Star Wars Land vs Wizarding World

[Club Cooloholic]

Gonna piggy back on this a little bit, and make a prediction about Epic Universe. Your post is spot on about Harry Potter. People LOVE Harry Potter and Uni hit it out of the parks (pun intended) with both lands, hence their surge in theme park fandom. People getting to visit the actual places in the books (for me) and movies (for others) is a what people are falling over themselves to spend money on, even if they can't afford it. Harry Potter sells... just look at Lego's numbers in new Harry Potter toys last year. But people do not care about the Wizarding World. Fantastic Beast's Lego sets did not move the needle. If Epic Universe thinks people will come to a Wizarding World based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, then they are fooling themselves. Sure, some people will come, but not like people flock to what Harrry Potter brings. Harry Potter matters, but having a theme park land based on the Wizarding World will not move the needle unless it is built specifically around the Harry Potter franchise specifically.

Same goes for Star Wars. Disney had an opportunity with this land to hit it out of the park as well, and they went for Star Wars Universe rather than the characters and the lands within said universe that matter. Sure people will come to see Galexy's Edge like they do any new land at a Disney park. But it will not be the be all/end all that Disney was hoping for. The Star Wars universe is cool I'm sure, but the hoards are not going to flock to see this land (especially at the prices Disney charges) that they have no emotional attachment to. Any Wizarding World built around non-Harry Potter based movies/books will flop. Any Star Wars land built around non Skywalker characters will flop.

People will come and it will work in drawing crowds because the park needed this. What remains to be seen is if it is the sort of land that people will want to hours and hours wandering around in which many do at Potter.

 

[J Hedge]

It depends on what you are into. Sounds like you are a Potter fan. I don't give to cents for Harry or JK Rawling (or her politics). I find those movies boring and definitely not exciting. I have no desire to visit Potter Land or walk around in dirty looking back alleys. So again, it is just about what you are into...

I have no desire to walk around a dismal dystopian settlement on some imaginary alien planet, & I consider myself to be a Star Wars fan (at least of the originals.)

I wrote this in another thread but thought to post it here since the debate on which is better (successful) will happen here:
While I am not a fan of the current SW Trilogy, I can't help but think that WDW SEGE can be nothing less than a success. It will succeed because they have family trapped in the bubble year round. Most families are visiting each park once; Disney even sells their special ticket discounts to promote this behavior.

Just like these families were planning their entire day at DHS before TSL opened (While we were arguing that it was a half day park), families will continue this pattern. Each park at least once. Try to explore SWGE because the internet tells them to. Buy Blue Milk because Instagramers tell them to. Buy their kid a lightsaber because the mom that lives down the street did for her kid. It is the same behavior pattern that we see across property.

WDW SWGE can be nothing but a success with a trapped audience, biting on all of the lures that Disney lays out for them. It won't matter how the ST is viewed by the public. People will go because they are in Florida, in WDW and in DHS on at least one day of their trip. You will not see the ghost town that we have seen at the West coast property.

In years past, we've skipped Hollywood Studios many times on short trips due to lack of attractions that appeal to us. Toy Story Land didn't move the needle for us - crowded and hot, with not much to see. As for Galaxy's Edge, we'll definitely go at least once to check it out, but it remains to be seen if it will keep us coming back. At first blush my gut tells me it won't. Maybe I'm wrong - time will tell.

But on the other side of that coin, before Universal built the HP areas more often than not we skipped Universal all together. Now Universal (both parks) is a "must do" every trip, even to the extent of us staying in their hotels several nights last trip.

I really think Disney missed the boat by not taking advantage of the emotional connection a big chunk of the public has with the existing movie franchise. I would guess that Galaxy's Edge will have a lot of repeatability for the hard core Star Wars Universe fans (people who follow the franchise outside of the movies), but after the initial excitement it won't be much of a draw for the theme park crowd in general, with the possible exception of ROTR.

I hope I'm wrong about all this and it turns out to be a huge success, since that would spur more advances from the competition & we'd all benefit. But from the initial reactions to Disneyland's GE and the much greater than usual number of negative comments and reactions I've seen in public forums, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[zurj]

Oh, I read it. At one point you said people will still come like they do to all Disney parks. And then at another point you said it would be a flop. I’m just wondering which of those two it’s actually going to be in your opinion?

