Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

[RobWDW1971]

Opening Ceremony of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train media event was 5/1/2014 and it officially opened 5/28/2014.

Universal botched the opening of Hagrid's. It's a great coaster which generated a ton of positive press, but they weren't ready for the attraction to be open.

Given the choice of Hagrid's botched opening based on ops vs Galaxy's Edge botched opening based on the split opening, I'd absolutely say that Hagrid's was less damaging to the company. That doesn't mean it's a good thing, mistakes were made by both companies this summer.

Absolutely, you spend the money, time, and energy on grand openings, press events, etc. for publicity. You don’t do it to entertain those who attend, it’s to generate publicity and create targeted headlines.

Simple question, what is better for a national headline?

“Universal’s Hagrid’s ride opens to 10 hour waits!!!”

Or

“Disney opens half of a land to tepid, but well managed crowds!!!”

 

[ToTBellHop]

Absolutely, you spend the money, time, and energy on grand openings, press events, etc. for publicity. You don’t do it to entertain those who attend, it’s to generate publicity and create targeted headlines.

Simple question, what is better for a national headline?

“Universal’s Hagrid’s ride opens to 10 hour waits!!!”

Or

“Disney opens half of a land to tepid, but well managed crowds!!!”

To be fair, one still hears about SWGE nationally. Hagrid made headlines for a day. The better comparison is the original WWoHP. Imagine if they had opened 3 months before Forbidden Journey was done.

It was a foolish move. If they just wanted to provide a novelty for guests, there should have been no media blitz until now. Just a quiet soft opening of what was ready. Instead they got greedy and it blew up in their faces.

 

[erasure fan1]

Given the choice of Hagrid's botched opening based on ops vs Galaxy's Edge botched opening based on the split opening, I'd absolutely say that Hagrid's was less damaging to the company. That doesn't mean it's a good thing, mistakes were made by both companies this summer.

Just to be transparent, I haven't been on either hagrids, or the falcon yet. But I am confident in saying that yes, hagrids was less damaging because it is the superior ride to most people. If galaxys edge opened with only rise, and the rockwork and theming were only half done. And the ride is what we all expect and hope it will be, it would be a success to most everyone. That's just how these things tend to go.

 

[TP2000]

I checked out of this thread, and much of the forum, a week ago to prep and enjoy a busy Thanksgiving weekend with the family. I have skimmed the last 10 minutes but it doesn't appear I missed much.

Not a single ride report from a preview ride or testing? And it opens officially in 48 hours?!? That's kind of... odd.

Indeed. The land has not yet met their inflated expectations. Their hubris in expecting it to do so without its headliner is staggering. They must have a low view of the sophistication of their guests. We are not all buffoons.

If RotR is a winner, I think WDW’s land will rebound. Just 3 months without RotR given WDW guest patterns will mean little long-term brand damage. Disneyland, on the other hand, will go 8 months without. I suspect the guest response combined with dramatic AP cost hikes will result in significant AP atrophy. And they need AP holders. In Florida, we are the cherry. In California, they are the bowl, the ice cream, and half the whipped cream.

I completely understand your point, but AP's make up about 35% of the annual attendance for the Disneyland Resort. While it's certainly the cherry and the whip cream, I don't think you could also consider that minority of attendance the ice cream and the bowl too. Although, TDA has done a masterful job of getting AP's to spend a bit more money the last five years on exclusive merchandise and Instagram Food. Disneyland AP's still don't spend as much per capita as the tourists, but they aren't quite the dead weight they were 10 years ago.

And yes, Disneyland's Star Wars Land will face an uphill battle to gain acceptance in the next few years. Especially with three new rides, two of which are major E Tickets, opening within a 10 minute walk of Star Wars Land in quick succession the next three years.

DHS has an easier job to win people over because of how the timing worked out for them, and being located in one of the weakest theme parks in the North American fleet. It's a massive win for DHS getting two new E Tickets in quick succession, with a third a few months away.

 

[mitchiavelli]

A lot of people will show up in the next few years having no idea Galaxy’s Edge exists and be pleasantly surprised. I think this will be most people’s first experience of the place.

 

[Surferboy567]

I checked out of this thread, and much of the forum, a week ago to prep and enjoy a busy Thanksgiving weekend with the family. I have skimmed the last 10 minutes but it doesn't appear I missed much.

Not a single ride report from a preview ride or testing? And it opens officially in 48 hours?!? That's kind of... odd.

The Star Wars Galaxy Edge Discord apparently has a reddit thread from a person who has ridden the ride and recently did a AMA on reddit.

 

[TDR2011]

I checked out of this thread, and much of the forum, a week ago to prep and enjoy a busy Thanksgiving weekend with the family. I have skimmed the last 10 minutes but it doesn't appear I missed much.

Not a single ride report from a preview ride or testing? And it opens officially in 48 hours?!? That's kind of... odd.



I completely understand your point, but AP's make up about 35% of the annual attendance for the Disneyland Resort. While it's certainly the cherry and the whip cream, I don't think you could also consider that minority of attendance the ice cream and the bowl too. Although, TDA has done a masterful job of getting AP's to spend a bit more money the last five years on exclusive merchandise and Instagram Food. Disneyland AP's still don't spend as much per capita as the tourists, but they aren't quite the dead weight they were 10 years ago.

And yes, Disneyland's Star Wars Land will face an uphill battle to gain acceptance in the next few years. Especially with three new rides, two of which are major E Tickets, opening within a 10 minute walk of Star Wars Land in quick succession the next three years.

