A Letter from a Star Wars Fan To Disney Parks:
To Disney,
As a fan of parks and once an aspiring imagineer, I am thankful that Lucasfilm and my favorite transmedia franchise is in your control. As a fan of Disney parks and Star Wars as a franchise I am glad to see your liminal success with it at Star Wars Galaxy’s edge and to see what comes of it in the coming years, with this franchise in your company’s hands. However I have noticed the negative reception to your Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser, as a person whom wants to do the Star Cruiser but can’t afford it for just myself and who has asked his friends to go with him but his friends who are also fans just shot him down because of its price, I am afraid I will never be able to afford the trip until I’m in my thirties and even though I am better off than most my friends (financially speaking), it's still a lot for a die hard Star Wars fan and Florida Resident who wants to experience this amazing live theater experience that you have created.
In my opinion the Star Cruiser isn’t being negatively perceived because of the experience but the price of the experience itself. However due to my ability to understand the many aspects of business management and finance as well as my respect for the creativity of imagineers due to my own former aspirations of wanting to be a Disney Imagineer{aspirations I still have}, my self, I want to offer some of my own ideas to save The Galactic Star Cruiser and to save Star Wars in the Disney Parks.
Firstly I wish to disclose that i am writing this as a fan and I don't want to come off as a elitist, a star wars purest or a person who speaks for all star wars fans and while I am only 25 years young, and don’t have as much life or working experience with the criteria and numbers, as the many employees or of the experts who work for your company already, I have creativity and an imagination that is looking at these problems from outside the corporate ladder of your company, and while ambitious and not wanting to come off as an expert, I have my own views of what I believe Park goers and Star Wars fans want.
My first argument about your Star Wars myopia is the meld of thought and ideology that seems to be constricting what can be done amongst your company’s own experts. This has been created due to the corporate structure’s need to blend in and stay as uniform without drifting from the group to stand out and speak one's own mind and wanting to blend in rather than stand out.
How many ideas do your imagineers, accountants and marketing experts come up with a day that is the same idea, but possibly worded differently, how many of them are allowed to look beyond what their supervisor is telling them for a creative solution or have an opposing thought without being challenged on it or don’t challenge because they want to keep their job. In other words, how many “wave-makers” do you have, who see what your competitors and your company are doing and say how do I improve this? How do I make this better? Or why is this not working? Or is everything that can be done being done?
Galaxy’s Edge is a masterpiece and Rise of the Resistance is my number one ride in all the theme parks I have been to, but on your team who created Galaxy’s Edge was there a divergent who took in the creative ideas and thought of things from the fans perspective as a whole or was everyone making their own collaborative based on the higher individuals on the teams take of what Star Wars was. If the goal of Galaxy’s Edge and by default The Galactic Star Cruiser was for guests to tell their own Star Wars Story then why have your imagineer’s neglected the Dark Side.
I know Disney doesn’t like giving attention to the villains or the possibility of the villains having a victory, but if you asked any Star Wars Fan born within the 1990’s-2010’s what their favorite Star Wars films were while your company was building Galaxy’s edge, many would’ve stated Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith(2005) or Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back(1980). Why is this my point one may ask however, it's because in both Revenge and Empire, “The Bad Guys Win!”. While a shop was dedicated to the First Order and now of course the park has Batuu Bounty Hunters, this is only a single tenth of a portion of the dark side in Star Wars. Aboard the GSC your company offers guests a chance to join the first order, however(i’ve seen the video’s online despite my attempts to prevent spoilers) in the finale of your GSC voyage, the First Order betrays its allies aboard the GSC and Kylo Ren orders their execution only to be thwarted. You incorrectly made the mistake of making 95% of your Halcyon staff members of the Resistance and Lieutenant Croy the only(truly interactive) ally the First Order leaning guests have aboard. This appears again on Rise of the Resistance where guests who lean first order now “somehow” are entering the resistance base unquestioned and are captured by the first order despite their allegiance to it from aboard the Star Cruiser. This doesn’t sound like it was drawn out fully.
Yes one could argue their going undercover to stop the resistance from within,but look at characters who had done this in the past in star wars DJ(Benicio Del Toro) in Star Wars Episode VII:The Last Jedi(2017). When he betrays his allies and they are captured aboard the Star Destroyer, he is compensated for his loyalty to the first order, he doesn’t need to do anything further but leave the Finalizer after obtaining his reward and leave Finn(John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran)to be interrogated and Executed. There is no other option for First Order Guests aboard the finalizer instead they are treated as prisoners despite their loyalty and sent to the interrogation room with the resistance prisoners. In Star Wars any information even if concealed on a data pad would’ve been confiscated or Scrambled upon their arrival aboard the Star Destroyer and reviewed by an Intelligence officer of some sort.
