Aloha,
Considering the vast size, detail, challenges and complexity of Star Wars Land (SWL), when do you think the actual planning (ideas to paper) started?
With regards to the pair of rides...do y'all think they have been built and tested off-property to ensure everything works prior to the construction of SWL?
Lastly, which SWL (DL or HS) do you think will have the most charm, best atmosphere, most energy?
This is a somewhat educated guess. I work in engineering and construction - although not the entertainment field that Disney represents. I'm basing my guesses on what I think is practical to do and what would be worth spending money on.
I bet they had some concepts of Star Wars attractions that they could add
before they ever even purchased the rights from George Lucas.
I'm not in tune with these specific rides enough to know if they are designed ground-up by Disney Imagineers or if there is a 3rd party company that produces them under Disney's direction. Either way, I'm doubtful they built these complete rides off-site to test them. They've surely done computer simulations before they started building them. They may build small portions of the ride, like a car or a short piece of track to test new technologies, but not the complete ride. All of the pieces would be created off-site, but only assembled when they arrive.
For a project this large, it would probably take 6 months to a year to truly complete the engineering. In fact, it's likely the complete ride was not even 100% designed before they started construction of the buildings that will house them. The reason is, if you wait for engineering to be complete, it makes the project take too long. You can take a good guess at what size of building you need and just start building it. Then the the designers of the ride have to make sure they fit what they're doing into the building you gave them.
That's just the way I imagine things happening. I wouldn't be able to fervently argue against anyone who disagreed.
As far as your question about which will have the most charm, that's impossible for me to guess. For years (before I visited
Disneyland) I went to Disney World, under the impression that surely it was the better park because they would have improved on everything they did in Disneyland. But finally visiting Disneyland left me feeling like I had no idea which park was "better." They are both fantastic.
