News Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening day reports - Disney's Hollywood Studios

TP2000

Well-Known Member
You'll forgive me if I take @marni1971's and @RSoxNo1's word over yours in matters like this. So let's say both have an actual, real life capacity of 1700-1750.

Of course, I don't blame you. But that One Millionth Rider that the Disney Parks Blog touted after the first 45 days of operation was very telling. The Falcon at the Anaheim park averaged 1,388 riders per hour during its first six weeks of operation this summer. That means a few hours were 1,600, a few hours were 1,150, and there were lots of 1,300 hours in between.

Turntables shut down for a bit, a kid throws up in one of the cockpits and its taken offline for 30 minutes, a video screen is broken for the day, etc.

I imagine the DHS clone of the Falcon is doing about the same during its first month or two of operation. CM's who work in Anaheim's Star Wars Land who post on another board are saying that if the Falcon gets anything above 1,600 for a single hour that's considered something to celebrate.

But let's just say the real-world realities don't intrude on Falcon at DHS, and that it gets 1,700 per hour consistently for 16 hours every day, day after day, week after week, through calendar year 2020. That's still a fairly weak hourly capacity for an E Ticket. 52 year old Pirates of the Caribbean gets 2,900 per hour, Haunted Mansion gets 2,100, Small World does 2,500 per hour, the Epcot Center Omnimovers all did north of 2,000 per hour, as does the 3-theater version of Soarin' at Epcot. Etc., etc.

1,700 per hour is nothing to really brag about, even if that was something that happened consistently hourly and daily, instead of just once in awhile when the stars aligned, every single guest understood English instructions, not a single guest was disabled, and the CM's were on fire.
 

mikejs78

Well-Known Member
Of course, I don't blame you. But that One Millionth Rider that the Disney Parks Blog touted after the first 45 days of operation was very telling. The Falcon at the Anaheim park averaged 1,388 riders per hour during its first six weeks of operation this summer. That means a few hours were 1,600, a few hours were 1,150, and there were lots of 1,300 hours in between.

Turntables shut down for a bit, a kid throws up in one of the cockpits and its taken offline for 30 minutes, a video screen is broken for the day, etc.

I imagine the DHS clone of the Falcon is doing about the same during its first month or two of operation. CM's who work in Anaheim's Star Wars Land who post on another board are saying that if the Falcon gets anything above 1,600 for a single hour that's considered something to celebrate.

But let's just say the real-world realities don't intrude on Falcon at DHS, and that it gets 1,700 per hour consistently for 16 hours every day, day after day, week after week, through calendar year 2020. That's still a fairly weak hourly capacity for an E Ticket. 52 year old Pirates of the Caribbean gets 2,900 per hour, Haunted Mansion gets 2,100, Small World does 2,500 per hour, the Epcot Center Omnimovers all did north of 2,000 per hour, as does the 3-theater version of Soarin' at Epcot. Etc., etc.

1,700 per hour is nothing to really brag about, even if that was something that happened consistently hourly and daily, instead of just once in awhile when the stars aligned, every single guest understood English instructions, not a single guest was disabled, and the CM's were on fire.
I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong @marni1971 and @RSoxNo1) that ~1700 was actual based on real world usage. Theoretical was higher.

I've also learned not to trust DPB or random "cast members" online. So I'm sticking with my 1700 assumption.

Agree with you in general about rides not having enough capaciry, but that's an issue with modern attraction design, not with this attraction in particular. For modern e-tickets, it's actually pretty good.
 

bclane

Well-Known Member
The thing is, there is more to SWGE than just MFSR. IMHO, the land itself is an attraction. Every time I’ve been there its been very crowded in the land itself (which is ginormous). Whether people are in line for SR or Savi’s or the Cantina, or in the shops or taking pictures or interacting with characters or using the app, or whatever, there is a lot more people enjoying the place than are just queuing up for the ride. Pandora which is another fantastic land hasn’t been as crowded even though FoP is sometimes a longer wait. In other words, it is drawing in a lot more people than just the ride would indicate and that is helping with wait times across DHS.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong @marni1971 and @RSoxNo1) that ~1700 was actual based on real world usage. Theoretical was higher.

I've also learned not to trust DPB or random "cast members" online. So I'm sticking with my 1700 assumption.

Agree with you in general about rides not having enough capaciry, but that's an issue with modern attraction design, not with this attraction in particular. For modern e-tickets, it's actually pretty good.

Totally get that 1,700 was some mythical figure used to sell the concept by WDI, and it still shows up on PowerPoint shows and spreadsheets as the goal. But the real world figures are obviously lower, especially during the first few months of operation.

The real world figure for the first 45 days, confirmed by the Disney Parks Blog itself and quite reasonable, was 1,388 riders per hour for the Anaheim version.

