Oh, that explains a lot. I haven’t been paying much attention to Disneyland since Kayla quit working there last year. During the construction phase I thought it was going to be called Star Wars land. When the commercials for Galaxy’s Edge started showing up, I thought it just referred to one ride in Star Wars Land. I also thought Star Wars Land opened some time in 2018.
The Avatar/Pandora section of Disney Animal Kingdom opened 8 years after the movie came out and long after anyone gave it a thought. The attraction is widely popular and the main ride has hours long waits.
Yeah, i didn’t really enjoy Avatar very much. It was okay but didn’t grab me. When I first heard that Disney World was basing a land on it I was skeptical to say the least. Having been there I can say that the theming is (������) “out of this world”. The experience doesn’t depend at all on the movie. My daughter never saw the movies and had no idea what it was about. As soon as she stepped into the land she was enraptured. The environment, the merchandise, the rides, and the food options all worked together to really make you feel you were on another planet. Universal did the same thing with The Wizarding World. That is the one area of Universal where you feel disconnected from the rest of the park. You are fully immersed in the land. My daughter loves the books but my wife id a true muggle. Even having no knowledge of the books she was taken into the world.
That theming magic is what Disney excels at in their parks. They are able to make each of their lands feel cut off from the rest. Will they benefit from the fan base short term? You’d better believe it. I don’t think a few “maligned” movies are going to deter people who have been wanting to live in this universe from making the trek (can I use that word talking about Star Wars? Will the immersive experience capture the imagination of the regular folks? I really believe, given what I’ve seen with other immersive experiences that yes it will. Galaxy’s Edge will be a large draw for the next several years, at least.