It was a HUGE weekend for Disneyland as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened at long last. Fears of massive overcrowding and backed up city streets were abated by a reservation system for the new land and passholder block-outs. The net result? An empty resort. . . except for Galaxy’s Edge that is.
We spent Wednesday through Sunday at Disneyland for the opening of Disneyland’s largest expansion ever. We’ve had an armada of coverage for you on all things Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge HERE. But we are so fatigued from being wished “bright suns” that we’re ready to return to the rest of the resort for a little peace and fun. Let’s take a look at the current conditions and construction at the resort, as well as the impact Star Wars has made.
Opening Weekend Empty
Exiting Star Wars Land, we felt a disturbance in the Force. I couldn’t lay my finger on it until I saw the pictures above… the park was deserted. And this didn’t just happen on Friday, but all weekend. Apparently all the restrictions Disney set up (Star Wars Land Reservations, No Standby Line, Crowd Hype, Paid Reservations, AP blackouts, CM self admission restrictions, etc.) have worked, maybe even a little too well. The following shots were taken Sunday, June 2nd but they represent the park conditions over the weekend:
Scroll for a sample of wait times mid-day on Saturday:
MiceChat polls indicated that this might happen – that tourists without Star Wars reservations would delay their visits until they could visit the land for themselves. And many locals have the mentality that they’ll wait to visit Disneyland until after the opening crowds for the new land have died down. But don’t assume that the opening of the new land was a dud. Once the reservations end later this month (reservations end on June 23rd), we still expect the crowds to show up in droves . . . though, passholder restrictions should mitigate some of the demand.
The winning result was wait until crowds die down:
More than half of all respondents indicated that they didn’t even try to get reservations:
And this poll indicated that most of you expected big crowds and don’t plan to visit until after crowds die down:
Walking though the parks, it felt like off-season in 1998. The rides with the longest wait times were Hyperspace Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers, and Soarin’ over California. But even those rides had waits only half of their usual length.
Check out some of these park conditions on Saturday:
Quite a few of the higher capacity attractions were at near walk-on conditions for the majority of the weekend. Rides like Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Small World can eat up crowds nearly as quickly as they arrive when the park isn’t overly packed. But even rides with lower capacity, like the Fantasyland dark-rides were at manageable conditions:
Walking through Fantasyland was surreal. We kept saying “there’s something missing” before realizing we weren’t tripping over strollers.
Across the way at California Adventure, the conditions were the same.
Normally, Starbucks is always busy on Buena Vista Street, but the cast members looked bored…
No line for ice cream at noon!
Cars Land was enjoyable and uncrowded.
25 minutes for Guardians on a Saturday? And even less than that for much of the weekend.
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Galaxy’s Edge Opening Day
So much could have gone wrong. Star Wars is the most successful franchise in movie history. Fans span nearly every generation. The demand is just huge. But Disney addressed the potential issues head-on. We’ve been talking about “Stardust” here for months. That’s Disney’s project to address the demand for Star Wars land by increasing capacity in the park, easing crowd flow, enhancing guest comfort, and addressing demand.
Opening day for Galaxy’s Edge was probably the best-organized event Disney has ever attempted. Parking lots opened early (just in case they were needed).
Disney has been very clear and vocal about restrictions regarding Galaxy’s Edge access and the lack of a standby line. Signs reminded guests of the required reservations were posted at all entrances to the resort just in case someone has been living under a rock. On opening day, Mickey and Friends and Toy Story Parking lot opened at Midnight. Besides the strange decision to send guests to Toy Story from a nearly empty Mickey and Friends around 5am for a while, they both ran very efficiently and were wide open.
Entering the park was a breeze. Just after 5am, guests were allowed into the park for both 8am Galaxy’s Edge reservations and the opening day merchandise release. Both groups were held at the hub until being sent to Launch bay around 6am.
Guests were encouraged to take the Main Street bypass . . . which wasn’t needed at all.
Castmembers held signs with phrases from Galaxy’s Edge
Guests who were there for the opening day merchandise were directed to a temporary shop on the top floor of Launch Bay, while Galaxy’s Edge reservations were sent to the bottom floor.
Check-in was exceptionally quick and efficient. While the line may have looked long at first glance, it moved so quickly that we were in and out in about 10 minutes.
After we checked in, we were allowed to roam Tomorrowland. Crowds waiting to walk over to Galaxy’s Edge were held on the walkway by the Matterhorn and were released just before park opening. Conveniently, Tomorrowland Terrace had opened early to serve breakfast to hungry guests. The entire process was very well executed.
