Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (Disneyland)

[rastuso]

I’m honestly baffled at this point. I always said I thought people were way overblowing just how crowded this would end up being, but I still expected the place to be relatively crowded.

Gotta figure AP blackouts are gonna be lifted soon

It truly is stunning. I mean, did LA change their school dates or something? This month has literally been the best time to visit Disneyland in years. Who'd a thunk it?

And I feel it is just building up the pressure in the damn that is going to blow soon. If not, something very odd is up. Perhaps someone took down the Disneyland sign on I5.

 

[chris.g]

Or perhaps those peak day tickets are finally working as intended

 

[rastuso]

Most new things don’t have a grand opening and also have the company tell them that the land won’t be complete upon opening, either.

But it was only announced in March that RotR was not opening with the land. MANY people would have already booked airfare by then for a May/June trip. I'd love to know if Anaheim hotels had massive cancellations after that announcement.

Plus, as said before, nobody knew SR was not every bit a headliner. Well, I certainly had that feeling, but was laughed at. It's powered by like 8 NVidia cards, and you can knock over AT-ATs!!!!

I find it very odd that a 3 months prior announcement led to Disneyland being a bigger ghost town than Calico up the road.

I'm sure Disney is absolutely apoplectic and perplexed over this.

 

[Nick]

Or maybe - just maybe - it's a combination of all of the things we've talked about that has lead to this.

Plus, as said before, nobody knew SR was not every bit a headliner. Well, I certainly had that feeling, but was laughed at.

You commented that the ride was ST 3.0 many times (which depending on your opinion of the ride could be argued for or against).

Everyone on here already knew RotR was the headliner though. I know i've certainly known that since info about the rides started coming out in 2015/16. I was never expecting any more from SR than what we got.

 

[Stryker]

Back to talks about no robes or lightsabers in the land. I, personally, don't really have a problem with their current policy.

Disney already has a no costume policy for ages 14+ so this is just keeping the same policy for the new land. If they relax it exclusively for GE, guests elsewhere will complain and I'm not sure that's a can of worms they want to open.

For lightsabers, I think it's a safety and liability issue. You know how kids will act wielding a lightsaber. Someone's bound to get whacked in the head sooner or later. Also, imagine a kid drops and damages it. Will Disney offer a free replacement like how they normally do if kids drop their plate of food at one of their restaurants?

 

[Nick]

Back to talks about no robes or lightsabers in the land. I, personally, don't really have a problem with their current policy.

Disney already has a no costume policy for ages 14+ so this is just keeping the same policy for the new land. If they relax it exclusively for GE, guests elsewhere will complain and I'm not sure that's a can of worms they want to open.

For lightsabers, I think it's a safety and liability issue. You know how kids will act wielding a lightsaber. Someone's bound to get whacked in the head sooner or later. Also, imagine a kid drops and damages it. Will Disney offer a free replacement like how they normally do if kids drop their plate of food at one of their restaurants?

I know these lightsabers are different than the ones they currently sell at DHS, but at DHS they’re out all over the place. I don’t get why there’s a difference in policy.

 

[rastuso]

I know these lightsabers are different than the ones they currently sell at DHS, but at DHS they’re out all over the place. I don’t get why there’s a difference in policy.

California's very punitive based legal system vs Florida's more realistic one?

 

[Stryker]

I know these lightsabers are different than the ones they currently sell at DHS, but at DHS they’re out all over the place. I don’t get why there’s a difference in policy.

Keep in mind I'm from CA and haven't been to DHS in about 5-6 years, but I'm assuming the ones you're referring to are the same ones or similar to the ones offered at the Star Tours ride exit gift shop in DL which is made of plastic. Just a guess, but I think they don't want their guests to break their $200 toys in the new land.

 

[themeparkshark]

Just saying... I also think having it on both coasts is another factor that a lot of people are not mentioning.

Sure it may not be the biggest factor, but it’s definitely stopping a large majority of the country from making a trip West—when they can simply visit Orlando and get more theme park out of their trip as well.

When potter opened, there was nothing that immediately hinted at an opening elsewhere. Much of what Universal was doing at the time and beforehand felt like each coast had unique rides. Obviously this has changed... but I think everybody and their mother planned for Hogsmeade because it felt as if it would “only be there.”

 

[rastuso]

Just saying... I also think having it on both coasts is another factor that a lot of people are not mentioning.

Sure it may not be the biggest factor, but it’s definitely stopping a large majority of the country from making a trip West—when they can simply visit Orlando and get more theme park out of their trip as well.

When potter opened, there was nothing that immediately hinted at an opening elsewhere. Much of what Universal was doing at the time and beforehand felt like each coast had unique rides. Obviously this has changed... but I think everybody and their mother planned for Hogsmeade because it felt as if it would “only be there.”

I think it is a HUGE factor.

I know my desire to go to Shanghai really dropped when Tron was announced, so it really only has one unique big ride, even though Tron is a thematic failure, it will still be a huge ride at night. Same would happen if Mystic Manor opened in the US, HKDL would immediately become a much less desirable trip.

Same with Universal Hollywood. I have zero reason to go there at this point, as they offer nothing that isn't in Orlando, outside of a few movie sets I've seen plenty. And a few updated scenes on Jurassic Park won't make me spend hundreds for my family to visit again on our next trip out West.

