{"id":4346,"date":"2019-06-14T12:40:25","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T16:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=4346"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:48:07","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:48:07","slug":"what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"What Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Teaches Us About Experiential Storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 6<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Disney, perhaps more than anyone, knows the power of a great experience. Time and again, from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot to Cars Land, they\u2019ve proven their mastery in creating inimitable moments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now they\u2019ve done it again. Star Wars<\/em>: Galaxy\u2019s Edge has two 14-acre amusement parks (one in Disneyland, one in Disney World) that are designed to give visitors a unique, personalized experience steeped in Star Wars<\/a> <\/em>sights, sounds, and lore. The early reviews seem to confirm that the billion dollar parks are unparalleled feats of immersive, interactive entertainment that Bob Chapek, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products says are \u201csetting a new bar for experiential storytelling.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStar Wars<\/em> is a universally known concept,\u201d says Justin Mabardi, who is a former Disneyland employee and now co-executive producer of World\u2019s Got Talent.<\/em> \u201cAnd Disney is good at building personalized experiences for people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Disney acquired George Lucas\u2019 franchise for $4 billion in 2012, fans knew that eventually they were going to get an amusement park. But at Star Wars<\/em>: Galaxy\u2019s Edge, they aren\u2019t merely traversing well-known territory\u2014they\u2019re characters in a previously unknown planet called Baatu. (By the way, what better way to inspire an endless wave of social media sharing than by letting fans feel like they\u2019re not just a part of the Star Wars <\/em>universe, but a previously undiscovered one?) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The powerful combination of Disney\u2019s ingenious Imagineers and the rich vat of Star Wars<\/em> IP resulted in a park that is the pinnacle of experiential storytelling, a place that virtually markets itself. Here are five takeaways from Star Wars<\/em>: Galaxy\u2019s Edge that will help you build a better experience for your clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"star
U.S Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1. Stick to the theme.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you want to create something that transports people to another world, you have to obsess over everything. \u201cThe attention to detail lives<\/em> in Disneyland,\u201d Mabardi says. \u201cWalking in for the first time, you have to get that same feeling you do the first time the orchestra strikes up in that film.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guests walk into the park and onto the surface of the planet Baatu, a former outpost for traders that’s fallen into disrepair. The architecture and landscape are high enough to block out nearly all of the surrounding, potentially mood-spoiling, Disneyland attractions. The main hub of activity is Black Spire Outpost\u2014a black market trading hub full of sketchy creatures with a rundown, past-its-prime feel. A full-sized, 111-foot replica of the Millennium Falcon is docked here, complete with the only fully-functioning ride currently open (Millennium Falcon: Smuggler\u2019s Run). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Star Wars<\/em> Aurebesh alphabet is displayed on cast member’s name tags and gift shop entrances (which don\u2019t have English signage), and the doors to buildings whoosh open like on a spaceship. Every inch of the park is on theme (even the bathrooms<\/a>), with ambient alien noises setting the mood, a custom John Williams score<\/a> playing in the background, and easter eggs hidden everywhere, that Wired<\/em> claims<\/a> could take fans years to uncover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Right down to the Fried Endorian Tip-Yip.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"star
U.S Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It wouldn\u2019t feel like an authentic Star Wars<\/em> experience if guests couldn\u2019t eat alien food. The sheer Instagrammability of the blue Bantha milk<\/a> Luke Skywalker drinks in A New Hope<\/em> could drum up hype for the next decade, but the creative directors didn\u2019t stop there. Guests can stop at Oga\u2019s Cantina for a variety of boozy galactic drinks\u2014a milestone not just for Star Wars<\/em> fans, but for Disneyland in general, as it\u2019s the first location inside the park to serve alcohol. After all, a grimy outpost like the Black Spire Output wouldn’t attract a barful of grubby patrons by serving kobucha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for non-adult beverages, all of the Coca-Cola products are specially designed for Galaxy\u2019s Edge\u2014coolers of thermal blaster-shaped Sprites and Cokes can be found throughout the park, their labels written in Aurebesh. And the food is an array of intergalactic fare\u2014like the Fried Endorian Tip-Yip (chicken with roasted vegetable mash) or the Ithorian Garden Loaf (plant-based \u201cmeatloaf\u201d) or the Yobshrimp noodle salad (chilled shrimp and noodles). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Offer swag you can’t find in any other galaxy.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"star
