I sincerely doubt that. wasn't theme park attendance on the whole up this year?
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Disney Parks Veteran Steps Down Amid Sluggish Star Wars Land Attendance
- Thread starter El Bombastico
- Start date
I sincerely doubt that. wasn't theme park attendance on the whole up this year?
Why would anyone plan a big fly to Florida/Califonria to see Galaxy's Edge trip when the marquee ride for the park isn't even open? If you're someone that goes pretty often, sure, check it out, but Disney is expensive enough that a lot of people would wait 6 months to get the whole experience.
I see DCA, especially back then, and see Six Flags with the Disney name slapped on it. Like, why would I want to go to that?
Disney actively made people not want to go. Also the park is so expensive and a lot of local AP holders couldn't get into the new section until recently so Disney essentially orchestrated the low attendance.
It'll likely get busier the closer it gets to when the new film comes out, but man...nobody wants to spend $100+ on a pass right now with the holidays literally being around the corner.
I don't think the designer should be leaving Disney for something that is out of her control, though. Disney turned people off from coming to the parks by claiming the crowds would be massive and doing that whole reservation system AND it was peak season. Idk what Disney expected.
Not to mention they've intentionally been raising the prices to cull crowds. They finally succeeded. They should be pleased with themselves lol
It'll likely get busier the closer it gets to when the new film comes out, but man...nobody wants to spend $100+ on a pass right now with the holidays literally being around the corner.
I don't think the designer should be leaving Disney for something that is out of her control, though. Disney turned people off from coming to the parks by claiming the crowds would be massive and doing that whole reservation system AND it was peak season. Idk what Disney expected.
Not to mention they've intentionally been raising the prices to cull crowds. They finally succeeded. They should be pleased with themselves lol
Yea they aren't raising prices to lower the crowds. They been raising prices with crowds increasing for years now and it is possible they are reaching a breaking point especially with the economic anxiety
Having been to the Hollywood Studio's Galaxy's Edge twice, and as an annual passholder, there really isn't much to do, the smuggler's run ride is fun, but everything else is expensive, building a lightsaber (if one can get a reservation) is 200$, and building a droid is 100$, it's all pretty expensive.
I go to the both Disneyland and World about 1-3x a year... randomly it usually happens. Either because of Disney Half Marathon, or a trip to visit friends out West.
We've been waiting to do Star Wars Land until it "calms down" a bit... and are waiting for the second ride to go online this fall. I think a lot of people realize the world isn't done, so why waste the time now when you're going to want to go back later? A lot of my friends and family all had the same reaction - we can wait a bit.
I don't think it's a condemnation of Star Wars, regardless of what fucking crazy people on the Internet like to make believe... it's a practical thing for lots.
We've been waiting to do Star Wars Land until it "calms down" a bit... and are waiting for the second ride to go online this fall. I think a lot of people realize the world isn't done, so why waste the time now when you're going to want to go back later? A lot of my friends and family all had the same reaction - we can wait a bit.
I don't think it's a condemnation of Star Wars, regardless of what fucking crazy people on the Internet like to make believe... it's a practical thing for lots.
Wife and I are actually going to Disney World in a couple days. I can report back on lines and crowdedness and stuff.
Oh, sorry I was being sarcastic. My point, because I am a local to Disneyland, is that they've slowly been pushing people away from wanting to go to any Disney park and resort with the insane prices. Locals stopped going unless they had passes and I have die-hard Disney fans for friends who have opted to get annual passes at other parks this year to save money but still get the chance to go to a theme park during the year.
So now that Disney has essentially priced out their audience on top of the "ITS GOING TO BE PACKED" marketing, they can't blame anybody but themselves.
I see the same happening with the Star Wars hotel/resort as you have everyone going "ITS GONNA BE SOLD OUT FOR YEARS" and how crazy expensive it is. I can see a few months after opening the offers to get people to go will start trickling in.
In FL you also got the competing parks offering all kinds of resident deals as well for extra free tickets and such. Disney is raising prices and people have fear of crowds for the new stuff, while the competition is tossing out all kinds of deals
They made you jump through a ton of hoops to get in during the first couple of months. I'm not even sure you can just show up and go now, maybe you can, but it was never communicated. Essentially, they spent the entire lead up talking people out of not showing up and now they are upset that people didn't show up.
The area itself looks neat and I'm excited to go at some point.
The area itself looks neat and I'm excited to go at some point.
That's part of it. Disneyland has a set footprint and basically can't grow any bigger than it already is because it's built in the middle of a city. Disney World doesn't have the same problem since Disney owns that entire chunk of the state and can basically do anything they want with it.