Therefore my first step to fixing Star Wars is the inclusion of more Dark side, more Divergent thought and choices guests can make for the first order in the park. This can also be implemented by Lucasfilm in the future telling more stories focusing on Dark Side heroes not just making the villains of Star Wars into villains, speaking of which can’t wait for The Acolyte(2023-). Without getting into much detail, a concept for an attraction I have come up with is a digital screen arcade shooter dark ride similar to Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom or Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios:where guests board a First Order airship and go on patrol for Resistance Spies, and Criminals on Batuu, bringing order to the Galaxy in their own way. This would allow a different take on Galaxy’s edge providing a much needed take from the First Order Point of View.
The next solution I have foreseen to fix the Star Wars myopia involves the reservation system and Oga’s Cantina. Now i don’t recall Luke and Obiwan pulling a datapad out and having to make a reservation at the Cantina in Mos Eisley in A New Hope (1970), nor do I recall seeing a reservation being needed in Andor(2022-) or Solo(2018) or The Mandalorian(2019-) or Attack of the Clones(2002) in the cantina’s in those series or films. Oga’s Cantina should be more like a quick service bar than a restaurant where guests can frequent and get drinks as often as they’d like while visiting Batuu. I know that there are probably crowd control reasons why this hasn’t been done because Oga’s is one of the greatest parts of Galaxy’s Edge, but authenticity to Star Wars is needed. I’m sure every space port in the galaxy has a Cantina, however why can’t every space port in the galaxy have more than one cantina?
I recently attended the South Florida Renaissance Festival, in Deerfield Beach. While they don’t have cantina’s they do have pubs and as such have pub crawls. While guests don’t want to have to make a reservation to Oga’s they should be able to do a Galaxy’s Edge Pub Crawl, using this system a cast member can lead guests from Cantina to Cantina to all the local watering holes, tell stories about Batuu using “local songs” and bring a lively excitement to Galaxy’s edge. Now i know the last thing anything Disney wants is to turn into a renaissance festival, as Walt wanted something clean and neat, but LARP has been mastered by the patrons of these Festivals and if Disney wants to get into the LARP Theme Park Experiences there is a thing or two to learn from them and improve upon from these Festivals. Not only would this improve guest experience for guests attending the pub crawls but also improve merchandise sales. I don’t think I have to explain how this works ,but those artisans at Ren Fest love the pub crawls for this exact reasoning. Now imagine that your tour guide carried a BB Unit from the droid shop or a Kowakian Monkey Lizard on his shoulder from the Creature stall or wore an outfit from the outfitters, imagine how much sales would boost off just that.
Another concept I’ve begun thinking of is for the GSC to Decrease pricing, down to just the two night stay and small interactions alone. A couple years back my family did a Cruise(I forget what kind) before boarding my parents purchased a package for unlimited drinks and a small allowance for themselves as well as each of my siblings and myself. Why not develop a pay per experience package system that can include the all inclusive Meals, Alcoholic Beverages and exclusive missions for the guests who want to do the missions. While your imagineers have stated time and time again, Galactic Star Cruiser isn’t just for Star Wars fans it's for everyone, however some guests don’t want to pay $6000 to do a hotel if they just want to watch the show and story unfold, go to the park for a few hours and get a drink at the bar and play some halo sabacc. While guests like me want to just cosplay and do the missions some guests don’t want that, they want to go on a vacation and pay for their own fun not for the fun of every guest on your 100 room experimental experience.
In hindsight, the Imagineers should have considered this and added amenities such as a Spa, indoor pool, and more options for guests who don’t want to hide chewbacca and play 3D Star Wars Galaga. In my opinion the GSC should’ve been a Star Wars Disney Cruise on Land with more capacity and more to do, but seeing what there is to work with currently the only viable option to potentially save this experience and hotel is to find a way to lower prices by dissecting the package that was put together for guests to make things less controlled and more of a relaxing vacation stay over the course of three nights rather than just two.
Another package that can be added for Batuu that I have been kicking around is a Protocol Droid VIP assistant, this cast member in full bronze or silver plated armor will meet guests at the terminal and will act as a VIP guide to Batuu assisting them in interacting with the native Batuuians and escorting them around the park during their excursion. As Batuu is missing these interactive experiences, what better way to profit off of it than to give the VIP guide service a makeover for Galaxy’s Edge for Batuu.
