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Disney Parks Veteran Steps Down Amid Sluggish Star Wars Land Attendance
- Thread starter El Bombastico
- Start date
Go late OCT, Sept hottest month
If you spend a little more and stay on property, you get FP 60 days out. You are still at a slight disadvantage as anyone arriving a few days before you and going to your part of choice on the same day could steal your FP, but thats rare.
It's still mostly true. Rise helps the land out -- in theory, right now it is impossible to actually ride it unless you wake up at the crack of dawn and are there when the park opens, and even then it isn't a guarantee -- but for a land its size, it really needs one or two more attractions to round it out, even if they aren't E tickets. Another restaurant would also help.
Hmmm. You really think that cast members, the ones who are there day in and day out and actually get paid to be there, are the ones that would throw a fit or be tired of being in an in character land? Its definitely the customers complaining about it. I was talking to a cast member last time I went, they LOVE being a part of that experience, she cried when she got hired. They're absolutely being told to dumb it down when people start yelling at them or getting antsy.
Hollywood Studios schedule continues to get altered - opening time has been brought up to 8 for the rest of February, with some people expecting them to further revise opening time to 7 in a week by week basis.
With Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway opening soon, and the possibility to for it to also be on an initial boarding group setup things are gonna continue to be nuts in DHS for quite a while.
With Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway opening soon, and the possibility to for it to also be on an initial boarding group setup things are gonna continue to be nuts in DHS for quite a while.
I'm in line for Rise right now, Disney world. Got to MGM at 6:45am, got in the park before 7 and just stood around with the mass of humanity on their phones. The second it hit 7 I hit that boarding pass so fast, still got bordering group 62. Guy next to me like 30 seconds later was 120. Must have been gone in less than 3 minutes. But the ride has been moving well I guess. It's 11:20 and the 60s are being called in.
Going in March with my wife's whole family after M&MRR opens up. We're going to go to GE in the evening on a weekday so I know there will still probably be boarding groups, I just hope it won't as insane as it has been.
It's disappointing to hear that they use that shitty pass system in Disney World. What a stressful BS system. It practically ruined my trip to Disneyland.
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From what I've heard there was supposed to be another Restaurant (a fancy sit down one) and at least one more ride, but Disney scrapped them because the land as is already cost more to build than other entire theme parks.
What choice do they have? It is that or 10 hour lines.
I just went to Galaxy Edge Disneyland a few weeks ago. I'm pretty indifferent to Star Wars and I thought it was pretty weak. Its way in the back of the park and felt like a chore to get too. There's hardly anything to it and most of that is gift shops. I did not go on the Falcon ride as those types of rides leave me feeling very sick so maybe that is super cool. The Harry Potter land at Universal Studios was much more impressive I think. Way more magical than the poor showing at the Magic Kingdom.
What a ride, it's truly epic. When you step out into the star destroyer is a wow moment. It's a blast. The only thing is that it's not as thrilling as many rides, it's rather calm, it's more about the whole story and experience which is insane.
Make the fast pass cost more so less people have access. That's what Six Flags does (still hopefully).
It's very clear that Disney has been taking the example of Harry Potter at Universal to heart. Incredibly detailed theming, plenty of stores, a few big ticket rides. While Hogwarts opened with 3 rides (1 big one, 1 kids, and a re-theme), Diagon only really opened with 1 (2 if you count the train) and both have tons of stores.
The two major areas Disney has opened since (Pandora and Galaxy's Edge) are basically the same idea. I'd like more rides, but it has proven popular.
You have to come to universal studios in Orlando. The Harry Potter section is infinitely better with two sections and three more rides.
Infinitely better!? They did an amazing job and you're saying there is another one that puts it to shame!?
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This is something that my parent's and I talked about when we went to GE last year and they noticed how much of the land is built around giftshops/spending more money:
Disney parks only wants to cater to upper-middle-class people nowadays. When my family first went to Disneyland WAY back in 1992 or so, my sister and I got in for free, and my parents paid like $25 each. $50 in 1990 was expensive for the working-class family we were at the time, but nothing out of reach and really a bargin when you consider what Disneyland offers. And of course, we bought nothing else from the park, no souvenirs and especially no food, we brought our own and ate at the picnic area.
