Anyone attempting to go to Galaxy's Edge in the first few months/year of opening? Do you have a plan/strategy?

[Dawn Peterson]

We're going early September. Plan is to hit the park at EEMH, but rope drop all the others stuff (SDD, ToT, RnR) until the SWGE virtual queue hits, then plan from there.

That is a good idea I hadn’t considered.

 

[sethschroeder]

we will try for late evening/just before closing time at the end of our trip. That strategy has never failed us when trying to ride headliners, so I don`t see why it wouldn`t apply to GE, too

It's very simple why it likely is not going to work. You won't even get in to the Star Wars area. Unlike a ride where you can jump in line and you are then guaranteed to get a ride in, it will not be that way for Star Wars and the land will be closed to new guests (either to the VQ or real queue) a few hours (at minimum) before the park closes.

A ride has a predefined start and end while Star Wars does not. Your best hope is a virtual queue which tells you the return time and you can grab the end of the day spot when is shows up in the morning/afternoon.

Remeber Star Wars is going to have lines just to get in to the land more than likely. So it's not the normal new ride.

I could be completely wrong. I don't think it should be bad getting in though as long as you end up reading up on the latest strategy the days leading up to your HS day.

 

[Oozma_Kappa]

I booked my DVC 11 months in advance for labor day weekend, so I did not plan on attending this. However, since I have fastpasses for HS, we will try to get into whatever we can in the new land. No strategy though, because we really aren't sure what to expect. I usually book whatever fastpasses I can, and go in with the thinking that eventually over the years, I always get to ride and experience whatever is out there. Maybe just not when it first opens.

 

[mackaylc]

I am at DW from Aug 25-Sept 3 (booked before the announcement of SWGE), and I have two DHS days. The first is Aug 28, which I have booked EMM for that morning, and then still have access to the good tier setup, so I have FP for TOT, RnRC, and because we won't get enough of it, TSM. I could not get a SDD on this day, but we have EMM so that's fine.

Our second day at HS is on Sunday, Sept 1, the first EEMH. So we currently are planning to arrive for that, but still deciding how early we need to be there. I want to be able to get into SWGE and get on the MFSR, but also willing to see if the Virtual Queue is implemented at DW, and will book that if we are not fast enough. I have a FP for SDD at 12, Star Tours 1:40, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid is 2:40. I wanted to give myself enough time to get through SWGE before my FP started. It is hard to plan, because it is the first EEMH and we can't be sure how it will play out. So it's not much of a strategy, so any suggestions are appreciated, knowing that no one really knows anything concrete!

 

[lovethattink]

I purposefully made resort reservations starting a few days after the land opens. I'll follow along closely and see what works those first couple of days. As of now, our mindset is to arrive at 4:30am at the gate, and that's the only plan.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Well this throws a wrench into my plans. Rise of Resistance announced to open right before my Friday in DHS in December

Disney’s 'Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance' ride opens December 5th

Disney's new Star Wars-theme park, Galaxy's Edge, will get its second ride before the year is up. Today, Disney Parks announced that "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance" will arrive in Florida at Walt Disney World Resort on December 5th -- Walt Disney's birthday. Immediately after the ride debuts...

www.engadget.com

 

[butterscotchcollins]

So now I'm stressed too - is it really going to be necessary to get to the park at 4:30am just to wait to get in at 6am? We also planned our trip for LDW before the opening date was announced. Personally my sister and I could care less about Star Wars but my boyfriend is dying to go so we figured with Extra Extra Magic Hours why not go on the 1st - but now it seems like since everyone has that idea, we're going to be stuck waiting in line there for HOURS, wasting most of the morning, and then stuck in hours-long standby lines for the other things we want to do. We were planning on HS being a half day but that doesn't seem likely now. Help??

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

So now I'm stressed too - is it really going to be necessary to get to the park at 4:30am just to wait to get in at 6am? We also planned our trip for LDW before the opening date was announced. Personally my sister and I could care less about Star Wars but my boyfriend is dying to go so we figured with Extra Extra Magic Hours why not go on the 1st - but now it seems like since everyone has that idea, we're going to be stuck waiting in line there for HOURS, wasting most of the morning, and then stuck in hours-long standby lines for the other things we want to do. We were planning on HS being a half day but that doesn't seem likely now. Help??

My suggestion is consider splitting up during EEMH. Let your beau run around GE while you & your sister do everything else.

 

[fiasco32]

So now I'm stressed too - is it really going to be necessary to get to the park at 4:30am just to wait to get in at 6am?

Depends on what you want to do that day. My guess is 75% of the people showing up at 4:30 are going to want to go straight to SWGE. If you want to go to the other parts of HS first thing, I think you're probably safe to show up just after 5 or even as late as 5:30. That's our plan, do all the other rides during EEMH then wait for the virtual queue to kick in.

 

[Davey Jones II]

It's very simple why it likely is not going to work. You won't even get in to the Star Wars area. Unlike a ride where you can jump in line and you are then guaranteed to get a ride in, it will not be that way for Star Wars and the land will be closed to new guests (either to the VQ or real queue) a few hours (at minimum) before the park closes.

A ride has a predefined start and end while Star Wars does not. Your best hope is a virtual queue which tells you the return time and you can grab the end of the day spot when is shows up in the morning/afternoon.

Remeber Star Wars is going to have lines just to get in to the land more than likely. So it's not the normal new ride.

I could be completely wrong. I don't think it should be bad getting in though as long as you end up reading up on the latest strategy the days leading up to your HS day.

This sounds overly pessimistic, given that Pandora and TSL haven`t been like that at all, and that Disney has only had to use the virtual queue system once at DLR.

My theory is that all the EEMH people will have left long before the evening hours roll around, since they`re been up awake since 4 a.m. or so.

