Galaxy's Edge crowds at Disneyland lower than anticipated

[Zulith]

I love Star Wars. But it only has one ride currently, and it's a ride that hasn't been very well reviewed. The Falcon they built looks incredible but the the actual experience doesn't have people tripping over themselves to tell people about it. It's more like a video game than a ride.

Galaxy's Edge looks overwhelmingly bent towards selling merch and food and not enough experiences to witness and participate in. I think they are going to have to make some adjustments. That, and Star Wars isn't the global brand a lot of their other properties are. Oh, and I guess it doesn't help that some of the recent movies haven't captured people in the same way as in the past.

Lastly, I agree with some of the hypotheses thrown around that people have stayed away because they feared epicly huge crowds which have resulted in overall less turnout. So maybe it will bounce back.

 

[Cruxist]

My buddy in LA said that it always felt like the Disneyland parks got more attendance from locals. Maybe the rush will happen once the Orlando one opens?

 

[ChristopherDX]

Which is very good.



Totally wrong. Doesn't look or feel cheap. They're some of the better mass market sabers I've ever seen, and the experience is fun if not transcendent.



I am not a droid fan but my friend's droid and what it could do definitely didn't seem like a $30 item.



So much experience and informed opinion here. The blue milk tastes pretty good, the problem is that downing a cup full of coconut milk in 90 degree heat isn't a great idea.



I admit I haven't bothered with the food, but the pricing on it is equivalent to everything else in the park outside the Star Wars area. You could at least have called out the alcoholic drinks with souvenir cups that clock in at $42.



They expected exactly what they got, the reservations to sell out in literal minutes. This isn't about the quality of Galaxy's Edge so much as proof that the overcrowding of the parks is mainly due to abuse of Annual Passes by locals. All but the top tier passes are blocked out until the end of the summer, which means the legions of obsessed daily attendees are removed, and then you factor in the overcrowding in the parks in recent years with what the average vacationer would think a Star Wars Land would result in this summer and you have people staying away for fear of massive crowds which simply didn't happen. By building something destined to be insanely popular, Disney accidentally psyched out the potential audience even though they handled the overcrowding element.

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Calm yourself.

Everything I said was true you don't have to be that defensive of Disney.

The droid IS cheap.

The ride is a big video game screen.

The lightsaber experience is horribly overpriced.

Again what I said is all true...also the annual pass is being abused by the locals and needs to stop.

Not being stupidly crowded is not a bad thing too ...I don't know why need a measurement of success as a largely unpleasant experience.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

Yeah I add me to the pile of people that felt it would be overcrowded, once GE opened. It really doesn't help that one of the other major attractions hasn't opened yet and how damn expensive it is to go a Disney Park these days (speaking as a SoCal resident)!

Makes me a bit skeptical about how the upcoming Marvel area at DCA will turn out.

 

[Starmud]

Star Wars appeal is really over shot by Disney, it's a big franchise with a large fandom but it's not the behemoth that Disney has tried to market it into.

For a full Disneyland expansion I expected a ton of conversation and energy here in so cal and the reception really died after the initial influencers and faithful got in. You hardly see anything from the expansion featured in local media, online or otherwise. It's also weird to me how quickly the coverage died from influencers giving it coverage which tells you how reception went over. Pixar Pier still gets more attention.

It dosent help that the experience is one ride and the rest of the "attractions" are dining/shopping experiences that cost a lot in time and money to take part in.

The ride is fun but not an experience you care to go back into all the time. It's better with people you know otherwise no one really plays together as a team and it becomes an arcade video you sit through. The advantage to doing better on the experience is the ship being in better condition on exit, I found few even notice lol

The cantina is amazing the first time but $$$ and if you go in on a day that's too crowded it's a nightmare to be in. Also, is a bar in the park an experience many will care for? Having it be a main attraction was an odd choice. It's not kid or family friendly and it seems like it's just filled with older dudes most of the time now looking for an escape.

The droid shop isn't worth the money and is another one time and why go again experience. The lightsaber building experience is... ok... but once again questionable after you spend the money and why would you ever do it again. Storage and not breaking it become an issue even faithful fans have been running into.