 

[Ryan]

Another point to consider: the whole "reservations required" thing. People saw that reservations sold out in 2 hours, perhaps they don't know how long that's been? I've seen SWGE ads online say "no reservations required" but have they also flashed that on TV?

EDIT: also @JungleSkip Christmas is extremely busy because that's when tourists flock to Disneyland

 

[Scott W.]

The theme park going public has *never* shied away from high crowds, especially for a cool new thing opening. It’s unfathomable

Look no further than Hagrid's. The first day was crazy busy and it made national news, yet people still did the same thing the next day. Then you also have people complaining about how busy it was and being told what did they expect? Where is that line of thought people for GE?

Usually posters here are pretty knowledgeable about theme parks and for the most part are pretty decent predictors of success and/or failure. But no one here, not a single soul, had any inkling that this first 30 days could produce such poor attendance for Disneyland. I'd guess at Disney there also was probably not a single executive that thought this was going to happen to this extent. So many theories, but who knows the true cause. More like the perfect storm. ....Maybe this won't happen to WDW since it's a different animal with a different customer base....but...keep in mind that hotel room availability, at this point in time, is still pretty open for the first few months of when it will be open in Orlando. RotR can't come too soon.....THOUGH, as Jungle Skip says, the GP thought MF was the headliner. It's just us Theme Park fans that surmised RotR is the true headliner. So that might not be the whole issue either, just a piece of the not yet eaten pie.

Call this he hottest of all takes but I think Disney could be heading towards an implosion.

This isn't just about GE but a lot of small things potentially building up to something big. Increased pricing, more complex planning required, lesser experience and talk about a major recession hitting.

 

[Ryan]

Look no further than Hagrid's. The first day was crazy busy and it made national news, yet people still did the same thing the next day. Then you also have people complaining about how busy it was and being told what did they expect? Where is that line of thought people for GE?

Florida vs Cali, ENTIRELY different environment. People are on vacation and captive.

 

[Nick]

Keep in mind I'm from CA and haven't been to DHS in about 5-6 years, but I'm assuming the ones you're referring to are the same ones or similar to the ones offered at the Star Tours ride exit gift shop in DL which is made of plastic. Just a guess, but I think they don't want their guests to break their $200 toys in the new land.

I get the Sabers from Savi’s are different and cost $200, but if someone wants to take the risk than that should be on them, imo.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

What if... RotR is worse than MFSR? I think everyone is just assuming RotR will be good.

I meant everyone is saying the land will be better when RotR opens. But what if it doesn’t make it better?

We made lots of assumptions about the land that didn’t come true. This could be one of them too.

 

[JungleSkip]

EDIT: also @JungleSkip Christmas is extremely busy because that's when tourists flock to Disneyland

Summer time isn't tourist season!?

 

[UNIrd]

The crazy part is what a phenomenal job Disney's done in marketing this thing for months. I actually thought it was TOO much for a minute there because I figured they could open this thing with zero ads, only a backdoor entry and a password and it'd STILL filled to capacity.

 

[Mad Dog]

I remember when Iger 'jokingly' said, at a spring financial meeting, that they wouldn't even have to market or advertise GESWL. (Of course they did though). I'm sure Disney is shocked. And regardless of whether this works with the tourist laden captive audience at WDW, what happened this month to Disneyland, attendance wise, is shock and awe for sure.

 

[youhow2]

People spend hours researching purchases before spending money, now more than ever. GP are smarter than ever, and every park with a strong local base would do well to assume if they haven't already that any information that gets to "us", the "engaged" locals and vacation planners will know too.


I would not be surprised if a good chunk of people booking vacations just for "Star Wars land" came across information from online or through word of mouth that ROTR was the "big ride", and were advised to hold off. The hyper fans were always going to know everything we know about the land, probably even more.

Influencers and "bloggers" visiting the parks have a stronger impact on guest decision making than any piece of advertising and general information the parks put out, especially with Millennial's and particularly with Gen Z. I'm curious to learn how much these things effect Disney.


Also, I'm going to tread lightly here... But Disney really did put a hole in the Star Wars fandom with TLJ... It's something that should be considered to have had at least a minimal effect of opening a land based on the new characters and the newer aesthetic.

And then, Disney prices... Jesus, not the same resort, but I was quoted something like $472 a night for Art of Animation for my stay (5 nights) through the reservation system. Tickets for 5 or 6 days cost more than my 3 park preferred pass to a world class resort down the street, and that pass cost 5x as much as the pass that gets me into ANY of the Cedair Fair parks. Despite "knowing better", about Disney, I was still taken aback by the pricing. What the hell is in a Disney deluxe that makes them all double the starting price of a Universal deluxe? And, the amount of room I can get at Universal for $400 bucks a night, compared to a VALUE resort at Disney... WHAT?

Disney is priced so far out ahead of the next competition it's kind of funny... And the reality of that value gap will show itself to the public eventually. Even folks on the Disney centric boards are starting to go "eh?".

 

[Nick]

I remember when Iger 'jokingly' said, at a spring financial meeting, that they wouldn't even have to market or advertise GESWL. (Of course they did though). I'm sure Disney is shocked. And regardless of whether this works with the tourist laden captive audience at WDW, what happened this month to Disneyland, attendance wise, is shock and awe for sure.

I think he was right. Thing is, they over-marketed and made it seem like it would be hell on earth. That, along with price increases and blackouts have really hampered attendance imo.