I'm in Europe for a conference and plan to go to Disneyland Paris, anyone with experience have a sense of the wait times? Is the fast pass worth it? It seems to work different than the US sites.
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Galaxy's Edge crowds at Disneyland lower than anticipated
- Thread starter El Bombastico
- Start date
Not to say that you're wrong for not being interested in it, but I would call the whole "low tech, run down" aesthetic as one of Star Wars' defining elements. Most sci-fi tends to go for a slick, high-tech feel, but Star Wars stood out back in the day in part because of things like the protagonist being introduced at a rummage sale or the franchise's most iconic spacecraft being "a piece of junk." Coruscant, Cloud City, Star Destroyers, they all serve as counterpoints to that.
You are of course right, my disinterest probably has more to do with the fact that the locale they've created doesn't even tie in to anything we've seen in the movies. Or at least my disinterest is amplified by that.
I'd be happy to walk through Echo Base, Jabba's Palace, Mos Eisley, the Yavin Base, Dagobah, etc... but even still, some diversity by including some high tech locations would add a ton as well. The prequels lean a lot more heavily into high tech locations, but even in the OT, every instance of Mos Eisley, Dagobah, Jabba's Palace, and Endor is counterweighted (as you said) by iconic scenes in Star Destroyers, Death Stars, Cloud City, etc. The contrast is a big part of what makes the aesthetic of the series, and as far as I can tell, it barely or doesn't exist here.
Bottom line I guess is that I think the land would be a lot more exciting and have a lot more to offer if, for example, it took place in a similar biosphere but maybe had a Rebel base on one side, and an Imperial outpost on the other, and the two were in conflict (since I guess they want to have an active story going on here). You could go from a run down bazaar to the bridge of a Star Destroyer, and it would make sense in context.
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You know Disney world is expecting huge crowds. They moved the gators hurricane game up a week just to have complete dominance over Orlando for 2 weeks in a row.
It's not the Star Wars theme that failed. People just want to pay for an exciting new ride. IP doesn't matter that much at Disney parks. Avatar is significantly less popular than Star Wars. I bet 99% of visitors can't name a single character from that movie. Yet, it had insane waits for a full year.
The reality is Smuggler's Run simply failed to generate the hype Flight of Passage did. People probably want Rise of Resistance.
The reality is Smuggler's Run simply failed to generate the hype Flight of Passage did. People probably want Rise of Resistance.
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My friend bought the droid and it didn't last a full day.
The lock mechanism for the droid is flimsy and it kept breaking apart while it was moving lol
I dont think entry prices are the reason for smaller crowds. 2017 saw and increase of 3% in disneyland attendance and 2018 saw and increase of 2%. Anecdotal but my last few visits (thrice last year, twice this year) were very, very packed. It is possible that a lot of factors have changed since last year, but in my anecdotal experiences (I have a LOT of family and friends who go to disney probably 10+ times a year) they're all waiting to go later because of fear of crowds from the new park lol
Wikipedia lists Disneyland Paris as having 14.8 million visitors in 2017. In 2016, Disneyland had 18.2 million visitors, and Disney World had 20.5 million. I've heard (but never seen myself) that the Paris park is not very crowded, but that may just be in comparison.
I know the last time I went to Disneyland, we could only do ~3 rides per day, and Splash Mountain was almost a 2 hour wait. If I can just stroll into the Paris park and have my pick of the place without any planning or reservations, then that sounds worth the flight! It's what made Hersheypark so fun.
I went and saw Chewbacca leave a guy hanging on a high five so that was pretty funny.
That said, the amount of fully grown adults I saw bugging people in costume when they were trying to interact with kids made me really feel for them. Like, come on guy, you're really going to interrupt this kid meeting their hero to take a fucking selfie?
I envy the patience of people working there.
That said, the amount of fully grown adults I saw bugging people in costume when they were trying to interact with kids made me really feel for them. Like, come on guy, you're really going to interrupt this kid meeting their hero to take a fucking selfie?
I envy the patience of people working there.
That's the issue with it in a nutshell as a brand; while they've done some great original new work for younger generations(Clone Wars, etc)....it feels like a nostalgia train. Not surprising that the closest thing to a Vegas residency is stacked full of quirky adults a bit too invested.
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So Rise of the Resistance is opening January 17th, apparently. Guess this means crowds will be staying small for a bit longer?
They're gonna boost at the end of the summer when the passes unblock
I'm ok with smaller crowds. As someone that is a CA resident but not SoCal, I go to Disneyland about once a year on average. the size of crowds over my lifetime has ballooned to absurd levels. It never used to feel as crowded when I was young, nowadays it's literally just a swamp of people in certain congested areas (Like outside the jungle cruise where the stroller parking is), where that never used to be the case. It actually has super negatively impacted my enjoyment of the park tbh.
I feel the same way. The few times my wife and I go now we only go during a week day and only plan for 3 attractions because the crowds have gotten ridiculous. One of the times we tried going they closed it at 10am due to too many people.
Yeah honestly its not super busy, even at summer. I went there with my family at december 24th last year and we managed to watch 2 shows + did all the major rides in the two parks without problems. The longest queues are Crush Coaster (almost always 90 mins) and Big Thunder Mountain (can go up to 2 hours when its REALLY crowded)
Universal just eliminated blackout days for Volcano Bay for passholders. Park attendance a lot more chill I'm loving it.
kinda related; did anyone sign up for the ap preview for star wars land in Orlando? got one today for Monday august 19th 11a-3p
I'm not an AP holder but I'll be in Disney world during the AP previews, sadly hanging out next to Galaxy's Edge and looking longingly at the entrance until someone takes pity on me and lets me in