Marathon Weekend 2020

Just curious, is it the droid and lightsaber building that you are considering “pay to play”? I look at them as interactive souvenir buying experiences rather than a pay to play situation. There were always going to be droids and lightsabers for sale at varying price points as souvenirs. These experiences allow guests to be more immersed and get something more personalized than just buying an item off the shelf. I have a hard time seeing that as a negative.

To me, “pay to play” would be more along the lines of charging extra for the rides or something like that.
+1 for pay to play. If you’re paying for it, you’re paying for it. We use it for lift accessed skiing/snowboarding/ski touring/splitboarding/speed riding/snowskating as opposed to “earn your turns.”
 
Just curious, is it the droid and lightsaber building that you are considering “pay to play”? I look at them as interactive souvenir buying experiences rather than a pay to play situation. There were always going to be droids and lightsabers for sale at varying price points as souvenirs. These experiences allow guests to be more immersed and get something more personalized than just buying an item off the shelf. I have a hard time seeing that as a negative.

To me, “pay to play” would be more along the lines of charging extra for the rides or something like that.

Yeah, I guess this has a lot to do with my overall grievance with the lack of vision with the land. I viewed Star Wars as a 5th gate opportunity much more than a pigeonhole onto pre-existing park opportunity.

Obviously, my idea would have had a much more massive capital requirement. I can understand why it didn’t happen; I still think the more visionary and lucrative long-term plan would have been for something different.

As to “pay to play” directly, I worry about the repeatability of the land when it’s just two attractions and merchandising. I realize that is the reality of most sections of Disney parks, it still seems that they’ve taken it to the extreme at Galaxy’s Edge. $100 and $200 gates onto the two other experiences seems really hefty, even if they seem pretty cool and not particularly overpriced in the Disney/Theme Park realm.

Overall, I’m still excited for GE; but i feel like I’m the exact demographic for this land and that I should be much more excited about it and would be if they had truly done it right. :confused3 I hope I’m wrong and I’m sure that my expectations were/are unrealistic; it still has me a little less stoked than I feel I should be about it right now.
 
Just curious, is it the droid and lightsaber building that you are considering “pay to play”? I look at them as interactive souvenir buying experiences rather than a pay to play situation. There were always going to be droids and lightsabers for sale at varying price points as souvenirs. These experiences allow guests to be more immersed and get something more personalized than just buying an item off the shelf. I have a hard time seeing that as a negative.

To me, “pay to play” would be more along the lines of charging extra for the rides or something like that.
As to “pay to play” directly, I worry about the repeatability of the land when it’s just two attractions and merchandising. I realize that is the reality of most sections of Disney parks, it still seems that they’ve taken it to the extreme at Galaxy’s Edge. $100 and $200 gates onto the two other experiences seems really hefty, even if they seem pretty cool and not particularly overpriced in the Disney/Theme Park realm.

I haven't really posted here because I'm not running marathon weekend (definitely have Dopey as future goals though), but I've been following and enjoying the SAFD posts. The droid and lightsaber experiences remind me of the Harry Potter interactive wands, but far more immersive. I see it both ways, but I'm starting to lean more towards "pay to play" recently due to the high price point and inability to use discounts. If I were to choose 1 it'd definitely be the lightsaber. I love the whole idea of it, but $200+ is a lot to drop! I'm interested to see what they look like in person.
 
Well I just finished registering for Dopey number 5. So I’m back again. Hopefully fall training goes better then summer training (forced to take most of July off for a surgery and then caught a cold/ear infection almost as soon as I was cleared to run).

My park plans got thrown in the air slightly when I actually managed to win a hotel stay. Doing it with a friend in December (place is way to far off property for comfort for Dopey, it’s all the way out by the airport). So got to figure out if I want to keep my original park plans now or change them.

The good news is that based off of the one run I managed to get in before I got sick it doesn't look like I lost much fitness wise. Just got to get back into regular rhythym before Berlin.
 
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Adding on the lightsaber talk for a moment. I was debating doing it on my December trip. Originally had it booked for a friend and added one for myself deciding that if I liked it enough I would get one myself after friend did his. Then I checked the terms and conditions. Not sure if its been mentioned or if it has much but they have the normal cancelation policy where you have to cancel day before or risk swallowing the entire 200 fee. To say the least friend (who actually really likes Star Wars) backed out (on his own decision) and I canceled mine deciding if I really want to do it I'll probably do it when I'm out in CA as a day of thing if its available. So just make sure you really want to do the extra stuff is what I'm saying.
 
This is getting real!

Got my marathon training plan from @DopeyBadger this week - and just booked our flights!

Now to decide about a hotel and start doing a hotel discount dance for early January! Epcot area resorts seem super expensive - including Swan and Dolphin (we usually use points to stay there, but they really upped the point values since last year and it isn’t as good a deal).
 


