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

[DCLcruiser]

Can we stop it with the MDE screen captures? Could very well be that one of the towers went down. That would inflate the wait time there. Give. That it was only ToT and not elsewhere in the park, that's the most likely scenario.

Ok, you might be right:

1:30 PM ET

ToT 45 min
MF:SR 45 min
SDD 55 min
RoRC 60 min

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Can we stop it with the MDE screen captures? Could very well be that one of the towers went down. That would inflate the wait time there. Give. That it was only ToT and not elsewhere in the park, that's the most likely scenario.

Not just that, but that's also comparing a FP+ wait to a wait that doesn't have FP+. Apples to oranges.

 

[mergatroid]

Hollywood Studios is fully open. DAK is open with the exception of the Safaris which open later. MK is NFL and Main Street and Tomorrow Land. I don't believe Adventure, Frontier, and Liberty Square are open.

But couple in that you have to start up and staff monorails, buses, parking, resorts, watercraft, restaurants, shops, etc. It $$ adds up.

So they're not 'staffing the entire park' then? That's more than I thought and certainly costs some $$$ but in fairness, it's not staffing the entire park.

 

[Joesixtoe]

I love Galaxy's edge but I don't believe ROTR is going to be the thrill ride we are looking for. This land needs a thrill ride, a good nice family..ish type coaster. Not an Everest or RnR but more like space or thunder, and I believe this land would then thrive. The land is awesome yes, but any great land needs a good "thrill" ride.... back in the day maybe not(epcot), but it seems like times have changed.

 

[durangojim]

Is it possible that MFSR is too efficient along with the lack of FP we're seeing what waits would be at other popular rides if they had decent capacity and no FP?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Hey, has anyone mentioned the movies or the lack of OT characters yet... a dozen times?

Also, there's 3 major attractions coming in the next 6-8 months + a new fireworks show between Epcot and DHS. If I wasn't an addict, I'd wait too.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Not sure if you're mocking me, but my post was also a joke. The individual in the picture is Touring Plans' own Guy Selga.

 

[Monorail_Orange]

I love Galaxy's edge but I don't believe ROTR is going to be the thrill ride we are looking for. This land needs a thrill ride, a good nice family..ish type coaster. Not an Everest or RnR but more like space or thunder, and I believe this land would then thrive. The land is awesome yes, but any great land needs a good "thrill" ride.... back in the day maybe not(epcot), but it seems like times have changed.

See: Hyperspace Mountain in DL. Just take that concept, purpose-build an indoor coaster for it. Done. (Hyperspace Mountain is pretty good as is, but it could be a gamechanger attraction with a few changes with a purpose-built coaster rather than the overlay.)

 

[brb1006]

Is it possible WDW guests don't know what to do with the walk around characters? We're used to having to get in line, unlike Disneyland. I was pleasantly surprised to see two Country Bears just wandering at MK but the guests seemed confused by them. Chewy does seem to get a lot of attention though.

And BTW, what happens when a Stormtrooper takes someone away? Do they get a pin or something?

There actually was a time when it was common for guests to have more interaction with the characters at Walt Disney World. Unlike today when guests are used to just wait in line. The characters would use to be allowed to wander around the park without a character handler. It lasted until the late 1990s but you can find plenty of photos and videos from the 70s, 80s, and early 90s of surprise character encounters. Walk around characters are still a thing at Tokyo Disney Resort since there's a lot of videos from Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea of Disney characters playing with guests and having more interaction with the other characters.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

There actually was a time when it was common for guests to have more interaction with the characters at Walt Disney World. Unlike today when guests are used to just wait in line. The characters would use to be allowed to wander around the park without a character handler. It lasted until the late 1990s but you can find plenty of photos and videos from the 70s, 80s, and early 90s of surprise character encounters. Walk around characters are still a thing at Tokyo Disney Resort since there's a lot of videos from Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea of Disney characters playing with guests and having more interaction with the other characters.

I hate having to wait in lines for what should be spontaneous moments. We were totally shocked when we happened to bump into Donald and a photographer just setting up for a Memory Maker photo spot a few years ago - no line, totally spontaneous...it was great!

 

[mikejs78]

I love Galaxy's edge but I don't believe ROTR is going to be the thrill ride we are looking for. This land needs a thrill ride, a good nice family..ish type coaster. Not an Everest or RnR but more like space or thunder, and I believe this land would then thrive. The land is awesome yes, but any great land needs a good "thrill" ride.... back in the day maybe not(epcot), but it seems like times have changed.

See: Hyperspace Mountain in DL. Just take that concept, purpose-build an indoor coaster for it. Done. (Hyperspace Mountain is pretty good as is, but it could be a gamechanger attraction with a few changes with a purpose-built coaster rather than the overlay.)

Pandora would beg to differ.

 

[brb1006]

I hate having to wait in lines for what should be spontaneous moments. We were totally shocked when we happened to bump into Donald and a photographer just setting up for a Memory Maker photo spot a few years ago - no line, totally spontaneous...it was great!

Here's a couple photos from that era (mainly the 1970s and early 1980s)

Mickey Mouse

Captain Hook

Cinderella and Gus Gus

Scat Cat and his crew from The Aristocats

Walrus from Alice In Wonderland (1978)

Miss Bianca (1981)

 

[RobWDW1971]

Bob Iger to Board of Directors:

Bob: As you know, we just completed our $4B acquisition of Lucasfilm which means we now own the entire Star Wars universe, movies, and characters. Our next step? Build a one billion dollar Star Wars Land at Disneyland and Walt Disney World!

BOD: Love it, Bob! What are you thinking?

