It will come as no surprise to our readers that the force rising at the back of Disneyland will change many things. And how will Disney keep Galaxy’s Edge from overflowing with tourists? Advance reservations! I’ve got a number of items in today’s update including clearing out Galaxy’s Edge, the parking shuffle, and a sign of the times.
The Big Flush For Galaxy’s Edge
When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens on May 31, Disneyland appears to be all set to smoothly check in thousands of guests at a time using an advance reservation system. What may be a rocky work in progress will be clearing everyone out when their time is up.
One source intimated that guests’ entrance times to the new land will be staggered, like FastPass, so different reservation blocks overlap. Guests with different exit times could be differentiated by, for instance, wearing different color wrist bands, like during private party mix-ins.
But one cast member I spoke with has heard differently: “The reservations to visit Galaxy’s Edge will be timed. In several cast member Roll Calls and meetings, we have been told that guests for each reservation block will be allowed about two to four hours inside, and then kicked out for the next block of reservations. The land will be cleared out of ALL guests for each reservation, no exceptions.”
The company already knows many visitors will be reluctant to leave, so it is leaving much of the dirty work of crowd removal to park security officers. It will be interesting to see how strict Disney will be in cutting off lines to buy food and souvenirs, or with guests claiming they still haven’t had a chance to ride the Millennium Falcon.
Disney, of course, has decades of experience sweeping guests from the park at the end of the night or from certain areas (like Mickey’s Toon Town) that close early or during the fireworks or a parade. But this would be next level: Kicking guests out of the most popular area of the park will become a full-time job that repeats itself over and over and over.
It may sound daunting, but one experienced crowd sweeper took it in stride; she said most guests usually know when it’s time to go. “There are a few who just don’t get the hint—they are usually too dumb or their mind has been fried out from too much stress and sugar,” she said. “It will have to work.”
She added, “There will be plenty of signage and cast members will be warning guests. With Disneyland and DCA, we usually are given one hour to be completely clear. Thinking Disneyland is open around 8 to midnight in peak season, 16 hours operation, you could have three four-hour groups, plus one hour each to clear. I can see that. That’s just a theory. Team Disney Anaheim has not released detailed plans yet.”
If Disney does go through with complete sweeps and includes one-hour buffers, then making the blocks four hours instead of, say, two hours should give guests ample time to see everything they want and be more agreeable when it’s time to go. But it would also crush the land’s capacity.
The sweeps wouldn’t be short-lived, either. Although Disney announced that guests must make an advance reservation to be allowed into Galaxy’s Edge between May 31 and June 23, that doesn’t mean that afterwards guests will then be able to stay as long as they wish. Insiders expect timed visits to last for at least six months, and maybe up to a year.
Trading Spaces
Around the time Galaxy’s Edge opens, Disneyland expects to unveil an additional 7,000+ guest parking spaces. It is targeting a June completion of a new Pixar Pals parking structure (said to offer initially 5,000 and eventually up to 6,5000 spots), which sits next to the existing 10,000-spot Mickey & Friends structure.
About the same time 2,000 new spaces, plus new lanes, toll booths, and a new entrance off Haster Street will be added next to the Toy Story Lot. Security screening tents will also be installed in this new section, so guests can be screened prior to boarding the shuttle (and can bypass the security check-in at the esplanade).
The 2,000 new spots, however, aren’t entirely new. They are already there and currently in use—by employees as part of the Katella Cast Member Lot (KCML). During May and June, all cast members who park at KCML will be redirected to a new Manchester Cast Member Lot (MCML). The MCML is the patch of property where Disney had earmarked for a large parking structure, but gave up when local businesses pushed back on the company’s plans to build a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard. MCML will be integrated with the adjacent, sporadically used Pumbaa Lot (which is expected to continue to be used for both guests and employees, based on demand). MCML will have cast shuttles running to and from Harbor Pointe, although a good number of employees are expected to hike the distance.
The lot where the Carrousel Inn used to stand will remain clear as Team Disney Anaheim (TDA) holds out hope that it may one day build its bridge.
Playing the Market
In an effort to find cheaper ways to feed its cast members, Disneyland is expanding alternatives to Sodexo, which has held an exclusive contract to provide food service to resort employees for nearly two decades. Sodexo currently operates six employee cafeterias at the resort, backstage food trucks, and a Starbucks at Harbor Pointe. As an easy alternative, Disney has always offered vending machines backstage. Last year the large break area near the DCA parade building introduced something new: a pseudo mini-market where cast members can buy their own food and heat it. The concept is slowly expanding to other large break areas throughout the resort.
“Cast members can go in, select the food, and pay for it,” said one worker. “There is no cashier, so it is on the honor system, but there are plenty of surveillance cameras watching.
Adventure is Out There
Disneyland has filed permits to demolish the Adventureland entry sign. It’s part of a Stardust project you first heard about here on MiceChat in January. The column and breezeway which support the sign also serve to block traffic on busy days as guests use the smaller path to park strollers or stop and rest.
And while a piece of Disneyland history is about to be lost, it’s not ancient history. The original Adventureland sign from 1955 did not have this little alcove. The replacement sign will look very similar to the one being removed, but without an offending traffic obstruction.
Let us know how you think Disney should handle the reservations for Galaxy’s Edge. What’s the best solution for getting guests out of the new land on time? And how long do you estimate that a guest will need to ride the Millennium Falcon, shop, eat and feel that they’ve gotten their fill of Star Wars?
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