Am I the only one that is unimpressed with SWGE - where is the juice?

[jbehr12]

Am I the only one that is unimpressed (so far) with SWGE - where is the juice?

This thing cost $1 billion (with a "B") and covers 14 acres and does not have anywhere near the charm/wonder/fantasy/Disney of Main Street or Fantasyland or Cars Land or shoot even the Monorail for that matter (all far smaller and less expensive). I mean, so far the only ride is a big video game embedded in a movie set.

I get it, there is a tremendous fandom of 20somethings to 50somethings but I get the feeling that there is a lot of vlogging and show-the-internet-food of it all without anyone asking if this thing fits.

I’ll wait to actually go before passing judgement

 

[tommygunn]

I haven't been yet, but as of now I'm a critic. I think the rides will both blow me away, especially RotR. But my criticism really has nothing to do with the quality of the land. It looks super impressive, though still not the same as Pandora, Diagon Alley, or even Carsland. I think the land was built strategically based on synergy and promoting future movies instead of giving Star Wars fans the same experience Harry Potter fans get to enjoy. I haven't waited my entire life to go to Battuu. I haven't waited my entire life to visit a knockoff of Mos Eisley Cantina. It's immersive and incredibly detailed...but it's an incredibly detailed place we've never seen or cared about before. And I just think it's a shame we were robbed of that and told that this is "better" because it gives them more creative freedom.

Well said Auburn dude. My thoughts exactly. Should have been based an an iconic location from the original trilogy. The Last Jedi pretty much nuked any interest I had in the new trilogy. Liked Force Awakens, loved Rogue One. Could not believe how bad the Last Jedi butchered the original characters. What a shame. Definitely dampened my love for the franchise.

 

[LanceQ]

Well said Auburn dude. My thoughts exactly. Should have been based an an iconic location from the original trilogy. The Last Jedi pretty much nuked any interest I had in the new trilogy. Liked Force Awakens, loved Rogue One. Could not believe how bad the Last Jedi butchered the original characters. What a shame. Definitely dampened my love for the franchise.

WHICH "iconic" planet? the SW franchise has 20 planets and counting. It's not like Harry Potter, where ALL of the movies take place in the same couple of locations. It doesn't have the recognizability because the SW franchise isn't about hanging around in one place.

Every single SW movies involves characters journeying from place to place to place. For my money, that was part of the fun of those films, seeing all the new crazy planets. What planets await us in the next installment?

Visiting Batuu completely captures that spirit. Sure, it feels just like SW, but in a new, unexpected way. It evokes SW worlds/locations, while also giving you the sense of exploration and discovery.

That's much more important than visiting Mos Eisley (which, let's face it, is the only other location that could POSSIBLY have worked, though the torrential Floridian rain would have made that unintentionally hilarious.)

But the vast SW franchise only spends ten minutes in Mos Eisley. We see a cantina (which GE has) and the Falcon (which GE also has!)

Batuu = Best of both worlds.

 

[DLgal]

WHICH "iconic" planet? the SW franchise has 20 planets and counting. It's not like Harry Potter, where ALL of the movies take place in the same couple of locations. It doesn't have the recognizability because the SW franchise isn't about hanging around in one place.

Every single SW movies involves characters journeying from place to place to place. For my money, that was part of the fun of those films, seeing all the new crazy planets. What planets await us in the next installment?

Visiting Batuu completely captures that spirit. Sure, it feels just like SW, but in a new, unexpected way. It evokes SW worlds/locations, while also giving you the sense of exploration and discovery.

That's much more important than visiting Mos Eisley (which, let's face it, is the only other location that could POSSIBLY have worked, though the torrential Floridian rain would have made that unintentionally hilarious.)

But the vast SW franchise only spends ten minutes in Mos Eisley. We see a cantina (which GE has) and the Falcon (which GE also has!)

Batuu = Best of both worlds.