Bob: First off, stay with me here, in my Star Wars Land we will NOT have:

Star Wars music
People saying "May the Force be with you"
Darth Vader
Yoda (without paying $200 to hear his voice)
C3PO
RD2D (well, we'll sell him in a store of course!)
Luke Skywalker
Princess Leia
Han Solo
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Boba Fett
The Emperor
Jabba the Hutt
Admiral Ackbar
Darth Maul
Mace Windu
The Death Star
Tatooine
Hoth
Endor
Mustafar
Naboo
Wandering aliens
Moving droids
Bounty hunters
Jedi
Ewoks
Jawa
Lightsaber fights
Or that darn Cantina Band!!!

BOD: Hahahahaha, Bob, you're awesome. Seriously, what are you going to build?

 

[brb1006]

Not to get bogged down on the debate here about this, but I just wanted to say that I absolutely agree with this point. I think face characters of live action actors look so dumb because they virtually never look that much like the people. Characters without faces (masks, etc) or ones from cartoons work much better. I think it is better served for M&Gs to be masked characters/aliens/droids - still gives plenty of opportunities for Star Wars.

Personally, even as someone who likes M&Gs, I wouldn't waste my time lining up to mean cheap knock of cosplay Luke or Han or Rey. And same goes with Marvel. It's one thing to meet a masked Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, etc. but another to meet a face character like Captain Marvel, Starlord, etc that don't quite look right. YMMV.

There's a reason that Belle in the parks doesn't attempt to look like Emma Watson

The Mad Hatter started out as a mask/non-speaking character but later turned into a face character by the early 1990s. If anything, he's actually more entertaining and interactive as a result.

It's another reason why I loved seeing the face character version of The Queen Of Hearts back when Club Villain was a thing. The Queen's
current park appearance hasn't changed since the early 1970s. Same with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

 

[RobWDW1971]

The Mad Hatter started out as a mask/non-speaking character but later turned into a face character by the early 1990s. If anything, he's actually more entertaining and interactive as a result. It's another reason why I loved seeing the face character version of The Queen Of Hearts back when Club Villain was a thing. The Queen's current park appearance hasn't changed since the early 1970s.

I'm not seeing a lot of people saying they don't like wandering popular characters stopping to take photos, interact with kids, and signing autographs.

The question is whether having a couple of characters wandering through a 14 acre land NOT focused on taking pictures, signing autographs, interacting with, and entertaining the kids so that they can instead be part of same lame attempt at cosplay immersion and stand behind a fence pretending to fix a ship vs having several popular characters in the land interacting with everyone adding entertainment.

Imagine if the Mad Hatter blew by you and muttered some nonsense about "I can't delay from my tea party with Alice to talk to people who aren't mad!" and then climbed over a fence and had tea with Alice twenty feet away from you while you stood there looking confused.

A bunch of Jedi, smugglers, bounty hunters, and popular characters wandering the land interacting with guests, taking photos, and signing autographs would be awesome. That's not at all what we got.

 

[Monorail_Orange]

Pandora would beg to differ.

If we are using Pandora as the bar by which to judge every new land, then I think we are selling ourselves short. Pandora looks pretty, one attraction, and one visually stunning but otherwise pointless one, along with a bar, a shop, and a quick service. I'm by no means saying it's bad or not good, but it could be much better. GE seems like it has a good start...one good simulator, and assuming ROTR is great, one new mega-E dark ride. A "family-friendly" thrill ride would be a fantastic addition, and along with a TS restaurant, make the land feel whole, IMHO.

Edit to add: It's the difference between "good enough" and what used to be the "Disney Way."

 

[mikejs78]

Bob Iger to Board of Directors:

Bob: As you know, we just completed our $4B acquisition of Lucasfilm which means we now own the entire Star Wars universe, movies, and characters. Our next step? Build a one billion dollar Star Wars Land at Disneyland and Walt Disney World!

BOD: Love it, Bob! What are you thinking?

Bob: First off, stay with me here, in my Star Wars Land we will NOT have:

Star Wars music
People saying "May the Force be with you"
Darth Vader
Yoda
C3PO
RD2D (well, we'll sell him in a store of course!)
Luke Skywalker
Princess Leia
Han Solo
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Boba Fett
The Emperor
Jabba the Hutt
Admiral Ackbar
Darth Maul
Mace Windu
The Death Star
Tatooine
Hoth
Endor
Mustafar
Naboo
Or that darn Cantina Band!!!

BOD: Hahahahaha, Bob, you're awesome. Seriously, what are you going to build?

 

[mikejs78]

If we are using Pandora as the bar by which to judge every new land, then I think we are selling ourselves short. Pandora looks pretty, one attraction, and one visually stunning but otherwise pointless one, along with a bar, a shop, and a quick service. I'm by no means saying it's bad or not good, but it could be much better. GE seems like it has a good start...one good simulator, and assuming ROTR is great, one new mega-E dark ride. A "family-friendly" thrill ride would be a fantastic addition, and along with a TS restaurant, make the land feel whole, IMHO.

Edit to add: It's the difference between "good enough" and what used to be the "Disney Way."

Hasn't been that way for 30 years though. A whole park (MGM) opened with just two rides. DAK wasn't much better - it only had 3 rides in the whole park opening day. These things tend to be built out over time.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Hasn't been that way for 30 years though. A whole park (MGM) opened with just two rides. DAK wasn't much better - it only had 3 rides in the whole park opening day. These things tend to be built out over time.

25 years after MGM opened it had 5 rides.

 

[lentesta]

I'll send someone out this week to count riders exiting per hour.

As of today, MFSR was hitting ~1,690/hour this afternoon.

Early morning (before noon) they were at ~1,310/hour. That may reflect fewer people in that part of the park, early in the day.

We'll keep counting this for a while.