New SWGE Superthread! Now Open to All! (6/24/2019)

[katyringo]

I would hazard a guess that the following factors are driving lower attendance:

1. Summer is no longer a crazy busy season at Disneyland
2. There are signs the economy is softening. Consumers may be pulling back on discretionary spending (i.e. $149 for a single day ticket at DL).
3. Galaxy's Edge may not be bring in new revenue as much as it protects existing revenue. What I mean by that is - GE will be a way to improve the value of the park for those that are already loyal to Disneyland. It may not bring in new customers that have never typically spent $$ on theme parks. Which leads to...
4. I do think the use of the Star Wars IP from the new trilogy has limited or put a ceiling on demand from those in bucket #3. If they had gone with original trilogy IP and characters, they might have had a chance to bring in some new customers.

Just my .02. And I realize the jury is still way, way out on GE.

I agree with you!! I was trying to put that into words to my husband.

When you go to Harry Potter world you are immersed in the book/movies that you love. The characters that you love. The places you love. I don’t love Batu... idk what it even is.

A land with yoda and like sky walker and princess , on planet we love and know?

What are people most drawn to in Batu? The Falcon.. because they know it!!!!!

What else? The light sabers and it’s expirence that includes Yoda’s voice! Why do we think the wand shop at HP is so successful? Because we know it!

The other thing is that people who aren’t die hard fans if you ask them what they know about Star Wars it’s the above as well.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I am here now. It is by no means “dead.” There are plenty of people here. However, it’s definitely less busy than one might expect based on the time of year and the fact that SWGE just opened to everyone. Pirates was a walk on at noon.

I went over to SWGE just to check out the situation. All entrances open, no lines to get in. Plenty of people in the land but it was by no means packed. No line to build a droid. Still no metal gift cards. Smugglers Run was a 60-minute wait around 11:30.

 

[LizzyS]

Can anyone confirm that the Kylo Ren legacy saber blade is actually a set that comes with the two exhaust/side pieces? Surely it must be.

 

[tstidm1]

I think all of those factors are affecting whether people are coming. I am in Los Angeles next weekend and I will be doing other things besides Disneyland. Biggest factors for me was a friend who didn't want to do Disneyland (not a big Disney fan) and $149 day tickets. I'm surprised that Disney opens some AP Blackouts soon to get attendance up.

 

[BigCheese]

Can anyone confirm that the Kylo Ren legacy saber blade is actually a set that comes with the two exhaust/side pieces? Surely it must be.

Yes, the two lateral vent quillon “mini blades” come with the purchase of the hilt. There are a couple of YouTube video reviews out there and one shows the unboxing.

 

[twitch]

A sense of place. That’s what HP at Universal has over SWGE.

Ask 10 HP fans to name three places in the HP universe that they must see, and you’ll get pretty consistent answers: Hogswart Castle, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade.

Ask 10 Star Wars fans to name three must-see places if they were to tour the SW galaxy, and I don’t have a clue what sort of answers you get - Tatooine? The Death Star? The swamp? Cloud City?

The very nature of the HP universe makes it much easier to create a place that large numbers of a unified fan base care about seeing. Because SW was created over decades of films you start with a segmented fan base in the first place. Because the universe is huge and not rooted in a single place, you’re left with creating a new world and plopping the MF in it—one of the few consistent “places” that appears throughout the universe.

From the beginning, the Imagineers were faced with a daunting task to try to do with SW what Universal did with HP.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Someone on Twitter is claiming the wait for SR is posted at is 50 but the actual wait is about 20 and the land is very quiet right now. Anyone there this afternoon confirm this?

 

[LizzyS]

Yes, the two lateral vent quillon “mini blades” come with the purchase of the hilt. There are a couple of YouTube video reviews out there and one shows the unboxing.

Thank you! I'll hunt down that video.

I'm asking because I want a Kylo saber, period, but want to know what I'm getting if I wait to buy one at Galaxy's Edge instead of getting another version.

 

[Didi8367]

Have to second this. Went end of June through the 4th in 2017. Best summer ride times ever with almost everything we wanted at or near immediate return. It was unbelievable. Hoping tomorrow feels the same!!!

We went the first week of July 2017 and had an absolute blast. No real crowds to speak of, short lines, we even walked right up about 10 minutes before the fireworks started and got a great spot near the hub to watch. I kept looking around for a cast member to tell me to move, or to see if I'd inadvertently taken someone's spot or was blocking a child's view, etc. But, no. It was just a good spot! I'm really hoping it's the same/similar when we get there 10 days from today!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Someone on Twitter is claiming the wait for SR is posted at is 50 but the actual wait is about 20 and the land is very quiet right now. Anyone there this afternoon confirm this?

I left the land around noon but from what I saw when I was there today I believe that could be true about the crowds. Around 11:45 the posted ride wait time was 60 minutes and I could see they were utilizing the overflow queue so I believe that was probably accurate at that time.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I have talked to a lot of families today while waiting in lines and everyone has asked me why it doesn’t seem as busy as they expected. Many people I talked to had no plans to visit SWGE and were surprised when I told them them the land was open and not crowded.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Someone on Twitter is claiming the wait for SR is posted at is 50 but the actual wait is about 20 and the land is very quiet right now. Anyone there this afternoon confirm this?

I had a friend ride around 3 with a 35 minute wait.

