Disneyland's Rise Of The Resistance - Reviews, Criticism, Deep Thoughts

[RobWDW1971]

It’s way early, but let’s play “what if.”

What if it’s established that RotR is a big hit for Florida, but less so for DL. What conclusions would Disney take away from that? How would that impact future investments in Anaheim?

I suspect the conversation would be less about WDI’s design choices & “Star Wars fatigue” and more about DL price/value/AP mix, etc.

Agreed - I can assure you there are corporate finance folks already second guessing them that they should have simply built ROTR as a standalone attraction at DCA (like Indy with a great queue) and not wasted the money on the boring land of Batuu and MFSR, the huge cost of rerouting the ROA, etc. You would have gotten a better return and had more upside in that park for incremental attendance and spend. The compounding impact of Marvel land will be really interesting to watch - that's a lot of investment to absorb at once.

 

[Mickeyboof]

A really exciting what-if was mentioned early. What If Disney opened all of Star Wars on one day, traditionally, with no digital queuing... what would we have seen? Madness? Queues stretching to holding spots backstage? Would the line have crossed New Orleans, down Main Street?

I can’t even imagine the negative impact the next price hike is going to cast upon attendance.

Question for those who have been around Disneyland a lot longer than I have ... has Disney ever lowered ticket prices? Not heavily discounted them, but has the solid gate price ever adjusted in the opposite direction?

 

[Mickeyboof]

Agreed - I can assure you there are already corporate finance folks already second guessing them that they should have simply built ROTR as a standalone attraction at DCA (like Indy with a great queue) and not wasted the money on the boring land of Batuu and MFSR, rerouting the ROA, etc. You would have gotten a better return and had more upside in that park for incremental attendance and spend. The compounding impact of Marvel land will be really interesting to watch - that's a lot of investment to absorb at once.

Oof. I can’t imagine Marvel Land will sell many vacations, or result in a noticeable increase in on property hotel bookings. Maybe if it was opened at once with the flagship attraction and quality theming, but that’s not in the stars for us.

I’m glad they started building Mickey and Minnie in Toontown. At least we get that attraction before the inevitable 10 year period where they’re too frightened to build anything after this rocky few years.

 

[socaljoeyb]

"Question for those who have been around Disneyland a lot longer than I have ... has Disney ever lowered ticket prices? Not heavily discounted them, but has the solid gate price ever adjusted in the opposite direction?"

They discount if they have issues. They have lowered AP prices post DCA opening.

 

[Mickeyboof]

"Question for those who have been around Disneyland a lot longer than I have ... has Disney ever lowered ticket prices? Not heavily discounted them, but has the solid gate price ever adjusted in the opposite direction?"

They discount if they have issues. They have lowered AP prices post DCA opening.

Copy.

Interesting that AP costs have been lowered before...

I wonder if we’ll ever see the gate price go, for example, from $149 (which is the cost to go *today or tomorrow*) to a lesser value.

Also woah. $149 to go to Disneyland today.

No wonder the wait times are wonderful.

Edit: I did just remember that they could always adjust the 365 days of value/ regular/ peak so that there are more value or regular days as a way to “lower” prices if the market calls for it.

 

[Figments Friend]

I'm curious what time will tell us about Galaxy's Edge, Rise of the Resistance, and Hondo's Falcon.

It will tell us that they should have built Discovery Bay instead.




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[TP2000]

Hmmm, is that indifference or contempt on Bob Chapeks' face staring at the adorable little girl running to R2-D2?

Notice the corporate photographer capturing it all, with Iger clearly seeing that he's being photographed. So natural, so charming, so totally unscripted!

The girl was random, but Iger knew the Disney photog was there and he wasn't about to let a Corporate Approved Instagrammable Moment go to waste.

 

[RobWDW1971]

Notice the corporate photographer capturing it all, with Iger clearly seeing that he's being photographed. So natural, so charming, so totally unscripted!

The girl was random, but Iger knew the Disney photog was there and he wasn't about to let a Corporate Approved Instagrammable Moment go to waste.

Can they let us know when Iger's going to be in the land? I've never seen R2 out and would like to get a picture and apparently he comes out for him (by sheer coincidence).

 

[SoCalMort]

They discount if they have issues. They have lowered AP prices post DCA opening.

I could easily be having senior moment but I believe when DCA opened each park had its own AP and/or there wasn't a 1-day hopper passport.

 

[SoCalMort]

I wonder if we’ll ever see the gate price go, for example, from $149 (which is the cost to go *today or tomorrow*) to a lesser value.

Something tells me a slight increase in the price of a value day gate but a greater increase in the number of value days is more likely than a drop in the 'regular' gate price.

 

[disneygeek90]

Experienced the ride today. I won't spoil anything. This was the greatest experience/attraction I've been on in any themepark.

It is not a honeymoon phase. The attraction really is that great. The whole experience was nothing like what I would have ever expected in a themepark and I'm not even sure it will ever be topped.