Modern E Tickets are a disaster when it comes to hourly capacity. When you've got Celebrity Imagineers and Parks Executives who get free valet parking and unlimited Fastpasses handed out to them whenever they enter the park, why should they care what the hourly capacity is of the headliner rides they build? Why would they personally care? Let the schleppy tourists from unfashionable flyover states wait in that miserable Standby line and fight over what few Fastpasses are available. Who cares about them? I got my next parks project approved and bought a Tesla!

But historically, post 1965 until about the 1990's, Disney parks tried to get as much capacity as possible out of the E Ticket rides they built. It would be nice if Bob Chapek was smart enough to know that, and the current Imagineers weren't so coddled and out of touch that they also knew that.

But here we are my friend, arguing over whether the big Millennium Falcon E Ticket has a real world goal of 1,700 an hour or 1,600 an hour! Either one of those numbers is pathetic, to be honest. 🤣
 
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Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Savi's workshop is generating roughly $120,000 A DAY in revenue according to Touring Plans. What I am saying is that some people are calling all of Galaxy'd Edge a bust because one ride doesn't have 3 hour waits all hours of the day.

This is not to mention you are judging rides by different criteria. SR doesn't have FP. It's being compared to rides that do.
It’s not a bust...
But it also hasn’t provided the attendance spike something like this should.

And to ask for the rubber bands to distort the demand...as is what it does...doesn’t change this at all...

...for now
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
The thing is, there is more to SWGE than just MFSR. IMHO, the land itself is an attraction. Every time I’ve been there its been very crowded in the land itself (which is ginormous). Whether people are in line for SR or Savi’s or the Cantina, or in the shops or taking pictures or interacting with characters or using the app, or whatever, there is a lot more people enjoying the place than are just queuing up for the ride. Pandora which is another fantastic land hasn’t been as crowded even though FoP is sometimes a longer wait. In other words, it is drawing in a lot more people than just the ride would indicate and that is helping with wait times across DHS.

So people have to “think” to be entertained in an amusement park...is what you’re saying?

It could work 😉

But your last statement has not been proven correct at all...it has NOT drawn in “a lot more people” to do what an investment like this is supposed to do. We have a 4 months of track record and a sample in two different places.

There’s no need to spin this pro Disney or Star Wars now...

Make. Them. Earn. It.

It’s always what the consumer should do.
 

mikejs78

Well-Known Member
But here we are my friend, arguing over whether the big Millennium Falcon E Ticket has a real world goal of 1,700 an hour or 1,600 an hour! Either one of those numbers is pathetic, to be honest. 🤣
I'll agree with that - no different though than RSR or FoP... The parks need a lot more capacity and people-eater attractions. Imagine if they added something like Pirates or WoM to one of the parks today...
 

monothingie

Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
Premium Member
I agree with him. You shouldn't judge the success or failure of an attraction based on wait times over the course of a few weeks. Talk to me in 6 months.

But this is Disney Star Wars. We weren’t supposed to wait 6 months or even 6 seconds. SWGE was the chosen one!!
you-were-the-chosen-one-anakin-oh-yeh-thats-right-19245305.png

The fact that we have to wait and reserve judgment means its a flop.
 

mikejs78

Well-Known Member
But this is Disney Star Wars. We weren’t supposed to wait 6 months or even 6 seconds. SWGE was the chosen one!!
you-were-the-chosen-one-anakin-oh-yeh-thats-right-19245305.png

The fact that we have to wait and reserve judgment means its a flop.
Completely disagree. It's only a flop in the mind of the bloggers. Real corporate investments don't work that way.
 

bclane

Well-Known Member
So people have to “think” to be entertained in an amusement park...is what you’re saying?

It could work 😉

But your last statement has not been proven correct at all...it has NOT drawn in “a lot more people” to do what an investment like this is supposed to do. We have a 4 months of track record and a sample in two different places.

There’s no need to spin this pro Disney or Star Wars now...

Make. Them. Earn. It.

It’s always what the consumer should do.
They did earn it imo. I love SWGE. And it has been super crowded (when I’ve been there at least) especially compared to the rest of the park(s). People are doing more than just showing up for the ride and leaving but some people only seem to be talking about the wait time for MFSR. In Pandora, which I also love, most people are either in the queues or the one gift shop or the restaurant. I don’t have any real data, but based on observation alone it appears that a lot more people are in SWGE during the day than in Pandora. SWGE has more for people to do and a larger area to disperse them and it is still more crowded...but people are talking like Pandora is still a bigger draw (across multiple threads not just here) which I don’t think is correct. That is my point.
 

monothingie

Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
Premium Member
Completely disagree. It's only a flop in the mind of the bloggers. Real corporate investments don't work that way.
Which is fine for a normal corporate investment under standard circumstances.