 

[az4boys]

Regarding summer of 2017: Disneyland was tweaking their fast pass system in preparation for MaxPass. We went the second week of July. It was amazing. Before we got there, the mandatory wait to use a FP was eliminated (I think before that it was 30-45 minutes, not sure) and many rides had immediate FP available. My kids could ride BTMRR as many times as they wanted through the FP line with no wait. It was that trip that confirmed to me that many people don't even try to use the FP system because the stand-by line was still long on rides with immediate FP return times. I'm sure we walked past the same people multiple times. I think based on the comments about this summer, using MP right now would be about the same as that summer with no FP waits. Makes me want to plan a quick trip, but going to the parks for one day would cost our family of 6 at least $1500 for tickets, hotel, and gas. Food and souvenirs would certainly add more.

 

[agamble]

Ok so we spent the day at DL. I agree with the poster above who said the parks were far from dead. Yes, wait times were great. But the park did not feel dead at all. There were guests everywhere. Fireworks viewing was pretty packed too. However, even with our 3 munchkins in tow we rode 25 rides today with only a few repeats. We used FP just a handful of times, and mostly as instant FP except Hyper Space Mtn. Which we had to wait several hours to use the FP. I thought the crowds were perfect for guest enjoyment, but I could see the money grabbers at Disney wanting more guests.

We went to Batuu in the 1 o'clock hour and the posted wait for Millenium Falcon was 50 minutes. We waited 32 minutes to get to Hondo and by 40 mins we were on the ride. When we got off we noticed the posted wait was the same, but the line was significantly shorter so we hopped back in line and waited just over 30 mins total. At that time they dropped the posted wait to 35 min. That was nice with a new ride. We enjoyed the ride. As a party of 5 both rides we were given both pilots and gunners and one engineer. The single rider who rode with us got the other engineer assignment. I got to be the left pilot and an engineer. They required a related (or in charge) adult to sit next to or behind a child. This meant our kiddos could not be engineers, but they were happy with gunner and pilot. I did not think It was hard to see or focus on the action on the screen from either position. We did better on our second ride because our single rider was more help than the first one. It helps if people complete their tasks. Honestly we enjoyed the ride. But we're also mid 30s with kids, so video games are familiar to us.

I bought a bag of popcorn to share while we were in line. It is overpriced. $8 for a smaller bag than the regular popcorn stands. Blue milk is also about $8 and in small cups. We ended up passing on the milk. The toys and pets are pricey too. Galaxy's Edge is pricier than the rest of the park.

We went back to SWGE after dark to look aroumd at the lighting. It is very beautiful.

I say if you live close enough to make a trip in the next few weeks you should. We're glad we changed our plans and went today.

 

[McNs]

Though crowds are great now, I'm still expecting the worst when we are there 10/9 & 10/10. All APs will be open and the Halloween crowds will be in full force. If ROTR is open then it will be even worse..

My thoughts on current crowds:

• DLR are likely running all rides at maximum capacity in anticipation of the crowds
• Most APs are blocked...
• Blocked AP holders are more likely to wait until they can go rather than dropping $150 on a single day
• If you are going to drop $150 on a day, then many will be waiting for ROTR to open
• Smugglers Run is (I gather) a high capacity ride with no Fastpass interruptions - this means it can process a lot of people each hour. If they had FP, I would expect MUCH longer standby wait times
• Not all Star Wars fans are Disney Parks fans
• Not all Disney Parks fans are Star Wars fans
• As others have noted, summer (especially early summer) is the new low season
• EVERYONE is waiting until 10/9 & 10/10 to go...

I also think the constant price increases have finally caused people to reassess park visits, and are now planning fewer trips.

 

[poptart90]

Though crowds are great now, I'm still expecting the worst when we are there 10/9 & 10/10. All APs will be open and the Halloween crowds will be in full force. If ROTR is open then it will be even worse..

My thoughts on current crowds:

• DLR are likely running all rides at maximum capacity in anticipation of the crowds
• Most APs are blocked...
• Blocked AP holders are more likely to wait until they can go rather than dropping $150 on a single day
• If you are going to drop $150 on a day, then many will be waiting for ROTR to open
• Smugglers Run is (I gather) a high capacity ride with no Fastpass interruptions - this means it can process a lot of people each hour. If they had FP, I would expect MUCH longer standby wait times
• Not all Star Wars fans are Disney Parks fans
• Not all Disney Parks fans are Star Wars fans
• As others have noted, summer (especially early summer) is the new low season
• EVERYONE is waiting until 10/9 & 10/10 to go...

I also think the constant price increases have finally caused people to reassess park visits, and are now planning fewer trips.

So...other than you going on 10/9 & 10/10...is there another reason “everyone” is waiting until that time? Apologies if I’ve missed something obvious, but my “three-nager” had a Fantasmic meltdown tonight and I’m still packing cause I’ve wasted three days watching the ride times...

 

[njchris]

I’m still packing cause I’ve wasted three days watching the ride times...

That made me laugh out loud!

 

[midnight star]

Has anyone tried the popcorn? How does it taste? It looked a little out there for me to try

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Has anyone tried the popcorn? How does it taste? It looked a little out there for me to try

It tastes like Fruit Loops with the occasional mildly spicy Loop thrown in. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t think we’ll get it again.

 

[gottalovepluto]

So...other than you going on 10/9 & 10/10...is there another reason “everyone” is waiting until that time? Apologies if I’ve missed something obvious, but my “three-nager” had a Fantasmic meltdown tonight and I’m still packing cause I’ve wasted three days watching the ride times...

• ROTR
• Already spent this year’s Disneyland money during the Spring Promo
• Already spent this year’s vacation time/money on a different summer vacation