At 7:45am, guests were escorted around Matterhorn, through Fantasyland, and onto Big Thunder Trail. The Frontierland entrance to the new land was used for the 8am reservations, but reservations later in the weekend were queued up at the Critter Country entrance. That proved to be the better entrance experience as there was more room to hold guests out of the way (it also does a great job of transitioning from Disneyland into Batuu . . . from a frontier a long time ago to one a longer time ago.)
Opening day guests entering through the Frontierland entrance were funneled down the walkway that goes past a First Order controlled sector, the Cantina, and ultimately the Millennium Falcon. The trouble was that this meant all the guests ended up going straight to the Falcon and Cantina, creating gridlock when the queues for both immediately filled to capacity and overflowed.
This was less of a problem entering from Critter Country and they also started experimenting later in the weekend with return times for both Oga’s Cantina and Smuggler’s Run to keep queues out of the walkway. That was the same for Savi’s Workshop (the Lightsaber experience), which had waits upwards of two-hour waits (which is more than half of a reservation time slot). Yesterday they were giving return times so guests could explore the land rather than waiting in overly long lines.
For future reference, 8am Galaxy’s Edge reservations are allowed to check-in at Launch Bay at 6am. But our experience is that you do NOT need to arrive that early. You could show up as late as a half an hour before your reservation and still make it to Galaxy’s Edge on time. Not that you shouldn’t plan to be early, you just don’t need to be quite so stressed if you are running a bit late. Launch Bay check-in is incredibly efficient. However, please make sure you have your reservation confirmation AND all of your guests with you. All guests need to show their IDs. You will then receive a color-coded wristband and instructed where to go.
In celebration of the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, we’re doing a giveaway!
MiceChat Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Giveaway
Operating Batuu
We’ve mentioned a few adjustments Disney is already testing with Galaxy’s Edge. This entire reservation period is going to very much a test and adjust opportunity. Disney is paying very close attention to what is and isn’t working well. And solutions aren’t easy. Fixing one thing can cause another to get worse. For example, when you schedule reservations for Oga’s and Millennium Falcon, that puts more guests into the walkways and shops, causing shops to have long lines as well. We saw waits of up to 20 minutes for popcorn, 20 minutes to enter a shop, 30+ minutes to build a droid, 2+ hours to build a $200 lightsaber, etc.
Our team can confidently say that as the weekend went on, operations started clicking better, even if it felt more crowded than it did on opening day. They’ll find the right balance and in the meantime, we’ll keep you updated so you can be prepared for your visit.
We know people are wondering how fireworks are handled, especially with how close Galaxy’s Edge is to the pyro launch platforms. Disney is launching fireworks on a cautious basis. The winds have to be just right (or not at all). If embers would blow toward Galaxy’s Edge, you’ll just see the projection show and not pyro. We experienced the fireworks from multiple locations within the land with no issue. None of the land had to be closed or restricted during the fireworks.
I hung out by the ruins and had a great experience there as well. This almost reminds me of the celebration at the end of The Phantom Menace…
Speaking of which, cast members need some proper responses to the fireworks. We overheard a cast member refer to fireworks as a “battle” and that’s not a properly themed response. We have a lot suggestions to make in later articles, but one we’ll make for now is that Disney should play some music while fireworks are going off and mention a “celebration.” Might we suggest “Yub Nub” from the end of Return of the Jedi.
We know many of you are fascinated by the trash cans, it’s a nostalgia thing. There are indeed Disneyland-style trash and recycle cans on Batuu. They have a shorter lid that has an interesting lip around them, and while they fit into the theme well, the smaller height means a lot of people are missing the lids.
They come pre-distressed just like the rest of Galaxy’s Edge. The whole land is aged and intentionally dirty looking – we’ll leave that discussion for a future day. Thankfully, the wonderful Disneyland Cast Members have kept the trash off the ground.
These things almost look like deactivated Droids and I think that’s what they were going for.
I did appreciate that the two cans have these kinds of coupling things on the side to make it look like they’re attached.
For those who want more information about the experience of Galaxy’s Edge this weekend, we have an entire page devoted to extensive coverage so far. Click here to check it out, and definitely stay tuned, we’re not done reporting on Batuu quite yet.
Scroll in the slider box for more images:
You are now leaving the planet of Batuu, please buckle your seatbelts as we prepare for reentry into the Disneyland Resort…
Soarin’ Over California Returns
At California Adventure, over in Grizzly Air Field, a small miracle occurred: Soarin’ Over California returned. You no longer need to request section B row 1 to prevent seeing a warped image. It’s here until the then end of the month, including that beautiful score by Jerry Goldsmith. Have a listen:
Inside the Preshow room, the original video displaying the film locations you will be flying over plays, followed by the original unedited safety video starring Patrick Warburton.