SWGE was not a normal investment. This was the surefire thing, the game changer in theme park entertainment that was guaranteed to basically print money for TWDC, well up until it opened anyway and no one showed up...
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
They did earn it imo. I love SWGE. And it has been super crowded (when I’ve been there at least) especially compared to the rest of the park(s). People are doing more than just showing up for the ride and leaving but some people only seem to be talking about the wait time for MFSR. In Pandora, which I also love, most people are either in the queues or the one gift shop or the restaurant. I don’t have any real data, but based on observation alone it appears that a lot more people are in SWGE during the day than in Pandora. SWGE has more for people to do and a larger area to disperse them and it is still more crowded...but people are talking like Pandora is still a bigger draw (across multiple threads not just here) which I don’t think is correct. That is my point.
Umm...

Yeah...you are kinda forming your own reality here.

Moderate foot traffic doesn’t make this a success for Disney...mass bookings and a huge uptick in property wide revenue does.

But that’s just the end game. Glad you liked the land it’s intricate network of force awakens shops 😉
 

ChrisFL

Premium Member
A few notes.

Regarding the capacity of MFSR, it was interesting when riding yesterday that the CM when loading said to buckle our seatbelts "fast fast fast" but not sure why exactly. I don't recall that on the first ride through last week.

The other point about the quality of the land question....is it really word of mouth that's pushing people away from going? I'm skeptical, HOWEVER we do know that FOP opened to RAVE reviews (and very well deserved as it's my favorite ride in WDW now), and the crowds have barely died down until recently.

There are several factors at stake....opening a land in both coasts could theoretically mean that the amount of guests going to visit is split into two, not counting locals. The surprise earlier opening of both lands compared to what was expected, but not with the big ride. The heatwaves happening (yesterday was VERY hot), other factors etc.

I do think people will take some things that we want to improve in the land and somehow attribute that to why there's low crowds, but I think that's just not enough impact on its own.

Having said that, more music in the land, more activity by stormtroopers, droids, maybe some lightsaber training shows, etc would help.
 

RobWDW1971

Well-Known Member
.
The other point about the quality of the land question....is it really word of mouth that's pushing people away from going? I'm skeptical, HOWEVER we do know that FOP opened to RAVE reviews (and very well deserved as it's my favorite ride in WDW now), and the crowds have barely died down until recently.

This. It's about the product. Social media from a million people has said "meh" and hence no FOMO.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
.


This. It's about the product. Social media from a million people has said "meh" and hence no FOMO.

I liked the land...I’m on record.

It’s underbuilt as usual...but what they blew a billion on works.

It’s about STAR WARS...people aren’t down with this. We have marvel to point to...people are “down”. Minor character spinoff movies are good for a billion...all of them. Couldn’t get a kindergarten class to watch solo...or 45 year old lifetime Star Wars fanatics who owned Kenner toys and probably still do. 😉

Even the press for episode 9 over the last year is one of “can he pull it off?” Not “anticipation”

Hell, Adam driver gave an interview in January where he said this was “their last shot” (paraphrase)

I will always thank he and hamill for their absolute candor with the fans. They get it.

The reaction to the lands...which is “measured” on the lower end of expectations...is more about Star Wars than the parks to me.

Something has been “building” for along time that is coming to a head now.

If 9 isn’t great...and doesn’t reverse the creative slide the franchise is in...that’s where the damn breaks.

The prequels and oversaturated merchandise push for 20 years didn’t quite do it...but now it’s go time.

If 9 isn’t fantastic...They should embrace the OT characters in the lands and make no bones about it being symbolic of how they are going to earn the Star Wars mystique back.

The minute after they fire Kathy Kennedy...of course.

Think I’m kidding? Emotional? Saying this for kicks?

Stay tuned😳
 
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TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
The jumping through hoops on this thread to explain the lack of crowds is amazing. They spent millions at DL/WDW for virtual queue functionality, it’s been used at one day in each park. We were told DHS would “never be the same.” Alas it’s the same. Bad creative choices, a mediocre ride and a franchise that people have already made up their minds on, one way or the other, has led to this. Everything else is just scapegoating.

Avatar, if nothing else, felt more Disney because it was tonally more at home in DAK. It was also a brand that many didn’t remember, so in a lot of ways it felt like a new experience. It’s also a much more welcoming feeling there than SWGE.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
The jumping through hoops on this thread to explain the lack of crowds is amazing. They spent millions at DL/WDW for virtual queue functionality, it’s been used one day in each park.

It was actually about half a day. They turned it off by late afternoon on opening day. On each coast.

We were told DHS would “never be the same.” Alas it’s the same.

It seems to have decreased the wait times a bit at DHS. Because the same crowd is now spread out into the 14 acre Star Wars Land plus the six older rides.

Bad creative choices, a mediocre ride and a franchise that people have already made up their minds on, one way or the other, has led to this. Everything else is just scapegoating.

I'm not really a major Star Wars fan, although like most Americans I love Chewbacca and Han Solo and Darth Vader.
But you're probably right.
 
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