What's with the wait times!? (hint.. they're low)

[mickEblu]

How so? There's no available data proving that SWGE literally flopped other than the online fan base coalescing around the fact that attendance over the summer was slower than usual - a slowdown which can easily be attributed to Disney deliberately putting measures in place to decrease traffic.

Guest spending results for the quarter will be released soon. There seems to be an expectation among analysts that strong spending will offset the attendance decline. We'll see.

cmon Doc. You and I both know Disney was panicking about the low turnout. That’s why they immediately unblocked CMs and began the AP bring a friend parkhopper program for $99. If the result was deliberate as you say, why would they do these things? The people they thought were going to show up didn’t show up. They blocked out almost all passholders anticipating people (tourists, day guests, and APs buying the day) that never came.

We can debate if Galaxies Edge is a flop or not. However, their is no denying that it is not a Hit. Maybe that changes with ROTR and if they do what they need to do throughout the land.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

CMs aren't normally blocked all Summer. They just did it as a precaution. They're always lifting blackouts, that just happened to make the rounds in Disney internet press because Star Wars.

I also think Star Wars underperformed, but I won't use that against Disney. There are far more credible arguments, such as the reservation system that was abandoned after one day and will never return. Again, a precaution, but they were obviously expecting it to be a far greater draw than it is and changed the entire operation of the park to require you to join a boarding party just to access it.

 

[mickEblu]

CMs aren't normally blocked all Summer. They just did it as a precaution. They're always lifting blackouts, that just happened to make the rounds in Disney internet press because Star Wars.

I also think Star Wars underperformed, but I won't use that against Disney. There are far more credible arguments, such as the reservation system that was abandoned after one day and will never return. Again, a precaution, but they were obviously expecting it to be a far greater draw than it is and changed the entire operation of the park to require you to join a boarding party just to access it.

This is a very long winded and twisted way of saying “I agree.” Aren’t you just strengthening my argument by saying CMs aren’t usually blacked out? We know, they did this in anticipation of people that didn’t come and then almost Immediately unblocked them.

Also who’s holding it against Disney? The summer was wonderful with the low crowds. The only thing I’m holding against them is the lackluster land they gave us.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It's a runaway success that exceeded all expectations!

 

[flynnibus]

How so? There's no available data proving that SWGE literally flopped other than the online fan base coalescing around the fact that attendance over the summer was slower than usual - a slowdown which can easily be attributed to Disney deliberately putting measures in place to decrease traffic.

The plans were meant to CAP traffic - not decrease it. Instead, they got a ghost town after the single largest (and most expensive) addition to the resort in almost 20 years. Even if they stayed flat that would be considered a disaster... instead they were so far below expectations they had to add promos and pull out all the stops.

Remember... performance is not just what you have, but where YOU ARE EXPECTED TO BE.

Attendance was not EXPECTED to be down - yet it was catastrophically. That means the opening and first quarter of operations were a failure to deliver on those numbers. Will it recover in the long run? We have yet to see... but you don't open a 14 acre expansion of your property and just expect to 'do about the same' as before. That's a business failure.

ETA: and no its not just SW:GE alone on why numbers were down... but it is the collective whole of the strategy to leverage the product and what Disney EXPECTED it to do.

 

[mickEblu]

The plans were meant to CAP traffic - not decrease it. Instead, they got a ghost town after the single largest (and most expensive) addition to the resort in almost 20 years. Even if they stayed flat that would be considered a disaster... instead they were so far below expectations they had to add promos and pull out all the stops.

Remember... performance is not just what you have, but where YOU ARE EXPECTED TO BE.

Attendance was not EXPECTED to be down - yet it was catastrophically. That means the opening and first quarter of operations were a failure to deliver on those numbers. Will it recover in the long run? We have yet to see... but you don't open a 14 acre expansion of your property and just expect to 'do about the same' as before. That's a business failure.

@Dr. Hans Reinhardt is a smart man and he knows these things. He just likes toying with people and playing contrarian sometimes. Well, a lot of times.

 

[SuddenStorm]

The plans were meant to CAP traffic - not decrease it. Instead, they got a ghost town after the single largest (and most expensive) addition to the resort in almost 20 years. Even if they stayed flat that would be considered a disaster... instead they were so far below expectations they had to add promos and pull out all the stops.

