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

[Alexsandra]

I’m trying to figure out what feels wrong, and I think I figured it out. Would you make a movie ride based on Jaws 4 ??? or Rocky 7 ??? No, never! Each movie gets weaker. 90% of what I love from Star Wars came from the first 3 movies. Having no original Star Wars at the park and modeling it off of Star Wars 7 or 8 is a problem. That’s why I believe the stories going around about Disney owing George 25% royalty on any use of original content from the first 6 movies. Diseney thinks the fans won’t notice...there is no original Star Wars content in Disney Star Wars parks. I can feel something is not right. I love Disney and I love Star Wars, if you don’t speak up Disney will assume you as a fan just don’t notice. I have higher expectations.

I agree! I’m a huge Star Wars fan and I just find I am not that excited to visit a Star Wars land that has no recognizable landmarks and is missing some of the best Star Wars characters who actually built the franchise to what it is today.

But the main problem for me is that there is not that much for my kids to enjoy in the land, unless I am willing to spend $200 to build a light sabre or $100 to build a droid. Guys, I have two kids! That two swords or two droids! With the exchange rate (I’m Canadian) that comes out to a pretty Hefty price for a star war experience when I already paid for an expensive park ticket. Disney has managed to make the fun experiences only for the rich.

I heard that the land is lacking interactive elements, like shows and kid-friendly activities. So unless I want to shop there is nothing to do after I ride the Millenium Falcon.

Now I’m trying to still keep an open mind until I get this visit this March but I feel kind of let down already so I hope once I see the place, I’ll change my mind.

 

[only hope]

Wasn’t Vader already dead?
He is available to meet now at Launch Bay, and he is in the Jedi Training Academy. Star Tours has clips inspired from the originals. The orig trilogy has not been ignored. The prequel trilogy has mostly been ignored. Very little merch anywhere even outside Disney, no character m&g’s since SWW ended, very few new books from that era. Just three adult books from before ep III i think in the five years since Disney started the new canon and two of those released just this year.

I think it’s largely a generational difference. People who were around when the originals came out tend to like those best, probably partly due to nostalgia, and thats what some of them want a land of. People like me who were kids/teens when the prequels came out like those better. I think the originals are too slow and love the prequels and everyone else near my age I’ve talked to feels the same. While I really like Batuu, my preferred alternative would be the prequel era when the Jedi were numerous, not the original trilogy. A bunch of people using the force and lightsabers is much more exciting than two sith, one barely trained farmer, and an ancient Yoda using the force, to me anyways.

 

[10CJ]

I had a great interaction with a merch CM at Black Spire Outfitters. I was asking if other sizes would be restocked that day (opening day) and she mentioned Oga allowing another shipment to come in later and said I should check back.

 

[fiasco32]

Having no original Star Wars at the park and modeling it off of Star Wars 7 or 8 is a problem.

There's tons of original Star Wars content in the park. I walked past Chewbacca a matter of hours ago. He was working on an x-wing earlier in the day. The Force is much discussed. There are lightsabers everywhere. There's this ship called the Millenium Falcon you might have heard of. It's pretty conspicuous. I could go on.

I think you'll find, Mark, that many of the truths you cling to depend greatly on your own point of view.

 

[yulilin3]

I agree! I’m a huge Star Wars fan and I just find I am not that excited to visit a Star Wars land that has no recognizable landmarks and is missing some of the best Star Wars characters who actually built the franchise to what it is today.

But the main problem for me is that there is not that much for my kids to enjoy in the land, unless I am willing to spend $200 to build a light sabre or $100 to build a droid. Guys, I have two kids! That two swords or two droids! With the exchange rate (I’m Canadian) that comes out to a pretty Hefty price for a star war experience when I already paid for an expensive park ticket. Disney has managed to make the fun experiences only for the rich.

I heard that the land is lacking interactive elements, like shows and kid-friendly activities. So unless I want to shop there is nothing to do after I ride the Millenium Falcon.

Now I’m trying to still keep an open mind until I get this visit this March but I feel kind of let down already so I hope once I see the place, I’ll change my mind.

