News Round Up 2018

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

well, at least SW:GE seems to be two E-ticket attractions ... and I think the idea is the land itself is an "attraction" with engaging with the residence and the droids and stuff (granted, who knows how well that will work when you can't even walk due to the crowds)

I'm expecting it to be like HP-especially Diagon Alley on steroids. I'm so thankful that I got to experience Diagon Alley with such little crowds. There's no way that you could really soak up all the fun little nooks and crannys and intricate detail if a ton of people are there especially because it has interact ivefeatures with the wands. That to me is an unfortunate, yet unavoidable side effect to being an immersive land when its done so indepthly.

 

[skier_pete]

My hope is that they can somehow limit guests inside SWGE .. (at least initially) with a 1-way entrance (into Grand Avenue) and 1-way exit (out into Toy Story Land).
How they can do that with Fast Pass schedules is beyond me .. or how they can encourage people to leave once in there is beyond me.
But having a limited guest numbers in an immersive environment seems key. It was hard for me to be immersed into the beginning areas of Pandora trying to walk through narrow walkways, snaking around long lines of people waiting to get on the main ride there, waiting for a mob of people huddled around the Rider Switch kiosk just to get into the FP line.

I feel like they have to have a plan in place for this. Perhaps it's even a case of they will provide FP to the "land" so that you get entrance at X time and one ride on each ride. But yes, they will undoubtably have to restrict entry in some way. Remember they did this to Pandora and even to TSL for about 2 days.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

well, at least SW:GE seems to be two E-ticket attractions ... and I think the idea is the land itself is an "attraction" with engaging with the residence and the droids and stuff (granted, who knows how well that will work when you can't even walk due to the crowds)

I don't know, but I'm hoping (please) that the land itself can be considered an attraction of sorts. We can't wait to feel like we are actually in Star Wars! Just to walk around and see the design details, all the little things I'm sure (please) they will have for the fans, the Cantina, see the Millennium Falcon in person ...the rides are an added bonus!

I agree that the land itself will be an "attraction". But there is only so much "land" to walk on!! IMO, they needed something else to eat up crowds. I expect lines just to get in the land for a while, and ridiculous waits for AGES. I think it'll make Pandora's opening look like NOTHING. A 3rd attraction would have helped that.

To Disney's defense - would THREE attractions actually lead to more people coming to Disney that two? If you can't answer that yes, then I can see why they wouldn't. The fact is they are spending a BILLION dollars on the SW expansion. Hard to argue - it's should have been $1.3 BILLION.

No. But attracting more people is not going to be their problem. I think their problem with be guest satisfaction when they book a trip to do the SW stuff and can't even get into the land for X hours. Having something else to spread crowds out some would have been a long-term smarter move IMO.

Also, why build a third attraction when you can wait five or so years, build the expansion and suck up all that Star Wars fan money again

This is the only plausible answer I've come up with as well. This and spreading out CapEx given all of the expansion going on. I still don't like it, and it will make the land CRAZY crowded... more so than with a 3rd attraction that they have room for.

 

[tlmadden73]

No. But attracting more people is not going to be their problem. I think their problem with be guest satisfaction when they book a trip to do the SW stuff and can't even get into the land for X hours. Having something else to spread crowds out some would have been a long-term smarter move IMO.
.

They will have a solution for that and have been testing that already:

Buy the $XXX Early Morning Magic (with a breakfast) or Star Wars After Hours (with desserts and drinks) hard-ticket event for exclusive access to the Star Wars land and unlimited rides on the new attractions!

The long lines and limited access to the new land does nothing but help make these events seem worth it.

 

[soniam]

I feel like they have to have a plan in place for this. Perhaps it's even a case of they will provide FP to the "land" so that you get entrance at X time and one ride on each ride. But yes, they will undoubtably have to restrict entry in some way. Remember they did this to Pandora and even to TSL for about 2 days.

Universal has done this with each Wizarding World opening, actually requiring a ticket with a return time to even enter the land.

 

[rteetz]

If I remember correctly the Navi river ride was originally planned to be longer? Also i am not surprised they are holding off on a third ride for pandora, they have more films to come out. If they do well, we might see that third ride

Longer and more thrilling.

