So, I spent some time in Galaxy's Edge on Sunday and have mixed feelings. One thing I've always loved about Galaxy's Edge is the naturalist approach they took to the space. I loved the ambient noise, the creatures rustling in the bushes and the emphasis on making the place feel "real." I think it perfectly captured the feeling of Star Wars. Of course, that was only one half of the battle; what a land like this needed to be truly successful was a huge commitment to in-universe characters, both of the movie and non-movie variety. Obviously, we all saw how that went.
Hearing the John Williams' score as you walk through one of the land's three portals makes for a fun transition. Hearing it as you wander around the rest of the land ... well, it really just feels like a theme park land now. Wait! I can hear you! "Jake!" you might say. "It is a theme park land and any attempt for it to be more than that or to even be different than that was doomed to failure."
And hey, fair enough! I've always appreciated and respected the bold creative swing Imagineering took by creating a planet we'd never been to and allowing us to make our own connections to the place. I also respect that putting it a fixed point in the timeline reinforces the commitment to making Galaxy's Edge feel like a "real" place.
But here we are. Through a combination of (as I understand it) grotesque decisions made by upper management (okay, Chapek) and the sequel trilogy devolving into yet another one of the Internet's boring-ass culture wars, we've got this. I maintain that people on the Internet are much, much more down on the sequel trilogy than regular-degular guests, but that's not me denying that having Darth Vader in your Star Wars land is, you know, kind of a no-brainer.
Anyway, we'll see what they do now that they have a much bigger sandbox to play in. I'll miss the era of Galaxy's Edge that existed before, but remain hopeful we've not seen the end of Imagineering taking big creative swings, whether they work out or not.