Just to touch on a couple of your points:
There is original SW in SWGE: The Millennium Falcon, blue milk, lightsabers, droids (R2D2, R5D4, medical droid,probe droid,etc) , Ithorian character (hammerhead), Chewbacca, x-wing, a-wing, rebel pilot jumpsuit, moisture vaporators, the holding room for Falcon with the medical bay and dejarik board table, the hallway where Leia and Han kiss during Empire Strikes Back on Hoth, aurebesh writting everywhere. So many artifacts at Dok Ondar's Den of Antiquities
Original voices of Yoda (Frank Oz) and soon in Rise of the Resistance Nien Numb (Kipsang Rotich) interestingly the Imagineering team and LucasFilm went to Africa in search of Kipsang to record his voice so it would be truly original

As for things for the kids to do, SWGE is part of an entire park, feet away you will find more fun stuff to do. Do you go to Sunset Blvd, Muppet Courtyard, Main Street USA, Tomorrowland, Pandora, Dinoland USA, Living with the Land Pavilion and find something for the kids to do other than the attractions and shops? SWGE was not designed to be it's own theme park but part of DHS.

You can have a lot of fun using the Disney Play app for interactive elements, with the app and all the games and mission you can walk around BSO and hack droids and have them come to life, tune into antennas and decipher codes, scan crates to see what's inside, translate all the aurebesh writting to see what it means, you can work for the Rebels, First Order or Scoundrel and gain status for each faction in the land. I have actually gone to the park just to play on the app without going on the Falcon or buying anything, and spent 3 hours doing so.
You can talk to CM and learn what settlements they are from and their backstories and what they think of Oga or Dok or Hondo...

I'm glad you are keeping an open mind, I hope you have a great trip and enjoy Batuu for what it is and not for your expectations of it

 

[Alexsandra]

Just to touch on a couple of your points:
There is original SW in SWGE: The Millennium Falcon, blue milk, lightsabers, droids (R2D2, R5D4, medical droid,probe droid,etc) , Ithorian character (hammerhead), Chewbacca, x-wing, a-wing, rebel pilot jumpsuit, moisture vaporators, the holding room for Falcon with the medical bay and dejarik board table, the hallway where Leia and Han kiss during Empire Strikes Back on Hoth, aurebesh writting everywhere. So many artifacts at Dok Ondar's Den of Antiquities
Original voices of Yoda (Frank Oz) and soon in Rise of the Resistance Nien Numb (Kipsang Rotich) interestingly the Imagineering team and LucasFilm went to Africa in search of Kipsang to record his voice so it would be truly original
As for things for the kids to do, SWGE is part of an entire park, feet away you will find more fun stuff to do. Do you go to Sunset Blvd, Muppet Courtyard, Main Street USA, Tomorrowland, Pandora, Dinoland USA, Living with the Land Pavilion and find something for the kids to do other than the attractions and shops? SWGE was not designed to be it's own theme park but part of DHS.
You can have a lot of fun using the Disney Play app for interactive elements, with the app and all the games and mission you can walk around BSO and hack droids and have them come to life, tune into antennas and decipher codes, scan crates to see what's inside, translate all the aurebesh writting to see what it means, you can work for the Rebels, First Order or Scoundrel and gain status for each faction in the land. I have actually gone to the park just to play on the app without going on the Falcon or buying anything, and spent 3 hours doing so.
You can talk to CM and learn what settlements they are from and their backstories and what they think of Oga or Dok or Hondo...
I'm glad you are keeping an open mind, I hope you have a great trip and enjoy Batuu for what it is and not for your expectations of it

Maybe I made a hasty judgment on the new land but, seriously, there is not that much info out there on what you’ve mentioned. I’ve been watching a few videos and trying to read a few articles. They are all talking about the same things, the ride, the lightsaber building, the droid building and the merch you can buy. I will read up on all the things you just mentioned and be sure to include them in my trip.

I get your point about the land not being a park. I guess I just wanted to see more. Maybe it’s because Rise of the Resistance is not open yet and half of the land is still missing.

Thank you for all the advice! I’m sure we’ll still have fun.
I guess I have trouble letting go of my expectations for the Star Wars Land. Obviously I am not the only one. There are many Star Wars fans that are disappointed with the decision to make the new Galaxy’s Edge set in Batuu, a new land never seen in any Star Wars movie. I was really picturing myself walking straight into Tatoiine and having a drink at Mos Eisley.
Anyway, The kids don’t have the same expectations as me so I’m sure they will enjoy it. Who knows maybe after I visit, I’ll be a new fan!