Mos Eisley is a spaceport (city)....on Tattoine. Batuu already looks kinda like Tattoine. They should have just gone all the way. Tattoine is where a lot of iconic SW scenes and characters "live." It's home to Luke's home, Anakin's home, Obi Wan's home, where the pod races happened, Jabba the Hutt, the Cantina, the Sarlacc pit, where C3P0 and R2D2 came from, etc. And, it rains in deserts...quite a lot, actually. Ever heard of monsoon season? It would have totally worked.

 

[mrd7896]

Reading through this thread is EXHAUSTING.

It's 2019..people are able to have their own opinions.

I'm a millennial, I personally prefer WWoHP over SWGE.
Do i think both are incredible? Yes.
I would rather go back to WWoHP but mainly because their rides are far superior IMHO
That doesn't discredit SWGE from being super cool. I just don't have the personal connection to it as I do with the HP franchise and that's okay.

I personally get goosebumps when i walk into Diagon Alley and hear the famous music, as soon as I make eye contact with Hogwarts I gasp and stand there...every. single. time.
Does that mean that fans of the SW franchise don't do the same when seeing MF right before their eyes? No.

My (much older) sibling prefers the SW franchise over HP, and you know what spoke some (quite funny) volumes? That after he got off of Escape from Gringotts for the very first time a few years ago, he was tearing up. I made fun of him for it and still do til' this day that he got so emotional about a ride that quite frankly he wasn't that excited for. I WAS!
When we got off of MFSR, i was a little underwhelmed but was holding my opinions until we exited and it turns out he was also underwhelmed. For someone that was a -wait-in-lines-at-midnight-before-the-movie-premier Star Wars fan i almost felt bad that he didn't have that same reaction to something that he most likely hyped up in his head.

We still enjoyed our time nevertheless!

I think the new Hagrid's ride is the absolute coolest ride i have ever been on and it doesn't even involve screens-finally.
I will just have to wait for what RoTR has to offer.

But ultimately, I'm a DISNEY fan. I go back to Disney ever year/as often as i could because i LOVE DISNEY.
If i thought SWGE was a swing and a miss I would STILL go back into the land when i went back to the parks because I pay to go to DHS and will be immersing myself in as much as possible.
I don't pay all of that money to get into a park and only see 3 things (exaggeration.)

Do I PERSONALLY feel it necessary to buy souvenirs in SWGE? No.
Is my brother doing the lightsaber experience the next time he comes back even though some other parts of the land were underwhelming to him? Yes.

everyone has their opinions and are able to voice them but the amount of defensive arguments about how people are right for thinking one way and wrong for thinking another is TIRING

I just came here to read a few opinions after returning and now my eyes are crossed and i have a headache

At the end of the day, when all is said and done Disney still gets my money one way or another )))))))

 

[only hope]

We were there last week. I think it is what it is meant to be. I do think the draw to the land is definitely there, but personally, I don’t see the need to return again and again. I think that’s the major flaw at this point. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Disney will need to revamp it someway to make people to want to come back. Maybe a scanvenger-type hunt like what they did in MK. Maybe that’s already in the plans, but as it stands right now, I don’t personally feel the need to want to return like I do to other lands. Just my opinion.

Did you use the datapad? Thats going to keep me occupied for many hours. There’s a ton of stuff to around Black Spire on the datapad. That is what really makes GE special, to me. I am literally living my own story between that, dressing up, and interacting with cm/characters.

 

[LizzyS]

Mos Eisley is a spaceport (city)....on Tattoine. Batuu already looks kinda like Tattoine. They should have just gone all the way. Tattoine is where a lot of iconic SW scenes and characters "live." It's home to Luke's home, Anakin's home, Obi Wan's home, where the pod races happened, Jabba the Hutt, the Cantina, the Sarlacc pit, where C3P0 and R2D2 came from, etc. And, it rains in deserts...quite a lot, actually. Ever heard of monsoon season? It would have totally worked.

