DHS Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

[yensidtlaw1969]

Right now at 5:15 Pacific time on a perfectly gorgeous summer day, the Millennium Falcon ride at Disneyland has a 35 minute wait on the Disneyland App. This was not what was supposed to happen this summer.

Might I quickly say, as I've only affirmed this past week spent at DL, the Disneyland App is reliably unreliable with regards to wait times.

That's pleasant enough when it overestimates, but deeply frustrating when you've shot all the way across the park for a short wait only to be met with a long, long line and an app that still holds that the wait is short.

I've got a lot to say about MDE, but the WDW app seems to be more well tuned than the DL one.

EDITED To Add: None of this is to say the lines at MF aren't shorter overall than they'd intended for them to be. There were times the wait was high, but most days you could find a reasonable wait in there somewhere if you wanted it.

 

[lumberguy5]

I've got a lot to say about MDE, but the WDW app seems to be more well tuned than the DL one.

If you decompile the apk it becomes clear that the DL app is a modified version of the WDW one. Also a CM was telling me that they had to call someone to update the posted times and that most were fine just leaving an incorrect time up.

 

[mikejs78]

If you decompile the apk it becomes clear that the DL app is a modified version of the WDW one. Also a CM was telling me that they had to call someone to update the posted times and that most were fine just leaving an incorrect time up.

The app may be the same codebase but that doesn't mean that the backend is the same. As much as we all lampoon NextGen, it appears to have some benefits....

 

[doctornick]

You are likely correct that they may interpret it that way. If DHS is crowded and guest reviews suggest a need for entertainment and a TSR, I bet both get approved. Toy Story Land is getting its TSR because the land is successful but guests want more dining. It’s already more robust than other Toy Story Lands and will only be moreso.

Well, it's much easier to justify adding a profit center like a restaurant than it is to add entertainment. Adding the TS restaurant to SW:GE will likely be an easy call and happen at some point in the near future - maybe it won't be as robust in terms of live or technical entertainment though.

Adding actors or moving droids around the land... different calculus entirely.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Well, it's much easier to justify adding a profit center like a restaurant than it is to add entertainment. Adding the TS restaurant to SW:GE will likely be an easy call and happen at some point in the near future - maybe it won't be as robust in terms of live or technical entertainment though.

Adding actors or moving droids around the land... different calculus entirely.

Imagine a world where SWGE was given the entertainment budget once given to that crappy show in front of the Chinese Theatre, the storm trooper march, Lights, Motors, Action, and the Studios Backlot Tour.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

That's an interesting article by Lutz, on many levels. Really sad what became of the original plans for SWGE, especially the interactivity - and exactly what's being felt around SWGE now... How static and unengaging it is.

And India? Really? The weather is arguably "always nice" (nice and HOT!) but they're also facing a serious water crisis. As in, they're running out of it.

 

[matt9112]

Let me mansplain to you how that comment is misandrist.

Yet hes not inherently wrong either.

 

[matt9112]

Imagine a world where SWGE was given the entertainment budget once given to that crappy show in front of the Chinese Theatre, the storm trooper march, Lights, Motors, Action, and the Studios Backlot Tour.

Were trying to cut costs not increase them. The pretty architecture isnt winning the crowds over?

 

[TP2000]

Might I quickly say, as I've only affirmed this past week spent at DL, the Disneyland App is reliably unreliable with regards to wait times.

That's pleasant enough when it overestimates, but deeply frustrating when you've shot all the way across the park for a short wait only to be met with a long, long line and an app that still holds that the wait is short.

I've got a lot to say about MDE, but the WDW app seems to be more well tuned than the DL one.

EDITED To Add: None of this is to say the lines at MF aren't shorter overall than they'd intended for them to be. There were times the wait was high, but most days you could find a reasonable wait in there somewhere if you wanted it.

Yes, the Disneyland App wait times appear to be merely reflecting whatever the $15 an hour Cal State Fullerton Co-Ed ride operator decides to punch into the wait time machine at the ride's entrance. There's no real science or managed operation behind it, it's just a ride operator eyeballing the queue and changing the wait time. A few minutes later that number downloads onto the App.

That said, the Falcon has hovered around 25 to 45 minutes the last few weeks of peak summer. Right now at 8:30pm, with the first Fantasmic! about to start, an hour until fireworks, and another four hours of operation until Disneyland closes the lines at Midnight, Falcon is posted as a 25 minute wait. That seems accurate considering all of the other E Tickets in the park are in the 5 to 30 minute range right now; Pirates, Small World, Jungle Cruise at 5 minutes, Splash, Submarines, Mansion, Thunder and Indiana Jones at 15 minutes, Star Tours at 20, Hyperspace Mt. at 30. Disneyland is dead tonight, and Falcon has a very short wait.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Like so many of us, I can't wait to see how DHS differs once its own Falcon ride opens in two weeks! Will having only six other rides in the park help or hinder? Are East Coast audiences that different from West Coast audiences? I can't wait to see what happens, especially if like Al Lutz says that Mr. Chapek should announce a new slate of Star Wars Land entertainment flooding the lands soon, if Mr. Chapek knows what's good for him and his career.

