Everything’s coming up Star Wars these days. As the May 31st opening of the massive new land approaches, change is coming fast and furious to the Disneyland resort. A number of projects, policies, and tweaks are being made to ensure that the launch of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is more magical than miserable. 


STAR WARS: GALAXY’S EDGE NEWS

With all the rain lately, many have been concerned that the new Star Wars land might not make its target date. But everything is actually still on track in spite of the weather.  

Star Wars Grand Opening Demand Management

The pent up interest in the new land is massive. But rather than let hundreds of thousands of people line up in front of the park for days on end for a chance to experience the force for themselves, Disneyland is confronting the demand dilemma head-on.  

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements
The future entry into Star Wars land will soon be the portal to the hottest ticket in town.

There will be NO STANDBY LINE for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. For the first month, all guests must have a reservation to visit the new land. Details on how the reservations will be obtained have not yet been revealed, but they will be offered in advance so guests will know before they ever get to the resort if they have a chance to visit Black Spire Outpost for themselves.

The Star Wars reservations will be for a specific period of time to ensure that the maximum number of guests will be able to experience the land. While many would no doubt want to spend all day in the new land, that won’t be possible in the early months of the new experience.  However, the limited number of guests allowed into the land should make it possible for all guests who gain entry to actually experience the interactivity of Galaxy’s Edge.  

With reservations set for access to the land, Fastpass will not be necessary. As a result, the land will open with only standby queues. 

Queue Management

The prime directive is to keep the lines organized and controlled. But as line lengths increase, it is also important to address guest comfort. Snack and beverage vending will be offered when attraction queue length gets long. There will also be a system in place for guests to exit the line to use the restroom without losing their spot.  Atmosphere entertainment will also be used and cast members are encouraged to interact with guests (ie. trivia, games, photo frames, etc.)

Switchback lines will be implemented as necessary for the lightsaber and droid shops as well as the Cantina. Overflow switchbacks will also be used as needed for the Millennium Falcon attraction.  

Capacity

The capacity of the land is more or less dependent upon the hourly capacity of the Millennium Falcon ride to ensure that every guest who enters the land can ride the attraction.  

As a result, it’s quite possible that instead of oppressive crushing crowds in the opening weeks of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the park might actually maintain acceptable crowd levels.  Many folks will likely wait until they have either obtained a Star Wars reservation or until later in the summer when the restriction is lifted.  

Virtual Queue

But what happens after the reservation period ends? Won’t the land just fall into a delayed chaos of crowds? Disneyland has thought that through as well. Rather than long standby lines, the park is currently working on a virtual queuing system which will notify guests when their opportunity to visit Star Wars land has arrived. This will allow guests to visit the rest of Disneyland without waiting in a long line outside Galaxy’s Edge.  

Guest Costume Policy

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

The costume policy will stay the same for now. While bounding (regular clothes inspired by a character) is absolutely fine, real costumes will not be allowed. Even though some costuming will be sold in the land, they won’t be allowed to actually be worn in the land by guests. 

PARKING & SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS

The Star Wars impact will be felt before you ever set foot in the park. To accommodate larger crowds and interest in Disneyland, the Resort arrival experience needs to be refined and expanded. Disney will be using social media, app alerts, and street signage to notify guests of parking options.

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

More than 5300 parking spaces will be added to the resort area. And to access all those extra spots, 16+ additional toll lanes will also be added.

Each lot will also have two to three entry points, which will allow more cars to park at once. Lots currently have just one entry each.  

The two structures will have electronic parking indicators to assist guests with finding an open spot. This will be particularly helpful later in the day when parking levels are reparked.  

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

The newest lot, next to Mickey and Friends, will be called Pixar Pals Parking. And here are the proposed names for the new levels: 

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

The new Pixar Pals parking structure will also contain a pedestrian bridge which will link the structure with the west end of Downtown Disney. 

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

We’ll be interested to see how many guests opt to walk via Downtown Disney to/from the parks. On busy days, Downtown Disney becomes fairly gridlocked in certain areas already. Perhaps there needs to be a project Stardust for Downtown Disney as well.    