“Soarin’ Into Tower, You Are Ready for Take Off!”
From the look of things, the show is programmed to the 2016 digital version of Soarin’ Over California. The lighting cues and projection timings all match the post refurb overhaul the attraction received in preparation for Around the World. It’s so seamless that it feels like maintenance just flipped the switch, swapped the smells, and swapped the sign outside.
It’s almost surreal riding this after a weekend of Galaxy’s Edge, but we were reminded just how much better this version of the show is than its replacement. We hope you get to experience the original attraction during this limited time run, it’s truly a beautiful and charming attraction. Let us know if you feel the same below.
We’re also willing to meet in the middle, literally. There are two theaters at Soarin’ and it would be wonderful if they could find a way to show the original film in one theater while the other shows the new one. In any case, this should definitely be extended through the summer (if not indefinitely).
Pixar Pier Update
Construction continues in Pixar Pier as Disney add additional capacity to California Adventure. A new attraction will soon be opening in Pixar Pier (though no date has been announced). The Emotional Whirlwind is the remodeled Flick’s Flyers from Bugs Land.
The attraction sign has arrived and the ride is now testing with water dummies.
Across from the attraction, the temporary wall has given way to a new garden, trading purple plywood for a black tarp covered wall.
A similar story is happening just to the left of the attraction entrance.
Marvel Land Update
Construction continues at a fast pace on the outer building for the new Spiderman ride, the first attraction for the still un-named Marvel Land.
From the air, we spotted a lot of dirt being moved to make way for all the new service lines being installed.
Near Guardians, the construction wall continues to be pushed further and further out. In the last week, the walls have moved another couple feet back to accommodate work happening just past the end of the curb.
Pixar Pals Parking Structure Construction
Work continues at a feverish paste at Pixar Pals Parking Structure as TDA is hoping to have it available ASAP. Rumors are that the new spaces will open by the end of the reservation period for Galaxy’s Edge. We should know more soon.
The security Area is being enclosed around the tram loading zones.
On the back side, new security fences are being installed.
Across the street, formwork for the cement bridge to Downtown Disney is being laid. The bridge isn’t likely be completed in time for the parking structure opening.
Overhead vehicle height bars have been installed at the entrance (or exit?) at the corner of Magic Way and Downtown Drive.
This and That
Let’s head back into Disneyland to get the really good stuff…
The Disneyland brail maps have been updated to include Galaxy’s Edge.
Over at the Hub, Guests Information has switched locations.
They have now moved over to the new walkway across from the Plaza Inn where the new digital wait time board was installed recently.
Over at Hungry Bear, work seems to be finished on the upper patio. Along the path into Galaxy’s Edge, a new sign appeared and it’s adorable.
Over in Tomorrowland, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge merchandise has inundated Star Trader. You will be able to find most of Galaxy’s Edge more common merchandise here. This is also where you can find Opening Day merch as well.
This stuff is absolutely everywhere, you can’t get away from it. It’s even available at a small temporary booth on Buena Vista Street.
There’s a large display in World of Disney full of not only Galaxy’s Edge but general Star Wars merchandise as well. If you’re in Disneyland park, it feels like every shop has Galaxy’s Edge merchandise available in some form.
The new sign for Alien Pizza Planet has been installed and looks pretty good. I just don’t understand why it looks like there’s flour dough all over the fin’s paint job. Supports for something additional are on the facade. We assume that the little green aliens will soon make an appearance.
In the Esplanade, the Get Your Ears On banners have been replaced with the standard attraction banners.
Back in Pixar Pier, the construction walls have come down around the Incredibles fountain. Disney has replaced the (discolored) slate tile that was installed on the back wall and has replaced it with regular chevron shaped porcelain tiles. The slate tile became stained yellow by the Brominated water Disney uses for their water features. The porcelain tiles should hold up better and will be easier to clean.
Over in Paradise Gardens, Silly Symphony Swings returned from refurbishment last week.
The Tale of the Lion King will debut this Friday at the Palisades Stage. There are already signs of the show sitting just off stage…
The rolling stage can be seen just behind the gate by the Little Mermaid.
Near the stage, the technician booth is installed and has a wrap themed to the show.
We have had a ton of articles talking all about Star Galaxy’s Edge: If you haven’t read through be sure to catch up today!
Your Guide to Attractions at Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
What You Need to Know BEFORE Visiting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland
The Shop Side: Your Guide to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Restaurants and Shops
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