A lot of the merchandise feels uninspired and overpriced even for a Disney park. The puppets/adopting a pet turned out to be a huge let down, who thought selling cheap looking squeak toys for $50 was a good idea. They tried too hard to make blue/green milk into the next foodie item and it seems like the reviews are mixed at best. The name alone seems like a turn off. The same can be said with a fair amount of the food options though I applaud them for trying to make jerky into a theme park thing again. There's also vegan friendly options abound that are pretty good.

Disneyland isn't Disney world, the park rides a lot by local attendance and people going after work/school. There's been a lot of debate here in the community if they've finally started pricing locals out from going as often.

While I'm sure it will get better over time, it's going to require retooling or will become a premium experience in the park for true fans of the series.

 

[Flavius]

So by taking away the small smoking ares, that will make the people follow rules who previously didn't?

If anything, I think there will be more smoking/vaping in the park because of it. More people will probably just say 'fuck it' and just try to smoke while walking around or something.

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No. Outlawing it entirely will make it much easier to enforce. I mean, sure, a few dumbasses will try it but most aren't going to rush getting kicked out over it.

 

[Droidian]

I love Star Wars. But it only has one ride currently, and it's a ride that hasn't been very well reviewed. The Falcon they built looks incredible but the the actual experience doesn't have people tripping over themselves to tell people about it. It's more like a video game than a ride.

Galaxy's Edge looks overwhelmingly bent towards selling merch and food and not enough experiences to witness and participate in. I think they are going to have to make some adjustments. That, and Star Wars isn't the global brand a lot of their other properties are. Oh, and I guess it doesn't help that some of the recent movies haven't captured people in the same way as in the past.

Lastly, I agree with some of the hypotheses thrown around that people have stayed away because they feared epicly huge crowds which have resulted in overall less turnout. So maybe it will bounce back.

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Having been twice, it really is more Merch than anything else.
Being sold out has been enough to keep people away for now.

 

[Parisi]

I visited Galaxy's Edge during the reservation period and here are my takeaways on why it might be so empty:

1. Disneyland is not the mega tourist destination that WDW is, so its more locals and AP's who visit the park, and since DL blocked out a lot of the AP dates for the summer, they are not going to spend $150 to go to the park for GE. They'll wait until the blackout dates are over.

2. Like others have said, there is only one ride right now... Its a fun ride, but its still just a single ride.

3. $200 for a lightsaber experience is, imo, way overpriced, but when I was there there was always a wait to build one....

4. Green Milk is god awful. Blue Milk is just somewhat awful. There is never a line at the Milk stand because people have heard how god awful it is. I sure hope Disney makes a change to the formula soon.

5. The land is based during/after this current trilogy... No offense to Rey, Kylo, Poe or the others, but as a SW I kinda want to see Darth Vader walking around or someone pretending to be Luke... Also, the land needs more than the 3 storm troopers I see accompanying Kylo around the land every few hours, especially in the area of Battu that has been taken over by the first order...

I am sure I can think of other things, but these are my top items...

I will say that I feel the one in WDW will be a lot worse than DL strictly because they have already said there will be no reservation system when it first opens, and since they use FP+ down there, I am sure any available time slot for Smugglers Run will be eaten up in seconds, same for Rise of the Resistance when that opens. I mean just look at Pandora in Animal Kingdom.... the line for Flight of Passage has had a consistent wait time of over 100 minutes since the land opened. Same applies for Toy Story Land, with Slinky Dog Dash averaging around 90min each day, so just imagine what Galaxy's Edge will look like when it first opens to the public on Aug 29th....

So, just because it seems to be a dud in CA does not imply that it will also be a dud at WDW...

 

[adj_noun]

I expect WDW to become Lord of the Flies about five minutes after GE opens.

 

[inner-G]

No. Outlawing it entirely will make it much easier to enforce. I mean, sure, a few dumbasses will try it but most aren't going to rush getting kicked out over it.

