Star Wars Virtual Reality Experience Coming to Downtown Disney

[TP2000]

Downtown Disney related... A few days ago after riding the Rivers of America attractions, I drove over to GardenWalk and went to House of Blues to try their Happy Hour. I walked in at 4pm and was the only person there. I sat at the bar and had a beer and some sliders and chatted with the personable bartender and a hostess for one hour. Just me. At 5pm as I switched to Dr. Pepper, an older German tourist couple wandered in and ordered a drink. We chatted a bit, nice couple, then I left at 5:30pm and the Germans were the only people there while a country-western band played to the cavernous empty room.

I sat on the corner stool facing the bar, the Germans sat next to me on the corner, and the bar remained this empty for two hours. There were two giant dining rooms behind this bar ready to seat hundreds of diners, all empty and abandoned except for the country-western band playing to no one.

Very sad to see House of Blues die on the vine like that at GardenWalk, after they spent a fortune to fix the place up into their national flagship location. When they were at Downtown Disney, the place always had a crowd of diners at any hour of the day.

 

[Curious Constance]

Downtown Disney related... A few days ago after riding the Rivers of America attractions, I drove over to GardenWalk and went to House of Blues to try their Happy Hour. I walked in at 4pm and was the only person there. I sat at the bar and had a beer and some sliders and chatted with the personable bartender and a hostess for one hour. Just me. At 5pm as I switched to Dr. Pepper, an older German tourist couple wandered in and ordered a drink. We chatted a bit, nice couple, then I left at 5:30pm and the Germans were the only people there while a country-western band played to the cavernous empty room.

I sat on the corner stool facing the bar, the Germans sat next to me on the corner, and the bar remained this empty for two hours. There were two giant dining rooms behind this bar ready to seat hundreds of diners, all empty and abandoned except for the country-western band playing to no one.

Very sad to see House of Blues die on the vine like that at GardenWalk, after they spent a fortune to fix the place up into their national flagship location. When they were at Downtown Disney, the place always had a crowd of diners at any hour of the day.

Whose decision was it for them to leave DTD again?

 

[21stamps]

Shut up and take my money. Multiplayer Star Wars VR sounds like just about the greatest thing I could possibly imagine. Can't wait to see how they integrate this tech in the Star Wars resort.

@21stamps @Kamikaze @flynnibus

I'm excited for you., but I'm not a gamer at all. We do have a wii, for Just Dance, Mario Kart and sports games.. but I have already told my kid that we won't get a big boy gaming system until he's 10.

 

[Rich T]

Stumbling around with a visor! Motion sickness! Ow, I hurt myself! Lawsuit! Yeah, I love the more imaginative videogames, but sealing myself up in VR is not my idea of fun. I hope it truly is worth the cost for those willing to give it a go. AND...I...
...Just realized what a hypocrite I am, because I'd try that VR Mariokart experience in Japan in a heartbeat.

 

[Phroobar]

When are we going to get the VR, direct to brain, version Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Hall of Presidents? The ad hocs are probably keeping it from happening.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_the_Magic_Kingdom

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I'm excited for you., but I'm not a gamer at all. We do have a wii, for Just Dance, Mario Kart and sports games.. but I have already told my kid that we won't get a big boy gaming system until he's 10.

I don't look at this like a video game. I see it more as laser tag, but better.

Stumbling around with a visor! Motion sickness! Ow, I hurt myself! Lawsuit! Yeah, I love the more imaginative videogames, but sealing myself up in VR is not my idea of fun. I hope it truly is worth the cost for those willing to give it a go. AND...I...
...Just realized what a hypocrite I am, because I'd try that VR Mariokart experience in Japan in a heartbeat.

You must've never done high-quality VR. These things aren't like sticking Galaxy Gear on your face. The high-end (i.e. expensive) VR systems don't cause any motion sickness whatsoever. Motion sickness is caused by the lag from an under-powered system that can't keep up with your movement properly.

 

[Phroobar]

...Just realized what a hypocrite I am, because I'd try that VR Mariokart experience in Japan in a heartbeat.

Even better...Real life Mario Kart is the streets of Tokyo.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Downtown Disney related... A few days ago after riding the Rivers of America attractions, I drove over to GardenWalk and went to House of Blues to try their Happy Hour. I walked in at 4pm and was the only person there. I sat at the bar and had a beer and some sliders and chatted with the personable bartender and a hostess for one hour. Just me. At 5pm as I switched to Dr. Pepper, an older German tourist couple wandered in and ordered a drink. We chatted a bit, nice couple, then I left at 5:30pm and the Germans were the only people there while a country-western band played to the cavernous empty room.

I sat on the corner stool facing the bar, the Germans sat next to me on the corner, and the bar remained this empty for two hours. There were two giant dining rooms behind this bar ready to seat hundreds of diners, all empty and abandoned except for the country-western band playing to no one.

Very sad to see House of Blues die on the vine like that at GardenWalk, after they spent a fortune to fix the place up into their national flagship location. When they were at Downtown Disney, the place always had a crowd of diners at any hour of the day.

This speaks volumes about how terrible GW is at drawing customers. Have they started building the stalled hotel they've been talking about forever? How's the nightclub doing across from HoB?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Garden Walk is always dead when I go. They have hardly anything there. I like Geeky Mamas though. They have a lifesize Jar Jar Binks and plenty of cute girl shirts and dresses.

