D23 EXPO 2019 Superthread - dates announced!

[BadPinkTink]

They do close, but folks can still walk through to go from DTD to Harbor side hotels.

Not sure if you have been to DLR before, but the Esplanade between DL and DCA is all within security. Anyone there before the security opens is asked to leave to go outside security and re-enter. Not sure how they handle DTD since they moved security outside DTD.

so in theory, people can arrive the night before and camp out overnight on the Esplanade, BUT when security opens the next morning, all these people will be moved out of their unofficial queue, will have to go through secuity check and then requeue.

Having seen and experienced similar for concerts, thats a holy nightmare. At least for concerts, its usually a one night thing, but this could potentially be every night. The esplanade could turn into a big mess, with the late night people leaving the parks and the early arrivials for the next day

 

[HydroGuy]

so in theory, people can arrive the night before and camp out overnight on the Esplanade, BUT when security opens the next morning, all these people will be moved out of their unofficial queue, will have to go through secuity check and then requeue.

Having seen and experienced similar for concerts, thats a holy nightmare. At least for concerts, its usually a one night thing, but this could potentially be every night. The esplanade could turn into a big mess, with the late night people leaving the parks and the early arrivials for the next day

Yes, but I suspect something special will be set up for SWGE opening.

I have never been for a big event where folks arrive the night before, but others around here have.

 

[HydroGuy]

Do you know if the bag check at GCH opens at the same time as the Esplanade bag checks?

I do not know for sure but I believe they do.

 

[nintz]

My concern with Galaxy's edge in DL is what happens AFTER June 23. The way I read it, there won't be EMH offered, or a reservation. Were staying at DH late July. Just the way it reads, there's no benefit to stay on property. Please discuss this among yourselves.... (Dating myself).

 

[BadPinkTink]

My concern with Galaxy's edge in DL is what happens AFTER June 23. The way I read it, there won't be EMH offered, or a reservation. Were staying at DH late July. Just the way it reads, there's no benefit to stay on property. Please discuss this among yourselves.... (Dating myself).

yes, thats how I see it too, that staying on property only gives an advantage while the reservation system is in place. From June 24, everyone , no matter where you stay or what type of ticket you have will have equal opportunity to enter the land, depending on crowd levels. I have seen speculation that on June 24 Smugglers Run will be available on Fastpass / Maxpass system. It is also just speculation at the moment as to whether Smugglers Run wil ONLY be on Maspass and will not have free Fastpass kiosks. At the moment there are far too many unknowns

 

[Violetspider]

My concern with Galaxy's edge in DL is what happens AFTER June 23. The way I read it, there won't be EMH offered, or a reservation. Were staying at DH late July. Just the way it reads, there's no benefit to stay on property. Please discuss this among yourselves.... (Dating myself).

Yep, no benefit with respect to SWGE after June 23rd. Disney will be evaluating the results of the "experiment" though. It will all depend on how badly the opening "breaks" DL (how many complaints/comments they receive). I don't think crowds will miraculously normalize come June 24th. Disney will likely need to come up with another plan to deal with crowd control in general and access for onsite guests. Just having a disclaimer that resort package reservations don't guarantee access to the land or its rides isn't going to fly very far IMO.

 

[agamble]

My concern with Galaxy's edge in DL is what happens AFTER June 23. The way I read it, there won't be EMH offered, or a reservation. Were staying at DH late July. Just the way it reads, there's no benefit to stay on property. Please discuss this among yourselves.... (Dating myself).

There may not be any direct SW benefit to staying on site. There will still be benefits to staying on site. Still EMH, just not for SWGE, which makes sense as it is not part of Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. Still the "Disney bubble" some people want. And close proximity. We like to stay across the street, but some people want to stay at a Disneyland hotel. Also, there could still be an unannounced benefit.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We are coming from New Zealand (although after this time period so it won’t apply to us), the tickets we have are a voucher that needs to be redeemed for tickets at the ticket booth. The voucher itself can’t be scanned into the app. I imagine a lot of people would be in a similar situation.

Well, then we are back to the idea of a same-day reservation system or even the lottery-type system used in Tokyo. The only guests who will have the for-sure ticket in will be on-site guests. It was made clear that a reservation system would be available but access wouldn't be guaranteed for all visitors. Nothing in the press release absolutely said it would be a book-ahead reservation system. Regardless of how they implement it, I am confident it will be directly tied to the ticket media to insure one reservation per guest for the time period for APs and one reservation per guest per other kind of ticket since that is something they can definitely track and control with the tech available to them.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they went with a multi-prong approach. Disney knows what the land's capacity is. They will know how many reservations they are setting aside for hotel guests for any given day. Then they can choose how many to set aside for APs each day. APs can go online and see if they get lucky enough to not crash the system and snag a reservation. All remaining reservations for the day can be issued to day guests through a fastpass or lottery type system on the day of once the guest is in the park. Whenever they succeed at snagging their reservation, the ticket blocks them out from having one for any additional days remaining on their ticket. Lots of possibilities about how this can all work.