People will come to anything new that Disney does. But I think Disney was expecting the enormous masses to show up like they did to Universal when Harry Potter opened. If you've ever seen the pictures from when those lands opened, it was a huge blob of humanity that was willing to stand in line for hours upon hours just to get into the land... and not just for opening day either. I was there several weeks after Diagon Alley opened and if you weren't at the park turnstiles an hour before the park opened, then you were going to wait a couple of hours just to get into the land so you could wait another 3 hours to ride Gringotts... not to mention people were lined up to hand over cash for Gringots' notes. Universal literally had people trading real money for Wizarding money... And of course Butterbeers success is well documented.

Nothing like that is happening for Star Wars, and won't IMO. Disney was planning on having the kind of turnout that Harry Potter had. When it's been built up to be the great answer to Harry Potterville, and that doesn't happen, then yes it is a flop

 

[imperius]

I was very disappointed by the Hogsmeade area at Universal. It's tiny and has very little in it -- and I think they made a huge mistake putting the ride inside Hogwarts. I know people absolutely love the ride (I hated it because it gave me the worst motion sickness I've ever had, even after taking a Dramamine -- I thought I was going to throw up for a good 30-45 minutes afterwards, and it also hurt my GF's neck), but they could have put it somewhere else or designed the area differently. It was a seriously missed opportunity to not have a bigger Hogwarts you could explore, visiting the different classrooms, having a restaurant in the Great Hall, etc.

Diagon Alley, on the other hand, is tremendous. The way it's completely hidden from anywhere else in the park and that you have to go through a little alley and then it opens up in front of you is just wonderful.

Hogsmeade may be cramped, but saying it has very little to do is confusing. It has three rides, restaurant, bar, multiple shops, small stage show, interactive wand show, and interactive wand locations. Things to do isn’t near an issue for Hogsmeade.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

People will definitely come for SWGE. Whether or not it pans out as big as Disney thinks, is another story... Right now, it's obviously half-baked with only one of two rides open. So that's a big variable right there. I suspect once RotR actually IS open, things may change for the better. But the rest of the land is still lacking... Atmosphere, interactivity and non-paid things to do other than walk around. I suspect it will turn out much like Pandora... ONE epic and repeatable ride (RotR) - and a whole bunch of filler.

 

[UNCgolf]

Hogsmeade may be cramped, but saying it has very little to do is confusing. It has three rides, restaurant, bar, multiple shops, small stage show, interactive wand show, and interactive wand locations. Things to do isn’t near an issue for Hogsmeade.

Well it has three rides now -- Hagrid's Motorbike thing just opened and wasn't there when I was at Hogsmeade. I guess you could say it has 4 now counting the Hogwarts Express, as long as you have a park hopper. So yeah, it does have plenty to do, at least as far as rides are concerned. There's not much to the shops there, though.

Regardless, we experienced everything there in about an hour and a half, including riding both Forbidden Journey and the Hippogriff coaster and seeing the Ollivander wand show. I was there about 3 years ago and it's not a place I feel any pull to go back to; I was not impressed. Diagon Alley was different -- it was actually fun to just walk around and explore there and I would like to go back. I still think they made a huge mistake using a few locations from Hogwarts as the ride queue rather than making Hogwarts itself the focus.

 

[cheezbat]

Having now experienced both Potter lands and Galaxy’s Edge, hands down give it to Universal. Maybe things will be a bit different when Rise of the Resistance opens, but as things stand, Galaxy’s Edge is pretty awesome, but still doesn’t compare to Diagon Alley...and attraction-wise, Hagrids, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, And Hogwarts Express obliterate the Star Wars ride lineup.

 

[HongKongFu]

The majority rules.

In the US that is the prevailing mantra even though there is absolutely no consistency with its application.

 

[HongKongFu]

Don't drag me into this mess.

Butt it's hard not to when posters are always trying to puff up their argument

 

[HongKongFu]

I have friends that were not fans of the films, and still found Diagon Ally to be breathtaking.