As a person who has lived in the desert for the past 12 years, monsoon season is *not* comparable to Florida rain. Not to mention monsoon season is a brief period of the year; the rain in Florida is definitely not.

 

[EmJ]

As a person who has lived in the desert for the past 12 years, monsoon season is *not* comparable to Florida rain. Not to mention monsoon season is a brief period of the year; the rain in Florida is definitely not.

I don’t have an opinion on whether SWGE should have been based in Tattoine or not, but the argument that it *couldn’t* have been because the Florida climate isn’t right is odd. No one seems to mind Hogsmeade’s snow-capped rooftops, even when it’s 95 degrees outside

 

[montreid]

Mos Eisley is a spaceport (city)....on Tattoine. Batuu already looks kinda like Tattoine. They should have just gone all the way. Tattoine is where a lot of iconic SW scenes and characters "live." It's home to Luke's home, Anakin's home, Obi Wan's home, where the pod races happened, Jabba the Hutt, the Cantina, the Sarlacc pit, where C3P0 and R2D2 came from, etc. And, it rains in deserts...quite a lot, actually. Ever heard of monsoon season? It would have totally worked.

Disney had a choice - to replicate something or to expand the story beyond what's already written. They chose the latter. It's the same thread of Disney Imagineering and what they'll take with Avengers Campus -- they aren't looking to replicate something but to further the experience. Tony Baxter said it great at D23 this year -- he wants you to be on the ride the 20th time and still enjoy it. I've ridden Smuggler's only once and know that I'll need at least 5 more cracks JUST to get the first cycle done. Then there's the variations within each station and then the more specifics of the ride each time.

Being Disneyland SoCal locals, I've been on Soarin' probably 50+ times yet still love it and look for new wonderful subtle things each time. I'm sure I'll do the same for smuggler's run as well as ROTR when it opens.

The immersive experience that one gets when entering GE is great. Loved it. Will love it again. I for one am very glad Disney try to replicate a known scene. It doesn't need to. GE is YOUR adventure---make it your own with iconic backdrops like the MF. How in the world that didn't drop any SW Fan to sit in front of the hunk of junk for hours.

 

[LanceQ]

No one seems to mind Hogsmeade’s snow-capped rooftops, even when it’s 95 degrees outside

I do. It's lazy and stupid.

 

[DLgal]

I do. It's lazy and stupid.

Does it also bother you that the Matterhorn and Everest are snow capped? What about the Frozen ride at Epcot?

 

[LanceQ]

Does it also bother you that the Matterhorn and Everest are snow capped? What about the Frozen ride at Epcot?

Sigh.

Those are themed to snowy locations. No, it "doesn't bother me." But the Wizarding World isn't set in the Himalayas or winter in Norway, it's set in England throughout the year. It's not always winter! It's occasionally winter. So it was a stupid choice.

 

[only hope]

Sigh.

Those are themed to snowy locations. No, it "doesn't bother me." But the Wizarding World isn't set in the Himalayas or winter in Norway, it's set in England throughout the year. It's not always winter! It's occasionally winter. So it was a stupid choice.

They followed the movies more than the books, though there are tons of details specific to the books. In the movies, they decided Hogsmeade was above the snowline and always had snow. It’s mentioned in the special features and indeed, every time we see it in the films there is snow. So, there’s “snow” in Hogsmeade at the park.

The decision in the movies didn’t make sense. Hogsmeade is very close to Hogwarts, the weather should be the same at both.

And now back to SW:GE:BS. Why did Disney feel the need to give so many names to the same place?? Galaxy’s Edge is a bit unnecessary when we have a city and planet name. But Universal does the same thing...Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade etc.

 

[LanceQ]

They followed the movies more than the books, though there are tons of details specific to the books. In the movies, they decided Hogsmeade was above the snowline and always had snow. It’s mentioned in the special features and indeed, every time we see it in the films there is snow. So, there’s “snow” in Hogsmeade at the park.

