in?

The whole TSL land concept seems wasteful to me. You already have a Pixar Studios area which you literally only built 9 years ago and have the thematic liscense to throw as many Pixar IP's as you want in there, why bother creating a whole land dedicated to one Pixar IP which constrains your creativity and limits the scope of things and eliminating the land you recently built and only put a few flat rides and a small coaster there? The Long-Term vision of these people is insane.

 

[Kman101]

They don't seem to have true long-term vision. Or at least they run like they don't. TSL for SW expansion? Seems silly to me but as others have said, TSL could have been put to much better use. Would an expansion for SW allow for a Pixar expansion as well or are we boxing ourselves in?

 

[djkidkaz]

The whole TSL land concept seems wasteful to me. You already have a Pixar Studios area which you literally only built 9 years ago and have the thematic liscense to throw as many Pixar IP's as you want in there, why bother creating a whole land dedicated to one Pixar IP which constrains your creativity and limits the scope of things and eliminating the land you recently built and only put a few flat rides and a small coaster there? The Long-Term vision of these people is insane.

Yeah I'm curious how stuff like this happens. @Magic Feather do you have any insight into this?

 

[danlb_2000]

The whole TSL land concept seems wasteful to me. You already have a Pixar Studios area which you literally only built 9 years ago and have the thematic liscense to throw as many Pixar IP's as you want in there, why bother creating a whole land dedicated to one Pixar IP which constrains your creativity and limits the scope of things and eliminating the land you recently built and only put a few flat rides and a small coaster there? The Long-Term vision of these people is insane.

If you listen to the original announcement from D23 they repeatedly talk about creating immersive experiences that put you into the movie and reference Cars Land as the template. It seems that they got it into their heads that they wanted to turn DHS into a series of franchise specific mini-lands each which puts you into the world of the franchise. We can debate whether this is going to be successful or not, but this does seem to be what drove the TSL decision.

 

[jaxonp]

Why Disney replace TSL in a few years??? It's the kids area for the park. Disney is about kids after all. Yea, don't see this one happening.

 

[Goofyernmost]

they'll make more money with the copy and paste technique...

I cannot understand how self-centered people can be. If this ride(s) comes out as good as it sounds, why would you want to deprive others of experiencing it just because you might be able to easily travel from coast to coast. It does no harm, everyone can experience it no matter what side of the continent they live in and if you really feel that way, how about not wanting castles in MK, Small World, Carousel, Space Mountain, Thunder Mtn., Haunted Mansion, PoTC, MSUSA, Jungle Cruise and many other things found in most Disney parks. That is why I really wanted "Cars" to be in WDW too. I am not going to go to the west coast just to see it, but, I sure would like to experience the ride. All the parks have more then enough park specific things, they don't really need to do everything that way, especially things that they expect to be very popular attractions.

 

[Maerj]

I am glad I'm not the only one who had a thought about the cannon timeline issue with the AT-AT design!

Maybe they are a couple of leftover AT-ATs from the old days? Maybe they will lay them down and you'll be able to go in and get some instant bread?

 

[GoofGoof]

I really wish they were building completely different Star Wars Lands...

they'll make more money with the copy and paste technique...

Well they'll save more money is more like it.. I'd be more inclined to visit both resorts if both lands were completely different...

A very small percentage of guests would visit both coasts just to see different versions of SW Land. It's just the reality of the way people travel. Locals in Southern CA don't travel very frequently to FL to see EPCOT or AK even though they are whole parks that don't exist in CA. There are some hard core fans that do travel to both coasts regularly, but it's a very small percentage of the total guests.

The clone concept is absolutely done to save money. You get major draws for your target audience on both coasts and you only have 1 set of design costs. It's cheaper and easier and probably a lot faster too. If they had unique designs the WDW version would probably be scheduled to open in 2021 The main reason I don't like the concept of making the 2 lands identical is that DHS has plenty of space to make the land bigger/better. DLR is constricted by the amount of open space they could clear. By insisting that the lands be virtually identical they are setting an artificial and unnecessary limit on the size of the DHS version. In the future they could always expand it, but we know the track record on phase 2s actually getting built.

I still think it was a huge mistake to build SW Land in that back corner of the park next to TSL. It severely limits the possibility of a major expansion. Building on the Indy show site and back into the parking lot would have both connected SW Land to Star Tours and also left a lot of room for a major expansion in the future. I guess they could always expand there in the future anyway with another SW themed area linked by either a walkway or a "ride" like the Harry Potter Lands at Uni.

 

[Magic Feather]

Yeah I'm curious how stuff like this happens. @Magic Feather do you have any insight into this?

Time, money, a will, and resources.

 

[Disney Analyst]

A very small percentage of guests would visit both coasts just to see different versions of SW Land. It's just the reality of the way people travel. Locals in Southern CA don't travel very frequently to FL to see EPCOT or AK even though they are whole parks that don't exist in CA. There are some hard core fans that do travel to both coasts regularly, but it's a very small percentage of the total guests.