But that's the problem, Disney doesn't want people like that at their parks anymore. They don't want the working class people who save up for weeks to buy the ticket and then buy nothing else. They wanted the well-off people, the 6-figure-income nuclear families who not only buy 3-day or even 5-day passes but also buy all their food in the park while also spending $100+ each on t-shirts or other souvenirs. They want the families I saw at GE who bought each of their kids a lightsaber and a droid AND went to the Cantina to buy the souvenir cups while also later eating at the Blue Bayou and spending $300+ on just a single meal. That's the people they want to cater to now, and its reflected in both the rising ticket prices and also how new lands like GE can only be fully enjoyed if you;re prepared to spend extra $$$.
Haha well I guess it's just because Orlando has more space to work with. You have hogsmeade like in LA with Forbidden Journey and Hippogriff but there's also diagon alley which is a larger and more spectacle park with more shops, restaurants, and interactions. Also it's enclosed with a secret entrance so you really feel like you are in a whole new area.
Diagon alley has a gringotts bank ride which goes through the storyline in the last movie. It's like a mine cart ride with 3D.
You have the hogwarts train ride which brings you between diagon alley and hogsmeade which is fully themed and the windows are movie screens.
And then you have probably the best themed ride on par with rise of the resistance, Hagrids Motorbike which is a roller coaster with a lot of surprises, indoor and outdoor sections.
Orlando definitely has better overall rides than LA but LA has the behind scenes movie experience Orlando is lacking.
Orlando has TWO Harry Potter lands connected by way of the Hogwarts Express, which is a ride itself. The Hogsmead section (basically the same as the one in Hollywood) just opened an AMAZING new hagrid motorbike coaster. It's so good
Edit: Beaten. Badly
That does sound amazing and is a key difference between Harry Potterland and Star Warsland. In HP ALL the kids were wearing robes and it added to the atmosphere of actually being in the HP universe. I ithink it was pretty easy for those kids to imagine they're at Hogwarts when they're surrounded by other students. Star Wars didn't have that. It was a few Stormtroopers walking around. No one was really dressed up. Some people had porgs on their shoulder but that was about it. It felt fake where H Potter felt real.
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I loved Diagon Alley so much.
What's Hagrids Ride like? It was under construction when I went.
I don't want to spoil too much, but it's a blast. You actually feel like you're riding a motorcycle (I say this as an owner of one!) and it has a record-breaking amount of launches, so you never feel like your coaster is losing momentum. It's constantly surprising, is well themed (especially by Universal's usual coaster standards!), and is just a ton of fun. I actually wish I had ridden it after ROTR, as I think the latter felt a bit tame by comparison
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Yeah the custom wardrobe with the houses at HP is really well done and they let people wear whatever they want within reason. I don't know how kids wear that in the heat though. I am also a fan of how Harry Potter doesn't take in a particular time frame so all the characters are still there without worrying about the canon universe. Smugglers Run would have been a much better experience with Han Solo
Lol we all spreading the good word
Given general impressions in this thread, I think I'll plan my vacation going to Universal Studios again instead of Disneyland.
In part that I love cosplaying, and the fact that I can't immerse myself in Galaxy's Edge as an in-universe merchant or Bounty Hunter takes the wind out of my sails.
In part that I love cosplaying, and the fact that I can't immerse myself in Galaxy's Edge as an in-universe merchant or Bounty Hunter takes the wind out of my sails.
They shouldn't have cut those plans because it really does leave the land lacking, and I don't buy that it cost them more than entire parks. There just isn't enough in the land to justify that cost. If there -is- a "real number" out there it is surely a product of Hollywood Accounting. New Fantasyland and Carsland both were similarly scaled projects, so I imagine the cost is more around those.
I think both Pandora and Galaxy's Edge really need more rides. The popularity doesn't mean they lands are operating optimally. In fact, long lines that make it impossible to ride the attractions prove they aren't. The whole idea of having more rides is to spread out people and lessen the amount waiting for the big E ticket at any one time.
I'm a huge Star Wars fan but I don't see myself spending almost $1000 for a Star Wars themed DMV experience.
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Still would love to grab a legacy lightsaber though
It's been a large complaint of the Disney Parks fandom and DisTwitter for a bit. I do agree I full. My problem is there isn't enough incidental things in the land like Diagon has: there's very little actual interactivity, not much kinetic motion, no weenie like the dragon, no shows, etc. It makes the fact you need to spend money to entertain yourself more apparent. Diagon is the definition of a mall land but doesn't feel that way because of everything else.