The decision in the movies didn’t make sense. Hogsmeade is very close to Hogwarts, the weather should be the same at both.

Well, that's my HP ignorance showing. I guess I wasn't paying attention, since I know that Hogwarts doesn't always have snow, but I didn't know that about Hogsmeade. My mistake!

Complaint withdrawn!

And now back to SW:GE:BS. Why did Disney feel the need to give so many names to the same place?? Galaxy’s Edge is a bit unnecessary when we have a city and planet name. But Universal does the same thing...Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade etc.

The name Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is the name of the park in the "real world", the other two are the in-universe names.

I suppose they could have called the land "Star Wars: Black Spire Outpost", but I think that would just be somewhat confusing.

"Galaxy's Edge", while vague, is also evocative and intriguing and makes a good "title."

 

[DLgal]

The decision in the movies didn’t make sense. Hogsmeade is very close to Hogwarts, the weather should be the same at both.

In the books, from what I recall, the students generally visited Hogsmeade in the winter months. At least, most of the main plot points that happen in Hogsmeade take place in winter. It was only in the last book that there was a main plot point in Hogsmeade that happened in the spring. So, it kind of makes sense that the movies only showed it in the winter because that's when the main action always took place there in the books.

 

[LanceQ]

I just came here to read a few opinions after returning and now my eyes are crossed and i have a headache

Well, sorry to hear you're feeling frustrated. I've only been on this forum for 2 days, and have only read a tiny fraction of posts, even in this very thread.

But this place is like a breath of fresh air compared to a couple of other Disney parks forums I recently joined and then promptly quit. Not to name any names or anything, but they rhyme with blicechat and wdwblagic.

Pretty awful places with massive negativity and even a dash of toxicity.

So far, what I've seen here has been pretty great, even if I (naturally) don't agree with everyone all the time.

 

[LizzyS]

I don’t have an opinion on whether SWGE should have been based in Tattoine or not, but the argument that it *couldn’t* have been because the Florida climate isn’t right is odd. No one seems to mind Hogsmeade’s snow-capped rooftops, even when it’s 95 degrees outside

I honestly don't care about that, but did feel like pointing out that desert monsoon season is not like normal rain anywhere.

 

[LizzyS]

Well, sorry to hear you're feeling frustrated. I've only been on this forum for 2 days, and have only read a tiny fraction of posts, even in this very thread.

But this place is like a breath of fresh air compared to a couple of other Disney parks forums I recently joined and then promptly quit. Not to name any names or anything, but they rhyme with blicechat and wdwblagic.

Pretty awful places with massive negativity and even a dash of toxicity.

So far, what I've seen here has been pretty great, even if I (naturally) don't agree with everyone all the time.

I signed up for blicechat once upon a time, but never went back there. I always return to disboards and it's my fave place for Disney info. It's not perfect, but overall people are very friendly, helpful, and welcoming.

 

[monkyby87]

Making the land a new and original planet gives them the freedom to do whatever they want. That way they can have the Millennium Falcon, First Order stuff, and X-Wings all in one place. That would look really out of place on Tatooine, or Hoth, or Endor, etc. Disney can make the story and location to what they want, instead of having to work with an established thing already. With this new planet they can have old AND new Star Wars in one and it "makes sense". It wouldn't make sense if they stuck with Tatooine or something. It really was the smartest decision as to not limit themselves to what they can show.

Conversely it wouldn't make sense for the HP lands to be a new place nobody knew about. It makes much more sense for Star Wars though.

 

[Rickat96]

The land would probably get more praise if the intent to place a pay wall behind everything other than the attractions (sabers, droids etc). The food is really hit and miss and not worth the price attached to it., I wonder if these items were properly taste tested prior implementing (looking at you turkey jerky) The blue milk is ok, green milk machine was down at the AP visit in August.

Once ROTR opens, with MFSM, whats left is a billion dollar shopping mall for way over priced, cheaply made goods from China.