That's me
I want nothing to do with movies or books but I want all of Wizardly World



ok not all. You can keep that jerk machine with the abominable screens known as Forbidden Journey.

 

[HongKongFu]

, but it's not Disney's job to enable them because they are fighting an addiction or bad life choices. Disabilities are a completely different topic

Not so fast with that.

Countless have disabilities due to bad life choices and countless do not. It totally depends.

Got 22 year old neighbor with a mighty nasty limp. Too bad 4 years earlier he thought it was smart idea to drive 60+ mph in a 25 residential zone and stacked his Dad's Nissan Murano and causing permanent bodily harm to himself and another.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Gonna piggy back on this a little bit, and make a prediction about Epic Universe. Your post is spot on about Harry Potter. People LOVE Harry Potter and Uni hit it out of the parks (pun intended) with both lands, hence their surge in theme park fandom. People getting to visit the actual places in the books (for me) and movies (for others) is a what people are falling over themselves to spend money on, even if they can't afford it. Harry Potter sells... just look at Lego's numbers in new Harry Potter toys last year. But people do not care about the Wizarding World. Fantastic Beast's Lego sets did not move the needle. If Epic Universe thinks people will come to a Wizarding World based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, then they are fooling themselves. Sure, some people will come, but not like people flock to what Harrry Potter brings. Harry Potter matters, but having a theme park land based on the Wizarding World will not move the needle unless it is built specifically around the Harry Potter franchise specifically.

Same goes for Star Wars. Disney had an opportunity with this land to hit it out of the park as well, and they went for Star Wars Universe rather than the characters and the lands within said universe that matter. Sure people will come to see Galexy's Edge like they do any new land at a Disney park. But it will not be the be all/end all that Disney was hoping for. The Star Wars universe is cool I'm sure, but the hoards are not going to flock to see this land (especially at the prices Disney charges) that they have no emotional attachment to. Any Wizarding World built around non-Harry Potter based movies/books will flop. Any Star Wars land built around non Skywalker characters will flop.

Look at the success of cursed child

 

[JusticeDisney]

Having now experienced both Potter lands and Galaxy’s Edge, hands down give it to Universal. Maybe things will be a bit different when Rise of the Resistance opens, but as things stand, Galaxy’s Edge is pretty awesome, but still doesn’t compare to Diagon Alley...and attraction-wise, Hagrids, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, And Hogwarts Express obliterate the Star Wars ride lineup.

You’ve concluded that Universal’s rides obliterate Disney’s rides, even though Disney’s flagship ride has not yet opened. Okay, gotcha.

 

[GigglesMcSnort]

While I think that Star Wars Land will be very popular, I still think it will fall short of the Wizarding World at Uni, if for no other reason it is not grounded in any place related to the movies. The WW shops and restaurants as well as the streets all tie directly to the Harry Potter movies and provides an instant connection with the place. Not sure SWL is gonna be able to replicate that feeling. It's just the advantage the Harry Potter movies give it by being mainly centered around a few locals throughout 6 movies vs. Star Wars which is all over the place.
It was an advantage for it too in why it tops Pandora IMO, Pandora is great looking but I dont go craving to try any Pandorian food or buy Pandorian things..in fact restaurants and shops make no sense there in the context of the movie, it isn't organic.

It’s going to be hard to top Harry Potter. The themed area is huge, spread over two parks, with 4 unique roller coasters and restaurants / shops straight from the books, and the Hogwarts Express linking them, which is a ride all by itself. It really feels like you’re there (and their small recreation of London is uncanny).

Pandora could be anywhere as far as I’m concerned, and I wasn’t that impressed by the simulator ride, which felt like a repacked Soarin’ to me. Haven’t tried the Navii Rover Ride though. Toy Story land is fun, but not very big, so I’m struggling to see how Star Wars land could match what they have at Universal, but I’m happy to be impressed!!

* Just my opinion, I’ve been at both WDW and Universal back to back recently.

 

[HongKongFu]

4 unique roller coasters

I count 2 unique and a 3rd coaster as a low tier 'off-the-shelf' style. Are you really calling Hippogriff unique?

How about the 'jerk maker' with its huge bendable arm? Is that a coaster to you?

