Star Wars Land vs Wizarding World

[Club Cooloholic]

Let's all face it. This is what we wanted! This is what Walt would have bet the farm on. Disney gave us a faux Star Wars land.

While I understand that was a fans idea for the place, I think most fans would very happy with just having the left side of that map offered! Heck how about just Hoth and Tatooine

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Let's all face it. This is what we wanted! This is what Walt would have bet the farm on. Disney gave us a faux Star Wars land.

That has been floating around for a while. IMO This would fit better into EPCOT as a replacement for FW. Considering that IPCOT is coming here - they could have kept continuity with FW becoming a SW Land - and that The "Death Star" is already there.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Interestingly, I came across something (supposedly an interview with a former Imagineer) that stated:

The initial thought process was to theme the entire land around the original trilogy. It was Iger who felt the new trilogy would be so big and so well received, that he (Iger), made the decision to nix the whole thing and introduce Batuu and give less prominence to the OT.

Don't know the accuracy of that reporting, but if true, and SWGE flops - it would be all on Iger.

 

[rkleinlein]

So I showed my 10 year old son the video of Smuggler's Run. Granted, it's just a video, but he was unimpressed. He even said "Star Tours looks better." I asked him if he wanted to go see the new Star Wars land and all I got was an unenthusiastic "maybe."

Then I showed him video of the new Hagrid coaster at Harry Potter. He wanted to watch it again and asked if we could go back to Universal on Fall break.

 

[zurj]

So I showed my 10 year old son the video of Smuggler's Run. Granted, it's just a video, but he was unimpressed. He even said "Star Tours looks better." I asked him if he wanted to go see the new Star Wars land and all I got was an unenthusiastic "maybe."

Then I showed him video of the new Hagrid coaster at Harry Potter. He wanted to watch it again and asked if we could go back to Universal on Fall break.

Yeah but did you tell him for $400 you and him could build a light saber?

 

[Incomudro]

Let's all face it. This is what we wanted! This is what Walt would have bet the farm on. Disney gave us a faux Star Wars land.

Not what I would have wanted.

 

[bryanfze55]

I could not agree more. I just returned from Florida and I have to admit that, even though I’m not a Potterhead by any means, I was blown away by TWWOHP. The care and attention that was given to recreate the elements of the books/films, from the architecture, rides, food, stores and even the bathrooms for crying out loud, is truly astounding. I mean it is literally the closest thing there is to actually being in the stories. Diagon Alley in particular was astounding and I could spend hours just walking around there alone.
OTOH, Star Wars GE really seems like just some generic half assed recreation of the Star Wars universe. I’m sure the actual physical detail is astounding, but it has almost no tangible connections to the films, specifically the original triology. It’s as if Disney thought they could just build some Star Wars kinda like place, plop a recreation of the Millennium Falcon in the middle of it, call it good and people will flock to see it. But you can only stare at a MF replica for so long before you want to do other things that are in the films and GE seems to have very little of that.
Also Disney seems absolutely hell bent on shoving the new triology down everyone’s throats, even the Falcon replica is the NT one despite the fact it just doesn’t have the same attraction as the OTHER the fans have declared that’s the stuff they want to see come alive.
I really believe SWGE is going to be a bust. The new films aren’t attracting fans like the old ones did so there won’t be nearly the number of kids who want to see it like Harry Potter. And many of the older fans are going to be turned off by it having very few actual things of the OT so they won’t be flocking in droves either because there’s no emotional connection.
Maybe Disney thought they were being cutting edge or something with the design, but to me it just screams lazy and they did just enough to get people interested and then assumed they’d just automatically drop big bucks on food and souvenirs.
We may be seeing a redesign of the lands a lot sooner than Disney planned on.

If the physical detail is outstanding, I don’t understand how it can be “half-assed” just because it doesn’t tie to the movies YOU want them to.

The actual attention to detail is tremendous. I think adding some streetmosphere would go a long way to making the land more successful.