 

[rteetz]

While a third ride in Pandora(or an extra FOP theater) would be cool, it has to be way low on the priority list. Now doubt it would get used, but they really need the updates on DHS and Epcot first.

I wouldn’t say that. Disney know AK still needs more. If you go one park at a time you work into a stagnation issue again. They need to do multiple projects at once.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

They will have a solution for that and have been testing that already:

Buy the $XXX Early Morning Magic (with a breakfast) or Star Wars After Hours (with desserts and drinks) hard-ticket event for exclusive access to the Star Wars land and unlimited rides on the new attractions!

The long lines and limited access to the new land does nothing but help make these events seem worth it.

No doubt. But they’d sell the heck out of those offerings regardless.

 

[The Pho]

The long lines and limited access to the new land does nothing but help make these events seem worth it.

It can also hurt their reputation. If what they build isn't worth the wait for people, those people won't be spending more money and will discourage others from going. It also can increase the reputation of Disney being greedy, which is slowly a spreading concept recently, rather than just being expensive. It's something people are looking for more these days, and in particular the Star Wars adjacent crowd. Just look at the recent backlash in the gaming industry.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm expecting it to be like HP-especially Diagon Alley on steroids. I'm so thankful that I got to experience Diagon Alley with such little crowds. There's no way that you could really soak up all the fun little nooks and crannys and intricate detail if a ton of people are there especially because it has interact ivefeatures with the wands. That to me is an unfortunate, yet unavoidable side effect to being an immersive land when its done so indepthly.

and also increases the value of VIP/Paid Extra Hours events ... I am thinking that might be my plan - save $ elsewhere (stay off site, go fewer days, etc.) and use savings to pay for hard ticket even to allow me access to the land with fewer people

 

[tlmadden73]

It can also hurt their reputation. If what they build isn't worth the wait for people, those people won't be spending more money and will discourage others from going. It also can increase the reputation of Disney being greedy, which is slowly a spreading concept recently, rather than just being expensive. It's something people are looking for more these days, and in particular the Star Wars adjacent crowd. Just look at the recent backlash in the gaming industry.

*shrug* .. I don't know if people care at WDW. Doesn't seem to -- as people keep coming despite the increasing crowds and waits. People don't seem to care how long they wait in lines, otherwise why would lines for things like SDD and FOP be 2-3 hours long? People don't seem to mind wasting their time and waiting in long lines to experience something.

I mean, how do people get in a line that already has a posted wait time of 180+ minutes? The parks are open for only 12 hours and people are willing to use 1/4 th of their park time waiting in line for a SINGLE 5-10 minute experience. (Sure sure .. the queue itself for some rides is an attraction in itself).

I don't see SWGE not being "worth the wait" considering what people wait for already at WDW. Some people would start lining up today to get in if they could.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

*shrug* .. I don't know if people care at WDW. Doesn't seem to -- as people keep coming despite the increasing crowds and waits. People don't seem to care how long they wait in lines, otherwise why would lines for things like SDD and FOP be 2-3 hours long? People don't seem to mind wasting their time and waiting in long lines to experience something.

I mean, how do people get in a line that already has a posted wait time of 180+ minutes? The parks are open for only 12 hours and people are willing to use 1/4 th of their park time waiting in line for a SINGLE 5-10 minute experience. (Sure sure .. the queue itself for some rides is an attraction in itself).

I don't see SWGE not being "worth the wait" considering what people wait for already at WDW. Some people would start lining up today to get in if they could.

People wait in lines because they want to ride the ride. If it's the ride you've been waiting for, you know you won't be back in a long time or ever, etc you'd be far more willing to wait in lines for it. Frequent enough visitors will likely (though not always) just wait til next time or find a different time to go on it. Others just don't have that option unless they skip it..and there are people who do and then create a negative review because X ride was ridiculously long so they didn't get to ride it and yada yada yada.

 

[The Pho]

*shrug* .. I don't know if people care at WDW. Doesn't seem to -- as people keep coming despite the increasing crowds and waits. People don't seem to care how long they wait in lines, otherwise why would lines for things like SDD and FOP be 2-3 hours long? People don't seem to mind wasting their time and waiting in long lines to experience something.