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

But the west side parking isn’t the only expansion. The Toy Story lot will also be expanded for guest use. The cast member parking will be moved to other areas around the resort to allow more guests the ability to park in this high capacity lot.  

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

Security Expansion

33 additional security lanes have been added (or will soon be added) across the resort area. 

FASTPASS FINETUNING 

The park has been making all sorts of small changes to the Fastpass system lately. Most of the tweaks are invisible to guests but involved the volume and timing of passes and how that impacts the overall flow of the resort. For example, Fastpass reservations are minimized for Matterhorn in the period directly following parades, as many extra guests tend to flow toward the attraction standby line. Rather than have standby back up, the volume of Fastpass tickets is decreased for that block of time.  

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

There’s another change coming soon to Fastpass regarding the recovery process. Currently, when an attraction breaks down you are able to use that ticket on any other Fastpass attraction. Unfortunately, this negatively impacts the major E-Tickets as most guests will pick those. That puts standby guests at a disadvantage.  To even things out, attractions will soon have tiers. When an attraction breaks down, you’ll instead be offered a choice of attractions you can select, but not all attractions. There will initially be two groupings of attractions. A date for this change has not yet been confirmed.  

Additional micro adjustments will continue to be made on the system to manage line lengths and overall park operations.  

PROJECT STARDUST EXPANSION

We previously brought you news about Project Stardust, which is a fancy name for a collection of crowd flow enhancements across the park. Many of these projects involve the cutting of curbs, reshaping of gardens, removal of stroller and seating obstructions and creation of new spaces for guests to sit and relax away from busy walkways.  

We’ve been documenting all of these projects as they occur, but some major new projects are on the way.  

Curb Lowering

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements  

Following the success of the recent Main Street curb lowering, the park now plans to lower the curbs around the outer perimeter of the Central Plaza (also known as the Hub). The central Hub itself will remain as it is, but the curbs on the outer ring – from Adventureland all the way around to the castle – will be lowered. The east side, near Tomorrowland, will be addressed at a later date.  

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements
The west side of the hub will all be flattened like this

The curb changes should help with the massive crowds before and after Fantasmic and fireworks. It is hoped that fewer strollers and wheelchairs getting caught on curbs will result in faster traversal for everyone around the area.

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements
The center part of the hub will remain the same

The Castle construction walls have already been pushed out toward the Hub. More walls will soon join them.  

Castle Status

Speaking of the Castle, the rain has not slowed down the repainting and reroofing project. It is hoped that the Castle will reopen in time for Star Wars land.

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements

Also, there have been far fewer guest complaints regarding the castle construction than expected. Park staff suspect that the interesting printed scrims, particularly of the Maleficent Dragon on the back of the castle, have been popular with tourists and locals alike. Expect more creative scrims in the future.

Adventureland Entry Project Delayed

We’ve previously told you about plans to rework the entry into Adventureland. In order to preserve the Adventureland sign, the project has been delayed a bit and may not begin until later in the summer. When complete, the little alcove under the current sign will be removed so the entry walkway will be less obstructed.  

More News – Smoking and Strollers

We also have news about the smoking and stroller policies, please click through: Smoking Out and Smaller Strollers at Disneyland

 

Preparation for Galaxy’s Edge goes far beyond its niche at the far corner of Disneyland. Has Disneyland addressed the key needs to prepare the park for Disneyland most highly anticipated offering ever? Let’s hear from you in the comments below.  


All of our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge content can be found at the following link:

, BREAKING NEWS: New Star Wars Land Details & Resort Enhancements
Click HERE

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Dusty Sage
Dusty is the founder and CEO of MiceChat.com. When he's not visiting theme parks and writing, editing or speaking about Disney and theme parks worldwide, Dusty is involved in multiple Disney related projects and charities. He helped save and restore the charming Walt Disney Birthplace in Chicago, launched the Dick Van Dyke Foundation, and is the curator of Walt Disney's historic 1930's estate in Hollywood. If you've got news or photos to share with the MiceChat community, or would like to book Dusty for an upcoming event, please contact [email protected]