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

[monkyby87]

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.

You can say that about all of Disney, Universal, Sea World, and pretty much every theme park ever made. Take away the rides and attractions and you just have shopping, which is always expensive and rarely great quality. Diagon Alley is a great example. Take away the Gringott's Ride and it's all things meant for you to spend money on.

 

[LanceQ]

The land would probably get more praise if the intent to place a pay wall behind everything other than the attractions (sabers, droids etc).

...

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

Yes. If you eliminate rides and attractions from a theme park, all you're left with is a "mall." Hardly an insightful comment.

 

[Rickat96]

You can say that about all of Disney, Universal, Sea World, and pretty much every theme park ever made. Take away the rides and attractions and you just have shopping, which is always expensive and rarely great quality. Diagon Alley is a great example. Take away the Gringott's Ride and it's all things meant for you to spend money on.

I agree with you, but Disney is supposed to be the industry standard. Disney's focus used to be on the magic and value, and people did pay good for that.

 

[EmJ]

You can say that about all of Disney, Universal, Sea World, and pretty much every theme park ever made. Take away the rides and attractions and you just have shopping, which is always expensive and rarely great quality. Diagon Alley is a great example. Take away the Gringott's Ride and it's all things meant for you to spend money on.

I mean, Universal seriously lucked out that it happened to own the rights to a major franchise with multiple locations based heavily on shopping I think the thing that makes Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade feel less like "shopping malls" are the magical touches and homages to the movies sprinkled just about everywhere. I could spend hours in Hogsmeade just... looking. You can also, for example, view the Ollivander's show without purchasing a wand.

I haven't been to SWGE yet, so it may be just as immersive with the same potential to enchant without buying. But I do feel there is a difference, even if that difference is based on us Muggles having previously fantasized about purchasing the same butterbeers, strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, and magic wands that Harry did. I don't know how many people fantasized about drinking a blue milk before Batuu.

 

[LanceQ]

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.

100% this.

In Galaxy's Edge, you can create your own unique SW adventure, not gawk at the place where other people had adventures.

 

[monkyby87]

I mean, Universal majorly lucked out that it happened to own the rights to a major franchise with multiple locations based heavily on shopping I think the thing that makes Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade feel less like "shopping malls" are the magical touches and homages to the movies sprinkled just about everywhere. I could spend hours in Hogsmeade just... looking. You can also, for example, view the Ollivander's show without purchasing a wand.

I haven't been to SWGE yet, so it may be just as immersive with the same potential to enchant without buying. But I do feel there is a difference, even if that difference is based on us Muggles having previously fantasized about purchasing the same butterbeers, strawberry-and-peanut butter ice creams, and magic wants that Harry did. I don't know how many people fantasized about drinking a blue milk before Batuu.

I do agree that the Harry Potter lands benefit greatly from the shopping areas and restaurants being a big part of the books and movies. So even though it's the same principal, it doesn't feel like you're just in a shopping area. That doesn't really exist with Star Wars aside from the Cantina.

 

[LanceQ]

I mean, Universal seriously lucked out that it happened to own the rights to a major franchise with multiple locations based heavily on shopping I think the thing that makes Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade feel less like "shopping malls" are the magical touches and homages to the movies sprinkled just about everywhere. I could spend hours in Hogsmeade just... looking. You can also, for example, view the Ollivander's show without purchasing a wand.

Well, actually (wait, did I really just say that??) Universal didn't "happen to own the rights", they paid through the nose to acquire the theme park rights from a rival studio.

I haven't been to SWGE yet, so it may be just as immersive with the same potential to enchant without buying. But I do feel there is a difference, even if that difference is based on us Muggles having previously fantasized about purchasing the same butterbeers, strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, and magic wants that Harry did. I don't know how many people fantasized about drinking a blue milk before Batuu.

Certainly, a part of the HP franchise has always been its magical food. And, yeah, the SW franchise never spent any time talking about what kind of food and drink the people in that far away galaxy consume. No one was clamoring for blue milk, as you point out. So they have to build that from the ground up.

but, surely, just as people have fantasized about owning a wand, countless people have also fantasized about owning a lightsaber or a droid, so GE is definitely tapping into an existing fan desire with those offerings.

 

[monkyby87]

....I don't know how many people fantasized about drinking a blue milk before Batuu.

I think a lot of people actually did, or at least liked the idea of having iconic blue milk. I don't know if they fantasized about the actual taste though, since there was never any way via Star Wars to know what it actually was lol.

 

[EmJ]

Well, actually (wait, did I really just say that??) Universal didn't "happen to own the rights", they paid through the nose to acquire the theme park rights from a rival studio.



Certainly, a part of the HP franchise has always been its magical food. And, yeah, the SW franchise never spent any time talking about what kind of food and drink the people in that far away galaxy consume. No one was clamoring for blue milk, as you point out. So they have to build that from the ground up.

but, surely, just as people have fantasized about owning a wand, countless people have also fantasized about owning a lightsaber or a droid, so GE is definitely tapping into an existing fan desire with those offerings.