 

[yulilin3]

Maybe I made a hasty judgment on the new land but, seriously, there is not that much info out there on what you’ve mentioned. I’ve been watching a few videos and trying to read a few articles. They are all talking about the same things, the ride, the lightsaber building, the droid building and the merch you can buy. I will read up on all the things you just mentioned and be sure to include them in my trip.

I get your point about the land not being a park. I guess I just wanted to see more. Maybe it’s because Rise of the Resistance is not open yet and half of the land is still missing.

Thank you for all the advice! I’m sure we’ll still have fun.
I guess I have trouble letting go of my expectations for the Star Wars Land. Obviously I am not the only one. There are many Star Wars fans that are disappointed with the decision to make the new Galaxy’s Edge set in Batuu, a new land never seen in any Star Wars movie. I was really picturing myself walking straight into Tatoiine and having a drink at Mos Eisley.
Anyway, The kids don’t have the same expectations as me so I’m sure they will enjoy it. Who knows maybe after I visit, I’ll be a new fan!

To the first point, if you're a star wars fan you will recognize all the things listed . All of them were in the original trilogy which is the argument people keep saying, incorrectly, that there's no original sw in galaxy's edge.

 

[SMRT-1]

I want to second the points that yulilin3 is making, and add a few reasons - not from the perspective of what I'd like to see as a fan, but from a practicality and logistics perspective - why they would choose to create a new location, given the goal of an immersive experience.

While I'm sure IP marketing synergy with the parks is a big motivating factor for many of the decisions made in SW:GE (it seems to be Chapek's prime directive), there are also some practical reasons why familiar OT locations wouldn't have been the best choice.

• The Death Star would need to be completely indoors (which is not at all practical or cost-effective), and it wouldn't really make sense to be dining and shopping on the Death Star.
• It would be really difficult to explain why it was humid and constantly raining on Tatooine.
• Likewise, it would be really difficult to explain why it was so hot and humid on Hoth.
• Florida could certainly pass for Dagobah, but the only known inhabited location is Yoda's hovel, which wouldn't make for much of a theme park land.
• Cloud City would be really difficult to believably recreate the appearance of hovering in the clouds of Bespin, and, like the Death Star, would require most of the area to be indoors.
• Endor would similarly be difficult to recreate the appearance that you're 100+ feet up in the tree canopy, and as with Dagobah the only inhabited place we've seen is the Ewok village, which wouldn't necessarily provide an adequate foundation for an entire land.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

To the first point, if you're a star wars fan you will recognize all the things listed . All of them were in the original trilogy which is the argument people keep saying, incorrectly, that there's no original sw in galaxy's edge.

Just to touch on a couple of your points:
There is original SW in SWGE: The Millennium Falcon, blue milk, lightsabers, droids (R2D2, R5D4, medical droid,probe droid,etc) , Ithorian character (hammerhead), Chewbacca, x-wing, a-wing, rebel pilot jumpsuit, moisture vaporators, the holding room for Falcon with the medical bay and dejarik board table, the hallway where Leia and Han kiss during Empire Strikes Back on Hoth, aurebesh writting everywhere. So many artifacts at Dok Ondar's Den of Antiquities
Original voices of Yoda (Frank Oz) and soon in Rise of the Resistance Nien Numb (Kipsang Rotich) interestingly the Imagineering team and LucasFilm went to Africa in search of Kipsang to record his voice so it would be truly original

I would think people mean Ewoks, Boba Fett, Death Star, Luke, Leia, Han, Yoda, the land speeder, Sand people, Jawa, Jabba the Hutt....you know...the big stuff.

Is that stuff there? I haven't been yet. I already know I am going to like it regardless though. I even like Phantom Menace LOL

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I want to second the points that yulilin3 is making, and add a few reasons - not from the perspective of what I'd like to see as a fan, but from a practicality and logistics perspective - why they would choose to create a new location, given the goal of an immersive experience.

While I'm sure IP marketing synergy with the parks is a big motivating factor for many of the decisions made in SW:GE (it seems to be Chapek's prime directive), there are also some practical reasons why familiar OT locations wouldn't have been the best choice.

