I can’t help but wonder if the biggest mistake Disney made in this SWGE, in terms of TRULY appealing to the Star Wars fan base, was creating a fictional setting, rather than something directly from the films.
I think I’d, personally, be more excited to see Tatooine and Hoth and Endor than some place they made up for the parks.
Not that there isn’t a cool factor about what IS there…only that, if you look at WWoHP, it looks like you stepped right into the movies. Here, it looks like you stepped right into a land you’ve never seen in the movies!
The problem with using an actual film setting is you have to get it right.
There’s no doubt WWOHP did, although I must admit that in Diagon Alley I kept thinking “hmmm, this isn’t right, this is in the wrong place”. Or why they decided to make Kings Cross have more of a tube station entrance!
I think a much bigger mistake was rushing the opening. They should have waited until both rides were ready. Which brings us nearly back to the rumour!
I may be biased, as I am a DLR Deluxe AP holder, but I agree they overdid it. Last year deluxe was blocked out for weekends for the summer and it was the first time CLs for Monday were higher than Saturday.
As for them lifting the blocked APs, they have not. The original blockout never included DCA, so I can use my AP all summer there, but I am completely blocked from DL. Instead they are “allowing” you to buy up to three $99 Park hoppers per day including one for yourself. So you can go to DL, but you have to pay $99 on top of the $700+ that you already spent.
Not necessarily. For example, I LOVE the entrance to Star Tours, seeing the AT-AT in the forest. It isn’t entirely accurate, but evokes Endor well enough to get me excited.
When I watch the various videos have posted about SWGE as a major Star Wars fan, the only thing I’m really excited about is seeing the Millennium Falcon. The rest of it just doesn’t interest me as much.
I’m still perplexed by the difference between the SWGE opening and the new Hagrid ride. If it weren’t for the concurrent Hagrid opening I’d think it might be something to do with the indicators a recession is looming.
I’d blame cultural awareness around Star Wars but again that doesn’t explain Hagrid’s comparative popularity. Until I started planning our trip I had no idea Pandora and TSL had opened in the last few years, but we’d absorbed the knowledge that Star Wars was coming to both WDW and DL in the same way we’d picked up that Universal had Harry Potter. Until I started planning I couldn’t have told you any details about the HP rides (except HE) or areas but I knew everyone said the WWOHP was awesome, that you had to have a particular kind of ticket to ride the Hogwarts Express and also that crowds and wait times needed planning around. Similarly I knew that WDW crowds needed planning around and my husband and I assumed that going before Star Wars opened would be quieter.
If RotR does open Aug 29 I’ll be delighted since we need to start driving home the next day. But I’m no longer making assumptions about anything.
While some people are very excited about SWGE, I think the total number of excited people is less that it would have been if Disney had just skipped the last two films. The overall “Starwars Magic Level” managed to hold steady for 30 the years through some uneven film making because the vision was still there, but the last two films (LJ, Solo) really let the wind out of the franchise, IMHO. I’m not motivated to watch 16+ hours of SW movies with my kids only to finish up with questions like “Why didn’t the rebels just hyperspace a few x-wings into the death star back in episode 4?”. If Disney isn’t going to take the star wars universe seriously, why should I?
Ok, for your (and my BIL & SIL’s) sake I’ll be happy if it’s wrong, and for me I’ll be happy if it’s true. Win win?
BIL & SIL and my nieces are Star Wars fans but they’re planning to avoid HS entirely on their mid-September trip and just see SWGE at Disneyland in a few years.
I have my doubts there ever was a vision. Based on what I’ve seen and read, it seems that George Lucas didn’t know, himself, how it would all pan out when Star Wars:A New Hope came out. But it worked because he massaged his own scripts and didn’t have to worry about all the backstory and such. He just moved the story FORWARD. It all fell apart with Episodes I, II, and III. To me, Episodes VII and VIII have been far “truer” to the feel of the originals. I like to just pretend Episodes I, II, and III don’t exist…kind of how when Superman Returns was made, they pretended Superman III and IV never existed.
It would be icky if he’d known he was going to make Leia and Luke siblings when he made the first movie.
LJ and Solo didn’t diminish my SW enthusiasm but I care more about the ambiance and characters than about the technical details of the plots. I also (mostly) pretend Episodes I-III don’t exist.