The clone concept is absolutely done to save money. You get major draws for your target audience on both coasts and you only have 1 set of design costs. It's cheaper and easier and probably a lot faster too. If they had unique designs the WDW version would probably be scheduled to open in 2021 The main reason I don't like the concept of making the 2 lands identical is that DHS has plenty of space to make the land bigger/better. DLR is constricted by the amount of open space they could clear. By insisting that the lands be virtually identical they are setting an artificial and unnecessary limit on the size of the DHS version. In the future they could always expand it, but we know the track record on phase 2s actually getting built.

I still think it was a huge mistake to build SW Land in that back corner of the park next to TSL. It severely limits the possibility of a major expansion. Building on the Indy show site and back into the parking lot would have both connected SW Land to Star Tours and also left a lot of room for a major expansion in the future. I guess they could always expand there in the future anyway with another SW themed area linked by either a walkway or a "ride" like the Harry Potter Lands at Uni.

Here's a the thing though, I like Star Wars, but I'm not a huge fan by any means, like some... But it they built two completely different Star Wars destinations, I have a feeling huge fans (and there are a lot of them), would have travelled in droves to experience both.

 

[Goofyernmost]

A very small percentage of guests would visit both coasts just to see different versions of SW Land. It's just the reality of the way people travel. Locals in Southern CA don't travel very frequently to FL to see EPCOT or AK even though they are whole parks that don't exist in CA. There are some hard core fans that do travel to both coasts regularly, but it's a very small percentage of the total guests.

The clone concept is absolutely done to save money. You get major draws for your target audience on both coasts and you only have 1 set of design costs. It's cheaper and easier and probably a lot faster too. If they had unique designs the WDW version would probably be scheduled to open in 2021 The main reason I don't like the concept of making the 2 lands identical is that DHS has plenty of space to make the land bigger/better. DLR is constricted by the amount of open space they could clear. By insisting that the lands be virtually identical they are setting an artificial and unnecessary limit on the size of the DHS version. In the future they could always expand it, but we know the track record on phase 2s actually getting built.

I still think it was a huge mistake to build SW Land in that back corner of the park next to TSL. It severely limits the possibility of a major expansion. Building on the Indy show site and back into the parking lot would have both connected SW Land to Star Tours and also left a lot of room for a major expansion in the future. I guess they could always expand there in the future anyway with another SW themed area linked by either a walkway or a "ride" like the Harry Potter Lands at Uni.

Nothing in WDW limits the ability to expand. Just the desire of management and that wouldn't change it if were any other place in the park. The one thing that no one has to ever worry about is "do they have enough room"? Of course they do! Do they want to make it larger? Maybe, but, probably not!

It may be the reality of the way you travel, but, I'd hesitate to say that's the way people travel. As you said, a small percentage will do that. Yes, of course, it is cheaper, but, that is the plus for Disney, the plus for those that don't do the traveling, it is a major bonus that we get to see things that otherwise we wouldn't. Just because it's cheaper does not automatically mean that it won't be a very good experience for those that stay closer to home. If they had built it in Florida and not California, guess who would have been having the aneurysm because it's not in their park.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I read it as, the berm and backstage areas would be next for expansion areas... after that they'll take TSL. Which why not Muppets Courtyard? Could MC be safe because of future plans with Star Tours and Indy area becoming something bigger and needing a buffer?

If they really want to make sure they have expansion room... then designate TGMR for that. You'll get a giant soundstage for the next great indoor SW ride. The back corner of TGMR is right there at the entrance to SWL. Then, OM'sD and VotLM could be expansions for TSL (if they don't demo the parking garage and more back stage areas). Mickey ride then goes into Launch Bay.

Then there's always the ability to throw a huge soundstage onto the new parking lot with a covered queue that leads out there. This will necessitate building expensive parking garages, though.

 

[FigmentJedi]

If they really want to make sure they have expansion room... then designate TGMR for that. You'll get a giant soundstage for the next great indoor SW ride. The back corner of TGMR is right there at the entrance to SWL. Then, OM'sD and VotLM could be expansions for TSL (if they don't demo the parking garage and more back stage areas). Mickey ride then goes into Launch Bay.

Then there's always the ability to throw a huge soundstage onto the new parking lot with a covered queue that leads out there. This will necessitate building expensive parking garages, though.

The whole point of people wanting Mickey in Launch Bay was to preserve GMR though.

Wasn't there supposed to be an empty plot between Toy Story and Star Wars?

 

[MisterPenguin]

The whole point of people wanting Mickey in Launch Bay was to preserve GMR though.

Wasn't there supposed to be an empty plot between Toy Story and Star Wars?

The berm between SWL and TSL and the end of the TSMM building is rather thick and could be cannibalized for a little something.