• The Death Star would need to be completely indoors (which is not at all practical or cost-effective), and it wouldn't really make sense to be dining and shopping on the Death Star.
• It would be really difficult to explain why it was humid and constantly raining on Tatooine.
• Likewise, it would be really difficult to explain why it was so hot and humid on Hoth.
• Florida could certainly pass for Dagobah, but the only known inhabited location is Yoda's hovel, which wouldn't make for much of a theme park land.
• Cloud City would be really difficult to believably recreate the appearance of hovering in the clouds of Bespin, and, like the Death Star, would require most of the area to be indoors.
• Endor would similarly be difficult to recreate the appearance that you're 100+ feet up in the tree canopy, and as with Dagobah the only inhabited place we've seen is the Ewok village, which wouldn't necessarily provide an adequate foundation for an entire land.

But....(in order)

1. New space restaurant at Epcot
2. African Safari at AK
3. Typhoon Lagoon
4. Pandora
5. Pandora again
6. Swiss Family Treehouse

Not that hard.

 

[yulilin3]

I would think people mean Ewoks, Boba Fett, Death Star, Luke, Leia, Han, Yoda, the land speeder, Sand people, Jawa, Jabba the Hutt....you know...the big stuff.

Is that stuff there? I haven't been yet. I already know I am going to like it regardless though. I even like Phantom Menace LOL

The land is set after episode VIII , so Boba Fett, Luke, Han, Jabba are all dead
You can hear Yoda at Savi's
Death star is blown up
There are land speeders

 

[Jennasis]

I don't feel any need to convince people to love it. I loved it. If someone else didnt...thats ok. I'm a life long SW fan and I thought it was so very well done. I could have spend days there. We finished our trip today with AK and our last ride was FoO amd all I could think of as we walked through was how much BETTER Galaxys Edge was...and Smugglers Run didn't make me violently nauseous. Seriously I rode FOP at noon and its 7:20pm and I am still so nauseous that the ride home to NC has been awful.

 

[Cheryl iLHARDT]

I get that die hard SW fans might be unhappy with the exclusion of orginal characters but since Disney focused on the new generation, the land can continue to evolve .
Beyond the Falcon, experiences and shopping, the average person can appreciate the detail and immersiveness of the land. Take time to talk to the settlers of Batuu. Every resident has a back story. Our time at Oga's led to an amazing interaction with our bartender.

 

[SMRT-1]

But....(in order)

1. New space restaurant at Epcot
2. African Safari at AK
3. Typhoon Lagoon
4. Pandora
5. Pandora again
6. Swiss Family Treehouse

Not that hard.

You don't go into any details, so I don't really see where your examples counter any of the points I made.

1. What does Space 220 have to do with practicality of replicating the Death Star? Comparing a single restaurant to an entire park area that would need to be indoors is not a fair comparison, and doesn't really address my point. Also, citing Space 220 as a counter-example doesn't address the issue of why it would be odd for there to be tourists shopping and dining on an Imperial military installation.
2. What does Kilimanjaro Safaris have to do with my point about Tatooine? It rains on the African savanna (during the wet season, it rains more than Florida); it doesn't rain on Tatooine.
3. What does Typhoon Lagoon have to do with Hoth? Did you mean Blizzard Beach? If so, I think the key difference is immersion. There's a difference between a ski lodge-themed water park (which is only partially "snow-covered") where the theme is secondary to the activities and an *immersive* experience intended to believably recreate a completely desolate frozen ice planet.
4. My point about Dagobah was that there are no existing locations (which is what people are asking for in this thread) on Dagobah other than a swamp and Yoda's hovel. How does "Pandora" counter that point?
5. Again, how does "Pandora" counter my point about Bespin? Where in Pandora is the entire ground level completely covered in artificial clouds that make it appear as if you're standing in a floating city? Citing Pandora also doesn't address the issue that most of the land would need to be indoors.
6. The Swiss Family Treehouse is *one tree*; an Ewok village would require a lot more than one tree. Also, most of MK is visible from the top of Swiss Family Treehouse, so being able to see the rest of DHS from the heights of an Endor-themed land would certainly break the immersion. Not to mention the logistics of getting everyone up and down - Swiss Family Treehouse requires walking up stairs which would be not be an option for many, and I can't imagine people would enjoy waiting in line for an elevator.