The next concept i have been looking at is the lack of costumed actors in Batuu and while the Cast members you have are great(despite some breaking the authenticity of Batuu[I have witnessed this multiple times as a have other guests])Black Spire outpost lacks Aliens and droids. Cast members should be allowed to get dressed up and do make up becoming Zabrak, Chiss, Pantoran, Twi-Leck,Togruta and Mirialan at least, and if that isn’t something that will work, than how about changing the rules on Guest Star Wars Cosplay for Galaxy’s Edge. Of course there will need to be rules and signs put up indicating these rules to all guests that not all costumed characters in the land are cast members and photos and such are at their discretion. If Disney were to allow this they would also need to concede to also create a new entrance for these cosplaying guests to enter just for Galaxy’s edge at Hollywood Studios,with a reduced ticket price since they should be confined only to Galaxy’s edge. This could also be a great way to create a disguise (cosplay or costume) shop within Galaxy’s Edge as per the concept depicted in the art of Galaxy's Edge book(sort of one of my prized possessions). This would allow Disney to create costume pieces and accessories for Cosplaying guests and provide a means of purchasing pieces that would boost revenue.
Of course one rule that wouldn't have to be overturned at Galaxy’s edge is that is that guests can’t dress as specific characters,and must dress era specific, allowing guests to dress as rebel pilots,smugglers, bounty hunters, scoundrels, First Order stormtroopers, First Order Officers,Mandalorian warriors,Jawas and other Aliens and droids, but not as characters like, Darth Vader,Darth Maul, Imperial StormTroopers, Clone Troopers or Chewbacca. This would force guests who wish to dress as Zabrak or Wookies to buy their costume pieces from the shop increasing profits and by placing the shop at the cosplay entrance with a turnstile at the shops center this would prevent guests from exploiting this reduced price for Star Wars Cosplayers system.
A lanyard or badge will also have to be created for cosplayer guests for normal park guests to identify them from the cast members and cosplay rest areas [and possibly a cosplayers exclusive cantina] could benefit these guests for putting up with the Florida Heat while Disney reaps in the benefits of finally filling Galaxy’s edge with Aliens.
The next idea, to improve Star Wars in the Disney parks involves Expansion, possibly the most expensive option but one that in the future could improve Disney Parks Relationship with Star Wars fans in the future. While space is limited at Hollywood Studios WDW in Orlando does have enough space for multiple more hotels and a fifth gate, and essentially my idea involves moving all park planning for the future of star wars in Disney parks to its own separate entity, with a two way train attraction based off of the hover train from the Book of Boba Fett(2021-) as the link between this new park and the current Hollywood Studios Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. this would act similar to your competitor Universal Studios and their use of the Hogwarts Express to link Universal Studios Park and Islands of Adventure between the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
This wouldn’t be much but a continuation of the sequel era story already in place set in the with its own spaceport town with a cantina, market, bounties, and two more Star Wars themed attractions one featuring the first order and the other featuring scum and villainy. With room for future expansion.
If further Expansion of Galaxy’s Edge is on your mind, stretching past Batuu to new exciting worlds, would be easiest from this small expansion of Batuu into a fifth gate set only in star wars, as no Star Wars Story has ever been told on just one planet, the space port for the Batuu expansion would connect to a transport to a deep Space Station that will link off into 5-7 different worlds each dedicated to a different planetary era as well as a new deep space hotel that will improve the capacity of the GSC allowing once again for another price drop per stay at the currently sinking Halcyon. While I do have a concept for each land by era I wish to only disclose in this letter small details of what I have come up with written[in hopes that it may land my aspirations of becoming an Imagineer or landing a job at WDW creative or as a consultant to the company]:
Planet 1: Tatooine(sort of another NEW Mos Eisley or Mos Espa SpacePort Area): Original Trilogy Era
Outskirts
Jawa Sandcrawler Droid Shop
Moisture Farm
Moisture Farm T-16 Skyhopper attraction
Spaceport
Market Place
Cantina
Pod Racer Attraction
Huttese Casino
Hotel/Spa
Boba Fett Starship attraction
Cantina
Planet 2: Forest World: New Republic Era
Great Lake/BoardWalk
Board Walk Games
Former Senators house Restaurant
Market Stalls
Bongo/submarine attraction
Ferrys to the Senators house ride
Renaissance Town
Hotel/Casino/Spa
Market Place
Cantina
Mandalorian Enclave
Theater
Beskar shop
Great Wroshyr Tree
Wookie cabins/campgrounds
Wookie pilgrim village
365 days a year life day store.
Wroshyr Tree Amphitheater
Old Mines
Former Imperial Base
Mine Train Attraction
Palpatine's Vault
The Forest
Smugglers Den
New Republic Rangers Station
Ancient Jedi Kyber Crystal Cave.