DHS has an easier job to win people over because of how the timing worked out for them, and being located in one of the weakest theme parks in the North American fleet. It's a massive win for DHS getting two new E Tickets in quick succession, with a third a few months away.

Oh plenty of people have ridden it, for whatever reason they aren’t posting!

 

[Unbanshee]

The Star Wars Galaxy Edge Discord apparently has a reddit thread from a person who has ridden the ride and recently did a AMA on reddit.

Link?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

That's a poor rationalization

FOP is still the number one ride in WDW (until Rise).
I don't see that being diminished by having an FOP falcon version compared to stinky Falcon.

But that's not because the infrastructure for FOP is so superior to MFSR. I'd actually argue that MF fares better than FOP in that regard.

MF would suffer greatly from losing the ability to walk through the ship and enter what pretty convincingly appears to be the one and only cockpit. The isolation factor of each "theater" at MF is a big part of what successes it manages - how would the ride be better from removing that? I'd even argue that FOP would benefit from being more like MF in that regard, with guests not being able to look around and see the multiple tiers of riders around you. Most people don't notice, but it's not like that's a "feature" of FOP, it's at best a liability.

Where FOP succeeds that MF doesn't is the emotional connection and thrill factor it manages to offer riders before the experience is over. MF isn't fully doing that yet. Thankfully, MF is well equipped to update and alter the elements that aren't yet putting it over the top. I'm sure that will take longer to make happen than anyone would like (* cough cough* Star Tours *cough*), but it's not like the hardware is what's failing it.

All it takes is programming in a better mission. Ideally, several. It would be nice to see them sooner rather than later.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Opening Ceremony of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train media event was 5/1/2014 and it officially opened 5/28/2014.

Universal botched the opening of Hagrid's. It's a great coaster which generated a ton of positive press, but they weren't ready for the attraction to be open.

Given the choice of Hagrid's botched opening based on ops vs Galaxy's Edge botched opening based on the split opening, I'd absolutely say that Hagrid's was less damaging to the company. That doesn't mean it's a good thing, mistakes were made by both companies this summer.

And which stars of the movie Snow White appeared at the opening? (Plus SDWT was in softs, so guests could still experience it.) Also it wasn't anounced as a media event, but as the grand opening. But this has already been discussed ad nauseam elsewhere.

 

[Ismael Flores]

A lot of people will show up in the next few years having no idea Galaxy’s Edge exists and be pleasantly surprised. I think this will be most people’s first experience of the place.

I met a family that had no idea galaxy edge was open and where it was. They though tomorrowland in Disneyland was the star wars area.

They had just walked thru the pathway from Fantasyland to frontier land. i had to walk them back show them the place and they actually got really excited.

Disney has done a terrible job in how they handled the opening and also in regards to Disneyland the signage. it amazes me how people do not look at maps as much as they do or they do not know how to read them

 

[Disney Analyst]

I met a family that had no idea galaxy edge was open and where it was. They though tomorrowland in Disneyland was the star wars area.

They had just walked thru the pathway from Fantasyland to frontier land. i had to walk them back show them the place and they actually got really excited.

Disney has done a terrible job in how they handled the opening and also in regards to Disneyland the signage. it amazes me how people do not look at maps as much as they do or they do not know how to read them

I personally think businesses shouldn’t cater to people like that anyway.

If you can’t figure out where all the things are in a park, or can’t do research beforehand; you deserve to miss things.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I personally think businesses shouldn’t cater to people like that anyway.

If you can’t figure out where all the things are in a park, or can’t do research beforehand; you deserve to miss things.

That’s a bit reductive in a field focused on guest service. I’m pretty good with maps and have still gotten lost in my life.

 

[Disney Analyst]

That’s a bit reductive in a field focused on guest service. I’m pretty good with maps and have still gotten lost in my life.

Sure: you can get lost, and you ask for help. But there are many out there that I do not know how they get by in life. Galaxy’s Edge doesn’t need signs. People just need to use their heads a wee bit more.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Sure: you can get lost, and you ask for help. But there are many out there that I do not know how they get by in life. Galaxy’s Edge doesn’t need signs. People just need to use their heads a wee bit more.

Ok, true story. I went to SWGE during AP previews. I asked four CMs where the toy shop was as I find the app map to be a bit confusing. Not one CM knew. I did hear “bright suns!” four times however. I assume they could answer the question now

 

[RobWDW1971]

I met a family that had no idea galaxy edge was open and where it was. They though tomorrowland in Disneyland was the star wars area.

They had just walked thru the pathway from Fantasyland to frontier land. i had to walk them back show them the place and they actually got really excited.

Disney has done a terrible job in how they handled the opening and also in regards to Disneyland the signage. it amazes me how people do not look at maps as much as they do or they do not know how to read them

Well, to be fair with the music playing through the land, Star Tours, Hyperspace Mountain, Launch Bay, and Boba Fett walking around meeting guests it is more of a "Star Wars" land than SWGE

 

[totchos]

Link?

Im trying to find it but no luck so far

 

[Darth Snips]

Link?

Here it is:

Looks like the OP deleted it for some reason, so you can’t see it on the subreddit any more. You can still see the comments though, and that’s where the Q&A is.

 

[aluisi]

Link?

I found it here you gooooooo

Edit...it seams the OP’s top post was deleted but their comments are still there in the thread. Just read it makes me super excited. Read before it’s completely gone the post that is.

 

[totchos]

I found it here you gooooooo

I was really really trying not to get my expectations too high. After reading that thread, its all out the window. I really cannot wait to get on that thing.