 

[21stamps]

I don't look at this like a video game. I see it more as laser tag, but better.


You must've never done high-quality VR. These things aren't like sticking Galaxy Gear on your face. The high-end (i.e. expensive) VR systems don't cause any motion sickness whatsoever. Motion sickness is caused by the lag from an under-powered system that can't keep up with your movement properly.

Ah ok.. we love laser tag!

 

[Curious Constance]

I'm now dramatically less excited for the new dining options we're getting in DTD knowing that this thing is likely taking up most of the space they are vacating.

 

[D.Silentu]

Downtown Disney related... A few days ago after riding the Rivers of America attractions, I drove over to GardenWalk and went to House of Blues to try their Happy Hour. I walked in at 4pm and was the only person there. I sat at the bar and had a beer and some sliders and chatted with the personable bartender and a hostess for one hour. Just me. At 5pm as I switched to Dr. Pepper, an older German tourist couple wandered in and ordered a drink. We chatted a bit, nice couple, then I left at 5:30pm and the Germans were the only people there while a country-western band played to the cavernous empty room.

This is disturbing to hear. When I learned that House of Blues was moving to Gardenwalk I thought it sounded like a great idea. Then I heard it was replacing the movie theater, which sounded like a really poor decision. I have no idea if the theater was struggling or not, yet a theater seems like a universal draw and there is plenty of available real estate that House of Blues could have adopted. I do hope things will turn around.

As for this Star Wars Virtual Experience, I think this is exactly the kind of thing that Downtown Disney needs. The previous effort from The Void, Ghostbusters: Dimension, was well reviewed and I'm glad that I'll get a chance to see for myself!

 

[Curious Constance]

Having something like this in DTD, as long as it's fun, is a great addition though. DTD needs more stuff besides surfer shops and Disney stores. Maybe having things like this and Splitsville will actually help draw tourists out of the parks a bit. I mean, not in overwhelming numbers or anything, but maybe I take an afternoon or evening to devote to these things rather than spend every waking hour in the parks.

And virtual reality Star Wars laser tag could be a really fun thing for families to do together.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Having something like this in DTD, as long as it's fun, is a great addition though. DTD needs more stuff besides surfer shops and Disney stores.

I'm hopeful, but after @TP2000 pooped all over my sushi dreams at Splitsville I'm also skeptical. The concept for a unique Disney SW VR experience is sound though, and I agree that it could be a draw for vacationers.

 

[mickEblu]

I'm hopeful, but after @TP2000 pooped all over my sushi dreams at Splitsville I'm also skeptical. The concept for a unique Disney SW VR experience is sound though, and I agree that it could be a draw for vacationers.

Sounds like the kind of thing DTD needs. Way better than mediocre food and stores you can find at your local mall. What they should do in addition is create some VR experiences for past attractions that have been shut down and even take it a step further...maybe some teasers of attractions in the foreign parks.

 

[Thanks phoenicians]

Sounds cool but very confused as to how this works

 

[DisneyJayL]

As a big fan of Star Wars, I hope to take part in this when we go back in the spring. Kinda surprised by the announcement. Could it be them drumming up hype for "Star Wars Land?"

 

[Stevek]

Stumbling around with a visor! Motion sickness! Ow, I hurt myself! Lawsuit! Yeah, I love the more imaginative videogames, but sealing myself up in VR is not my idea of fun. I hope it truly is worth the cost for those willing to give it a go. AND...I...
...Just realized what a hypocrite I am, because I'd try that VR Mariokart experience in Japan in a heartbeat.

I bought one of those VR mask thingies...used it once, just about hurled and immediately took it back.

 

[Stevek]

Downtown Disney related... A few days ago after riding the Rivers of America attractions, I drove over to GardenWalk and went to House of Blues to try their Happy Hour. I walked in at 4pm and was the only person there. I sat at the bar and had a beer and some sliders and chatted with the personable bartender and a hostess for one hour. Just me. At 5pm as I switched to Dr. Pepper, an older German tourist couple wandered in and ordered a drink. We chatted a bit, nice couple, then I left at 5:30pm and the Germans were the only people there while a country-western band played to the cavernous empty room.

I sat on the corner stool facing the bar, the Germans sat next to me on the corner, and the bar remained this empty for two hours. There were two giant dining rooms behind this bar ready to seat hundreds of diners, all empty and abandoned except for the country-western band playing to no one.

Very sad to see House of Blues die on the vine like that at GardenWalk, after they spent a fortune to fix the place up into their national flagship location. When they were at Downtown Disney, the place always had a crowd of diners at any hour of the day.

Bummer...would really like to see this succeed as HOB is generally a great concert venue. I'm not sure we'd ever make a special trip over for it though if we were at the resort.

 

[Curious Constance]

I'm hopeful, but after @TP2000 pooped all over my sushi dreams at Splitsville I'm also skeptical. The concept for a unique Disney SW VR experience is sound though, and I agree that it could be a draw for vacationers.

To be honest, TP2000's personal tastes in food are likely so dramatically different than mine, it's certain that a poopoo from him is a win/win for me.