Here's my logic:
1. I'm not going to visit the Star Wars land until it's complete – meaning both of the thrill rides are open and all of the construction is done
2. I'm not going to visit until the hype is gone and the wait times are shorter
3. It's still hot as balls outside; would rather go when things cool down
1. I'm not going to visit the Star Wars land until it's complete – meaning both of the thrill rides are open and all of the construction is done
2. I'm not going to visit until the hype is gone and the wait times are shorter
3. It's still hot as balls outside; would rather go when things cool down
You can just go whenever you want now, outside of the Cantina, you can get in easily and the crowds aren't bad. The cantina still gets crowded and is usually reserved up, which is not that different from many popular disney restaurants. The bars and restaurants are popular destinations for locals to go to so they often plan out regular reservations.
People have been b
I don't see that as a problem. I like the ability to walk around the entire park in a hour.
I don't see that as a problem. I like the ability to walk around the entire park in a hour.
Disneyland is too expensive, and it's the only reason I have not gone. I'm not paying $300 just to get two people in during the summer!!! That's my car payment.
The competition is starting to be not just the better deal, but the better experience. Universals transformation over the last 10 years has been pretty incredible. The resort offerings, the new rides, volcano bay, and now the 3rd gate announced with nintendo IPs and others, it's getting to be a lot closer overall. Pair all of that with generally cheaper prices, a better fast pass system, and usually less crowds overall and I much prefer the universal experience to Disney.
They need to adopt Tokyo Disney;s pricing. Wife and I both visted 2 parks for $275 USD. Both of us visiting two parks in the us is over $450. But now they are offering Noon access tickets which is a step in the right direction. 2 parks for 1 person around $160+ tax with entry after 12pm
The AP at Universal is also like 200 bucks cheaper with no blackout dates. For almost a year they were also giving away extra free 6 months on passes too. They regularly offer all kinds of free days and such promos, while Disney never gives any offers to it's locals, they just raise prices.
After reading the first page it is clear Star Wars isn't dead. There were too many dumb decisions before relying on that excuse. This firing makes a ton of sense in light of most of the bad ideas plaguing this park. It also doesn't help matters that the economy is about to be in recession so they will struggle even harder than other forms of entertainment with physical buildings. Disney is too expensive during such times.
At least at Disney World, there was nothing to even do. Smugglers Run was a 45 minute wait time for an on-rails shooter that was like 5 minutes long. There was some other thing Path of the Jedi I think it was called, but it was either down or not ready to be opened.
So everything else to do there was just spend money. I can buy Star Wars shit online, why would I want to pay $100 to get into the parks just to spend $30 on a lightsaber.
So everything else to do there was just spend money. I can buy Star Wars shit online, why would I want to pay $100 to get into the parks just to spend $30 on a lightsaber.
45 minutes for 5 minutes is not bad. Hell Tower of Terror is ancient (but awesome), and it still occasionally has 2 hour wait times. When the seven dwarves mine cart coaster opened even months later it was still 4 hour waits.
The problem isn't the wait times necessarily, it's that they eliminated anything else to do in the area because they anticipated massive crowds and were overly concerned with traffic flow. There's nowhere to sit and look at all the cool world building all around you. There's just that one ride and places to shop and that's literally it. Most parts of Disney have little areas where guests mingle and can enjoy a turkey leg or whatever while they plan where to go next or watch the performers they have roaming the area, but Galaxy's Edge wants you to move along, storm trooper style.
Diagon Alley, in contrast, has little outdoor seating areas all around where you can watch the interactive elements in the set design and just chill for a bit. It makes the whole immersive element both locations are going for feel alive when you feel invited to stay.
Yea GE is really actually boring. You walk through it once and you are kinda done unless you are waiting in lines. There is like no hang out areas, no live entertainment, and nothing interactive. You are just walking through an area with a few photo ops and stuff to look at, but you aren't gonna do much. The cantina is small, they should have had more things like it throughout the area for people to go hang out at. With the reservation system it basically kills the cantina for lot of visitors so they just flow through GE real quick
At the current prices? I can't even bother to make the 45 minute drive. Unless money is just no object or something.
I agree with others, for the price they're asking, if you're saving up for a Disney trip you might as well wait until everything is open and maybe the crowds die down a little, unless you can afford to go like every year or something.
I would never ever pay for a day or park hopper for Disneyland, which is why I'm a Passholder and live like 5 minutes away making short after work trips absolutely worth it. The hyped rides are like 20-30 minute wait times max and rides like The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Soarin' are pretty much a walk on. Fiance and I usually do Disney World once a year, but that's going to end now seeing as there really isn't a "down time" anymore for the Florida parks and wait times and crowds are pretty unbearable.
Star Wars at Disneyland was an insane disappointment without having the other ride open alongside it. They should've opened it only at Hollywood Studios. Now the price increase at Disneyland because of it has deterred a lot of people from going, even though I'd say a large majority of attendees are Passholders.
Usually, but Soarin' was boosted for a while because it got changed back to California and Mansion is currently in Holiday mode so its wait times average around 30-40 mins
Went to Disneyland last weekend. Just from a design and detail perspective, Galaxy's Edge is just stunning. It was great to experience. But yeah, there's not a lot to actually DO there.