Oh for heaven's sake. We're splitting hairs here. I'm not saying SWGE is bad or inferior or anything like that. Only that among the HP fandom--the Potterheads if you will--there is a bone deep desire to be there. To go to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. To walk the same corridors, eat the same food, see the same sights. We didn't want our own wizarding adventure. We wanted to be there, in our House, and flying on the quidditch pitch. Many a child has cried when an owl did not swoop through their window at midnight on their eleventh birthday (even though they knew it couldn't really be true... could it?).

Whatever Universal paid for the rights, the reality is that they capitalized on the chance to own the opportunity for people would pay through the nose to play pretend wizard (and all the shopping that involves), even if just for a few days. Maybe the same visceral desire to fly the Millennium Falcon and sip a drink in the cantina exists among the most diehard of Star Wars fans, and if so, then that is a good thing for Disney, too.

 

[Rickat96]

I think a lot of people actually did, or at least liked the idea of having iconic blue milk. I don't know if they fantasized about the actual taste though, since there was never any way via Star Wars to know what it actually was lol.

Butterbeer- (frozen) was better than the blue milk- I did have higher expectations for it but- I did enjoy it and will buy it again.

Well, actually (wait, did I really just say that??) Universal didn't "happen to own the rights", they paid through the nose to acquire the theme park rights from a rival studio.



Certainly, a part of the HP franchise has always been its magical food. And, yeah, the SW franchise never spent any time talking about what kind of food and drink the people in that far away galaxy consume. No one was clamoring for blue milk, as you point out. So they have to build that from the ground up.

but, surely, just as people have fantasized about owning a wand, countless people have also fantasized about owning a lightsaber or a droid, so GE is definitely tapping into an existing fan desire with those offerings.

At least when I purchase the wands- I bought 3 of them and the stands- for the same price as the one light saber I built at Savi's- so in terms of value the wands were cheaper and 3 people were able to enjoy using them. Savi's was just one person.

 

[EmJ]

I think a lot of people actually did, or at least liked the idea of having iconic blue milk. I don't know if they fantasized about the actual taste though, since there was never any way via Star Wars to know what it actually was lol.

My four-year-old has seen videos of people at SWGE drinking blue milk on YouTube, and is now *very clear* that he only drinks blue milk also. We have to put food coloring in it . So if Disney's intent was to create a demand that didn't exist, or was at least latent, before, they are succeeding at my house! We will definitely be snapping up some blue milks as soon as we get there.

 

[monkyby87]

Oh for heaven's sake. We're splitting hairs here. I'm not saying SWGE is bad or inferior or anything like that. Only that among the HP fandom--the Potterheads if you will--there is a bone deep desire to be there. To go to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. To walk the same corridors, eat the same food, see the same sights. We didn't want our own wizarding adventure. We wanted to be there, in our House, and flying on the quidditch pitch. Many a child has cried when an owl did not swoop through their window at midnight on their eleventh birthday (even though they knew it couldn't really be true... could it?).

Whatever Universal paid for the rights, the reality is that they capitalized on the chance to own the opportunity for people would pay through the nose to play pretend wizard (and all the shopping that involves), even if just for a few days. Maybe the same visceral desire to fly the Millennium Falcon and sip a drink in the cantina exists among the most diehard of Star Wars fans, and if so, then that is a good thing for Disney, too.

As a huge Star Wars fan and not as big of a Harry Potter fan, Universal did do their Harry Potter stuff right. Diagon Alley feels like Diagon Alley and all of the Harry Potter stuff is there that you would expect to see. I think ultimately the Harry Potter franchise lends itself better to a themed area than Star Wars. A big draw of Star Wars has been the space ships, lightsabers, force, etc. It's hard to recreate that in a theme park. I really enjoy SW:GE, but I think it's more challenging to bring that stuff to life than it is Harry Potter.

And again, I say this as a huge Star Wars fan and a casual HP fan.

 

[LanceQ]

Oh for heaven's sake. We're splitting hairs here. I'm not saying SWGE is bad or inferior or anything like that. Only that among the HP fandom--the Potterheads if you will--there is a bone deep desire to be there. To go to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. To walk the same corridors, eat the same food, see the same sights. We didn't want our own wizarding adventure. We wanted to be there, in our House, and flying on the quidditch pitch. Many a child has cried when an owl did not swoop through their window at midnight on their eleventh birthday (even though they knew it couldn't really be true... could it?).

Whatever Universal paid for the rights, the reality is that they capitalized on the chance to own the opportunity for people would pay through the nose to play pretend wizard (and all the shopping that involves), even if just for a few days. Maybe the same visceral desire to fly the Millennium Falcon and sip a drink in the cantina exists among the most diehard of Star Wars fans, and if so, then that is a good thing for Disney, too.

no one is splitting hairs and no one is disagreeing with anything you said.