 

[_bluebird]

Yes, the Disneyland App wait times appear to be merely reflecting whatever the $15 an hour Cal State Fullerton Co-Ed ride operator decides to punch into the wait time machine at the ride's entrance. There's no real science or managed operation behind it, it's just a ride operator eyeballing the queue and changing the wait time. A few minutes later that number downloads onto the App.

That's not exactly accurate. Disney has an engineer develop a wait time matrix that estimates the wait time for each section of the queue, based on ride capacity and Fastpass impact. RO's then match the matrix to where the line is and phone it in to central communications.

 

[mikejs78]

Like so many of us, I can't wait to see how DHS differs once its own Falcon ride opens in two weeks! Will having only six other rides in the park help or hinder? Are East Coast audiences that different from West Coast audiences? I can't wait to see what happens, especially if like Al Lutz says that Mr. Chapek should announce a new slate of Star Wars Land entertainment flooding the lands soon, if Mr. Chapek knows what's good for him and his career.

There's another big difference between the DL situation and the DHS situation: the cost of a 1-day ticket. In DL it has been $149 all summer, which Al Lutz indicated was too high and had shown itself to be too high before GE even opened.

In the first 30 days of operation of GE at DHS, the price for a 1 day ticket at DHS will range from $109 to $125 per person, with 16 days at $109, 9 days at $117, and 5 days at $125. That's a significant cost difference compared to DLR, which may be another big difference in the reactions to the two lands. It could be that GE would have done just fine in DL, but TDA got too greedy.

 

[Casper Gutman]

There's another big difference between the DL situation and the DHS situation: the cost of a 1-day ticket. In DL it has been $149 all summer, which Al Lutz indicated was too high and had shown itself to be too high before GE even opened.

In the first 30 days of operation of GE at DHS, the price for a 1 day ticket at DHS will range from $109 to $125 per person, with 16 days at $109, 9 days at $117, and 5 days at $125. That's a significant cost difference compared to DLR, which may be another big difference in the reactions to the two lands. It could be that GE would have done just fine in DL, but TDA got too greedy.

But DL has a couple dozen more attractions then MGM. It’s actually a complete park, while MGM isn’t. So that DL ticket looks like the better, if still awful, deal to me.

 

[mikejs78]

But DL has a couple dozen more attractions then MGM. It’s actually a complete park, while MGM isn’t. So that DL ticket looks like the better, if still awful, deal to me.

I doubt most consumers make that comparison. MK costs the same. I think Disney may have found the price ceiling where people stop paying. And this was evident before GE as Al Lutz said: on spring weekends where the price was $149, the park was dead as well, but weekdays with lower prices were busy.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I doubt most consumers make that comparison. MK costs the same. I think Disney may have found the price ceiling where people stop paying. And this was evident before GE as Al Lutz said: on spring weekends where the price was $149, the park was dead as well, but weekdays with lower prices were busy.

DL guests have proven to be pretty sharp. And even first-time guests can tell that MGM is SWL, three attractions, a Wii game, and some carnival rides.

And a handful of shows that haven’t been refreshed since before the USSR fell.

 

[eddie104]

DL guests have proven to be pretty sharp. And even first-time guests can tell that MGM is SWL, three attractions, a Wii game, and some carnival rides.

And a handful of shows that haven’t been refreshed since before the USSR fell.

It doesn’t matter what people think of DHS the attractions there get long wait times regardless of their status.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It doesn’t matter what people think of DHS the attractions there get long wait times regardless of their status.

Now why would rides in an underbuilt park with low capacity get long lines?

 

[monothingie]

ROTR sounds like it's being rushed for a dec 5th opening

@marni1971, are there still major concerns about reliability? A lot of the YouTube people are saying they can't keep the ride system consistently running for more than hour at a time.
It would be an unmitigated disaster if ROTR is pressed to open 12/5 and is not reliable. (Test Track 1997?)

 

[monothingie]

i just fear WDW and DHS will not be able to handle the SW crowds...i hope they can...i have a trip for dec2-6 and am a fla resident and not even sure what to expect in way of crowds

If you use Disney Hotel availability as a barometer of how crazy things will be, I wouldn't be worried. The most popular room types are still available, and even with the promotions bookings appear to be on par with previous years.

 

[monothingie]

this is the most complex ride disney has ever built..with the budget cuts and the decrease in quality i have some some doubts bots

Imagination V1 with the technology available at the time was the most complex ride system Disney ever undertook and they nailed it. Test Track V1 was the next most challenging and they blew it. WDI would not be a fun place to be if ROTR doesn't open for 12/5.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

...And even first-time guests can tell that MGM is SWL, three attractions, a Wii game, and some carnival rides.

And a handful of shows that haven’t been refreshed since before the USSR fell.

I couldn't agree more. I haven't spent much time in DHS since 1996. Since then, it's more or less been relegated to "half day park" status, if that, in my mind. In fact, out of our past bunch of visits we didn't even go, aside from maybe making rezzies at 50's Prime Time Café.

It doesn’t matter what people think of DHS the attractions there get long wait times regardless of their status.

That's the "hit the E-ticket rides and bail" crowd, people that don't know better, those that want to see it "at least once" and park hoppers.