Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

[TheGentTrent]

It's about freakin' time.

And in true Disney fashion, only three years after being announced!

 

[saint.piss]

 

[saint.piss]

 

[Wesker69]

I don't need it... I don't need it...

....Disney after i give in...

 

[GA-MBIT]

Alright, you gotta give it to them. The merch team at WDW has some cute ideas sometimes.

 

[Wesker69]

Alright, you gotta give it to them. The merch team at WDW has some cute ideas sometimes.

They're still far behind the Asian/Paris parks though..

 

[Mad Dog]

Disney's gotten better though, and returned to its roots. There was an apx. 10 year period where their merch was too cookie cutter and unimagined.

 

[Eckert]

Eh, sure. Popcorn buckets don't impress me much. Give me characters or events and breathe some life into Galaxys Edge.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Okay, so why doesn't this land get any of the meet and greets or Droid tests that Disneyland's version does? Does the Entertainment team for WDW just not feel like it? Why build a gigantic, empty land to not fill it with anything? Did they throw away all of the costumes and makeup for the hundred niche Star Wars characters they had walking around after they cancelled Star Wars Weekends or something?

Why are we 4 years after opening and you still can't meet Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Anakin, Darth Maul, Obi-Wan, etc, in Star Wars land itself? Why lock yourself out of using the most popular characters? Not even a remote controlled R2D2 somewhere? Does Phasma walk around the land? Or is her costume just collecting dust in a warehouse somewhere since they got rid of the First Order march? It just seems ridiculous to me, and I'm not even a Star Wars fan.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Okay, so why doesn't this land get any of the meet and greets or Droid tests that Disneyland's version does? Does the Entertainment team for WDW just not feel like it? Why build a gigantic, empty land to not fill it with anything? Did they throw away all of the costumes and makeup for the hundred niche Star Wars characters they had walking around after they cancelled Star Wars Weekends or something?

Why are we 4 years after opening and you still can't meet Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Anakin, Darth Maul, Obi-Wan, etc, in Star Wars land itself? Why lock yourself out of using the most popular characters? Not even a remote controlled R2D2 somewhere? Does Phasma walk around the land? Or is her costume just collecting dust in a warehouse somewhere since they got rid of the First Order march? It just seems ridiculous to me, and I'm not even a Star Wars fan.

Disneyland is Lucky you can meet Vader at tomorrow land but yeah outside that they lock more OT and prequel characters to paid events now

 

[HandsomePete]

The short answer is that the two budget those sorts of things differently and “come see this limited time offering” does more to drive attendance at Disneyland than WDW.

The longer answer is that the idea of a land full of characters was tested extensively by WDI. It flew so far under the radar that almost nobody picked up on it. And when I say extensively… 15-20ish actors in an existing WDW land.

 

[GA-MBIT]

The short answer is that the two budget those sorts of things differently and “come see this limited time offering” does more to drive attendance at Disneyland than WDW.

The longer answer is that the idea of a land full of characters was tested extensively by WDI. It flew so far under the radar that almost nobody picked up on it. And when I say extensively… 15-20ish actors in an existing WDW land.

What land could that have possibly been? The only thing I can think of is the Incredible Summer promotion back in 2018 with the roaming superheroes in Tomorrowland, but I've not heard of them doing anything like that since.

 

[HandsomePete]

What land could that have possibly been? The only thing I can think of is the Incredible Summer promotion back in 2018 with the roaming superheroes in Tomorrowland, but I've not heard of them doing anything like that since.

Adventureland.

See what I mean. Nobody - not even lifestylers who are there all the time - noticed.

Not saying it’s a perfect land, but it needs a legitimate third thing to do and not the bantha or 20 actors scattered across the thousands of people in the land.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Adventureland.

See what I mean. Nobody - not even lifestylers who are there all the time - noticed.

Not saying it’s a perfect land, but it needs a legitimate third thing to do and not the bantha or 20 actors scattered across the thousands of people in the land.

Then I think they probably should've done a better job marketing it imo, because I do remember the Tomorrowland event vividly.

It's one thing not to have like 20 characters running around Disneyland-style, but to not even offer Ahsoka as a promotional meet n greet for a few months is just weird to me. They spent millions on the Starcruiser flop and then refuse to throw anything in the actual land? Again, are all of the Starcruiser costumes just collecting dust now? The droids? The weird alien prosthetics? Do they even plan on making the dinner theatre anymore? They made such a big deal about the Figment meet and greet returning a few years back, and then choose not to do anything else?

I guess I just don't get why Disney World can't do this. Especially when Disneyland and even Universal Orlando offers Meet & Greet characters practically everywhere you go. I understand why they don't want to, but I disagree with them and feel like it makes the parks feel a little lifeless, strict, and less engaging. It feels like penny-pinching and a laid-back attitude of "Well, the people will pay for the tickets anyways." which I absolutely hate and refuse to accept as an answer.

I think I just want it to feel like Disney World is actively working to be the #1 Resort on planet earth in ways other than Popcorn buckets and $200 Upcharge events (Jollywood Nights didn't even include very many character encounters for the first week or so). It's not difficult or crazy expensive to set up a meet and greet. Reedy Creek isn't stopping them from holding a Disney Channel night or something. Universal builds 15+ new live theatre attractions from scratch every year for HHN, and even include some random walk-around characters like David S Pumpkins or the Death Eaters for no reason other than it giving people something to do. Even Seaworld can pull off a Super-Grover meet and greet around Halloween, why can't Walt Disney World of all places throw someone in the Oogie Boogie suit at Hollywood Studios on weekends or something? I'd totally pay a $50-$80 upcharge after-hours event for a few small things like that.