U.S Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can go to any amusement park and spend too much on souvenirs, but you won\u2019t get souvenirs like these. Nor will you be able to buy them from a store lorded over by a cantankerous alien named Dok-Ondar. Galaxy\u2019s Edge is full of brand new, exclusive swag die-hard fans used to only dream of owning\u2014items that span the history of the entire universe, from fully customizable droids guests can build at the Droid Depot<\/a>, to $200 dollar lightsabers, to the same Dejarik Board Game that frustrated Chewbacca in Episode IV<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fans can buy imperial officer\u2019s ranking badges, a totem from the Syndulla family (seen only in the animated series Star Wars Rebels<\/em>), or Sabacc, the card game that won Han Solo the Millennium Falcon. Even the bars offer guests a chance to bring home a slice of the universe: the most expensive drink at Oga\u2019s Cantina is a $75 beer flight served on a souvenir hardwood board decorated with Rancor teeth. Whether guests are just hoping to don a Carrie Fischer space buns wig, or (as Bloomberg<\/em> puts it) \u201ctrue galaxy obsessives<\/a>\u201d looking to buy a $2000 silver-plated Chalcedony Waves necklace, Galaxy\u2019s Edge has all the wares they could dream of and then some. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Keep the active in interactive.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As of June 2019, there\u2019s only one ride open at California\u2019s Galaxy\u2019s Edge<\/em>\u2014Millennium Falcon: Smuggler\u2019s Run\u2014and it\u2019s nothing like a traditional ride. Polygon\u2019s<\/em> Chris Plante tried to define it<\/a>, but words failed him: \u201cI\u2019m tempted to call it the most impressive arcade game on the planet, but that feels like a backhanded compliment.\u201d Smuggler\u2019s Run is considered a \u201cride film\u201d, a genre which incorporates the movement aspects of traditional rides with a real-time video experience, meaning the six riders who climb aboard the Millennium Falcon sit in the ship\u2019s cockpit and feel as if they\u2019re flying inside of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Disney took it a step beyond traditional ride films (like the park\u2019s classic Star Wars: A Star Tour ride) by making the ride film reactive\u2014riders have to push buttons to jump to light speed, pull triggers to fire the ship\u2019s guns, or move to dodge space debris\u2014 all of which result in different final outcomes. It\u2019s more fully immersive arcade game than amusement park ride. And naturally, Disney bothered to sweat the details: if you climb aboard the Falcon at night, you\u2019ll see<\/a> Baatu under starlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Jump in with both feet.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople who work at Disney love<\/em> working at Disney,\u201d says Mabardi, who was a cast member on the Disneyland Jungle Cruise ride. The employees at Galaxy\u2019s Edge (known as cast members since they remain in character) are encouraged to build their own backstories and customize their uniforms. The result? An entire population of terrestrial Baatu-dwellers greeting guests with popular native sayings, selling Ronto Wraps freshly grilled off a pod racer engine and calling children \u201cyounglings<\/a>.\u201d Galaxy\u2019s Edge is patrolled regularly by the First Order\u2019s stormtroopers and its leader, Kylo Ren, who accost guests and frighten Baatu\u2019s citizens to such an extent that shops will stop<\/a> selling to guests whenever they\u2019re near. There are also good guys traversing the park: fan favorites from the current trilogy like Rey and the films\u2019 mainstay, Chewbacca, who will hold hands with kids in costume or lead nighttime droid races. Disney has always been excellent at amassing employees who are passionate about their work, which is why you\u2019ll see so many cast members leaning heavily into their roles. It\u2019s a massive stage production, of which visitors are a part. It\u2019s rumored<\/a> that Stormtroopers will escort guests out past the four hour visit limit put in place to prevent overcrowding). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe point of being memorable is to make someone feel something,\u201d Mabardi tells us. From the countless gleeful tweets, praising articles, ecstatic YouTube walkthroughs, and stolen sporks on Ebay<\/a>, Disney\u2019s Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge has put on a master class of experiential storytelling that furthers the memorability of the brand and its offshoots. Take notes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Disney’s new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme park sets a new standard for immersive experiences. What can it teach us about experiential storytelling?<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":4395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nExperiential Storytelling\u2014Learning from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge park sets a new standard for immersive experiences. What can it teach us about experiential storytelling?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Experiential Storytelling from Star Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge park sets a new standard for immersive experiences. What can it teach us about experiential storytelling?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ceros Inspire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-14T16:40:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-10T16:48:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/Facebook_StarWars@2x.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1260\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Experiential Storytelling from Star Wars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/Twitter_StarWars@2x.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alyssa Mercante\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/\",\"name\":\"Ceros Inspire\",\"description\":\"Just another Ceros Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/header_starwars.jpg\",\"width\":1524,\"height\":920,\"caption\":\"star wars galaxys edge\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/\",\"name\":\"Experiential Storytelling\\u2014Learning from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-14T16:40:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-10T16:48:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#\/schema\/person\/55d46da2c521ffce435c3af24a3e5304\"},\"description\":\"Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge park sets a new standard for immersive experiences. What can it teach us about experiential storytelling?\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-star-wars-galaxy-edge-teaches-us-about-experiential-storytelling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#\/schema\/person\/55d46da2c521ffce435c3af24a3e5304\",\"name\":\"Alyssa Mercante\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4fb2f9dd9b65993a60cf1bacb30ba0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alyssa Mercante\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4346"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16077,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions\/16077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}