Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Goofywilliam

Well-Known Member
Yes. And it fits RotR. It’s okay to slowly build excitement. Not every ride needs a weenie visible from the main path.
Oh I know, thats what makes the parks so exciting 😀 So many different types of experiences! Its all about context and the story being told!

I was not critiquing the Rise of the Resistance entrance! I'm actually a huge fan! Its should be very effective at drawing people in and hinting at the experience without being too assuming.
 

mikejs78

Premium Member
So reading books in addition to movies is mandatory to enjoy a movie? Sure thats an opinion but in todays short attention span world i think thats silly.
They aren't required by any means. But they enrich the story. I see nothing wrong with that approach. It's how much of Star Wars Lore was created through its entire history.
 

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
An entrance that doesn’t correlate to the level of experience is problematic design, in my opinion. Guests tend to gravitate toward what calls them visually. It‘s the kind of problem that has guests thinking BoG is a major ride. However, I’m sure it’ll be a pleasant surprise when they experience RotR and weren’t expecting so much.
Your visual cue is supposed to be the queue of guests starting at 50s Prime Time!

To be fair, does this look like a mega E-ticket (built in 1995, during the modern Imagineering renaissance)?

View attachment 428861
It sort of depends on the case, a little bit - Indiana Jones is a good example of this, since even when you've past the point pictured you're confronted with a temple that is clearly not large enough to suggest the scope of the experience inside.

The original Pirates does the same thing - who in 1967 would have predicted from looking at the relatively small, stately facade that the most sweeping attraction ever yet built lay beyond? The other buildings in the land disguise the fact that most of the land essentially is Pirates of the Caribbean, and that there's yet another building of equal size outside the berm where the party continues. Even Disneyland's Haunted Mansion plays a similar trick with it's pristine Mansion facade.

The thing is that these are choices that subvert the guests' expectation of the experience to follow, and make the surprise of their payoff that much more pleasant. That's actually a fine, even great rule to play by, as opposed to examples like Be Our Guest, Mermaid, and the Tangled Restrooms where the facades overpromise what they offer inside and then risk underdelivering.

It seems that, despite the veritable mountain range built around the Rise of the Resistance building, they may be taking this approach here by leaving the attraction relatively unheralded at its entrance. The massive queue surely will indicate to guests that this attraction is really something else, but the designed cues that are visible so far appear to be minimal.

Here's hoping that plays out and guests come off feeling like they've had their hair blown thoroughly back.
 

Marc Davis Fan

Well-Known Member
To be fair, does this look like a mega E-ticket (built in 1995, during the modern Imagineering renaissance)?

View attachment 428861

This is a good point. There are plusses and minuses to giving a "weenie" facade to an e-ticket.

The plus is that, for the many of the "general public" casual guests who wander through the parks without plans or even looking at a map, "weenie" facades will make them visit the must-see attractions. This makes a big difference in terms of guest experience. Out of curiosity about this very topic, when people mention that they've visited Disneyland, I've often asked what they rode, and a surprising number of them completely miss Indiana Jones Adventure. If you care about the experience of the average guest, this is a big problem.

The minus is that - as @MansionButler84 and others above have said - there is a lot of value in being surprised by the scale and grandeur being far beyond what one would expect from the outside. So, having at least SOME e-tickets without mega-"weenie" facades could add to the guest experience. But I think even those can strike a balance: The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is a good example, where practically every wandering-general-public visitor rides it because the building draws you in, but at the same time the facade doesn't actually give you a sense of the attraction's true scale.

The Rise of the Resistance entrance should probably have balanced this better in a simple way: Just make the turrets 50%-100% larger! They'd still look like a "temporary" structure hidden in the forest, and they still wouldn't reveal the true scale of the attraction, but guests will nevertheless be drawn towards them. (Hopefully, the way they stand out against their surroundings, and the way that the main guest flow passes by them, will be sufficient to entice most wandering-general-public visitors - but we shall see.)
 
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Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
This is a good point. There are plusses and minuses to giving a "weenie" facade to an e-ticket.

The plus is that, for the many of the "general public" casual guests who wander through the parks without plans or even looking at a map, "weenie" facades will make them visit the must-see attractions. This makes a big difference in terms of guest experience. Out of curiosity about this very topic, when people mention that they've visited Disneyland, I've often asked what they rode, and a surprising number of them completely miss Indiana Jones Adventure. If you care about the experience of the average guest, this is a big problem.

The minus is that - as @MansionButler84 and others above have said - there is a lot of value in being surprised by the scale and grandeur being far beyond what one would expect from the outside. So, having at least SOME e-tickets without mega-"weenie" facades could add to the guest experience. But I think even those can strike a balance: The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is a good example, where practically every wandering-general-public visitor rides it because the building draws you in, but at the same time the facade doesn't actually give you a sense of the attraction's true scale.

The Rise of the Resistance entrance should probably have balanced this better in a simple way: Just make the turrets 50%-100% larger! They'd still look like a "temporary" structure hidden in the forest, and they still wouldn't reveal the true scale of the attraction, but guests will nevertheless be drawn towards them. (Hopefully, the way they stand out against their surroundings, and the way that the main guest flow passes by them, will be sufficient to entice most wandering-general-public visitors - but we shall see.)

I will say, I think that is the charm I love about Disneyland and I feel somewhat lacks at Disney World.

The fact that rides are squeezed in everywhere, some hidden, some understated. If you miss a ride, I mean... do better. But there's a charm to how everything is put together and understated at Disneyland.

Then I think about how cool Mine Train looks, or Little Mermaid... but the rides themselves are... meh. Pirate has a much grander facade and queue experience, but ride lacks compared to Disneyland.

I don't know, I kind of prefer the understated beginning, as the rides truly do shine, but then if they are smaller scale dark rides, they don't feel overblown.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member

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