Perhaps you are classifying the train as a coaster??

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Having now experienced both Potter lands and Galaxy’s Edge, hands down give it to Universal. Maybe things will be a bit different when Rise of the Resistance opens, but as things stand, Galaxy’s Edge is pretty awesome, but still doesn’t compare to Diagon Alley...and attraction-wise, Hagrids, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, And Hogwarts Express obliterate the Star Wars ride lineup.

Right. But to be fair, Hagrids, Hogwarts, Gringotts and all of Diagon Alley were not opened as part of the original Potter World. Its not really fair to compare SWGE to two separate lands at Universal that have been evolving over the past decade.

I'm looking at SWGE at its inception and how it is stacking up to the original Potter version built at Uni. We'll see how it evolves from there. Disney may catch and surpass what Uni has done or they may be doomed to lag behind. I'm not going to judge until I've actually been to SWGE and the plan for the future (if there is one) becomes a bit clearer.

 

[Jon81uk]

Right. But to be fair, Hagrids, Hogwarts, Gringotts and all of Diagon Alley were not opened as part of the original Potter World. Its not really fair to compare SWGE to two separate lands at Universal that have been evolving over the past decade.

I'm looking at SWGE at its inception and how it is stacking up to the original Potter version built at Uni. We'll see how it evolves from there. Disney may catch and surpass what Uni has done or they may be doomed to lag behind. I'm not going to judge until I've actually been to SWGE and the plan for the future (if there is one) becomes a bit clearer.

Galaxy's Edge (once Rise of the Resistance opens) against the original Hogsmeade is probably fairly even. Original Ollivanders lacked capacity and had hour+ long lines to experience it, similar to the saber forge. Same comparison with the Hogs Head and Oga's canteen. Also it was a location that featured in the film but not in a significant way. Forbidden Journey is impressive but RotR might be better.

Diagon Alley however was a very familiar location from the films that people want to see and that was built to a better standard to start with I think so is already superior to Galaxy's Edge, even if technically it only really has one ride.

 

[GigglesMcSnort]

I count 2 unique and a 3rd coaster as a low tier 'off-the-shelf' style. Are you really calling Hippogriff unique?

How about the 'jerk maker' with its huge bendable arm? Is that a coaster to you?

Perhaps you are classifying the train as a coaster??

Gringott’s, the Hogswarts ride, Hippogriff coaster, and Hagrid’s rollercoaster makes 4. You have a point though, Hippogriff is pretty generic, so I should have said “4 thrill rides, 3 of which are unique”.

 

[cheezbat]

Right. But to be fair, Hagrids, Hogwarts, Gringotts and all of Diagon Alley were not opened as part of the original Potter World. Its not really fair to compare SWGE to two separate lands at Universal that have been evolving over the past decade.

I'm looking at SWGE at its inception and how it is stacking up to the original Potter version built at Uni. We'll see how it evolves from there. Disney may catch and surpass what Uni has done or they may be doomed to lag behind. I'm not going to judge until I've actually been to SWGE and the plan for the future (if there is one) becomes a bit clearer.

Ok...so if we go based off of Hogsmeades opening 9 years ago versus Galaxy’s Edge August 29, I’d still take Hogsmeade. Dragon Challenge, Hippogriff, the shops and restaurant, AND Forbidden Journey easily do it for me compared to a bunch of shops and the Falcon ride. Rise doesn’t open until December so if we’re goong based on opening day, can’t count it.

 

[zurj]

Galaxy's Edge (once Rise of the Resistance opens) against the original Hogsmeade is probably fairly even. Original Ollivanders lacked capacity and had hour+ long lines to experience it, similar to the saber forge. Same comparison with the Hogs Head and Oga's canteen. Also it was a location that featured in the film but not in a significant way. Forbidden Journey is impressive but RotR might be better.

Diagon Alley however was a very familiar location from the films that people want to see and that was built to a better standard to start with I think so is already superior to Galaxy's Edge, even if technically it only really has one ride.

I was under the impression you can't get into the saber build unless you are purchasing one. Am I wrong on that? Olivanders you can come and watch the show (which was pretty awesome) without a purchase.