I did not spoil the ride by watching any videos so was not sure what to expect but this had so many great layers to add to the fun and the escapism and all were expertly done. This ride is an achievement and I'm still in awe over what I saw.

There are no people screaming at you explaining what is going on as it happens (like Falcon or Incredicoaster). The ride just lets you enjoy the fun/chaos and the amazing set pieces.

The ride was worth the 5 year wait. I absolutely loved it. I don't care if there is an IP attached, this was a top notch attraction and I can't wait to go back. This ride really inspired me in the sense that it brought back memories of when Imagineering wowed me, which this absolutely did.

I actually have @Tom Morrow ’s initial reaction bookmarked as I thought this area of the summary was almost poetic. Based on your reaction, I think you’ll appreciate this description, too.

I, being a theme park nerd, have lots of theme park dreams where I conjure up attractions that don’t exist or are drastically different than they are in real life. They’re always crazy and impossible with a bunch of different “sections.”

This felt like one of those dreams. This experience is so unbelievable, so immersive, and subverts every theme park attraction trope to the extent that it feels like it shouldn’t exist.

 

[disneygeek90]

Thanks for showing me! I absolutely agree. This was so rich in terms of themed entertainment and the level of detail they went as well as the scope that it really does feel like a dream.

Can't wait for everyone on this board to ride it and go through the experience.

Have you has a chance to ride it yet?

Yes! I’m an Orlando local so I’ve been fortunate enough to get on this 8 times now, most recent today.

It’s still giving me motivation for 6am wake ups.

 

[disneygeek90]

Great! So glad you got to go on it. This is so much fun, How soon in Orlando did boarding groups become easier to get? Ours are gone in under a minute as of now.

It’s tough to say since two weeks later we were heading into the holidays, but most of this month the “standard” groups are still going within 15 minutes or so. Depending on the day backups can be readily available until about 10am on a weekday, but obviously those aren’t guaranteed and with our earlier close all backups aren’t being called most days.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Can they let us know when Iger's going to be in the land? I've never seen R2 out and would like to get a picture and apparently he comes out for him (by sheer coincidence).

Here is my question.... is this a R2 robot that was made to walk around the land or is this the one that was for sale in the droid depot but now they just have it roaming and you can still buy it if you want? same R2 or a new R2 made for walking around?

 

[BrianLo]

Notice the corporate photographer capturing it all, with Iger clearly seeing that he's being photographed. So natural, so charming, so totally unscripted!

The girl was random, but Iger knew the Disney photog was there and he wasn't about to let a Corporate Approved Instagrammable Moment go to waste.

Frankly, it was actually pretty cute... and obviously might make for a great corporate approved photo. A Far better one than Chapek has ever seemingly managed to generate. It was also kind of nice that he respected and jumped out of Dave's shot.

But seriously, I know Dave was transiently excited, but he continued to stalk R2D2 instead of literally the biggest CEO in the business. Priorities!


I also think the little girl poignantly proved a point. Look how excited she (and really all the kids) were for R2D2. AND then also asked where another character was. Hopefully they understand that the walk around stuff actually matters now.

BB8 and Baby Yoda need to be out and about too.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Frankly, it was actually pretty cute... and obviously might make for a great corporate approved photo. A Far better one than Chapek has ever seemingly managed to generate. It was also kind of nice that he respected and jumped out of Dave's shot.

But seriously, I know Dave was transiently excited, but he continued to stalk R2D2 instead of literally the biggest CEO in the business. Priorities!


I also think the little girl poignantly proved a point. Look how excited she (and really all the kids) were for R2D2. AND then also asked where another character was. Hopefully they understand that the walk around stuff actually matters now.

BB8 and Baby Yoda need to be out and about too.

Cheapek immediatley cut R2 from the land after he saw the traffic jam the little girl and R2 caused. He saw it first hand and feels vindicated in his cuts now.

 

[BrianLo]

Here is my question.... is this a R2 robot that was made to walk around the land or is this the one that was for sale in the droid depot but now they just have it roaming and you can still buy it if you want? same R2 or a new R2 made for walking around?

R2 was over in launch bay. I presume it was that one brought over, but maybe it needed to be adapted to roam a larger environment.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

R2 was over in launch bay. I presume it was that one brought over, but maybe it needed to be adapted to roam a larger environment.

I wonder if we can get confirmation by having someone go into the droid depot to see if R2 is there while R2 is out roaming the land?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It was so good that I left an uncrowded Disneyland at 1 pm since the other rides didn't interest me anymore after this.

So it's like going from the Mauretania to Titanic for you?

 

[Mickeyboof]

I wonder if we can get confirmation by having someone go into the droid depot to see if R2 is there while R2 is out roaming the land?

I’m not sure if it’s the same droid as on display, but it definitely wasn’t made for the land. The pilot puppeteer is nearby too.

Watching the poor thing roll on the pavement with wheels that aren’t made for such a rough surface is somewhat painful. The casters are absolutely not designed for the land’s bumpy and hard hard ground.