Yes if a virtual queue system is needed, hopefully WDW will implement that. I think the expanded DHS hours might make it unnecessary.

Just to be on the safe side, however, I have told my group that it`s possible -- although not likely -- that we won`t get in the new land at all. We`re not going to wait for hours to get in for just one ride. If there is a logjam of guests for 16 hours a day at GE, the rest of the resort should be manageable.

 

[sethschroeder]

This sounds overly pessimistic, given that Pandora and TSL haven`t been like that at all, and that Disney has only had to use the virtual queue system once at DLR.

And has there been another land in the entire world that Disney has had to limit people from entering? Honestly wondering because its happening with Star Wars at Disneyland.

My theory is that all the EEMH people will have left long before the evening hours roll around, since they`re been up awake since 4 a.m. or so.

Except I would absolutely bet that a majority of onsite guests don't arrive until right before EEMH ends or even later in the morning/afternoon.

es if a virtual queue system is needed, hopefully WDW will implement that.

I just can't imagine they won't have one personally but we will see.

 

[Davey Jones II]

And has there been another land in the entire world that Disney has had to limit people from entering? Honestly wondering because its happening with Star Wars at Disneyland.



Except I would absolutely bet that a majority of onsite guests don't arrive until right before EEMH ends or even later in the morning/afternoon.



I just can't imagine they won't have one personally but we will see.

Anyone who arrives in the morning won`t be closing the park (10 p.m., remember), and it`s a certainty that a lot of people will come for EEMH.

As for Disneyland, again, where`s the expected feeding frenzy? Hasn`t happened.

As for the virtual queue, I`m all for it. If it doesn`t happen, it will probably because it`s not needed.

 

[sethschroeder]

Anyone who arrives in the morning won`t be closing the park (10 p.m., remember), and it`s a certainty that a lot of people will come for EEMH.

As for Disneyland, again, where`s the expected feeding frenzy? Hasn`t happened.

As for the virtual queue, I`m all for it. If it doesn`t happen, it will probably because it`s not needed.

See FOP and Slinky as examples for specific rides of how waits stay up all day even as people leave the park. Again assuming there is a queue to get in to the land.

 

[a11ie]

We'll be there Sept 8-14 and plan to hit HS on the 9th and 11th around 5/5:30am. No one in out group is very interested in Star wars but, if it's not a mad house, we'd like to see the area.. But its not a must for us and we'll skip it before we go shoulder to shoulder with anyone.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

We will be there September 20-27. Use the EEMH and go first to GE then TSL. Hopefully head over to ToT and RnRC before RD. I would like to experience SWGE then get out. I don't plan to eat there or build a light saber. Hopefully we can head to the back after RD and then leave the park. I have evening ADRs so return for dinner and Fantasmic. It was during this time (in the past) when we would do 1 more ToT, GMR and ST then Fantasmic, but probably not this year.

 

[Shughart]

We'll be there in December and it will depend heavily on how Disney plays this, how the turnout is, how much it dies down and when exactly the second ride opens.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Hate to admit this, because with the inception of the fast pass and people no longer have the patience to wait, we went to Hollywood Studios when it first opened as MGM Studios years ago. In 8 hours, we did 4 things: The shortest wait time was around 1 1/4 hours for Indiana Jones to 2 1/4 hour wait for the Backlot Tour/Catastrophe Canyon. The other 2 things we did were the Sound Studio and Great Movie Ride. They were pretty cool though, because they did a lot of integrating the crowds with the attractions, using guests as participants in 3 of the 4 attractions. Even the Great Movie Ride had crowd interaction with the tram being taken over by the gangster. I will always remember these early experiences we had at the parks and the fun we had.
Point being: we don't mind waiting if it's something we really want to do.

 

[Feberin]

We're going late April into May. I hope it'll be doable to get in and ride the rides. I'm not sure how because it's so far off.

 

[RoboFlyer]

I'm going to be in Orlando at Universal during the second week of December. Now they've announced that Rise of the Resistance is opening on December 5th, I'm wondering if I should go on the 10th, 11th or 12th and try and make a single day of it from open to close. Maybe even book one night at a Disney resort to get the EEMH if they end up extending them. I've done Universal from 8AM - 130AM so I know I could go the distance, but I wonder if that still might not be enough time to do everything in Galaxy's Edge since it's a week after the new ride opens.

And after seeing what's happened with the Hagrid coaster over at Universal and all the down time they've needed in addition to the continuous long lines with people going specifically for the coaster and being turned away, I wonder what the odds are of a similar situation happening over at Rise of the Resistance if it's as complex as people are making it out to be. But if I go, I'm going to want the full experience. Lightsaber, Smuggler's, and Rise.

Actually went ahead and booked one night at Pop Century on December 10th. Lots of time to figure out plans and cancel if I need to.

 

[Davey Jones II]

See FOP and Slinky as examples for specific rides of how waits stay up all day even as people leave the park. Again assuming there is a queue to get in to the land.

Thanks for clinching my argument for me. I stated that GE should be MORE accessible in late evening/near park close (not deserted, but easier to access) and you counter with SDD and FOP. Wait times for both rides (and every headliner, including 7DMT and FEA) invariably drop as closing time approaches. We`ve experienced that every time; e.g., we got in line for SDD about an hour before closing time, and were out of the ride in about 45 minutes. We got in line for FOP about 15 minutes before closing time, and had the same experience (as opposed to 150 min. + wait times all day for FOP, and minimum 90 min. for SDD).

Wait times ALWAYS plummet before closing time. We relied on that strategy during an entire 10 day trip (rarely arriving in the park before 11 a.m.) and it never failed us. That`s also applied to every park we`ve been to -- Universal, Six Flags, etc., etc. There`s no reason to think that GE will somehow reverse that.