I totally understand that there are passionate HP fans would were absolutely clamoring for the chance to actually walk the streets of the Harry Potter universe and soak up everything they could. To buy a wand, to eat the food, to see sights, etc. Of course I get all of that and I'm not at all disagreeing with any of it.

And OF COURSE SW fans have a similar desire to immerse themselves in the world of that franchise, too.

I'm not sure how we got off course here.

 

[LanceQ]

As a huge Star Wars fan and not as big of a Harry Potter fan, Universal did do their Harry Potter stuff right. Diagon Alley feels like Diagon Alley and all of the Harry Potter stuff is there that you would expect to see. I think ultimately the Harry Potter franchise lends itself better to a themed area than Star Wars. A big draw of Star Wars has been the space ships, lightsabers, force, etc. It's hard to recreate that in a theme park. I really enjoy SW:GE, but I think it's more challenging to bring that stuff to life than it is Harry Potter.

And again, I say this as a huge Star Wars fan and a casual HP fan.

I totally agree with you here. The challenge making WWoHP was - "hey, all of this stuff in the movie. Just go make that. Recreate it as best you can. The school, the streets, the stores. Just go do it."

With Star Wars, it was much more challenging. You couldn't just "Go build it", since SW doesn't have a single signature location like HP does. Star Wars is about going on a journey (or many, many journeys.) HP is about growing up in a school. Just make the school. How do you create a "journey"?

But how do you capture the essence of Star Wars in a theme park? Not an easy job. Um, what do people like about Star Wars? How do we distill that into an environment and series of experiences that evoke the franchise?

 

[monkyby87]

Both Disney and Universal have done something right; when I go to the Harry Potter lands I want to buy a wand and pretend, and when I go to the Star Wars areas I want to buy a lightsaber and swing it around.

 

[fatmanatee]

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.

Branding. If you're someone who has never seen Star Wars or Harry Potter, something like Galaxy's Edge or Wizarding World sounds more inviting than the actual names of the places, which they won't recognize. And it sounds cooler, when these people return they'll tell others they went to Galaxy's Edge, as opposed to "I went to Batuu/Hogsmeade", which won't make any sense to a lot of people. Same thing will happen for Super Nintendo World when it opens.

 

[EmJ]

But how do you capture the essence of Star Wars in a theme park? Not an easy job. Um, what do people like about Star Wars? How do we distill that into an environment and series of experiences that evoke the franchise?

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Disney did NOT have an easy job, and maybe some of the controversy stems from the fact that different fans might have felt drawn to different parts of Star Wars, or that the experiences that would evoke what it means to *be* Star Wars varies from person to person. It's just interesting to read the different reviews from folks who really love everything about Batuu and think Disney captured it perfectly, and others--fans of the same franchise--who think it was a swing and a miss.

But I know my family will love it. DH is a child of the original trilogy, but really likes the sequels and doesn't dislike the prequels. He doesn't care if he's on Tatooine, Jakku, or Batuu. He will cry when he raises his lightsaber at Savis. And to my child, who didn't experience the "breaks" in storytelling, it's all part of the same saga anyway. He just wants him some blue milk and a red R2 unit. And to see Stormtroopers. Lots of Stormtroopers.

 

[yulilin3]

This discussion has gone in circle at least 15 times with the same arguments, so much so that other Mods have asked to just close this thread. I think it's healthy to have a conversation and share your personal views, without wanting to change anyone's minds on the subject.
The SW Universe is so vast and with hundreds of different, unique, places that it was an impossible mission for Disney.
What they've done, to me, is give you all the SW feels with the addition of old and new themes, things, characters, and make the guest decide on how to explore it and how to live in it.
To the CM it is explained that Disney didn't decide to go all out with one specific location or story because they want to also please the casual and non SW fan. Non SW fans will be able to go into BSO and enjoy the themes and experiences without having to know SW.
I am a huge SW fan, self made, no family to bring me into it, I enjoy the original trilogy, I'm ok with the prequels and I like the sequels, I loved Clone Wars and Rebels, and I am excited to go visit BSO as much as I possibly can. Just to walk around it, sit down and see everyone's reaction when they enter and when they see the Falcon and when they are admiring the detailed land.
I am also a fan of HP and I love what Universal has done with it, it was an easier task being that there were just a couple of places that the books touch upon. Much easier when the beginning of each book has them heading to Diagon Alley to shop and then headed to Hogwarts for school, only in the last book do we see a real shift in environment and the rumor is that they are going to build a Ministry of Magic so that would be location number 3.

 

[one_cat]

the rumor is that they are going to build a Ministry of Magic so that would be location number 3.

Maybe they will make a St Mungos?

 

[osufeth24]

Butterbeer- (frozen) was better than the blue milk- I did have higher expectations for it but- I did enjoy it and will buy it again.



At least when I purchase the wands- I bought 3 of them and the stands- for the same price as the one light saber I built at Savi's- so in terms of value the wands were cheaper and 3 people were able to enjoy using them. Savi's was just one person.

Love me some butterbeer

Just don't go riding the Hulk after finishing it though