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Except they said when they changed it that they won't kick people out just warn them

 

[Deleted member 135]

It doesn't help that Sequel content isn't as endearing as Original (or hell, even Prequel at this point). I mean seeing Kylo walking around with his Cheshire Smile Stormies isn't that exciting compared to Vader and the 501st.

 

[El Bombastico]

We can't see OT or PT characters in any park's Galaxy's Edge because Disney insists that the land be canon (yes, really) and specifically set during the sequel trilogy.

Its pretty dumb, I have to say.

 

[Calamari41]

also the annual pass is being abused by the locals and needs to stop.

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What does this mean?

 

[netguy503]

Are the hot dogs everyone is talking about sold in this land these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy-1IxLicSs

Because if so I don't get the hype as just looking that I agree that isn't the best flavor combination and I don't have to spend $13 to see that.

Looks almost as unappetizing as another disney exclusive food creation that I stumbled onto this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QR3RjFcgEc

 

[Ryan.]

Are the hot dogs everyone is talking about sold in this land these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy-1IxLicSs

Because if so I don't get the hype as just looking that I agree that isn't the best flavor combination and I don't have to spend $13 to see that.

Looks almost as unappetizing as another disney exclusive food creation that I stumbled onto this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QR3RjFcgEc

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Yep, and almost every reaction I've seen is positive. There's also a breakfast version that replaces the slaw with egg and cheese

 

[Deleted member 56580]

I'm curious, how are pandora queues ? still THAT long ?

 

[Ryan.]

I'm curious, how are pandora queues ? still THAT long ?

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Currently the times are:
Flight of Passage - 195 minutes
River Journey - 70 minutes

 

[plagiarize]

I'm curious, how are pandora queues ? still THAT long ?

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Because Flight of Passage is a fantastic ride and the whole land is really something else. Avatar fan or not, floating mountains are cool as shit to stand beneath.

 

[adj_noun]

Currently the times are:
Flight of Passage - 195 minutes

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You could watch Avatar on your phone in its entirety while you wait.

 

[Deleted member 56580]

Astonishing, thanks guys !

 

[Quantum Leap]

$12 for a "hot dog wrap" themed to Star Wars
What did they expect?????

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Honestly it's pretty damn good

 

[AndreGX]

I'm curious, how are pandora queues ? still THAT long ?

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As one of my friends said, Flights of Passage is practically a religious experience. It's just absolutely perfect in its execution. Hell, one of the best parts is when almost nothing is happening at all? How many theme part attractions can you say that about haha

 

[DanteSparda504]

I have been wanting to go to this, but on top of not being able to afford it, I noped out when I found out you can't "cosplay"

I am not the cosplaying sort, but if I am going to a Star Wars land, I want to go and be a part of the universe, not walk around in shorts/jeans and a tshirt.

 

[ManaByte]

I have been wanting to go to this, but on top of not being able to afford it, I noped out when I found out you can't "cosplay"

I am not the cosplaying sort, but if I am going to a Star Wars land, I want to go and be a part of the universe, not walk around in shorts/jeans and a tshirt.

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Disney has a very good reason to now allow adults to wear costumes in the park. It's been policy A LOT longer than Galaxy's Edge. You can find of figure out why they don't want adults wearing costumes there.

 

[THEVOID]

Because Flight of Passage is a fantastic ride and the whole land is really something else. Avatar fan or not, floating mountains are cool as shit to stand beneath.

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Damn! That good, eh? I gotta make it out there one of these days.

 

[Deleted member 35987]

$200 dollar experiences and one ride. I love Star Wars, but eh.

 

[¡Hip Hop!]

Disney may have finally pushed things too far, price-wise.

 

[Quantum Leap]

As one of my friends said, Flights of Passage is practically a religious experience. It's just absolutely perfect in its execution. Hell, one of the best parts is when almost nothing is happening at all? How many theme part attractions can you say that about haha

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fuck i had never heard of this ride. Totally down to try it since I get in for free, but the plane ticket from California to Florida must be expensive.