 

[Mad Dog]

Then I think they probably should've done a better job marketing it imo, because I do remember the Tomorrowland event vividly.

It's one thing not to have like 20 characters running around Disneyland-style, but to not even offer Ahsoka as a promotional meet n greet for a few months is just weird to me. They spent millions on the Starcruiser flop and then refuse to throw anything in the actual land? Again, are all of the Starcruiser costumes just collecting dust now? The droids? The weird alien prosthetics? Do they even plan on making the dinner theatre anymore? They made such a big deal about the Figment meet and greet returning a few years back, and then choose not to do anything else?

I guess I just don't get why Disney World can't do this. Especially when Disneyland and even Universal Orlando offers Meet & Greet characters practically everywhere you go. I understand why they don't want to, but I disagree with them and feel like it makes the parks feel a little lifeless, strict, and less engaging. It feels like penny-pinching and a laid-back attitude of "Well, the people will pay for the tickets anyways." which I absolutely hate and refuse to accept as an answer.

I think I just want it to feel like Disney World is actively working to be the #1 Resort on planet earth in ways other than Popcorn buckets and $200 Upcharge events (Jollywood Nights didn't even include very many character encounters for the first week or so). It's not difficult or crazy expensive to set up a meet and greet. Reedy Creek isn't stopping them from holding a Disney Channel night or something. Universal builds 15+ new live theatre attractions from scratch every year for HHN, and even include some random walk-around characters like David S Pumpkins or the Death Eaters for no reason other than it giving people something to do. Even Seaworld can pull off a Super-Grover meet and greet around Halloween, why can't Walt Disney World of all places throw someone in the Oogie Boogie suit at Hollywood Studios on weekends or something? I'd totally pay a $50-$80 upcharge after-hours event for a few small things like that.

Even though there has only been a few characters strolling around Batuu every time I've been there, those few have been mobbed by guests. So, I believe Batuu, which seems lifeless at times, would be well served by bringing the characters that people know and like, into the land.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Even though there has only been a few characters strolling around Batuu every time I've been there, those few have been mobbed by guests. So, I believe Batuu, which seems lifeless at times, would be well served by bringing the characters that people know and like, into the land.

I've talked to a few people who have been to Avengers Campus and the most glowing responses were about how cool it was to see characters just mingling around. Loki just scowling around a cat-walk, Black Panther leaning on a wall talking to some people, Star-Lord holding a dance party. Why can't Star Wars be like that here? I really don't think it's that much to ask of the most profitable branch of the biggest media conglomerate on earth.

All of this was planned for Star Wars land already, the land is pre-built to accomodate this kind of performance, the costumes and props are already built, and the audience is primed for it. I understand if you can't get people too excited to meet Captain Hook or Maui over by Adventureland, but surely you can get the Star Wars fans to come see your new character encounters. That was practically the entire purpose of both Star Wars Weekends and the Starcruiser. Surely Disney hasn't fumbled the bag that badly that the people who have spent hundreds on convention tickets and Stormtrooper costumes over 30 years won't buy an add-on ticket to your theme park land?

 

[Tbad556]

Even though there has only been a few characters strolling around Batuu every time I've been there, those few have been mobbed by guests. So, I believe Batuu, which seems lifeless at times, would be well served by bringing the characters that people know and like, into the land.

I was about to say the same thing. I don't think comparing iconic Star Wars IP characters to Adventureland characters is really a good way to go about this (and I feel like it says a lot about that test that I can't find any details on it no matter how hard I google). Every time I've seen the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda in Batuu, they've genuinely been mobbed by a swarm of people as if they were real-life celebrities. People would absolutely eat up more interactive characters in the land.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I wonder who the GP would choose in a battle, a generic Pan-American colonizer who speaks in bad puns or Darth Vader. A difficult choice...

 

[HandsomePete]

Then I think they probably should've done a better job marketing it imo, because I do remember the Tomorrowland event vividly.

That defeats the purpose of testing whether people notice it or not, or how they interact with the characters organically.

It kind of seems like you’re just on a rant about a lot of things, the answer to most of which is either 1) things are typically more complicated, expensive, or just plain annoying than people would think or 2) there’s really not much of a market for at WDW compared to Disneyland.

I don't think comparing iconic Star Wars IP characters to Adventureland characters is really a good way to go about this (and I feel like it says a lot about that test that I can't find any details on it no matter how hard I google).

Your mistake is thinking you were getting iconic Star Wars characters in the land and not Random McRando popping up every so often.

 

[Tbad556]

That defeats the purpose of testing whether people notice it or not, or how they interact with the characters organically.

It kind of seems like you’re just on a rant about a lot of things, the answer to most of which is either 1) things are typically more complicated, expensive, or just plain annoying than people would think or 2) there’s really not much of a market for at WDW compared to Disneyland.

I mean, he's not wrong though. There are characters like The Mandalorian and Grogu in Batuu at WDW. People are interacting with the characters organically in a big way. I don't see how it's that easy to dismiss as not having a market based on a completely different type of test that had nothing to do with one of the biggest IPs in the world.