Remember... performance is not just what you have, but where YOU ARE EXPECTED TO BE.

Attendance was not EXPECTED to be down - yet it was catastrophically. That means the opening and first quarter of operations were a failure to deliver on those numbers. Will it recover in the long run? We have yet to see... but you don't open a 14 acre expansion of your property and just expect to 'do about the same' as before. That's a business failure.

Beautifully stated.

It's also worth comparing Galaxy's Edge opening to Star Tours in '87, or Indy in '95. Both single attractions that did wonders for Disneyland those respective years.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Star Tours had a line all the way down Main Street!

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Beautifully stated.

It's also worth comparing Galaxy's Edge opening to Star Tours in '87, or Indy in '95. Both single attractions that did wonders for Disneyland those respective years.

Because both were flat out game changers. Even though Star Tours was a similator we had never seen a simulator ride done like this before and it was the first Star Wars ride ever made, that perfectly captured the spirits of the original films. and Indiana Jones-what else can i say except its the best ride ever created? from the queue, the ride vehicles, John Williams's score, what else is there to say? every one wanted to go on a adventure with Indy. Millenium Falcon....a simulator video game that they offer at Dave and Busters only bigger.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

The plans were meant to CAP traffic - not decrease it. Instead, they got a ghost town after the single largest (and most expensive) addition to the resort in almost 20 years. Even if they stayed flat that would be considered a disaster... instead they were so far below expectations they had to add promos and pull out all the stops.

Remember... performance is not just what you have, but where YOU ARE EXPECTED TO BE.

Attendance was not EXPECTED to be down - yet it was catastrophically. That means the opening and first quarter of operations were a failure to deliver on those numbers. Will it recover in the long run? We have yet to see... but you don't open a 14 acre expansion of your property and just expect to 'do about the same' as before. That's a business failure.

ETA: and no its not just SW:GE alone on why numbers were down... but it is the collective whole of the strategy to leverage the product and what Disney EXPECTED it to do.

All good points, however the point I was making is that it appears DL's attendance is back to normal, which was predictable.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

All good points, however the point I was making is that it appears that attendance has rebounded, which was predictable.

Yeah but Galaxy's Edge has nothing to do with that rebound since it could not bring in any significant attendance numbers during the summer is the point. Disneyland is bringing in the guests now because it's Disneyland.

 

[flynnibus]

All good points, however the point I was making is that it appears DL's attendance is back to normal, which was predictable.

if it's just back to normal... its still a failure.

In one sense... you could argue the exec take away will be... why build new lands, when we can just run a cheap seasonal event and get even bigger crowds, and just throw it away and start a new one when people tire of it?

You'll have the DCA dance party idea, plus food&wine, etc morphing into some ideas that takeover DL 2/3rds of the year like EPCOT does now.

 

[DanielBB8]

The park can at least hold more guests so Disneyland has expanded capacity that could make up for any mis-steps with Galaxy's Edge. 3 months away from Rise of Resistance.

 

[Phroobar]

You would think the Facebook moms would have figured out Disneyland was empty last summer and came running.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It was empty all Summer with plenty of press. Shame if you chose to come now!

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Chances are the holidays are why people are flooding the parks again, NOT SW:GE.

 

[Phroobar]

SW:GE is kind of like those small areas in NOS where you go to get away from the crowds.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Chances are the holidays are why people are flooding the parks again, NOT SW:GE.

Absolutely.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Halloween and Christmas seasons are always super packed. I get that people love Disneyland, but it's a terrible time to go unless you time it right at the beginning or end of the season. Lots of long lines, cranky people complaining about long lines and wall-to-wall people literally everywhere you go. Meanwhile, all Summer everything was a walk-on and you had a brand new attraction, perfect weather and even a nighttime parade.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Halloween and Christmas seasons are always super packed. I get that people love Disneyland, but it's a terrible time to go unless you time it right at the beginning or end of the season. Lots of long lines, cranky people complaining about long lines and wall-to-wall people literally everywhere you go. Meanwhile, all Summer everything was a walk-on and you had a brand new attraction, perfect weather and even a nighttime parade.

yeah but there is somthing beautiful about Disneyland in december. the smells, the weather, the christmas tree, the christmas parades, it is a very magical time to go if you ask me. i used to go in december quite a bit back in the day. before the dark times, before HMH took over.