Disney is flooding ABC Networks with Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge this week.

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

It won’t hurt it. Nobody thought that the parks would be as dead as they are after the opening. It’s not just SWGE, all six domestic parks are not seeing the attendance.

Do you know if Universal's attendance is down, too?

 

[rteetz]

Do you know if Universal's attendance is down, too?

I haven't paid a ton of attention but I haven’t heard anything about crazy crowds over there.

 

[HuskieJohn]

Again the whole land is not open so why would anyone make a special trip for half a land? I have had 3 families mention to me about going to WDW the past 9mo and I told them they should wait until after RotR opens at the end of the year. One of them is stopping by at HS on 12/17 before their Disney Cruise the next day. The other two are going spring break 2020 rather than Summer 2019.

Personally the ONLY reason we are going back to WDW and staying onsite next year is because of SWGE. If it were not for the land we would have been staying at Universal and just doing a few park days at WDW.

I have previewed the YouTube SWGE haters explaining that these promos are ridiculous because they are not actually targeting most SW fans.
They are partly right these promos are mostly NOT for SW fans...they are for boomers who have grand kids...and these target Boomers are the largest demographic who would be most likely to plan on taking a short notice trip with the grand kids (and maybe their parents) without too much care for the cost.

With the low crowds being well publicized I am worried that people are going to be booking the next round of trips like crazy for any time after RotR is open.
IF this does happen I expect that WDW will increase the number of characters and side shows in the land that basically we were told would happen. Give me a Chewy or Vi vs storm trooper show that we saw opening day at DL, the Ren/FO short show at his ship and even add a Rey/Ren light saber battle at night where everyone can show their force support by lighting their $avi $abers....how cool would that be and what a way to keep up demand for sales of the lightsabers at Savi's

 

[sponica]

To be fair, GMA was non stop Galaxys Edge in the 2 to 3 days before Batuu West opened....

 

[Star wars fanatic]

I personally can’t wait to see the rise of the resistance preview on good morning America tomorrow morning

 

[Lewisc]

Toy Story Land didn’t open during the major tv season really.

But the promotions started to run May 5, during the tv season

 

[Steph15251]

I haven't paid a ton of attention but I haven’t heard anything about crazy crowds over there.

Sept tends to be slow in Orlando

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I just think the Disney fan community hyped it up too much and the demand isn’t there for Star Wars.

the merch price is out of control too for the nonsense their hawking

 

[Darkhaund]

I also think that Disney SUPER DUPER OVERESTIMATED themselves..... they in a way. RUINED or are close to completely ruining starwars. The direction they took with it was not well received by old hard core fans and new fans as well. They are FORCING on us Kylo rey etc.... It is Disneys arrogance.... that is catching up to them

 

[rteetz]

I also think that Disney SUPER DUPER OVERESTIMATED themselves..... they in a way. RUINED or are close to completely ruining starwars. The direction they took with it was not well received by old hard core fans and new fans as well. They are FORCING on us Kylo rey etc.... It is Disneys arrogance.... that is catching up to them

Hmmm.... Star Wars has made billions since bought by Disney. They are not forcing you to watch it. You watch it because you love Star Wars. Personally I’m a big fan of the new trilogy and like where things have gone. Star Wars celebration continues to sell out as well which to me is telling that what you say isn’t accurate.

 

[Rusty2rules]

Hmmm.... Star Wars has made billions since bought by Disney. They are not forcing you to watch it. You watch it because you love Star Wars. Personally I’m a big fan of the new trilogy and like where things have gone. Star Wars celebration continues to sell out as well which to me is telling that what you say isn’t accurate.

I'm right there with you. I was 16 when the original Star Wars came out. I love the new trilogy! I just don't get it when I hear this stuff about how people hate the new movies, blah blah. I've been there since the beginning and think Disney has done a magnificent job.

 

[tlmadden73]

I also think that Disney SUPER DUPER OVERESTIMATED themselves..... they in a way. RUINED or are close to completely ruining starwars. The direction they took with it was not well received by old hard core fans and new fans as well. They are FORCING on us Kylo rey etc.... It is Disneys arrogance.... that is catching up to them

People said that about the Original remakes (how it ruined Star Wars) or at the Prequel trilogy (it ruining Star Wars), yet the same fans that are bashing the sequels praise the past stuff that supposedly ruined it.

Some people just have to get over that the stories didn't go in a direction THEY wanted. Everyone has creative differences. I am sure some people will bash the new Marvel shows on Disney+ because the characters are "different" than what they "think" they should be or different than how they were in the Avengers movies.