Yeah there really isn't. Falcon is a decent simulator but that's about it. Saber and droid building are upcharges, cantina is super hard to get into, and Rise isn't open.
...Listing all that out, I guess there actually is a decent amount to do, but there's a real issue with casually accessing most of those experiences due to either added cost or availability (or both).
Having listened to Jenny Nicholson's review of this, I'm not surprised. IIRC, insanely hard to get entry there (some kind of online reservation system that "sold out" in, like, 2 hours for months) or expensive (hotel customers all get access, who at this point have to pay, like, ~900$ a night, all expenses taken into account) to be able to even go there and then your time there is limited to 4 hours? And then there's only two rides and a bunch of overpriced food & other crap there? And there aren't even any places where you can just sit around for a while, to rest or take in the sights or whatever. Sounds absolutely miserable.
Droid building is lame, as really theres not much variety to what you can do with the droid builds. Lightsabers are expensive as hell. Neither of these things are things that a person is going to keep coming back to do more than once in most cases.
Outside of the Falcon and the Cantina, there is not much to do that you would come back for to do over and over. And you can't get into the Cantina easily or need to plan way ahead with a reservation. So for a person who has done GE once already, you got essentially only the Falcon you can regularly go and visit.
Unlike other areas and parks where there is multiple things to do and see without the need of planning far ahead of time.
Not sure if it was said yet but it doesn't help(at least in Disney World) that galaxies edge launched with only one big ride in millennium falcon. I'm not really a Star Wars fan but if i was paying the crazy high prices(I'm going for 10 days in October and it was like 5k for 4 of us) I would wait until everything was ready instead of incomplete.
Easily.
It's got amazing use of sight lines to make the space feel realistically narrow in places while still avoiding too much overcrowding. Hiding areas from view before you go around this or that bend creates a real sense of exploration. It's so well done and should be the standard everyone else tries to reach.
And Disney responds with something closer to Hogsmeade's wide open empty spaces. It's shocking how far behind the curve they've gotten.
None of this has been true since like, right after it opened. Which illustrates an issue with perception. You can freely wander in and out at your leisure. There is seating, but it's in the area where rise is going to be, so it's pretty batten besides an xwing that sits there.
Found an interesting article that talks about the cuts that happened to GE.
It's a very interesting read
From looking around it seems like there's several factors to this problem.
1: Disney has been increasing prices at an insane degree. They've also been increasingly focus on up charge attractions IE the lightsaber building.
2: Galaxy Edge suffered major cutbacks because the executives just figured that "it's Star Wars, everyone will want to go to it!"
3: They've also been cutting back live entertainment across the parks.
So you put that all together and you get an expensive park that is pricing people out of it and the one thing that was supposed to bring the crowds in turns out to be half ass because of all the cutbacks.
It's a very interesting read
From looking around it seems like there's several factors to this problem.
1: Disney has been increasing prices at an insane degree. They've also been increasingly focus on up charge attractions IE the lightsaber building.
2: Galaxy Edge suffered major cutbacks because the executives just figured that "it's Star Wars, everyone will want to go to it!"
3: They've also been cutting back live entertainment across the parks.
So you put that all together and you get an expensive park that is pricing people out of it and the one thing that was supposed to bring the crowds in turns out to be half ass because of all the cutbacks.
The droid and saber experiences could have used a spectator component similar to Ollivander's imo. Then at least you could see something without having to pay. But yeah, there sure are a lot of upcharge/reservation experiences when considering how little else there is to do. Disney is overestimating the average guest's budget and willingness to plan ahead.
It's amazing they didn't look at the HP stuff at Universal and taken ideas of that.
There you got multiple rides, even interactive transport with the train and just the wait in line for that they made entertaining. You got all kinds of shops you can freely enter. Multiple places to eat, all the drinks. Places to hang out, the interactive exhibits, and also various live show performances throughout the day.
For Star Wars they essentially made three stops that involve spending a bunch of money and one single ride. You really got nothing else. And with HP you now have two separate zones connected to each other and both offer more than all of GE on their own.
They gaslit SoCal residents and park regulars into thinking that the opening of the Star Wars land was going to see an apocalyptic level of crowds. Everyone stayed away because of it, not to mention season ticket holders actually being banned from using their passes. Same exact thing happened with "Carmageddon" a decade ago, when they were shutting down a section of the 405 freeway in LA for a weekend and they predicted hellish gridlock on every square inch of roadway, which caused everyone to stay home and resulted in completely empty roads city-wide. They really should have known better, tbh, and I'm not surprised to see resignations resulting from it.
It certainly doesn't help that even after that initial opening phase, word of mouth is luke warm at best.
It certainly doesn't help that even after that initial opening phase, word of mouth is luke warm at best.
Movie and comic book franchises have historically had ups and downs and the party can't last forever. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people have lost some of their fondness for Star Wars and the MCU. Not saying Disney will take any losses, just that projections for their franchises may be a little high at the moment.