News Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge - Historical Construction/Impressions

[PB Watermelon]

Exactly this! I have been to every Disney theme park multiple times in both their highest and slowest seasons (exception of Shanghai as I only been once so far) and its amazing how the dynamic basically stays the same at all these parks worldwide. But its usually the same, get there at opening, get in lines for the biggest stuff first or FP it later and you will ride and see pretty much everything you want within reason. Yes you won't be able to get a FP for everything and some rides you may have to wait an hour in but thats why you either ride the biggest ones first or get a FP right away. And thanks to Maxpass, its even easier now because you can FP from both parks with your phone.

Old people like me remember waaaaaaaaaay back in the 90s when FPs didn't exist. You didn't have ride wait times in real time at your fingertips so you could actively strategist what to ride next. There wasn't 100 websites giving you suggestions when was the best time to visit or best time to ride so and so ride. Or message boards like this one where you have tons of Disney nerds giving you tips to plan your trip better. Most people use to just show at the park and figured it out as they went. And if they went on a really busy day, they were screwed.

Nobody likes being in a busy park, but going to any of these parks are really SO much easier today because you have so many tools to help you with.

One of my favorite Disneyland stories (and I have a lot of them) is from the 90's...I was 23 years old, fresh out of college, waiting tables, living in North Hollywood. Disneyland was a treat. Went there maybe once or twice a year. Anyway, I'm there with my college roommates, there's no such thing as Fastpass, you had to strategize. It's towards the end of the night, we're plowing through as many rides as we possibly can. We're knocking out the dark rides in Fantasyland, we get in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Exhausted father with his kids is walking ahead of us, sees the line for it (not a ton of people, but slow loader), and so even though it's not a giant line, you know it's gonna be about 20-30 minutes. The dad grumbles under his breath but we all hear it: "All right. Let's go do this Toad sucking thing." We laughed our off. (Can I say on WDWMagic? Guess I'm about to find out.)

EDIT
Apparently not.

Anyway, we still quote that dad to this day. So, now, with all the options to beat the grueling slog of long lines, and all the information on-line and resources from authors about how to make the park work for you, rather than you fighting the park -- I really just stare in amazement at people who stand in long lines at Disneyland or California Adventure or Animal Kingdom or damn near anything. Just do the work beforehand, and roll with what happens. Went with my wife just a few years back (before the MagicBands or Magic My Way or whatever phone apps kicked in). It was July 4th weekend. Day after the 4th of July, I knew it was going to get insane (so I set expectations accordingly) -- but we showed up early, were on Main Street before Rope Drop, went straight to Peter Pan's Flight (it's my wife's favorite, that's another story). So it went like this...on July 4th weekend.

Peter Pan's Flight. Dumbo. Matterhorn. Jungle Cruise. Indiana Jones. Pirates. Haunted Mansion. Splash Mountain. Tom Sawyer's Island to dry off. Winnie-the-Pooh. Lunch at Blue Bayou. It was noon and we had knocked out almost everything in that side of the park. So by this time, the horde has descended. So Tiki Room. Tarzan. Root Beer floats at the Golden Horseshoe. Fastpassed stuff while hitting fast-loaders. If we saw a long line for, say, Buzz Lightyear, we certainly didn't stand in it, we fastpassed it and went and did something else. You have to show up early, stay late, and use the Fastpass system with some strategy. Don't fight the park. Work with it.

Oh, one more tip. When "the horde" exits at the end of the night...do not get into that giant assembly of humanity walking to the transportation to parking. Just don't. Don't do it. Kick back, relax, have some ice cream, let all those people get out of the place. Disneyland keeps Main Street stores open late, so while attractions may close, it's very, very cool to walk around the place with someone you love, largely alone, and the bus trams run late to accommodate late shoppers, so that's an easy and relaxing way to avoid maybe the most hardest line of all...the horde waiting for the trams back to their cars. Don't do it.

 

[PB Watermelon]

Give it up already...

Never!

 

[MisterPenguin]

Build another Disneyland.

The stars at night
Are big and bright
(clap! clap! clap! clap!)
...deep in the heart of Texas.

If you wanted to reduce crowding at DL, wouldn't it be better to build a WDW clone in central California? Get some nice farmland and concessions from the state to do have a more free hand.

Then if Anaheim wants to put the screws to DL, they can always make noise about shutting it all down in favor of Central California.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I recall similar munblings when Wizarding World first opened in Orlando... and yes opening day was crazy... the summer was crazy. And I do think it’s going to be nutty for a while. But I think Disneyland is going to be just fine.