While it would have been cool to have ties to the OT, I’m not complaining simply because SW:GE added additional capacity in both Disneyland and DHS without losing anything. It’s just one more thing to do in a highly themed environment, which DHS desperately needed. I’m also waiting for RotR to open before making final judgment. I hope that ride will be amazing.

Also, Batuu kind of looks like Tatooine without the sand. Why does it have to be an exact recreation of Tatooine?

 

[Mark IV Fan]

While I understand that was a fans idea for the place, I think most fans would very happy with just having the left side of that map offered! Heck how about just Hoth and Tatooine

Disney got greedy opening 2 versions of SWGE. They would have been far better served to put all their resources into one attraction in Florida but instead they went in jammed in one at Disneyland as well because “Double the attractions, means double the profits!!!! As long as we stick a Millennium Falcon replica in somewhere who cares what the rest is like!”
If they’d pooled the resources in WDW they could have made something amazing. Maybe not quite like that SW world concept map shows, but still amazing.
Of course if Iger wasn’t so determined to make sure every person in China is within 2 hours of a Disney park there, maybe they would have the money to build that SW concept world after all.

 

[Mark IV Fan]

If the physical detail is outstanding, I don’t understand how it can be “half-assed” just because it doesn’t tie to the movies YOU want them to.

The actual attention to detail is tremendous. I think adding some streetmosphere would go a long way to making the land more successful.

While it would have been cool to have ties to the OT, I’m not complaining simply because SW:GE added additional capacity in both Disneyland and DHS without losing anything. It’s just one more thing to do in a highly themed environment, which DHS desperately needed. I’m also waiting for RotR to open before making final judgment. I hope that ride will be amazing.

Also, Batuu kind of looks like Tatooine without the sand. Why does it have to be an exact recreation of Tatooine?

It’s not just how “I” want them to look there scrappy. It’s a pretty open secret that the films that are by far and away the most near and dear to Star Wars fans hearts are the Original Triology. If you truly think people are just dying to see the Disney films be the ones that are recreated, then I really don’t know what to tell you.
And the reason it HAS to be Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, Death Star, etc. is that’s what people see in the FILMS and what they want to experience in the parks. They don’t want some kind of place that sort of looks like what they see in the film if you squint hard enough. Do you really think TWWOHP would be the monster hit it is if was a place that was sort of like Hogwarts and Diagon Alley but not really and you were supposed to fill in the rest with your mind? It’s half assed in the execution of the theming compared to what most people wanted.
It wasn’t supposed to be a “nice place that is something else to do in the parks” it was supposed to be a game changer and so far it has been anything but. Maybe RotR changes that l, maybe not. But when 3-4 hour lines are the norm to ride the Hagrid’s coaster and Smuggler’s run is usually 30-40 minutes at most, something tells me they missed the mark. Sorry if the facts hurt your Star Wars or Disney sensibilities.

 

[zurj]

I’m not complaining simply because SW:GE added additional capacity in both Disneyland and DHS without losing anything.

Didn't they get rid of the Lights Motor Action stunt show and the Backlot Tour specifically for Star Wars land at HS? I may be remembering wrong and were those somewhere else in the park... not trying to be condescending.

 

[Mark IV Fan]

Meh. That's your opinion. A lot of people say that Potter is quickly fading out. Fantastic Beasts is not doing anything for the franchise. The kids are not picking up the old books so there is no new audience; only a bunch of 30 year olds that like to LARP it out at the parks.
/shrug

You don’t seem to hang around a lot of kids then. I see kids regularly in my job and I can tell you that Harry Potter is more popular, especially with the girls, and it ain’t even close.

 

[Mark IV Fan]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but WWoHP & SWGE are both an attempt at a cash grab. Neither Universal or Disney
are doing any of these things just for your entertainment. They are looking to get as much money as possible out
of any and all of the customers that come into the parks.

Of course they’re cash grabs. The difference is one is a crash grab that was done to the highest caliber and clearly geared to make the world people see in the stories come to life and spend money while doing it. While the other seems to be gathering a lot of “Well it’s nice and all, but isn’t something I’d pay big bucks to see again” reactions.

