Why Disneyland’s $1 billion Star Wars land isn’t a bust despite flat attendance - OCR/SCNG

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
So, let me see if I understand this correctly. Galaxy Edge is a successful addition despite being a big boring junkyard that no one showed up for because it adds additional space for crowd distribution in Disneyland? Clearly, I'm not buying this Fake News.

The lack of crowds allegedly due to Galaxy Edge drawing them away from the rest of the parks was used in promotions by Disney itself. Meanwhile, it was the entire resort that was empty, including Galaxy Edge. Like Cliff said in Home Alone 2, it's a lie.

The notion that Disney didn't expect an attendance increase with their billion dollar expansion is ludicrous, to say the least.
 
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George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
In other news, Disney intentionally over-produced millions of unsellable dolls and other junk that would rot on store shelves in actuality so they could be clearanced for 25 cents and made affordable for low-income families. Of course! Why didn't we see it all along?

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It's a runaway success!
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
"...I'm thinking that I should just tweet, "It's opening," and that would be enough. I think we're going to end up with incredibly popular and in demand product with these two new lands. They are large. They are beautiful. They're extremely innovative. They obviously leverage the popularity of the "Star Wars" brand.

I think we're going to have absolutely no problem gaining attention for them or to them. It's not going to take much marketing to do that. That's a signal that I just sent to our parks and resorts people to keep that budget really low."

-Bob Iger, Q1 2019 Quarterly Earnings Call, February 5, 2019

"But while on the surface it may seem like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was a bust, if you dig a little deeper you’ll realize that keeping attendance flat during the largest expansion in Disneyland’s history was all part of Disney’s larger strategy."
-Brady MacDonald, PR Puff Piece, July 18, 2020

I realize that Brady's access to easy information depends on being in the good graces of The Walt Disney Company (whatever happened to real journalism?), but he really should try a little harder to not make it so blatant that he's just regurgitating the company line.

The way that Galaxy's Edge was met with a collective "meh" from parkgoers is a clear reflection of the hubris of Iger's Disney. They expected it to be a smash hit; the best they got was tweaking the numbers to hide a decline in attendance. Even if the spending per guest increased, it's embarrassing how little people seemed to care about the land after their own public predictions of how popular it would be. There was some hype when it first opened, but Joe Q Public in Peoria has long since moved on. Disney badly misjudged the audience on this one.

Brady has been on my "ignore" list ever since the mid-00's when wrote a story about how he was OUTRAGED!!1!!1! that DL wouldn't let his wife into the park on a day that her AP was blacked out, even though it was her birthday (this was prior to the "What Will You Celebrate?" campaign with free birthday admission). It's a shame that one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country with several world-class theme parks doesn't have a halfway-decent reporter to cover them.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
What non sense. Disney took the measures they did to keep things manageable not flat.

Also I don’t think comparing what Potter did for USO to what GE did for DL/ HS paints a fair picture. Potterland finally brought Disneyland level theming to USO and Disneyland has always been Disneyland. It took USO over the hump. Disneyland was already so great and full of experiences it just doesn’t move the needle as much. Part of the reason I predicted it wasn’t going to be mass hysteria when it opened. Granted, I still don’t think they delivered.

It almost feels like as soon as Disney thought Universal was on their tails with Potter that’s when things started to implode. They could have just kept doing what they ve been doing for 50+ years and have been fine but instead they decided to chase the people chasing them instead of sticking to their formula. Makes sense.
 

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
They overestimated demand for Star Wars, specifically their Star Wars and this ridiculous poor interpretation by WDI. Galaxy Edge is the ultimate proof of that. It's a laughably self-assertive disaster, produced cockily by a company at the height of its power.

Just look at the sheer size of it. They could have added one attraction, but they built an enormous land of wide empty walkways and damaged beige buildings with junk scattered around them and nothing to do. Slow clap!
 

DLR92

Well-Known Member
I wonder if guest found the rides in Star Wars average? It great fun but nothing special I found with my friends and coworkers.

They like the land more than the attraction offered. That was their opinion overall.
 

MoonRakerSCM

Well-Known Member
Coverage of this land may go the way of the new trilogy, somehow if you don't like it, you're sexist and/or racist. The land is certainly interesting, but it being drab is pretty well agreed upon. The Millenium Falcon ride is just ok, and while many (including myself) will say Rise is an amazing attraction... its reliability and operating issues are an absolute black mark. The food options are bland at best, nothing that truly wows... the milk is an absolute bust (have seen many people throwing away half full cups), the popcorn stand pointless, the ronto wraps are the only thing I would consider having again. What amazes me most about the land being it is supposed to be ULTRA THEMED... 90% of the theming is literal junk they put all over the place to clutter things up and create immersion. They bought used pelican cases, junk, electrical junk, and stuck it everywhere. I guess I can kinda get why they did it (essentially this is what they did to give the original films their praised style)... unlike the films, this was done in a soulless manner and it shows.

How 'bout that recent article with Oga's being one of the top bars in the US? What an absolute joke. I didn't know the best bars in the county forced you to PACK IN with people you don't know, kept you to a 2 drink minimum, only had pre-made drinks, and often laughable customer service.

Like Cliff said in Home Alone 2, it's a lie.
Oh snap with that reference lol.
 

MoonRakerSCM

Well-Known Member
Good point about the decorations and junk. I couldnt believe when I saw a Pelican case in the Falcon line, and then to my surprise there were dozens more. What a joke.
What gets me is that it is literally the entire land. Every room of the Millenium Falcon queue, the restaurant, the droid depot, the bazaar stores, the little outdoor speeder workshop area, several rooms within the Rise queue.
 

denyuntilcaught

Well-Known Member
Many major companies have been appologizing, be it social media, news, video gaming, or tech if they make a poor choice. A lot of companies actually do everything they can to keep good PR and customer service.

Most companies will even compensate you if you didnt enjoy their product.

Disney does more than not acknowledge failure, they twist it around to act like their failures are success. They blatantly lie to their shareholders.

Apologizing is one thing, doing right by it is the other. I don't take artificial apologies, unfortunately. (Looking at you, Nike.)
 

Franklin47disneyguy

Well-Known Member
Well we seem to forget one thing, in 2018 a peak day hopper pass was $185. The same ticket is $199 in 2019, yes attendance was the same as 2018. But people showing up in 2019 paid more to visit. Disney's wants less people paying a higher ticket price.
 

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
What non sense. Disney took the measures they did to keep things manageable not flat.

Also I don’t think comparing what Potter did for USO to what GE did for DL/ HS paints a fair picture. Potterland finally brought Disneyland level theming to USO and Disneyland has always been Disneyland. It took USO over the hump. Disneyland was already so great and full of experiences it just doesn’t move the needle as much. Part of the reason I predicted it wasn’t going to be mass hysteria when it opened. Granted, I still don’t think they delivered.

It almost feels like as soon as Disney thought Universal was on their tails with Potter that’s when things started to implode. They could have just kept doing what they ve been doing for 50+ years and have been fine but instead they decided to chase the people chasing them instead of sticking to their formula. Makes sense.
In all fairness, HP at USH was met with a yawn too. Probably because it opened years later there. You do have a good point.

The land needed life. It needed roaming droids and aliens. The stationary stuff should have moved. There should have been music. There should have been Force powers via the phone or lightsaber. There should have been live entertainment (Jedi Training Academy). All of it got cut for expensive upcharge experiences. Both rides should have opened together.

The same thing will happen to DCA's Avengers Campus.
 
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