 

[Deleted member 9479]

Disney has a very good reason to now allow adults to wear costumes in the park. It's been policy A LOT longer than Galaxy's Edge. You can find of figure out why they don't want adults wearing costumes there.

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To be honest it seems like they are a little more lenient in Galaxy's Edge. They posted an official guide with examples of acceptable bounding that push WAY closer to actual costumes than I would have thought acceptable.

 

[DanteSparda504]

Disney has a very good reason to now allow adults to wear costumes in the park. It's been policy A LOT longer than Galaxy's Edge. You can find of figure out why they don't want adults wearing costumes there.

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I understand why in the actual Disney parks, but the entire idea of this park is it's a Star Wars planet. In the Star Wars universe. The idea is to go and be a part of that universe. Kind of takes the joy out of going to the park, and can't actually be a character in that universe.

It's a stupid and silly policy. It honestly killed the entire idea of saving up money to go next year.

 

[ManaByte]

I understand why in the actual Disney parks, but the entire idea of this park is it's a Star Wars planet. In the Star Wars universe. The idea is to go and be a part of that universe. Kind of takes the joy out of going to the park, and can't actually be a character in that universe.

It's a stupid and silly policy. It honestly killed the entire idea of saving up money to go next year.

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It's not a park. It's part of Disneyland.

 

[Shigs]

The $200 ones are metal with the FX blades and interchangeable Crystal's stored in the hilt that change the color and sound effects. Plus you get a pin, a carrying bag, and the whole building experience. The extra stuff is what bumps the price up. The hilt on it's own would only be a little over $100 based on the legacy saber prices, but kyber crystals are $15, the blades are $50 I think, most pins hover around $15, and you get the bag.

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Compare this to most sci-fi conventions with vendors that have custom made lightsabers that charge anywhere up to $300 for sabers that are about the same quality and it's actually a decent value.

SoCal is blocked entirely. Deluxe is only blocked from Disneyland, not DCA

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That would explain that the crowds haven't really died down much at DCA.

So I got to go to Galaxy's Edge this past Wednesday and it's true that the crowds were down, but not in huge quantities. The Millenium Falcon ride was on average a 50 minute wait or 20 minutes for single rider line. This allowed me to go on four times. I will say I did go in the regular line once to see all the "pre-show" stuff (and the hopes of being a pilot/co-pilot) and the line moved very quickly with few stops. I'm not a huge fan of the ride (I was engineer 3 times) and I'll be going into detail of the problems of that ride in a separate thread.

I assure you, Disney's not hurting. Oga's Cantine is still very hard to get in to. I had to get up before 7am to do a same-day reservation on the app and got it at 10:15 am. Savvi's workshop still needs reservations and if the math is correct, is making over $100,000 dollars a day. I saw a ton of people walking around with those $100 droids and a big line for $8 blue/green milk in a smaller-than-solo cup (fuck that!),

I did buy the Cliff Dweller drink at the cantina which comes with a tall, porcelian mug of a porg for $32 (with drink). Considering the quality of the mug, it was worth it.

What's NOT worth it is $8 for a small cup of blue milk. I avoided that entirely. In fact, I had my lunch at the Tommowland terrace and you can get a souvenier cup with Dath Vader and the bounty hunters on it for $7, drink included!

I didn't have much money for this visit due to saving for Comic Con, but with the lines down, I couldn't resist. I'm going again in mid-Spetember when the Resistance ride is open and I'll have enough money to splurge on a custom lightsaber.

After Galaxy's Edge, I did hang around the rest of Disneyland and while it did seem very crowded, lines for most rides were very short. Haunted Mansion was 20 mintes, Pirates was about ten and I got on Big Thunder in five!! Frankl;y, I thought it was the perfect sized crowd.

 

[CommodoreKong]

I don't understand the appeal of these places. Theme parks are the only line of business where they don't try to improve wait times and force arbitrary lines for people to wait in. In a world where efficiency is dominant, why the fuck are we still waiting in 30 min and 1 hour lines?

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Disney does have fast pass which cuts down line times.

Honesty though if a ride is popular there's only so much you can do. It's going to have a maximum capacity every hour.