SWGE is built and designed for hard core Star Wars fans. The problem with that is they now have to market it to the casual fans or people who have never seen the movies. Pandora is liked by people despite it not being super popular or people not seeing the movies. This media push is to let the rest of the world know (non Star Wars geeks) that there is this great new world to discover.

Disney may have overestimated how much SWGE would sell itself.

The next test of whether Star Wars is "dead" or not will be the toy sales (coming October 4th) for the new movie and the new movie itself.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

People said that about the Original remakes (how it ruined Star Wars) or at the Prequel trilogy (it ruining Star Wars), yet the same fans that are bashing the sequels praise the past stuff that supposedly ruined it.

Some people just have to get over that the stories didn't go in a direction THEY wanted. Everyone has creative differences. I am sure some people will bash the new Marvel shows on Disney+ because the characters are "different" than what they "think" they should be or different than how they were in the Avengers movies.

SWGE is built and designed for hard core Star Wars fans. The problem with that is they now have to market it to the casual fans or people who have never seen the movies. Pandora is liked by people despite it not being super popular or people not seeing the movies. This media push is to let the rest of the world know (non Star Wars geeks) that there is this great new world to discover.

Disney may have overestimated how much SWGE would sell itself.

The next test of whether Star Wars is "dead" or not will be the toy sales (coming October 4th) for the new movie and the new movie itself.

“SWGE was made for the hardcore Star Wars audience”

...what world are you living in? It was not at all.

 

[Brianstl]

Hmmm.... Star Wars has made billions since bought by Disney. They are not forcing you to watch it. You watch it because you love Star Wars. Personally I’m a big fan of the new trilogy and like where things have gone. Star Wars celebration continues to sell out as well which to me is telling that what you say isn’t accurate.

I really liked The Force Awakens. I would probably rank it third or fourth in my favorite movies from the series. I go back and fourth between that film and Revenge of the Sith as to which one I like better. The Force Awakens is a really good movie. I don't think The Last Jedi was a good movie. IMO, it was the worst of the 8. Maybe, my opinion will change with time on that. Time has seen my opinion of all the prequels improve.

 

[tlmadden73]

“SWGE was made for the hardcore Star Wars audience”

...what world are you living in? It was not at all.

I have the same opinion Pete had on the DIS Unplugged podcast. It was made with the hard-core Star Wars fan in mind.

Between the easter eggs found throughout the land (that only Star Wars geeks will get) .. to the immersiveness of the cast members ("To the Spires!") and the inclusion of a non-movie characters like Hondo and Vi (who are found in shows and books that only Star Wars fans read). .. to using the datapad to go on missions for the Resistance, First Order or the Smugglers.
Star Wars fans are going to want to buy the stuff in SWGE -- costumes, Star Wars pets, helmets, expensive lightsabers, etc. Casual fans are happy with plastic lightsabers and t-shirts and toys found "off planet".

Not a bad thing, but some people, that aren't Star Wars fans, find there isn't much to do in the land because they don't find all the hidden gems and building lightsabers or droids fun. But to the Star Wars fan .. (like myself) we were enthralled with the land for hours and didn't even do some of it.

Star Tours is Star Wars for the general "maybe have seen the movies" audience.
Pandora is a land that is for the general audience "maybe have heard of that Avatar movie with the blue aliens" . .it is pretty with one really great ride .. but not immersive like SWGE.

 

[Rusty2rules]

SWGE is built and designed for hard core Star Wars fans. The problem with that is they now have to market it to the casual fans or people who have never seen the movies. Pandora is liked by people despite it not being super popular or people not seeing the movies. This media push is to let the rest of the world know (non Star Wars geeks) that there is this great new world to discover.

I basically agree with your commentary other than the above statement. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. When Pandora opened - based on a movie that was almost 10 years old - there were lines of people for weeks trying to get in. FOP is still super popular. SWGE is based on a series of recent movies that have made literally billions of dollars. Surely all of those movie goers aren't "hard core Star Wars" fans. My point being, I don't understand why people are saying SWGE is built for "hard core" fans but the same thing wasn't/isn't said about Pandora? Is it solely based on the fact that Pandora out drew SWGE? My argument would be there are several contributing factors to the lack of crowds, jacked up pricing being the biggest one. I also think the admitted success of Pandora is a contributing factor to the lack of crowds for SWGE. People (including me) saw what a zoo it was when Pandora opened, they chose to stay away from SWGE until the expected crowds died down, me being one. I'm going next fall for that very reason. Also, Disney screwed up (IMO) when they decided to open SWGE before RotR opened. That was a huge mistake if you ask me. I don't think SWGE was built for "hard core" fans, thus the low attendance. I think there are a number of factors influencing it.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

It doesn’t seem like the hardcore Star Wars fans are coming in droves though, at least ones that wouldn’t already be visiting Disney parks.