 

[DLgal]

Guests? You make a reservation for your own ticket. You won't get guests. It doesn't leave out anyone. The reservations will be tied to a specific ticket, 99% sure of that. CM can scan the ticket just like a FP and they'll know whether you are eligible to enter the land or queue for the ride. Highly unlikely they'll say you and 3 guests can enter. That doesn't make sense with the tech they've put in place these last few years. So many things can be attached to admission media (tickets).

ETA: This app tech is not related to APs. Regular tickets are added to the app and used for MP everyday.

Agree to disagree.

I see how many people buy tickets day of or have vouchers that need to be exchanged for tickets every time I visit. It's a large number. There is no way Disney is going to limit the reservation system to people who have scannable tickets in their possession at the time the reservation system goes live. That would be terrible PR.

I CAN see how they may require guests to register online for a Disney account and potentially require them to purchase ticket media online for the same day they want their land reservation, after the reservation is made. However, seeing as how one day tickets are date specific, how could you expect a person to buy a one day ticket and know which date to purchase it for, BEFORE they have the land reservation? What if, for example, a family decides they are going for one day on June 10, and they buy tickets for that day. Then, they can't get a reservation for that day. What then?

 

[CO2CA]

I don't think too many people will be happy about a lottery system. It's one thing if you have some type of control via a reservation system on whether you get into the Star Wars GE or not. It's another to have absolutely no control until you get to the park on the premise of "maybe I'll be one of the lucky 20,000 winners out of however many hundreds of thousands of guests visiting that day" and then see the person standing next to you get chosen while you're SOL.

 

[Violetspider]

..how could you expect a person to buy a one day ticket and know which date to purchase it for, BEFORE they have the land reservation? What if, for example, a family decides they are going for one day on June 10, and they buy tickets for that day. Then, they can't get a reservation for that day. What then?

Trying to figure out how on earth Disney is going to make this all work is hurting my head. Then trying to imagine what things will be like when I finally get there at the end of the year is making me nauseous.

 

[DLgal]

I don't think too many people will be happy about a lottery system. It's one thing if you have some type of control via a reservation system on whether you get into the Star Wars GE or not. It's another to have absolutely no control until you get to the park on the premise of "maybe I'll be one of the lucky 20,000 winners out of however many hundreds of thousands of guests visiting that day" and then see the person standing next to you get chosen while you're SOL.

Yeah, that won't work well and it won't accomplish the type of crowd control that Disneyland needs. Obviously Disney agrees and that is why they have chosen a pre reservation system done online prior to arrival.

I think people are over complicating things here. Haven't you guys ever visited a timed entry ticket museum or aquarium? You go online, pick the date you want, pick a time slot, and number of people in your party, and you get a voucher for admission at that time. You still have to buy the ticket once you get there, if you haven't yet. The voucher just lets you in with the tickets at a specific time. I think this SW Land reservation will be similar. They are definitely going to have to make the land reservations date AND time specific (again, crowd control), so it seems reasonable to expect it will work this way. My guess is that you will go online, sign into your account, and be presented with a calendar with each eligible date from May 31--June 23 either showing "times available" or "no times available." It will probably look like the block out calendars...green or grey squares. You will pick a date, then will be shown available time slots. You will pick a time slot and get a confirmation.

Disney themselves hasn't said that guests will be limited to one entry. They have only said that HOTEL guests will only get ONE designated entry reservation per guest during their stay. I suspect those guests will still be allowed to use the reservation system on their own to try and get another land entry during their stay. The one reservation per person is still a rumor, so this whole notion that everyone will need to have a ticket before making a reservation is overkill.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Yeah, that won't work well and it won't accomplish the type of crowd control that Disneyland needs. Obviously Disney agrees and that is why they have chosen a pre reservation system done online prior to arrival.

I think people are over complicating things here. Haven't you guys ever visited a timed entry ticket museum or aquarium? You go online, pick the date you want, pick a time slot, and number of people in your party, and you get a voucher for admission at that time. You still have to buy the ticket once you get there, if you haven't yet. The voucher just lets you in with the tickets at a specific time. I think this SW Land reservation will be similar. They are definitely going to have to make the land reservations date AND time specific (again, crowd control), so it seems reasonable to expect it will work this way. My guess is that you will go online, sign into your account, and be presented with a calendar with each eligible date from May 31--June 23 either showing "times available" or "no times available." It will probably look like the block out calendars...green or grey squares. You will pick a date, then will be shown available time slots. You will pick a time slot and get a confirmation.

