Hints for Disney Star Wars theme park keep dropping

I am waiting for the Death Star to be projected onto the Spaceship Earth sphere at EPCOT, with holographic X-WIngs and TIE Fighters going at it.

That's no Space Ship Earth!

That would be pretty sweet, but I don't think Star Wars would go into Epcot... Probably more likely to go into Hollywood Studios?

Awesomeness!

I see an announcement with the Deathstar projected like they did with the awesome Mike Wisowski(sp?) projection for Monsters Inc.

I've built a Star Wars themed park in rct2, so we know it can be done.

Well you need to send those blue prints to Iger, by golly.

I knew it could be done way before you filled us in that you created a Star Wars park using a video game. :p

Thinking about this makes my imagination run wild! There are some aspects of creating a park like this that seem problematic to me. Are guests just going to walk from Tatooine to the Death Star? Is the evil Darth Vader going to come out and hug children? Log Flumes get a lot of riders, but will people stay away if it is themed to Jar Jar Binks?

Travis, you can meet Darth now in Studios on many regular operating days. I have a picture with him around here somewhere.

Oh, and He Does Not Hug.

Darth tried to get my kid to join the dark side and then attempted to kill him.

That's awesome. It just goes to show what a great value Disney is. You can't put a price on something like letting your child fight Darth Vader. Amazing!

Hmm. That's a good point. Now that they are doing Jedi Training, Darth might no longer be doing "regular" meet-and-greets.

LostKause said:

That's awesome. It just goes to show what a great value Disney is. You can't put a price on something like letting your child fight Darth Vader. Amazing!

Getting to fight Darth Vader is nice and all, but what kids really want is the chance to connect their neural queue ponytail to the antennae of the six-legged horse-like direhorses of Pandora like in AVATAR.

I doubt most kids even remember that they watched that movie. lol I mean, how many kids have a Lego Avatar set, an Avatar video game, a stuffed Na've doll that they sleep with, an Avatar t-shirt, or an Avatar Halloween costume, for example?

Avatar is cool and everything, but so far, it is not nearly as popular as Star Wars, and I don't think it will ever be, seeing that there are so many plans for new Star Wars movies. The only way is up for both franchises, but I doubt Avatar will get anywhere close to Star Wars as far as popularity.

LostKause said:
I doubt most kids even remember that they watched that movie. lol I mean, how many kids have a Lego Avatar set, an Avatar video game, a stuffed Na've doll that they sleep with, an Avatar t-shirt, or an Avatar Halloween costume, for example?

Um... sounds like... you might?

Funny, but I suppose my point was overlooked. I was naming Star Wars licensed products, but replacing the name "Star Wars" with "Avatar."

Please don't tell anyone about the stuffed Yoda that I sleep with. lol

Here's why Star Wars works.

My kid was excited as crap to do the Jedi Training thing and he's never seen a single movie. To him the Star Wars universe (which he has since dropped interest in) was all the toys and stuff. He liked spaceships and cool figures. Star Wars has that market cornered.

That's the test for these licenses if you ask me. Star Wars exists beyond the original product (the movies) and has become a something else. That's how huge snagging Star Wars is.

Avatar will never be that.

And to take it a step further...

People argue that Harry Potter is that. I'm still not sure I buy it. I mean, it could be, but in another 30 years are kids who've never seen a Potter movie or read a Potter book going to be interested in Potter because it exists on a whole different cultural level? That's the real litmus test.

^Magic works. Harry Potter is about magic wands, witches robes, dragons and flying broomsticks. They hold as much imagination potential as blasters, light sabres and spaceships. They are both archetypes of their respective genres (sci fi/fantasy) and are presented in a kid friendly way with enough layering for adults to enjoy them too, HP is here to stay.