 

[PB Watermelon]

If you wanted to reduce crowding at DL, wouldn't it be better to build a WDW clone in central California? Get some nice farmland and concessions from the state to do have a more free hand.

Then if Anaheim wants to put the screws to DL, they can always make noise about shutting it all down in favor of Central California.

I survived the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. I was in North Hollywood, that was some serious "oh my God, I'm about to die" life-changing stuff. I wouldn't want to even build a Popsicle stand in California.

By the way, this is what happened at Angels Stadium in Anaheim that morning.

 

[The_Mesh_Hatter]

Consider the fact that there is now actually an incentive to keep capacity low since Disney has monetized waiting in line. The days of people eaters are gone. The longer the wait, the greater the motivation to buy maxpass there is. So rides with the low capacity and high demand are seen as most “valuable.”

 

[flynnibus]

People say this all the time though, thats what I'm saying. When has this ever become a major issue?

Ehh... have you forgotten the challenges with parking and moving people around?
Gridlock in the local streets?
The security gridlock?
The "DLR still doesn't do no bags bagchecks"
The "DLR requires every multiday to get a photo taken"
The sheer people gridlock that is the ROA around F! times? And now a huge land behind it?
Who wants to be in the hub for fireworks on a park that is stuffed to the gills with people who were waiting for SW:GE all day?

Not sure what brush you are painting with.. but DLR has had capacity issues for a long long time now. This isn't a discussion about a single attraction - but what SUSTAINED huge new draw will have on the DLR infrastructure instead of just peaks.

 

[Disney Irish]

Never!

Well you keep wishing on that "star"....

Get it, Star of Texas, lol I'll be here all week

But seriously, it won't happen, at least not a full resort with Castle Park and attractions and such. What I could see happen is a DVC hotel being built. Maybe even near Galveston or some place where they can have a port for the Disney Cruise Line. But that is all, at least in my opinion.

 

[fctiger]

Ehh... have you forgotten the challenges with parking and moving people around?
Gridlock in the local streets?
The security gridlock?
The "DLR still doesn't do no bags bagchecks"
The "DLR requires every multiday to get a photo taken"
The sheer people gridlock that is the ROA around F! times? And now a huge land behind it?
Who wants to be in the hub for fireworks on a park that is stuffed to the gills with people who were waiting for SW:GE all day?

Not sure what brush you are painting with.. but DLR has had capacity issues for a long long time now. This isn't a discussion about a single attraction - but what SUSTAINED huge new draw will have on the DLR infrastructure instead of just peaks.

So DL shouldn't add any new major lands or rides anymore? Isn't the point of expanding it is to deal with capacity? The argument USE to be that they need to expand the park. Now it seems to be the opposite? It just seems like a damn if you do, damn if you don't situation.

ROA is bad around F!, well yeah, it's F! If it was like that all day I can understand, but those shows are in areas of the park that was never built for it. Should they just get rid of the show? Good luck with that.

And I don't understand why is a photo taken for a multiday ticket bad? I don't get what that has to do with your capacity argument?

I get your point obviously, DL wasn't built to handle the crowds it has today. They can only do so much on that end outside of limiting more guests but companies don't think like that. And DL needs to grow. I agree they can do things better in terms of bag checks and all of that, they are expanding parking obviously. But they are adding 14 acres, how big should they expand it then?

End of the day if Disney wants to control the number of people who enter, they can do that tomorrow, right? Clearly they don't see it as a problem for now or all of those dooms day annual passport predictions would've came true. They didn't because my guess they feel they can handle it. But yes if its a real problem, then they have multiple options to cut back, biggest being just letting less people in the park. Right now I think we should wait and see before people predict the park will implode over it.

And in time there will probably be a better balance as DCA grows and people go there more and more which they are doing but DL is still the main draw for obvious reasons.

 

[fctiger]

I recall similar munblings when Wizarding World first opened in Orlando... and yes opening day was crazy... the summer was crazy. And I do think it’s going to be nutty for a while. But I think Disneyland is going to be just fine.

Agreed! Its always gloom and doom over these things. I never get it. It's as if Disney has no idea how to handle crowds or simply can't limit the number of people who enters the park and so on. If its a real problem they have options, quite a few in fact.

 

[Disney Irish]

Agreed! Its always gloom and doom over these things. I never get it. It's as if Disney has no idea how to handle crowds or simply can't limit the number of people who enters the park and so on. If its a real problem they have options, quite a few in fact.

If we didn’t talk gloom and doom what would we talk about?!? Lol

 

[flynnibus]

So DL shouldn't add any new major lands or rides anymore?

No. - I’m debunking your repeated claims and basis for your argument that DLR has never had a critical crowds issue.