 

[bryanfze55]

It’s not just how “I” want them to look there scrappy. It’s a pretty open secret that the films that are by far and away the most near and dear to Star Wars fans hearts are the Original Triology. If you truly think people are just dying to see the Disney films be the ones that are recreated, then I really don’t know what to tell you.
And the reason it HAS to be Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, Death Star, etc. is that’s what people see in the FILMS and what they want to experience in the parks. They don’t want some kind of place that sort of looks like what they see in the film if you squint hard enough. Do you really think TWWOHP would be the monster hit it is if was a place that was sort of like Hogwarts and Diagon Alley but not really and you were supposed to fill in the rest with your mind? It’s half assed in the execution of the theming compared to what most people wanted.
It wasn’t supposed to be a “nice place that is something else to do in the parks” it was supposed to be a game changer and so far it has been anything but. Maybe RotR changes that l, maybe not. But when 3-4 hour lines are the norm to ride the Hagrid’s coaster and Smuggler’s run is usually 30-40 minutes at most, something tells me they missed the mark. Sorry if the facts hurt your Star Wars or Disney sensibilities.

It doesn’t hurt my sensibilities. I guess I just didn’t get my hopes up about the Land, so it didn’t disappoint to see it as it is. I’m not sure what people were expecting. We have known for a long time that the planet was going to be a new one and that it wouldn’t be based on the OT. I like the OT more than the sequels, but I still enjoy the sequels overall. The land, at least architecturally, looks enough like Tatooine or Jakku to have a Star Wars feel. People have complained a long time that Disney no longer takes risks. Batuu was a risk. Maybe that risk won’t pay off, but they took a risk nonetheless and obviously continue to alienate many Star Wars fans.

Star Wars is just a touchy subject due to the emotional attachment to it. It is just as well themed as Pandora (arguably), it will have two rides like Pandora, it has non-generic food similar to Pandora... yet Pandora is lauded. Again, as much as I would love to go in Yoda’s hut or Jabba’s Palace, I just wasn’t going to get my heart set on seeing any one particular thing.

 

[bryanfze55]

Of course they’re cash grabs. The difference is one is a crash grab that was done to the highest caliber and clearly geared to make the world people see in the stories come to life and spend money while doing it. While the other seems to be gathering a lot of “Well it’s nice and all, but isn’t something I’d pay big bucks to see again” reactions.

Are people only “paying big bucks” to see Star Wars Land? You’re on a Disney forum. I assume most of us are Disney fans and will be going to the parks whether or not Galaxy’s Edge existed at all. I spend my money at Disneyland to enjoy what Walt built in the 50s and 60s and enjoy the other classics that have been added over the years like Big Thunder and Splash Mountain. Galaxy’s Edge was just a bonus to me, not something that will cause me to never want to step foot in the park again.

 

[Mark IV Fan]

The area is pretty well done...

But there’s too much water under the IP bridge for “emotional”

Anything Star Wars...including this land...is a reminder of the IP mistakes made 1995 - present.

It’s “paradise lost” in many ways.

And no...return of the Jedi was never “terrible”...it wasn’t. Nobody said “boy...that Jedi had dumb characters and loose ends and awful effects”
...it just had ewoks.

Agreed. This revisionist “Jedi wasn’t that good” just to try and somehow pump up the 5 films that have come after it, is garbage. Jedi was a great film and the Jabba fight and Vader/Luke duels are far superior to anything that has come since.

 

[bryanfze55]

Agreed. This revisionist “Jedi wasn’t that good” just to try and somehow pump up the 5 films that have come after it, is garbage. Jedi was a great film and the Jabba fight and Vader/Luke duels are far superior to anything that has come since.

I was a kid in 2005 when I saw the Anakin/Obi-Wan duel in Revenge of the Sith. After seeing that as a kid, how am I supposed to view the Vader/Luke duel as superior?

 

[Mark IV Fan]

Are people only “paying big bucks” to see Star Wars Land? You’re on a Disney forum. I assume most of us are Disney fans and will be going to the parks whether or not Galaxy’s Edge existed at all. I spend my money at Disneyland to enjoy what Walt built in the 50s and 60s and enjoy the other classics that have been added over the years like Big Thunder and Splash Mountain. Galaxy’s Edge was just a bonus to me, not something that will cause me to never want to step foot in the park again.

