I just got back from Anaheim a few days ago and I thought it would be a good idea to share the sights and sounds of Star Wars at Disneyland Resort. Much of this article is going to be negative, but there are some positive as well.
As you’ll see the heavy pushing of “Disney’s Star Wars” at the expense of (almost) everything related to the George Lucas era is happening.
Star Tours
When Imagineers revamped the Star Tours ride several years ago they come up with scenes for several locations from both the OT and PT that were randomized and you would get two of the close to a dozen they developed on each ride with a beginning that featured Darth Vader trying to stop your trip from leaving the hanger.
Currently all the OT and PT content is scrapped and you get a Kylo Ren beginning followed by Jakuu and Krait.
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
These locations are in and of themselves well done and enjoyable, however, the guaranteed lack of anything except Sequel Trilogy content is very disappointing and makes the ride stale after a few rides.
Path of the Jedi
This is a short movie clip playing at the Tomorrowland Terrace that shows highlights of the Jedi from the original 6 movies, with an emphasis on Luke. I’ve never watched this and I’m not sure why anybody who owns these movies ever would, but its been playing there for a couple of years at this point.
My thoughts are they could use this space to show 10 minutes of Solo like they use the Muppet Theatre over at DCA to promote Incredibles 2.
Given Solo’s box office it couldn’t have hurt; and given the heavy “Disney’s Star Wars” presence almost everywhere else, this is a curious and poor choice.
Star Wars Galaxy (aka Star Wars Land)
This is shaping up to look great, which is no surprise because the Imagineers always put out a great product if they get the budget for it. Visible from I-5 and from parts of the Rivers of America, the mountainous spires almost look complete and should blend into the rest of the park well.
Walk Around Characters
The only walk around characters I saw were Phasma and a couple of ST Stormtroopers. I saw one person get a picture with Phasma and a few people lined up to see the Stormtroopers. There was little enthusiasm for any of them.
Jedi Training
My kids didn’t do this show on this trip, but it looks like the current characters you fight during the show are Kylo Ren and Darth Vader. When I was there last my kids did this show and they fought Kylo Ren and some character from Rebels called Seventh Sister. I think it was a better stage show with Darth Maul and Darth Vader a few years ago, but I’m not a genius like Bob Iger.
Star Wars Launch Bay
This area has some models from the movies and a few characters to meet. Currently they are: Rey, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader and Chewbacca. We didn’t go in here on this trip, but we did on our last one. It isn’t anything special.
Hyperspace Mountain
This is a dressed up version of Space Mountain.
Based on Return Of The Jedi, Admiral Ackbar yelling at you through a speaker in the headrest of your seat is intercut with laser and explosion sound effects. Also, projections of Tie Fighters are on the walls while some ice cold air conditioning is blowing on your face. This was by far the most popular Star Wars attraction at Disneyland with very long lines and quick Fastpass bookings. My 8 year old loved this ride.
Merchandise
This looks like a complete disaster due to the very heavy presence of “Disney’s Star Wars” and little of anything else (unless you and you significant other want to buy Han Solo “I Know” and Princess Leia “I Love You” matching t-shirts. Everything else was from the 4 “Disney’s Star Wars” universe movies.
A lot of it was Solo related, especially apparel for women. There was also a bunch of female action figures (with a handful of Hobo Luke’s thrown in for good measure) and Rogue One figure sets that were gathering dust.
Nobody was looking at this stuff and nobody was buying it in any of the stores I went into. I saw about 5 or 6 people in Solo shirts total in my 4 days in the park and a couple of people wearing TFA and TLJ shirts as well, but most of what I saw people actually wearing was from the OT or generic STAR WARS shirts.
My opinion is this stuff is going to be sitting there for a long time, undiscounted and unsold. I don’t expect them to “lose money” by marking anything down, so it will just sit there for years taking up shelf space.