You keep saying this is chicken little and the concerns never materialized- that is false.

 

[PB Watermelon]

Iger recently said they were working on how to handle the crowds. It's still going to be a summer madhouse when it opens, but they're certainly aware of this and planning for it. I think capacity closures are going to be a real thing Disneyland (and its guests) are going to have to struggle with in the short term. That's one piece of the puzzle, but I'd be looking at other ways to disperse crowds, such as special events at California Adventure (opening a Pixar Pier Carousel ain't gonna do it, but I'd expect some new ways of luring Disneyland guests to its sister park...parades, refurbishments, etc...)

 

[PB Watermelon]

Well you keep wishing on that "star"....

Get it, Star of Texas, lol I'll be here all week

But seriously, it won't happen, at least not a full resort with Castle Park and attractions and such. What I could see happen is a DVC hotel being built. Maybe even near Galveston or some place where they can have a port for the Disney Cruise Line. But that is all, at least in my opinion.

There are so many logistical issues, you're certainly right. Austin's been so overwhelmed with population influx, largely from the West Coast with the growth of the tech industry, it now makes L.A. traffic look like a stroll in the countryside. And now Apple is coming there. Yay.

 

[mickEblu]

Iger recently said they were working on how to handle the crowds. It's still going to be a summer madhouse when it opens, but they're certainly aware of this and planning for it. I think capacity closures are going to be a real thing Disneyland (and its guests) are going to have to struggle with in the short term. That's one piece of the puzzle, but I'd be looking at other ways to disperse crowds, such as special events at California Adventure (opening a Pixar Pier Carousel ain't gonna do it, but I'd expect some new ways of luring Disneyland guests to its sister park...parades, refurbishments, etc...)

I know it’s hard for some to believe (not saying you) but SWL won’t be new and shiny forever. Their will come a time when the attractions are just other E tickets in a park/ resort full of them. So I think Father Time with a combo of Marvel Land, a new E ticket like the Mickey ride and smaller offerings like bringing Soarin over California back should do the trick.

 

[PB Watermelon]

I know it’s hard for some to believe (not saying you) but SWL won’t be new and shiny forever. Their will come a time when the attractions are just other E tickets in a park/ resort full of them. So I think Father Time with a combo of Marvel Land, a new E ticket like the Mickey ride and smaller offerings like bringing Soarin over California back should do the trick.

Light Magic: The Return

 

[DanielBB8]

I know it’s hard for some to believe (not saying you) but SWL won’t be new and shiny forever. Their will come a time when the attractions are just other E tickets in a park/ resort full of them. So I think Father Time with a combo of Marvel Land, a new E ticket like the Mickey ride and smaller offerings like bringing Soarin over California back should do the trick.

I agree, but Star Wars Land will bring Disneyland to a much higher level and the attractions in Galaxy Edge will be 120 minutes long quite regularly like Radiator Springs Racers in DCA for many years to come. Marvel Land can only help if it includes a comparable quality and quantity of attractions, which by the looks of it won’t exactly happen. Disney needs to create a whole new Marvel culture of foods and character interactions and storylines. Unless they inadvertently blow it like they sort of did it with The Last Jedi and the firing of Pedo Gunn.

 

[Travel Junkie]

Our favorite lady blogger has a nice compilation of aerial photos....

This is the video where the shots were taken from. Pretty stunning. Bonus points for getting the train in.

 

[mickEblu]

I agree, but Star Wars Land will bring Disneyland to a much higher level and the attractions in Galaxy Edge will be 120 minutes long quite regularly like Radiator Springs Racers in DCA for many years to come. Marvel Land can only help if it includes a comparable quality and quantity of attractions, which by the looks of it won’t exactly happen. Disney needs to create a whole new Marvel culture of foods and character interactions and storylines. Unless they inadvertently blow it like they sort of did it with The Last Jedi and the firing of Pedo Gunn.

For sure. The attractions times will be high for at least the next decade. I’m talking about the pandemonium and the crowds. Radiator Springs averages very wait times but enjoying the rest of the land is easy to do. Of course it’s not exactly apples to apples but since you used RSR as an example...


Yeah Marvel Land doesn’t look to be that amazing at least Phase 1.0. That’s why I mentioned it would be a few things combined that will balance out the crowds. If APs are the ones crowding DLR, then time, Marvel Land (Phase 1 and 2), the Mickey ride and other smaller offerings should balance everything out. It’s not as if APs are going to just going to park at SWL... after their first few fixes. After a while, they ll grab an FP, get something to eat and get out of there.

 

[SWGalaxysEdge]

Galaxy's Edge (FL) - Falcon mandibles being installed! Credit: @bioreconstruct