Going to be potentially a two-time thing for me. I'm the planner in my family and we have a couple extras for Marathon Weekend so pretty much had to plan a second visit.

On the other hand, I give a lot of "cares" about Star Wars but I've shifted back to being not being all that excited for the experience of Galaxy's Edge. I'm in for the attractions, but all of the extra pay to play stuff has really turned me off. I booked the lightsaber experience and droid depot for my niece and nephew because there is no way they'd be able to do it if I didn't make the reservations. However, it's entirely in my sister and brother-in-law's discretion whether those reservations are kept. It certainly won't break my heart if they decide those price tags are too steep.

It is very easy to understand how people without a love of Star Wars would be more than happy to bypass the land and leave it to others.

I was really excited about SWGE, but when I saw the blatant price gouging, it really deflated a lot of my enthusiasm. I get it, Disney is expensive, but the prices at SWGE are pretty much insane. In fact, a few months ago it was asked on this page what I looked forward to the most and I said Galaxy's Edge. Today, I still want to see it because it's new, but I don't entirely get it: it is based on an outpost not really in the movies, not only is there no original trilogy, but not even the prequels. I am most confused about the cantina. I mean, the cantina from Episode 4 is iconic, but instead they based it on a some sort of "Star Wars-Like" version of it. Plus, some of the main experiences in the land appear to be based around collectively spending $400-$600 (droid, lightsaber, and cantina per person). If you don't want to do those things, I would imagine there wouldn't be much to do there...

Unlike most people, I really loved many of the new Star Wars movies, although I wasn't a huge fan of Last Jedi because the first half of the movie dragged. But, I loved both Solo, which I thought got undeservingly panned by everyone, and Rogue 1. So, I am not a hater on what Disney has done with the movies. I don't, however, understand some of their odd choices for SWGE. Fortunately, I think over time those types of issues could be remedied over time. Also, I still am hoping I am totally wrong about what I have written. After all, I was fairly apathetic about Pandora and now I think it is one of the best things they have done.
 
I was really excited about SWGE, but when I saw the blatant price gouging, it really deflated a lot of my enthusiasm. I get it, Disney is expensive, but the prices at SWGE are pretty much insane. In fact, a few months ago it was asked on this page what I looked forward to the most and I said Galaxy's Edge. Today, I still want to see it because it's new, but I don't entirely get it: it is based on an outpost not really in the movies, not only is there no original trilogy, but not even the prequels. I am most confused about the cantina. I mean, the cantina from Episode 4 is iconic, but instead they based it on a some sort of "Star Wars-Like" version of it. Plus, some of the main experiences in the land appear to be based around collectively spending $400-$600 (droid, lightsaber, and cantina per person). If you don't want to do those things, I would imagine there wouldn't be much to do there...

Unlike most people, I really loved many of the new Star Wars movies, although I wasn't a huge fan of Last Jedi because the first half of the movie dragged. But, I loved both Solo, which I thought got undeservingly panned by everyone, and Rogue 1. So, I am not a hater on what Disney has done with the movies. I don't, however, understand some of their odd choices for SWGE. Fortunately, I think over time those types of issues could be remedied over time. Also, I still am hoping I am totally wrong about what I have written. After all, I was fairly apathetic about Pandora and now I think it is one of the best things they have done.
Only thing I’ll say is the items have been high quality. Things like the sabers or droids. Those little Sphero droids were like $150 and these larger interactive droids are $100. The saber experience is $200 but everyone says it’s well worth it. High quality sabers outside Disney go for at least that much.
 
I made the decision not to join everyone Marathon Weekend. The summer has not gone as planned, and we still needed to get plane tickets and a condo. I’m finally walking (3 slow miles yesterday - yay), but not fast and no running. I don’t want to push it and injure my ankle again trying to get ready for Dopey. So since I’m only out race fees for me and not airline tickets for both of us I decided to train smart for 2021.

Part of me would still like to try, but I know it’s better to wait. Plus my father-in-law has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so we don’t know what will be happening with him. After making the decision I did feel like a weight was lifted. I’m going to miss being there with all of you.
 
I made the decision not to join everyone Marathon Weekend. The summer has not gone as planned, and we still needed to get plane tickets and a condo. I’m finally walking (3 slow miles yesterday - yay), but not fast and no running. I don’t want to push it and injure my ankle again trying to get ready for Dopey. So since I’m only out race fees for me and not airline tickets for both of us I decided to train smart for 2021.

Part of me would still like to try, but I know it’s better to wait. Plus my father-in-law has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so we don’t know what will be happening with him. After making the decision I did feel like a weight was lifted. I’m going to miss being there with all of you.


