Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is finally open after seemingly years of hype and anticipation. Overall, it’s the most triumphant themed land in 50 years, possibly ever. It’s not perfect, though. At least, it’s not perfect for some people. Early guests to the world of Batuu have complained about a few elements. Here are five things wrong with Galaxy’s Edge.
Cost
Image: DisneyAn item at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge costs $6,615. Those of you who are in desperate need of adult Stormtrooper armor will more than double the price of your vacation. Even the cheap items aren’t that cheap, though.
Do you want to try the Green Milk or Blue Milk? I should preface this by saying that a gallon of milk costs $4 on average. At Black Spire Outpost, the Milk Stand sells about a 10-ounce glass of it for the not-so-modest price of $7.99. Its primary components are coconuts and rice milk, which aren’t exactly ingredients that break the bank.
The markup/profit margin on Green and Blue Milk are off the charts for Disney. For guests, you’re paying for the privilege of saying that you tried it once. It’s gouge pricing of the highest order. In capitalist terms, Star Wars Land is an elite tourist attraction, and the market price for such fare is exceptionally high.
Image: DisneyWhile I can’t blame Disney for doing it, the strategy sucks for theme park tourists. I watched any number of popular streamers wince at the prices of lightsabers. The custom-made ones run $199, and even the mass manufactured ones start at $40. That’s a lot of money for a glow stick.
The people who couldn’t splurge on the lightsabers generally picked droids as their fallback option. These cheaper toys still run $99. Yes, a Star Wars fan who desires a personally designed lightsaber and droid must spend roughly $300 plus the cost of admission. In a way, Disney is punishing its most loyal fans with the price of doing business at Star Wars Land.
Difficulty of Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
Do you like to fail? Then, I have the ride for you! The first batch of YouTube ride videos for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run shares a commonality. Nobody can drive a starship to save their life…or the lives of the other five passengers in the cockpit.
Disney has known that this was going to be a problem for a while now. Officials working on the project gave multiple interviews during the year leading up to the ride’s debut. They stressed the difficulty in creating a ride with gaming elements. Even then, they recognized the problems with a group of six people working together toward a common goal.
Sure, with patience and practice, ride participants could improve their skill at the game. Alas, you may never see your “teammates” again the instant that Smuggler’s Run ends. It’s especially true since Single Rider lines are involved. When one of the players comes from this line, nobody else knows them.
Imagineers had to build a ride that was also a game, and they had to do it in a way that everyone could play it right from the start. At some point during the process, designers ceded the point that they couldn’t make a level playing field for everyone. They chose to lean into this aspect.
Disney uses the character of Hondo Ohnaka as a narrator and also the de facto smack talker. When you do poorly, he lets you know. It’s genuinely entertaining and a great idea. Even so, the failure rate on Smuggler’s Run is nearly 100 percent thus far. For gamers who want to win, it’s a frustrating exercise in futility.
Lack of signage
Image: DisneyThis problem is specifically a design decision by park planners. To enhance the immersive aspects of Star Wars Land, Imagineers built the most authentic world ever. The world of Batuu is alien in every sense of the world. And aliens don’t speak English, at least not as their first language.
Guests who visit Black Spire Outpost will learn this quickly. The walls of the encampment have writing on them, yes, but it’s in a foreign language. Until you’ve taken Batuu 101, this information won’t help you much. When you’re trying to find your bearings, you’ll naturally look for signs. This moment is when you realize that there is no signpost up ahead.
Disney operates the outpost under the premise that the locals already know where everything is. As a visitor to the area, you’ll be the fish out of water here. You’ll follow the crowds toward trafficked areas of the settlement. At times, you’ll get turned around and feel hopelessly lost. Believe it or not, this isn’t totally accidental.
Image: DisneyWhen you travel somewhere on vacation, do you ever get lost? Of course you do! Everyone does. How do you deal with the situation? Presuming that you’re not super-stubborn, you’ll ask the locals for directions. Star Wars Land functions in anticipation of this behavior.
You’re supposed to talk to people about things like how to get from Point A to Point B. It’s just not something that everyone likes to do. And the lack of signage in combination with the alien language can frustrate some guests. To Disney, this is a feature, not a bug…but it’ll bug you nonetheless.
Role-playing elements
Image: DisneyRemember how I just said that Batuu is an alien world and a place where Disney encourages conversation between guests and cast members? They have a reason for doing so. Live action role-playing aka LARPing is an everyday part of this themed land.
Employees have received training in acting out their parts. You shouldn’t think of them as employees but rather as residents of Black Spire Outpost. They have their own opinions on the recent arrival of The First Order as well as their own political allegiances. Some are members of The Resistance while others are #TeamSith.
The conceit of Star Wars Land is that you’ll interact with these residents. When you say the right things to the right people, you’ll trigger quests. You’ll receive instructions to look for other residents. Its entire structure intends to empower guests with a kind of escapism never seen at parks before.
Some people hate it.
Image: DisneySeveral visitors at Galaxy’s Edge have stated that they tensed up at the thought of role-playing with strangers. They resent the fact that they have to try so hard while on vacation. I suspect that fans of Star Wars and extroverts will love LARPing at Black Spire Outpost. Introverts, on the other hand, will loathe the idea and resent any attempts by cast members to dole out quests.
Park officials intend to keep Star Wars Land fresh via quests. So, we’ve only scratched the surface in debating the diversity of opinion on LARPing.
Use of credits instead of dollars
Image: DisneyOkay, the final complaint is more of a nitpick. It’s one that exists beyond the world of Batuu, too. In recent years, digital currencies have risen in popularity. Generally, they’re employed in videogames as a way of confusing customers about how much they’re spending on games. It’s a psychological trick.
You have spent all of your life evaluating costs in terms of dollars or pounds or Euros or whatever. You think of financial outlays in these terms. Digital currencies have developed as a way of blurring the issue. For example, the X-Box used Microsoft Points for several years before the system became too unwieldy. Amazon sells Coins in thousand-point increments so that gamers are never quite sure about the cost of a digital pack.
Disney has adopted this system for Galaxy’s Edge. Cast members are trained to state prices in Galactic Credits rather than dollars. It’s currently a one-to-one ratio, so it’s no big deal at the moment, at least for American consumers. The situation changes from minor aggravation to shady business practice if/when Disney changes the ratio and confuses guests about the actual price of goods.