 

[Book One]

I have a buddy who is big into that 501st Legion thing. They are pretty heavy into replicas and cosplay and such.

From what he and I have been able to tell, $200 for the lightsaber isn't too far out of range for what the quality appears to be.

 

[iareharSon]

As one of my friends said, Flights of Passage is practically a religious experience. It's just absolutely perfect in its execution. Hell, one of the best parts is when almost nothing is happening at all? How many theme part attractions can you say that about haha

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I went in late February to Disney World for the first time. We didn't realize you were able to get fast passes 30-60 days before, depending on if you were staying at a resort or not, until two weeks before our trip. We missed out on fast passes for Flights of Passage, so we decided to go to the park at opening. We did... and still waited for over two hours to get on the ride. Was totally worth it though. I'm still shook that you can feel the banshees breathing. Dat attention to detail...

 

[Deleted member 401]

I don't understand the appeal of these places. Theme parks are the only line of business where they don't try to improve wait times and force arbitrary lines for people to wait in. In a world where efficiency is dominant, why the fuck are we still waiting in 30 min and 1 hour lines?

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I can't speak for all rides, but in the case for roller coasters, you can only have so many people on the ride while keeping it operating safely.

 

[StallionDan]

So they expect people to wait an hour for some rides? Sod that.

 

[Z-Beat]

So they expect people to wait an hour for some rides? Sod that.

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I think the longest Mission Breakout got on opening was 5 hours.

Radiator Springs Racers still averages 1 hour and it's been open for years

 

[THEVOID]

I went in late February to Disney World for the first time. We didn't realize you were able to get fast passes 30-60 days before, depending on if you were staying at a resort or not, until two weeks before our trip. We missed out on fast passes for Flights of Passage, so we decided to go to the park at opening. We did... and still waited for over two hours to get on the ride. Was totally worth it though. I'm still shook that you can feel the banshees breathing. Dat attention to detail...

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So I'm assuming the thing you ride on expands to simulate breathing?

 

[shintoki]

Overpriced area with a single ride and focus on the new trilogy.

 

[plagiarize]

So I'm assuming the thing you ride on expands to simulate breathing?

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Yeah. Air bladders.

 

[THEVOID]

Yeah. Air bladders.

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That's pretty damn cool.

 

[Avitus]

Star Wars doesn't seem to be gripping kids the way the OT did a certain generation. The high prices aren't helping.

 

[kIdMuScLe]

There's nothing to do but shop... shops everywhere. Also I noticed that the crowd has been smaller since the ticket price hike... :-/

 

[StallionDan]

I think the longest Mission Breakout got on opening was 5 hours.

Radiator Springs Racers still averages 1 hour and it's been open for years

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Sounds like garbage, they should put a limit on number of people allowed in so are reasonable wait times.

I know is zero chance of that happening.

 

[VHS]

I kind of don't want to go for a while because Star Wars fans are insufferable these days.

 

[John Harker]

I just assumed it was impossible to get in and would go later

 

[Rubblatus]

Sounds like garbage, they should put a limit on number of people allowed in so are reasonable wait times.

I know is zero chance of that happening.

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All that does is create more congestion along the major thoroughfares, as the people who would be willing to wait that long in the first place end up making a line for the line.

 

[WizardofPeace]

This is going to be a no fun allowed post, but it blows my mind how people still go to Disneyland given how expensive it is, and how much waiting involves. And worse, the existence of Fast Pass is just downright insulting.

/rant

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#facts

 

[Flavius]

Damn! That good, eh? I gotta make it out there one of these days.

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It might be the best theme park ride ever created. It's the crazy ride you invented in your head back when you were a kid on a lazy summer day. The fact that it exists is honestly a bit baffling.

I absolutely adore it, and it feels completely fresh every single time.

Still, if the wait is more than an hour-and-a-half, I won't do it. But if you aren't a local and don't plan on returning in the near future, I do think it's worth the 2-3 hour wait if you can plan in advance and aren't sacrificing taking on one of the other great rides. The best Disney coaster, Expedition Everest, is also in the same park.