 

[Pages26]

It's fairly obvious that the majority of people find at least the ride disappointing. This evening the ques for falcon were less than slinky, TSM, ToT, RnRR. I have done it 3 times now once in each position, it is slightly better as pilot but you are not full control I.e. You can't go off course or completely crash ending the flight. So your not really pilot all you are doing is avoiding obstructions or hitting them to get a score that is not recorded or mentioned so meaningless as you don't know what's good or not. The main gripe is same story eveytime, so is boring after done a couple times. I did Star tours straight after and star tours is supperior as has different scences and also has animatronics. They could of least have done a different story for each falcon simulator so you don't know what is gonna happen. Is same with soarin now that it has 3 cinemas would it be so hard for them to record 3 different journeys i.e maybe add statue of libery, London, south pole with penguins etc. They would only have to change the video/music could keep the scences with the smells in all 3 journeys to save having to change that aspect, probably wouldn't even need any down time, wouldn't cost much at all and keeps things fresh.

 

[10CJ]

I would not say the majority of people find the ride disappointing. What are you basing that off of. Just ride wait times?

I don’t know the capacities of all the other rides you listed. If they process less people per hour than MFSR then their wait times could look worse but still have less people riding it.

 

[mlayton14]

Star Wars GE is a complete flop - on both coasts the wait times prove this

 

[yulilin3]

It's fairly obvious that the majority of people find at least the ride disappointing. This evening the ques for falcon were less than slinky, TSM, ToT, RnRR. I have done it 3 times now once in each position, it is slightly better as pilot but you are not full control I.e. You can't go off course or completely crash ending the flight. So your not really pilot all you are doing is avoiding obstructions or hitting them to get a score that is not recorded or mentioned so meaningless as you don't know what's good or not. The main gripe is same story eveytime, so is boring after done a couple times. I did Star tours straight after and star tours is supperior as has different scences and also has animatronics. They could of least have done a different story for each falcon simulator so you don't know what is gonna happen. Is same with soarin now that it has 3 cinemas would it be so hard for them to record 3 different journeys i.e maybe add statue of libery, London, south pole with penguins etc. They would only have to change the video/music could keep the scences with the smells in all 3 journeys to save having to change that aspect, probably wouldn't even need any down time, wouldn't cost much at all and keeps things fresh.

the difference is fp and hourly ride capacity

 

[only hope]

Star Wars GE is a complete flop - on both coasts the wait times prove this

SR has a huge hourly ride capacity. A lower wait time with no fp isn’t surprising.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

You don't go into any details, so I don't really see where your examples counter any of the points I made.

1. What does Space 220 have to do with practicality of replicating the Death Star? Comparing a single restaurant to an entire park area that would need to be indoors is not a fair comparison, and doesn't really address my point. Also, citing Space 220 as a counter-example doesn't address the issue of why it would be odd for there to be tourists shopping and dining on an Imperial military installation.
2. What does Kilimanjaro Safaris have to do with my point about Tatooine? It rains on the African savanna (during the wet season, it rains more than Florida); it doesn't rain on Tatooine.
3. What does Typhoon Lagoon have to do with Hoth? Did you mean Blizzard Beach? If so, I think the key difference is immersion. There's a difference between a ski lodge-themed water park (which is only partially "snow-covered") where the theme is secondary to the activities and an *immersive* experience intended to believably recreate a completely desolate frozen ice planet.
4. My point about Dagobah was that there are no existing locations (which is what people are asking for in this thread) on Dagobah other than a swamp and Yoda's hovel. How does "Pandora" counter that point?
5. Again, how does "Pandora" counter my point about Bespin? Where in Pandora is the entire ground level completely covered in artificial clouds that make it appear as if you're standing in a floating city? Citing Pandora also doesn't address the issue that most of the land would need to be indoors.
6. The Swiss Family Treehouse is *one tree*; an Ewok village would require a lot more than one tree. Also, most of MK is visible from the top of Swiss Family Treehouse, so being able to see the rest of DHS from the heights of an Endor-themed land would certainly break the immersion. Not to mention the logistics of getting everyone up and down - Swiss Family Treehouse requires walking up stairs which would be not be an option for many, and I can't imagine people would enjoy waiting in line for an elevator.

Yes I meant Blizzard Beach.

My point was they've already themed areas similar to what you said couldn't be themed.

I didn't realize the land was after Episode VIII. Fine for what it is...I am a fan of it all...but it definitely a bit of a bummer....to me...it will not be as magical...to me. Seems a lot of folks feel the same way, but overall I am glad they built it and I think it's cool.