ST Star Wars : Galaxy's Edge

Theme parks & puppies and other cool stuff. Boobies.

Okay, not the boobies. But alas.

 

Yeah, I have had a few friends buy a pass on occasion, only to use it a few times. The cost of Disneyland pass is exponentially higher than other theme parks in SoCal so I have to make sure I go enough to justify it.

I would say the crowds are manageable, but the empty pic of GE is definitely cherry picked for clickbait. In the morning, the entire park looks like that. If you were to go expecting those kind of crowds, you would be disappointed. Crowds are down by 3% but that doesn’t take into consideration that attendance rose 4% in the past two years (down from being recently at a real high). As I write this, the new ride is an 85 minute wait (it will likely simmer down to 45).

The “GE is a failure” does not take into to account the entire park is less crowded. Also, they have been selling out of various merchandise so it’s not failure in that area. However, the land is a disappointment IMO to what it should have been and that combined with one ride still not open is certainly not helping. In black and white terms, GE is indeed a failure in the sense that Disney expected large crowds that just didn’t show. However, the reasons for those lack of crowds go beyond just SW portion of the park.

 

@Cave of Erised I do think it's a failure in the sense that it has not yet pulled in people that otherwise would not have come to Disneyland. I would put most of that on: 1) general increases in ticket prices; 2) not using OT characters etc.

 

To the mods, I apologize for missing your earlier warning. I also apologize if I somehow misread or misinterpreted anyone here. I've had a bad couple of days in my personal life. I know that's no excuse. I will now humbly bow out of the conversation.

 

Today was an improvement. Thank you

 

1 - definitely
2 - maybe, but I think Rise of the Resistance not being open is a much big factor for anyone planning a long distance trip combined with the annual passholder blackout dates

Really anyone from outside the US is likely waiting for the full area to be open and is more likely to go to Florida as it's (in most cases) the cheaper/better value option. These trips aren't cheap so if you're choice is go for opening or go in 6-7 months when it's fully open then most people are probably going to wait.

I'm not sure more meet and greets (OT or otherwise) would make that much of a difference. But if they wanted they could add Leia to the base, they could add ghost Luke to Savi's. They could add R2 & 3PO like they had BB-8 in Launch Bay. There are options for most OT characters. But even before Galaxy's Edge and the ST setting, Disney preferred the mask characters to the face characters, just a lot easier to cast and switch out cast members for faster turn arounds at meet and greets.

 

Keep your head up @StarYogi

 

@ChrisLyne Disneyland is a park for locals. Something like 90% of their attendees live in the SoCal area. I doubt ROTR not being open had much impact on keeping locals away. Your SW fan in SoCal who typically does not go to Disneyland is not going to stay away just because ROTR is not open.

 

@Miles Lodson True, but how big is that "fan but don't go to Disneyland" crowd? Like you say, Disneyland is targeted primarily at locals, so in that sense it isn't a "once in a lifetime holiday" the way Walt Disney World is. But a large part of that local market is the annual passholders who were hit with blackout dates for opening and beyond. If you take them out, someone has to make up the difference.

Most people coming from abroad (or even East coast) are going to wait for Florida, annual passholders were blackout, add to that further price increases. It's not a recipe for record crowds. Clearly Disney thought the lure of Star Wars could overcome that (hence the blackout dates).

Not arguing they over estimated attendance. Just saying I think half the rides not being open would be more of a factor than OT meet and greets.

 

@Miles Lodson The price combined with only one ride open may be affecting locals more than you think. There are only a few passes that will let you in currently and they are all over 1000 dollars. By contrast, the comparable Universal passes are about about half the cost. The pricey deluxe Disney pass will not even let you in yet. It costs less to go to Knotts for their calendar year pass than a single trip to Disneyland. If you were a local, your only option is to pony up for an expensive day pass or an annual pass. If you have a pass that doesn’t let you in at this time, why pay more when you already have given them money (especially since one ride isn’t open)? If you are only going to visit once and cough up that 149 bucks for just one day, wouldn’t you rather wait until the bigger ride is open and get more for your money?

I understand that having more of the OT (not just character meets but locations like Harry Potter in Universal*) could be having a large impact. However, it’s hard to judge at the moment when the rest of the resort that has nothing to do with SW is also seeing lower attendance. Thus, disinterest in GE because of its lack of OT doesn’t explain lower interest in the rest of the park.

 

Good points, but Disney could not possible have been hoping to get someone who has never visited, to visit once, could they?