Huyang Lightsaber building attraction
Planet 3: Swamp world: Rise of the Empire Era
Imperial Sector
Landing Pads-Meet and greet area
Imperial Base
Hanger
Tie Fighter academy attraction
Transport to Vader's Destroyer
AT-AT Walker
Tower Turrets
Imperial Cantina/Mess Hall
Market Place
Antique shop
Temple Sector
Grand Ransacked Temple
Stunt Show
Jedi Training academy
Lightsaber building
Lightsaber training
Force Gardens
Antique shop
Market Place
Hutt Sector
Hutt Palace
Hutt Rescue attraction
Bounty Hunter Armory
Carbonite freezing souvenir shop
Hutt Tiki Bar
Music Shop
Live Music
Hutt Club
The Swamp
The Farm
Animal and beast interactions
Rancor
Nexu
Acklay
Dianoga
Gundark
Trandoshan Hunters Cantina
Smuggler Supply Stand
Downed AT-AT
Saw Gurera’s Partisans shop
Dark Side Cave
Maul and Qi’ra Meet and Greet
Crimson Dawn food stand
Crimson Dawn Supply Shop
The Ruins
Rebel Ship Landing zone- Meet and Greets
Rebel Base
Hanger-
Rebel fighter training
Transport to Nebulon B-Frigate
Rebel Supply Stands
Entrance to Massive E-Ticket Attraction
Deep Space
Darth Vader's Star Destroyer
Imperial Bridge Training
Vader’s chamber meet and greet.
Exit from Imperial prison ship
Exit to E-Ticket Attraction aboard Imperial ISB Prison Ship
Three paths
Imperial Spy Path->Vader's command ship
Traitor Path->Vader's command ship
The Brig->Nebulon B-Frigate Escape
Nebulon B-Frigate
Bridge
Rebel bridge training
Messhall
War Room Meet and Greet
Medical Bay Meet and Greet
Escape Pod Bay Meet and Greet
Airlock exit from Imperial prison ship.
Planet 4: Indoor City World: Clone Wars Era
Tower A:Republic
Train attraction connects all 3 towers
Dining Experience with Characters
Republic War Room
Republic HAnger
Exit to E-Ticket
Meet and Greet
Republic Barracks
Jedi Lightsaber building and training chamber
Tower B:Neutral/Scum and Villainy
Ziro the Hutt Club
Bounty Hunters guild Cantina
Death watch Hideout
Hondo Attraction
Market Place
Tower C: CIS
E-Ticket Attraction
Droid Factory
CIS War Room Meet and Greet
As probably can be seen my wish list is doable and what it lacks in rides or details it is enough to excite a Star Wars Fan and to just begin to offer a taste of my own creativity and to get the gears moving.
The final and only proposition on my list to Disney is to somehow find a way to bring Blasters or some sort of interactive tool that isn’t the Datapad, as people go on vacation to get off their phone and experience, by using the Disney Play app you are eliminating the sense of joy family have making them hop on their phones. This needs to be replaced for something tangible and for profit,such as a blaster or interactive tool(like a scomp link or Datapad toy of somesort) that will allow guests to get off the phone and play. This would boost star wars profits exponentially just as the wand sales at competitor Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal did for them. Toy guns weren’t a problem until recently in the parks, and when i was growing up some of my fondest souvenir memories from Disney World were my muskets from Pirates of the Caribbean's gift shop, and with the variety and sizes of Star Wars blaster weaponry available in galaxy and means of holstering said weapons i can roughly estimate Disney can and will make anywhere between $35 and $200 a guest off blaster and holster sales alone, given the right variety and size requirements and for tools i can roughly estimate $45-$100 depending on variety(not to mention these props needing to be showed off in Series and Shows to sell them).
I hope that you take my letter into consideration and don’t get insulted by anything I stated from being honest and critiquing where I critiqued. I really do want to be an imagineer{ if this proves anything} and perhaps if I was hired we can turn my good ideas into a reality and flip Star Wars in the Disney Parks around and get back the fans who give you bad publicity, turning criticism into something creative instead of shunning the “Negative Nancy’s”(the OG trilogy Star Wars Purists) with quotes on “inclusivity” when really I would argue the criticism should be taken into consideration and medium to satisfy all guests and not just those who adhere to what is being done, to maximize profit gains instead of excluding critics for having (small but rational)points.
I once again apologize for being a critic, but not for offering solutions as well as critiques, something that is sorely lacking in the Disney World/Star Wars Critic circles as of late. Disney is one of my favorite places in the world and Star Wars is my favorite franchises. Help us Disney-”your our only hope.”
Thanks for taking my letter into consideration.
M.S
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