Also, personally, I don't have the high regard for TGMR that others do. Almost anything new is better, even better than a TGMR with 'fixed' scenes. You'd have to completely re-do TGMR to get me on board with saving it as a concept.

 

[DDLand]

I cannot understand how self-centered people can be. If this ride(s) comes out as good as it sounds, why would you want to deprive others of experiencing it just because you might be able to easily travel from coast to coast. It does no harm, everyone can experience it no matter what side of the continent they live in and if you really feel that way, how about not wanting castles in MK, Small World, Carousel, Space Mountain, Thunder Mtn., Haunted Mansion, PoTC, MSUSA, Jungle Cruise and many other things found in most Disney parks. That is why I really wanted "Cars" to be in WDW too. I am not going to go to the west coast just to see it, but, I sure would like to experience the ride. All the parks have more then enough park specific things, they don't really need to do everything that way, especially things that they expect to be very popular attractions.

I'm not militantly against cloning. In general it seems logical that development costs can be shared to bring a superior attraction to multiple locations. From a business standpoint it makes sense, and from a consumer standpoint it should make sense. Most people hopping on board Space Mountain aren't thinking to themselves "dang it, this ride is at several other parks." When people are on Space Mountain they should be having a great time (unless they're terrified ).

Why then is there negative feelings towards cloning in recent history? Let's look towards more recent (late 90s onward) examples of shared development or concept:
1) Tomorrowland 98- Brought misplaced steampunk weirdness to Disneyland. While not a direct lift from Discoveryland in Paris, this attempt to bring another park's look and feel to another failed miserably
2) Nemo- Epcot receives a mediocre ill fitting attraction in the Seas. Disneyland didn't fare much better, but Epcot got the shorter end of the stick
3) Undersea Adventure- While a mediocre attraction in the first place, WDW suffered by being constrained into the footprint of California. WDW could have gotten new show scenes or a more creative experience, but California dictated what was to be done.
4) Tower of Terror- Comes to California and Paris watered down and uglier
5) Rock'n Rollercoaster- I can't say from experience, but apparently the Paris edition is worse -Per @marni1971 this isn't the case. It's what I get for going by an anecdote...
6) Mine Train- Shanghai's needs outweigh Magic Kingdom's and we get a worse version of the attraction than we could have.
7) Jack Sparrow- Walt Disney World receives a worse experience and loses a unique feature at the end of the attraction because of Disneyland.
8) Soarin- Disney World launches with a nonsensical California version. Eventually they get around to replacing it with an inferior film, which now leaves Disney California Adventure with a nonsensical gloabal version. What comes around goes around.

Those are a couple off the top of my head. Not all those negatives are a result of cloning, but they've poisoned the well. My rule for whether or not I like clones is simple.

If the park's existing areas and themes are reinforced by the concept, all while utilizing real estate to the fullest, let them build it. If it means an inferior experience that sacrifices potential and theme, don't build it. That simple.

Cars Land would have been neat, but I find the concept a bit bland. It would use highe amounts of money for little gain. Of course I would have taken Cars Land over what we're getting.

I think eventually DHS will be the winner of the Star Wars face off. DHS has enormous room for growth, that apparently means Toy Story Land too. This World has the potential to be massive, even encompassing multiple planets if they want. Disneyland just can't compare to the scope.

They will have to add some content diversity if they ever take out Toy Story. Maybe replace animation courtyard with a new Pixar/Disney IP. It would be weird to have a park composed of classic Hollywood and Star Wars exclusively, though Star Tours presents another area to incorporate new IP.

I'd love to see the master plan for this Park.

 

[marni1971]

5) Rock'n Rollercoaster- I can't say from experience, but apparently the Paris edition is worse
.

Paris is better. Gone are the cardboard cutouts, in comes hundreds of LED concert lights attached to various stage configurations, all in sync to the onboard audio. 5 cars have 5 different light shows.

 

[HMF]

Disney is about kids after all. .

I just flat out disagree with that.

 

[HMF]

If you listen to the original announcement from D23 they repeatedly talk about creating immersive experiences that put you into the movie and reference Cars Land as the template. It seems that they got it into their heads that they wanted to turn DHS into a series of franchise specific mini-lands each which puts you into the world of the franchise. We can debate whether this is going to be successful or not, but this does seem to be what drove the TSL decision.

I know what their reasoning is. I just don't understand the logic. This is likely the kind of thing that makes WDI notorious for wasteful spending.

 

[marni1971]

Disney is about kids after all.

Hardly.

The young and the young at heart. In other words everyone.

 

[HMF]

What's interesting is the renders appear to be OT AT-AT's. Since this is "Escape from the First Order," I would think they'd have updated designs like the Troopers, Ties and Star Destroyers. Of course, they also likely just used the OT design to obscure what the FO AT-AT's look like.

Heck, knowing the aesthetic of the Sequel Trilogy, they probably just kept the old AT-AT's. At minimum maybe painted them a different color.