Disney themselves hasn't said that guests will be limited to one entry. They have only said that HOTEL guests will only get ONE designated entry reservation per guest during their stay. I suspect those guests will still be allowed to use the reservation system on their own to try and get another land entry during their stay. The one reservation per person is still a rumor, so this whole notion that everyone will need to have a ticket before making a reservation is overkill.

Timed entry like museums is what I was expecting too, but you are right, there is absolutely no reason it will have to be made in advance of your visit. We already have fastpass distribution machines for World of Color and Fantasmic, and what else is that really but a reservation of your spot for a particular showtime? And some of those are always held back for special packages. So I suppose we may just see the mobile fastpass distribution carts set up somewhere out of the way in the park distributing slips of paper with your time entry window. On-site hotel guests will just be given one at check-in...maybe those won't even have to be for a specific time but just for use once during length of stay. So each morning there will be the mad stampede to these fastpass machines to try to snag a reservation. It won't do anything for the madhouse that will be freeway exits, Anaheim streets, parking, security and entrance lines, or the pushing and shoving and running morning stampede because everyone who can, especially annual passholders, will still come hoping to get in, but perhaps there is no other solution. It will be interesting to see what Disney actually has in mind when the time comes.

 

[Tink1987]

I’ve seen countless people stand right in front of BTM when it’s not quite their FP/MP window who won’t move for others. Imagine it at the entrance to GE.

Really feel for the CM’s on the ground who have to implement whatever rules Disney may put in place.

 

[agamble]

Agree to disagree.

I see how many people buy tickets day of or have vouchers that need to be exchanged for tickets every time I visit. It's a large number. There is no way Disney is going to limit the reservation system to people who have scannable tickets in their possession at the time the reservation system goes live. That would be terrible PR.

I CAN see how they may require guests to register online for a Disney account and potentially require them to purchase ticket media online for the same day they want their land reservation, after the reservation is made. However, seeing as how one day tickets are date specific, how could you expect a person to buy a one day ticket and know which date to purchase it for, BEFORE they have the land reservation? What if, for example, a family decides they are going for one day on June 10, and they buy tickets for that day. Then, they can't get a reservation for that day. What then?

I see what you're saying about day passes and also what a PP said about vouchers that are non scannable. What Disney ends up doing is still up in the air. We shall see. But it isn't going to be set up in a way where one person can reserve for themself plus guests and then game the system by having someone else register too. Disney will in some way monitor this.

 

[sherilaine]

Yeah, that won't work well and it won't accomplish the type of crowd control that Disneyland needs. Obviously Disney agrees and that is why they have chosen a pre reservation system done online prior to arrival.

Nowhere have they said anyting about pre-reservation, advanced reservation, nowhere. It's assumed, and even somewhat implied with the details released about each hotel guests having a designated reservation provided to them, but there is no way of knowing exactly how this will work.

Lottery will not control crowds, least not if it's tied to tickets vs. accounts as that would be awful for families - family of 4 with younger kids who have 4 tickets and only 1 or 2 or 3 get in - that's not a good experience at all?

But in the end - even with a full on solid pre-reservation system - most people won't pay attention to the details, they'll just show up blind and be all 'no one told me' when the chips fall. As another has mentioned - May 31st is the big date - it's the one everyone is using and it comes with strings attached that people seem to be glossing over. This group here - this is a group of very detailed oriented Disneyland fans and seasoned park goers - this is the 1% or even less.

 

[HydroGuy]

Lottery will not control crowds, least not if it's tied to tickets vs. accounts as that would be awful for families - family of 4 with younger kids who have 4 tickets and only 1 or 2 or 3 get in - that's not a good experience at all?

I am not recommending a lottery, just saying it works functionally at TDS. If you have a group, you can enter everyone's park tickets in and the whole group is selected or not. So parties are not split up. It is practical way of handling overdemand on the same day without pre-reservations.

And no matter how Disney decides to allocate access, there will still need to be gate keepers at the entrances to SWGE. A lottery is no different in that way as long as the lottery machines are located outside SWGE.

 

[CO2CA]

I bet you anything they'll have a reservation system similar to FP+ for these rides.

They call them FP+ reservations down in Florida, not "advanced reservations" yet you still need to make them in advanced. These will be linked to a park ticket, like you have down there. This makes the most sense to me.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

Just got a DVC reservation for May 31st at Grand Californian. It's a 3 bedroom for me and a friend but completely worth being there opening day!

We’ve had reservations at the Grand (DVC) for a while now, June 1-4, to celebrate “end of the school year”. Surprised to find out that it now lines up with SW smuggler’s run. If the reservation system means that wait times aren’t hours and hours, we’ll go; otherwise, we don’t mind waiting a year, and enjoying the rest of the park/parks.

 

[BadPinkTink]

@wideeyedwonder have you seen this thread, The June 2019 Check In https://www.disboards.com/threads/june-2019-check-in.3718220/