The ride putters and accelerates like the janky bike it is, it's really cool. Intamin did a good job of the track layout *feeling* like a bike that's flying and has acceleration issues. Hagrid is *really impressive*. I don't think I can compare Rise and Hagrid but the pure ride segment is better on Hagrid while the whole package of Rise is more impressive.
You'd think they'd have remembered the lessons from California Adventure. They had massive plans for the new park, slashed the budget and whittled the plans down majorly, opened the park to major underwhelm, and then invested a butt ton of money to make it better... almost as much money as they planned on spending in the first place.
They should have stuck with their original plan. Galaxy's Edge needs it.
The analogy I thought up and going to use for my mega review is SWGE is a biggest, nicest playground around but none of the swings or slides are installed. You can tell where they are supposed to go. There are other fun things to do. But it's missing swings and slides.
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I plan on going to Disneyland in a few months but my fear is being there for multiple days and not getting into Rise at all. Having to be there at opening and competing with others hitting a button on the app doesn't sound fun at all. Been watching videos on it recently, hopefully it cools off some in the mornings.
Trying to convince the girlfriend that maybe we should go to universal since she likes Harry Potter and I would enjoy other stuff there.
Trying to convince the girlfriend that maybe we should go to universal since she likes Harry Potter and I would enjoy other stuff there.
We were originally supposed to get a Captain America themed E-ticket coaster, but it was ultimately deemed too expensive, so we're getting the Wakanda ride instead (which still sounds interesting even if it's another screen thing like Soarin), but delayed, launching way after the rest of the land sometime next year (maybe... they haven't broken ground on it yet).
The Spider-Man ride (which will be the only ride in the land until the Wakanda one opens) is a shooting competition ride like Buzz or Midway Mania instead of something bigger budget, and there was also originally supposed to be a Doctor Strange show of some sort, which may now just be used as meet and greet space.
But I'm sure the Ant-Man themed 'Micro-Brewery' will have some overpriced halfway decent food and some very overpriced drink that makes your mouth feel like things are popping in it to make everyone forget about the rest of the budget cuts.
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A fucking shooting ride? Holy shit, Marvel-land sounds half-assed as FUCK. And this is Disney's FLAGSHIP FRANCHISE, FFS.
I can almost, ALMOST accept GE being skimped a bit because Star Wars just isn't the pop culture monolith it once was. But the MCU IS at the moment, and Disney is still cheapening out? FFS...
Yup. There's going to be a lot of disappointed people imo. Granted, given how popular Midway Mania is... maybe not. I just think people are going to say "this is it?" even harder than Galaxy's Edge when it only had Smuggler's Run. Especially given they're going with the lazy budget-focused concept of it being a "campus" so they can get away with having generic looking barely themed buildings (because that's on theme!) just like they did with the "Studios" parks and existing Hollywoodland area in DCA.
There's also the added oddity of GotG Mission Breakout looming over it all, technically being part of the land, and very much having nothing at all to do with the land's theme or anything... though I suppose retroactively making it part of the land gives it two rides instead of one at launch.
I can't believe how packed Epcot was today. I went after doing Rise and it felt more packed than Hollywood was, just a mass of humanity moving through the world showcase. Man it wasn't like this growing up, Epcot would be the chill place, get on any ride fast, there was no wait at spaceship earth, now it's 40 min. Rising prices seems to have not deterred anyone. Hell they need to raise them more if this many people are going. It's insane. And Epcot is half closed, none of the new rides are open yet. It's gotten to the point where you can't enjoy the parks without fast passes or going at really odd times.
Test Track is closed for refurb right, upsets the balance lol. Also all that construction, its going to be amazing when its all finished.
The bolded is the real issue. But yes, like all of the American parks bar-Disneyland (and to a lesser extent, Magic Kingdom), they need to invest in more attractions.
I'm pretty surprised it's this busy at Epcot this weekend. I figured for sure there would be a window of a couple slow weeks after the marathon weekend/MLK day finished up prior to the February school vacation wave. Oh I think the poster above got it, probably due to Test Track being down, forgot about that.
Looks like I'll be going in late April, which I'm very excited to finally check out Galaxy's Edge among all the other new stuff since I went a couple years ago.
So as a relative Disney-ignoramus, what's the issue here? They have more money than god, right? So why are they being so tight with the pursestrings when it comes to these flagship IPs at their parks?