But that’s not how Disney was selling this. They were selling it as a total game changer that would bring in droves not just some nice addition to the parks and they were certainly pricing it like it is.

You’re right in that DL won’t be a problem because it’s so beloved people will go there anyway and if there’s another cool place to see, all the better.

DHS could be a different story because it was supposed to be something that totally revitalized a park that sorely needs it and give people a ‘must see’ there whenever they visit WDW. Yes we have to wait until it opens, and RotR to see what happens, but based on the pattern of the DL opening, there are reasons to be concerned.

And, in relation to your other post, yes it’s touchy because of people’s emotional attachment to SW, especially the OT. But since acquiring the franchise Disney, Kathleen Kennedy in particular, have seemed to do almost everything they can to destroy the connection to the OT and bring fans to heel on their new universe. They got away with it TFA on interest and nostalgia, but fans lashed back after TLJ and Solo paid for it big time as a result. It’s going to be VERY interesting to see what happens with ROS in December.

SWGE seems to be an extension of that strategy to wipe away the OT and force the NT down their throats when I think most fans have been pretty clear THAT’S NOT WHAT THEY WANT. Obviously things can change l, but the mere fact the DL opening was underwhelming and we’re openly wondering how successful it’ll all intimately be is pretty astounding when you consider what a home run this was supposed to be.

 

[Mark IV Fan]

I was a kid in 2005 when I saw the Anakin/Obi-Wan duel in Revenge of the Sith. After seeing that as a kid, how am I supposed to view the Vader/Luke duel as superior?

Uh because it has actual emotion, conflict and grit in it and wasn’t just a couple of guys twirling their light sabers around for 20 minutes in highly choreographed dance moves. All to have it only end up with Obi Wan winning because he finds a patch of ground 4 feet higher than Anakin. Maybe that’s why.
But I’m silly like that I guess.

 

[Mark IV Fan]

Not what I would have wanted.

I’m sure there are probably at least 2 or 3 Star Wars fans who share that assessment.

 

[bryanfze55]

But that’s not how Disney was selling this. They were selling it as a total game changer that would bring in droves not just some nice addition to the parks and they were certainly pricing it like it is.

You’re right in that DL won’t be a problem because it’s so beloved people will go there anyway and if there’s another cool place to see, all the better.

DHS could be a different story because it was supposed to be something that totally revitalized a park that sorely needs it and give people a ‘must see’ there whenever they visit WDW. Yes we have to wait until it opens, and RotR to see what happens, but based on the pattern of the DL opening, there are reasons to be concerned.

And, in relation to your other post, yes it’s touchy because of people’s emotional attachment to SW, especially the OT. But since acquiring the franchise Disney, Kathleen Kennedy in particular, have seemed to do almost everything they can to destroy the connection to the OT and bring fans to heel on their new universe. They got away with it TFA on interest and nostalgia, but fans lashed back after TLJ and Solo paid for it big time as a result. It’s going to be VERY interesting to see what happens with ROS in December.

SWGE seems to be an extension of that strategy to wipe away the OT and force the NT down their throats when I think most fans have been pretty clear THAT’S NOT WHAT THEY WANT. Obviously things can change l, but the mere fact the DL opening was underwhelming and we’re openly wondering how successful it’ll all intimately be is pretty astounding when you consider what a home run this was supposed to be.

I’m not sure what Star Wars fans want exactly. They ripped George Lucas for the prequels, which is why he sold Star Wars to Disney. The OT is great and all, but it’s been 36 years since RotJ. It’s time to enjoy them for what they were but accept that Disney has taken the films in their own creative direction.

As for the battle sequence, I’m not sure why Luke/Vader had more emotion than Obi-Wan/Anakin. Vader may have been Luke’s father, but they had only met once before. Luke had no reason to feel connection to him. Obi-Wan had to “kill” the man who had been his best friend/protege/“brother” for 10+ years.