But you sure don’t shorten the line to get lemonade when you lower the price!
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I still think 200.00 isn’t steep. These are pretty high quality.
My thing is, universal was a heck of a lot smarter. You have clothing you can buy and wear, wands you can buy and interact with the land with. That alone means many people are going to buy that stuff.
Disney, tons of great clothing… you can’t wear it though. And if I can’t wear it in the park… I’m not paying the Disney premium inside the park. Lightsabers, which I still think are great… can’t do anything with them inside the land. You can carry around the hilt on your pants and pretend it’s awesome. Droids, pretty awesome, and they interact with the land! But their interaction is pretty minimal… and the droid is actually 140.00 if you really want to comfortably walk around with it. And now I have this big droid to manage going into rides.
Immersive Disney hotel coming, may be 3k+ for two nights… sign me up! But then I’m thinking… won’t probably be able to use anything cool from there. For sure no costumes. Now it doesn’t seem as cool.
I don’t want to be wacked in the head with a lightsaber… but a saber training area that I can use my lightsaber now makes the lightsaber have a purpose. Sure, tripping over droids would be a liability nightmare, but a droid racing area, obstacle course, etc something to use them in a safe area.
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SWGE vs WWHP. Who wins on immersion, looks and details? Or is it too soon to ask?
I vote WWHP on those criteria. With Diagon alley, ability to take a train to Hogwarts, and ability to completely dress up on character and use your wands around the park.
SWGE still has its biggest ride to come. I love the cantina, droids are great. The lightsaber show is cool. But most of what I buy in SWGE really doesn’t add anything as I can’t use most of it. SWGE gets that new immersive hotel. I think it counts as part of SWGE since they use the area during part of your stay. That idea is pretty great… and may make me change my mind in the future
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Well, too soon, since I haven’t been. But I expect the answer will always be WWHP for a very good reason. No one has to explain anything to the HP fans about where they are and what they are looking at. Everything around them matches what they read about or saw in the movies (with minor changes such as Olivander’s).
In the case of SW:GE? Well, other than a few of the ships sitting around, NOTHING about it matches anything we’ve seen before. So, when we first arrive, we aren’t really ARRIVING into the world of Star Wars, we are arriving at a great big Disney set that has some SW elements in it.
But we shall see. And by “we” I mean “I”.
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WWHP hands down. I’ll see GE in some months but I just don’t know how it could compete with HP areas. It’s too realistic, you’re soo close to the real deal. I don’t think GE is going to make me feel I’m necessarily in a whole different place.
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Well it is Hollywood Studios after all!
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I think GE does make you feel like you’re in a whole different place - just not one that is specifically familiar like Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. That’s why WWHP has the upper hand.
BUT, I respect Disney for taking the risk and trying something different from WWHP in doing an immersive experience, not just a “land.” I like that they came up with a new planet with characters and locations that are fully fleshed out, even if they aren’t all the ones we know and love. There is so much to learn and explore in GE. And even though it isn’t Tatooine or Jakku, it has the reminiscence of other familiar planets from the Star Wars Galaxy, and can evoke all of them, not just one specific planet. That whole galaxy is suddenly more real once you walk into GE.
Once GE has its anchor ride, and if they will add more entertainment, I think it will be in the same neighborhood as WWHP, though unless they add 3-4 more rides, it will be tough to beat.
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Anyone know why Disney doesn’t let adults where costumes?
Because they don’t want guests to be confused about which are official characters, who have to abide by specific rules of conduct and quality. You wouldn’t want some random creep dressed as Peter Pan to be whispering perverted stuff to kids.
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Makes sense. Wonder why US allows it - I know they have an older demographic but still get young kids.
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To go with the milk they need to add the “grow your own green bread” food that Rey had on Jakku. That would be a neat experience!
There’s a not-insignificant number of adults who are willing to pay hundreds and hundreds or even over $1000 for an authentic-looking storm trooper costume. They then spend another $1000 going to a weekend convention so they have a chance to wear it and hang out with other like-minded people. $200 for the Cadillac of lightsabers (which I’m sure the SW:GE editions will be) is not out of line when you think in those terms.
Another way of looking at it is to compare it to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. There are plenty of people who will take the kids every trip, and spend $150-200 each time to get a new outfit (shoes not included) to match the hair. The hair lasts 2-3 days, and the kid will only be able to wear the outfit for another 6 months to a year, so at least a light saber is still just as useful after 3 years as it was on day 1.
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What about a Mickey Plush stuffed animal? Are those price points really that much better? Sure, it’s about 10% of what you pay for a lightsaber, but the lightsaber is a much higher end souvenir.
That being said, I will never get a lightsaber. I have gotten my kids a few plush stuffed animals.
They allow it and people who work for the park have a name tag or walk around with park employees.
Disney excuse doesn’t work well when universal shows it’s a non issue.
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Disney likes to meticulously control every aspect of a guest’s experience. It’s a blessing and a curse, but that’s their style and they’ve been successful with it.
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Never picked up on the blue/green milk. Wouldn’t have known the relevance without TP.
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They don’t need an “excuse”.
I suspect there were cases of people trying to charge for photos. So Disney clamped down.
Similar to how they restricted FP booking due to private tour guides profiting at Disney’s expense - by booking FPs galore on APs and using them to benefit their clients.
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With their park attendance numbers starting to go down every year rather then up… they may be losing their edge.
I just can’t fathom why they didn’t add interactive elements into the land like Universal did for those paying more. Those wands sell like hot cakes. And they are incredibly overpriced for what they are. And people eat it up. The droid and lightsaber at Disney are prices well… and most are going to look at it like it’s not and skip it.
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When my BFF went in full robes that looked pretty authentic she had to wear a nametag sticker saying she didn’t work there. They said the official policy is that you can’t dress in a way that would make other guests think you’re an employee, a member of law enforcement, or emergency services. Apparently if you’re wearing a shirt that says FBI you have to cover it, and letting adults wear robes is an exception not the rule.
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