I mean, how do people get in a line that already has a posted wait time of 180+ minutes? The parks are open for only 12 hours and people are willing to use 1/4 th of their park time waiting in line for a SINGLE 5-10 minute experience. (Sure sure .. the queue itself for some rides is an attraction in itself).

I don't see SWGE not being "worth the wait" considering what people wait for already at WDW. Some people would start lining up today to get in if they could.

2-3 hour waits aren't exactly an unusual thing at a park, whether it be Disney, Universal, Cedar Point, or Six Flags. So that is generally expected for the most popular attractions anywhere. Over that is rare, even for Flight of Passage. There is a bit of an exception for brand new attractions because people want to be the first or on the first day or close to it. That's why you see Toy Story Land go from an 8 hour wait to a 90 minute wait (which seems to be the normalized time for Slinky now) between the first and second day.

I was more referring to whether people think that what they ride is worth the time they waited. If it is, they'll give positive word of mouth increasing the number of people that want to go, which is precisely what benefitted Flight of Passage. If they think the wait was a waste of time for a subpar experience, they'll tell others not to bother. I personally expect the Star Wars rides to fully deliver stellar experiences, but how long people will be happy waiting is another story. From what I've heard from inside Disney, they are projecting 8 hour waits a year after opening. I'd say if that is in fact true, the rides will have to deliver something truly exceptional to keep people happy, and I mean more along the lines of the average park goer, not the Disney/ Star Wars super fans. Personally I'll be one of those nuts that's there opening day.

 

[amberpi]

They will have a solution for that and have been testing that already:

Buy the $XXX Early Morning Magic (with a breakfast) or Star Wars After Hours (with desserts and drinks) hard-ticket event for exclusive access to the Star Wars land and unlimited rides on the new attractions!

The long lines and limited access to the new land does nothing but help make these events seem worth it.

And I bet those events will be even higher priced than the other similar offerings, and I KNOW we'll be handing over money to stay late for the boys favorite franchise. What can you do? The kids could care less about TS, but SW is a BIG deal; doesn't hurt that DH and I love it. The crowds are scary for even this fan to consider though. These events may be so popular people might be scalping tickets...lol.

 

[amberpi]

From what I've heard from inside Disney, they are projecting 8 hour waits a year after opening. I'd say if that is in fact true, the rides will have to deliver something truly exceptional to keep people happy, and I mean more along the lines of the average park goer, not the Disney/ Star Wars super fans. Personally I'll be one of those nuts that's there opening day.

Are the lines going to have bathrooms and bars?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Are the lines going to have bathrooms and bars?

depends, do you have a FastPass?

 

[Sweettears]

Some new photos of Galaxy’s Edge in disneyland .... millennium falcon looks almost complete

https://**************.net/2018/11/...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Photos in article are from heliguy on instagram

Looking great.

 

[Sweettears]

The same except with the Skyliner and ratatouille at the back.

And at least a more complete Guardians building.

 

[Sweettears]

Epcot seemingly took advantage of the popularity of the Festivals. No need to build new RIDE attractions when people are willing to pay a theme park admission ticket to eat/drink around the World Showcase. Disney does a great job of adding attractions (in the form of entertainment or food) to the parks regularly though.

But with nothing new announced beyond rumors .. I don't see Epcot really being THAT much different in the next few years. One net-new attraction is good, but still not enough, even though both new attractions will probably be MAJOR draws though.

The problem with Epcot is it is just too big .. too spread out with not much in between. It takes a LOT of walking to go between the 6 buildings in Future World .. and even LONGER just to get to the "newest" attraction Frozen. I about broke my parents on the first day of our trip at Epcot and all we did was this (without any back-tracking):
Entrance -> Test Track -> Frozen -> Imagination (spent time there with ride, film festival and the jumping fountains) -> The Land -> The Seas -> Innovations West -> Exit.
That doesn't even count the run I did to Wonders of Life with my 2yo while everyone else was on Test Track.

(It was a pretty hot day for November too (high 80s).

The fact that its so big and spread out is what makes me love it. Doesn’t feel crowded even when it technically is on the scale.

 

[Sweettears]

MK is crowded enough. Booths would only add more issues.

You mean like personal tents?