Thank you-this was an informative post. What is the Mary Poppins attraction?
I saw this on another video, so take this with a grain of salt. But, it is the Rumors board, so alas...
I believe the original vision was for a merry-go-round, perhaps with a 360vision screen, and effects/animations to sort of bring things to life. Which totally makes sense for a Mary Poppins attraction.
Honestly, I thought when it was announced that there wasn't even going to be an attraction. That it was just going to be sort of an immersive re-creation of Cherry Tree Lane for us nostalgia types who just want the feel of being there. Which to be honest? That was the part I was looking forward to anyway. Admiral Boom? One-Man-Band outside? Chalkprints on the pavement? I would have been positively giddy.
The Star Wars hotel is a lot further along than the Legendary Years build was. However, I agree that it's going to sit there for quite a while in it's unfinished state.
Legendary Years had the front check in building, enclosed and sided. Basic parking lot work and one, maybe two (3) building pods erected but not enclosed. Pads were poured for the rest of them but had not gone vertical.
One thing I think that will be a tough sell is......after such a life-changing experience for nearly everyone on the planet...the idea of committing to 2 or 3 days, isolated, with no windows, tons more personal interaction that you have at a normal hotel....I know Disney would do it right, I know they would do their absolute best to keep it as sanitary as possible.
I think the die-hards with the money would still do it. I think it's a much tougher sell to casual fans with money or die-hard fans to scrimp and save for a once-in-a- lifetime experience. I mean, it was already going to be a hard sell for those groups anyway, but it will probably be years before people are ready to have that kind of vacation, and by then, who knows what the demand will be.
Personally .. I think they missed the boat on both Galaxy's Edge AND the hotel. They both should have been built and done by the time the Last Jedi came out .. to hit the "peak" of new Star Wars fandom around the sequel trilogy. Just how the Marvel lands seem late to the game, but at least Marvel has more content coming out (shows and movies) to keep it fresh in the general consciousness.
I think they sort of overestimated and underestimated some factors. I think they expected the current generation of young adults/young parents to be more attached to the new trilogy than they are. Even as you look younger, a lot of teens/college aged people prefer the original trilogy, because it's what THEIR SW fan parents got them hooked on. Yes, maybe the really young ones have an attachment to the new trilogy, they love Rey, they love Kylo Ren. But, they also aren't the target audience (as in, they don't have wallets)
I think the super die-hards, the GenXers most especially, down into those in their 20s and 30s, those would have been the people on board with the hotel...but many have sort of fallen out of love with Star Wars because of the new trilogy. Even Galaxy's Edge hasn't really moved those people, the way I am sure Disney expected it to. Yes, they go, and yes, they like it. But, I don't think it has has the transformative, immersive experience that they were expecting to give that group.
I think a certain section of the fandom, the ones who would have been 100% signing up for the Star Wars experience, has sort of had their fanhood sort of dulled, and some have outright contempt at Disney for it.