I'm so sorry to hear about your father-in-law. We were in the same predicament for MW 2018 and chose not to go. We found out in August and had no idea what our January could be like. It was a good choice for us in the end. Disney will always be there. Enjoy your time together.
 
Just curious, is it the droid and lightsaber building that you are considering “pay to play”? I look at them as interactive souvenir buying experiences rather than a pay to play situation. There were always going to be droids and lightsabers for sale at varying price points as souvenirs. These experiences allow guests to be more immersed and get something more personalized than just buying an item off the shelf. I have a hard time seeing that as a negative.

To me, “pay to play” would be more along the lines of charging extra for the rides or something like that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can see the lightsaber or droid spaces unless someone in your party is buying one. I don't really want one, but would love to watch someone build one and to just check out the space. That makes it a bit more "pay to play."
 
I made the decision not to join everyone Marathon Weekend. The summer has not gone as planned, and we still needed to get plane tickets and a condo. I’m finally walking (3 slow miles yesterday - yay), but not fast and no running. I don’t want to push it and injure my ankle again trying to get ready for Dopey. So since I’m only out race fees for me and not airline tickets for both of us I decided to train smart for 2021.

Part of me would still like to try, but I know it’s better to wait. Plus my father-in-law has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so we don’t know what will be happening with him. After making the decision I did feel like a weight was lifted. I’m going to miss being there with all of you.

I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law.
 
Good morning, runDisney all-stars! We are less than 150 days away from Marathon Weekend!

You know what's not 150 days away, though? You guessed it, Sundays are for Disney. For this week's SAFD, what is your favorite Disney movie?

My all-time favorite Disney is Lion King (original, haven't seen the remake). I think it has the overall best combination of animation, story, voice acting and incredible music. Honorable mentions go to Tangled and Princess and the Frog (that soundtrack slaps).

Also, extra credit bonus thing to ponder for a potential future SAFD: I would like to do another bracket like we did for rides, but for restaurants. It seemed to get good participation and it would take care of several Sundays. If we did that:

- Would you be interested?
- How many restaurants would you include? 32? 64?
- And here's the big one: how would we do the brackets? The rides bracket was pretty haphazard. I'd like to have a little more order to this one. One consideration is Four parks, four divisions, but some parks have more restaurants than others, then we'd leave out resort restaurants and Disney Springs. Another idea is four divisions consisting of table service, counter service, signature and ... snacks, maybe?

Let me know what you think.

Have a great week, everyone!
 
SAFD: My favorite Disney movie is Nightmare Before Christmas. There are too many honorable mentions to go into.

For the restaurant competition, my suggestion would be to have two completely separate competitions for table service and counter service restaurants. That would keep the competition a little more balanced and fairer to the smaller favorites. More importantly, @rteetz could then campaign openly for Tiffins without worrying about hurting Satuli’s chances!
 
SAFD: Can't really definitively answer this one. There are too many to mention. Wreck-It Ralph is probably the closest thing I have to an answer. I really love that movie; but there are so many that fall into the same category. I was thinking about which movie I'd watch if all of them were available (hello, Disney+) and it would depend on so many different factors. I guess Wreck-It Ralph might (might) be the one that I'd consider most often.

My favorite movie of all-time (and the one I've seen the most, surely) has a pretty pronounced standing in Disney parks but, strictly speaking, isn't a Disney movie: Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Definitive, easy answer least favorite: The Last Jedi. Reason: Rian Johnson ("What if all of the plot and character development of the previous 7 films were red herrings? Brilliant, Rian, you're a genius!")

Restaurant Bracket Suggestions:
-Definitely 64 for Table Service. There are 64, shouldn't make cuts before needed. Suggested Brackets: Disney Springs, Resorts, Epcot, AK/MK/HS (might miss a couple, but they're pretty light on Table Service)
-64 for Quick Service as well the more I think on it. Suggested brackets: Disney Springs, Epcot, AK/HS, MK (resort QS can be sprinkled in across categories to complete brackets that fall short, preferably by resort area)
-Even with 64 initial cuts some places will need to be left out (at least it seems like it just thinking about things anecdotally).
-Although, to be honest, QS feels entirely unnecessary. It's Les Halles. Let's just all agree it's Les Halles. :figment:
 
For this week's SAFD, what is your favorite Disney movie?
My favorite Disney movie is Lady and the Tramp. Obviously, I love dogs and have had dogs that reminded me of Lady (my black cocker spaniel, Brandi) and Tramp (my gray Weimaraner, Poi).
Also, extra credit bonus thing to ponder for a potential future SAFD: I would like to do another bracket like we did for rides, but for restaurants.
Great idea! My vote is for two brackets. One for TS and one for QS.
 

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