 

it doesn't have a lack of OT or PT theres Refences everywhere there

 

I think the idea is more they are pushing more heavily on the ST trilogy for the park. when there are alot of people who probably would get a nostalgic buzz out of seeing some OT stuff and maybe even some PT stuff

 

Yes in the sense that the entire ST aesthetic has references to the OT everywhere.

 

The irony is that there is little of the ST either thus far in GE (other than the FO, Rey, and Kylo), Batuu and Black Spire Outpost are new.

 

Ehh, I think you'd be surprised. Plenty of people overseas tend to vacation in the US with DisneyLand being the sort of big draw, the whole "the kids have gotta go there at least once" type of dealio.

 

I think Disney has said they designed the site so that it can be reconfigured to reflect any future movies. The Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run and Rise of the Resistance rides are set in stone, but the "narrative" surrounding Batuu and Black Spire Outpost is meant to be infinitely adaptable, and I'd hazard a guess that's partly why it's history stretches back so far, so a story can be set there at any point in the timeline. This way ten years from now, when another trilogy is in full swing, although the rides are still set between TLJ and TROS, the Batuu you walk in and the story you interactive with will be one that exists in the era of that currently unfolding trilogy.

 

Finally got to go the preview of Galaxy's Edge at Disney World. I thought the attention to detail throughout the land was wonderful. Disney has really been nailing that lately (with Toy Story Land and Avatar as well), after having neglected it with some of their other newer attractions. We enjoyed just walking around and taking it all in. The ride was a lot of fun. We rode it 3 times so I got to try all the positions. Each experience was unique, which was something I really enjoyed. We had horrible pilots one time, and Holdo made fun of them throughout the ride... it was hilarious. There were tons of stores, but they had some really unique merchandise so I enjoyed browsing and it actually felt like part of the immersive experience.

My overall take-away? It has a lot of potential, and it will be absolutely amazing in several years. Right now... it still feels very incomplete. I can tell where there is room for expansion (which is wonderful), but right now it feels like it's not quite there. A 2nd ride will help, but I think it needs more than that to really feel complete. I have confidence they will keep developing and it will be what it was meant to be in the next few years.

One side note... I had been pretty skeptical about this being set in a land we don't really know. However, that didn't end of bothering me at all as I walked around. The familiar ships and characters helped give me the nostalgia feels, and the new areas still managed to nail that Star Wars aesthetic beautifully.

 

More WDW Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge stories from the internet news.



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/tra...0190815-22ms6gbzk5dmrhhvgmwpnq6m2a-story.html


https://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/article234003292.html

 

Land or World though? Land might get some day visitors that are doing a West Coast vacation, World is the destination people go to for a two week holiday. Here in the UK we have TV adverts for Disney World (actually saw one for Galaxy's Edge during Agents of Shield a few weeks back). Virgin have travel agents and part of their website dedicated to Disney World. By contrast there is little to nothing for Disneyland. Price is a big part of that since it's easier to visit the East coast than the West (shorter and cheaper flights), but also Disney pricing. As others have said, Land is targeted more at locals, World is targeted more internationally. You can get a 2 or even 3 week park hopper for World for around the same price a 3-4 day pass at Land will cost you. Plus, coming internationally the whole "only one ride open" thing will likely play more of a factor if you are planning to come specifically for Galaxy's Edge.

 

Well, both I guess, but yeah, when I lived in Australia for a while there seemed to be a lot of people asking about Disneyland since I grew up in Anaheim. Like they'd mention their plan is to go with the family, and it seemed to be more California than the Florida park.

Might be something of the O.G. park factor, it's the first, the classic. Even though it has less it's still the emotional crown jewel, that type of thing.

 

Disneyland is a place you excitedly visit while you are at your vacation destination. Disney Word is your vacation destination. That's the difference. I'm sure many people around the world love to visit Disneyland, but there is no doubt that Disney World is the prime tourist destination for international travelers. I would be downright shocked if Disney World faces the same attendance issues as Disneyland once Galaxy's Edge opens. It might not meet all of their internal expectations, but I expect it to be packed for a very long time. Even when they open just one ride in an existing land, it tends to be packed for not just days or months, but for years.

 

Exactly. Disneyland is a theme park, but Disney World is a full entertainment resort with no shortage of events. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party starts at Magic Kingdom today and continues into early November, and the International Food & Wine Festival starts at Epcot the same weekend that Galaxy’s Edge opens and continues into late November. Those two events draw progressively larger crowds on their own as they continue, and that’s likely going to coincide with an increase of attendance at Hollywood Studios since people are inclined to visit more than one park during their stay, ignoring the people that are also making plans for the sole purpose of going to Galaxy’s Edge.