ROTR will be at least as popular as FoP in my opinion at least. A great ride is a great ride, doesn’t matter what it’s based on. I’m really interested to see how the hotel goes, that is not for casual fans, or Disney fans checking out the newest attractions, that’s directed right at the hardcore fans in a way that SWGE absolutely isn’t.

 

[SaharanTea]

People said that about the Original remakes (how it ruined Star Wars) or at the Prequel trilogy (it ruining Star Wars), yet the same fans that are bashing the sequels praise the past stuff that supposedly ruined it.

You are painting with a mighty broad brush there. Are you sure they are the same fans?

I am speaking only for myself. I've been OK with everything up until the Last Jedi. The prequels had their problems, but they weren't world breaking. The Force Awakens was pretty good if not terribly original in many ways.

Some people just have to get over that the stories didn't go in a direction THEY wanted. Everyone has creative differences. I am sure some people will bash the new Marvel shows on Disney+ because the characters are "different" than what they "think" they should be or different than how they were in the Avengers movies.

What is it I'm having to get over? The Last Jedi broke some pretty important and established paradigms in Star Wars. Luke's story was completely out of character. Even Mark Hamill had problems with it. Breaking ships with lightspeed objects calls into question every tactic in that universe (even if it did look cool). The list goes on, and I've already rehashed a tired argument at this point.

I'm just suggesting that I think it's OK that people like The Last Jedi and that some people don't (and that goes for any of the other movies). But can we get away from broadly painting everyone? Some people don't like different movies, and that might play into future popularity. Other people are fine with all of them, and that's OK, too.

There are a million ways to tell a good Star Wars story. There are also a million ways to tell a bad Star Wars story. I just happen to think The Last Jedi picked from the latter. If there are specific instances where someone is arguing against themselves, that's perfectly fine to point that out, but please don't use such broad strokes.

SWGE is built and designed for hard core Star Wars fans. The problem with that is they now have to market it to the casual fans or people who have never seen the movies. Pandora is liked by people despite it not being super popular or people not seeing the movies. This media push is to let the rest of the world know (non Star Wars geeks) that there is this great new world to discover.

Disney may have overestimated how much SWGE would sell itself.

The next test of whether Star Wars is "dead" or not will be the toy sales (coming October 4th) for the new movie and the new movie itself.

I do have hope that Episode IX might be able to repair some of what I perceive to be the damage done by Episode VIII.

 

[Brianstl]

I have the same opinion Pete had on the DIS Unplugged podcast. It was made with the hard-core Star Wars fan in mind.

Between the easter eggs found throughout the land (that only Star Wars geeks will get) .. to the immersiveness of the cast members ("To the Spires!") and the inclusion of a non-movie characters like Hondo and Vi (who are found in shows and books that only Star Wars fans read). .. to using the datapad to go on missions for the Resistance, First Order or the Smugglers.
Star Wars fans are going to want to buy the stuff in SWGE -- costumes, Star Wars pets, helmets, expensive lightsabers, etc. Casual fans are happy with plastic lightsabers and t-shirts and toys found "off planet".

Not a bad thing, but some people, that aren't Star Wars fans, find there isn't much to do in the land because they don't find all the hidden gems and building lightsabers or droids fun. But to the Star Wars fan .. (like myself) we were enthralled with the land for hours and didn't even do some of it.

Star Tours is Star Wars for the general "maybe have seen the movies" audience.
Pandora is a land that is for the general audience "maybe have heard of that Avatar movie with the blue aliens" . .it is pretty with one really great ride .. but not immersive like SWGE.

The problem with saying that it was made for the hardcore Star Wars audience is that there are two distinctive Star Wars hardcore audiences. There is the Star Wars movie main storyline hardcore audience that can recite every line in every movie audience, but doesn't really care about the extended universe. Then you have the hardcore audience that values the extended universe as much as the movies. The first group is infinitely larger than the second and many in the first group think the second group is a little weird. If SWGE was made for either group, the little things added to the land and not added to the land make it appear that it was made for the second much smaller group of hardcore Star War fans.

 

[skyp4WDW]

The main problem for Star Wars Land is; the ride is just NOT very exciting. The land itself was interesting to view ONCE but I sure wouldn't fight any crowds to ever go back.... and the ride was a HUGE disappointment. (After riding it, we all looked at each other and agreed that it was not impressive at all. One and done for us!) The only plus was we walked right on. If we had waited in a line for it, we would have been really irritated.