Oh sweet, empty Disneyland. The park’s biggest ever expansion opened yesterday to the general public and the expected epic crowds didn’t materialize. We’ll take a look. And while Star Wars is encapsulated in a world of its own (read more about that here), Disneyland has been busy with projects to keep guests entertained and satisfied, even if they don’t get to see the Millenium Falcon. We’ve got news about changes to the iconic Main Street Cinema, updates on the Pixar Pals parking structure, and an emotional whirlwind which is just about to strike the resort.
Due to our headline article yesterday about the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, most of our readers missed our Disneyland Update. We’ve updated the article with some additional information and are bumping it up to the top today.
Success But Not Full
Disneyland’s efforts to manage crowding for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge have been a success, perhaps too much so. Blocking castmembers and most passholders, after a month of reservation-only previews, as well as media warnings of expected crowds has led to a comfortable and uncrowded opening for Disney’s Star Wars land.
We aren’t complaining. Disneyland was more comfortable yesterday than it’s been in a decade. But how was that possible on the first reservation-free day for Galaxy’s Edge?
A couple of years ago, Disney began preparing for what could have been a crushing debut of their new land. A plan was put into place to tackle that problem head-on. One part of the plan was Stardusting the park to remove obstructions and ease crowd flow. Another part of the plan was to increase capacity. And yet another plan was to control access to the park and land to manage demand. That was accomplished with a month-long reservation period and passholder and cast blackouts.
Clearly these plans have succeeded. While Galaxy’s Edge reached capacity for a time on opening day, it was never packed. Guests in the park were able to make reservations (“Boarding Passes”) for the new land and in the afternoon, reservations were lifted and the land was simply open to guests like any other area of the park. Waits for the Millennium Falcon ride fluctuated from a high of 190 minutes to a low of just 30 minutes, but hovered around an hour for much of the day.
We’re impressed that a company that has thrived on packing its parks and maximizing profits, made the effort to not take that too far with its newest land. But things do feel a bit empty. For the bulk of the day, Disneyland Resort attractions were at near walk-on conditions. This is unheard of during peak summer season. There’s clearly room for Disney to adjust their plans a bit. Now that two opening days have come and gone successfully, there’s flexibility for Disney to open the floodgates a bit. Word has begun to filter out to cast members that some of their blocked out dates have been unblocked. And we’d be happy to see passholders offered the opportunity to select a single blocked out day to visit Disneyland this summer.
We don’t want to poke the sleeping beast of pent-up Star Wars demand, and we know that yet another “Opening” is coming when Rise of the Resistance debuts later this summer. But we do think there’s room to finesse the current limitations for the sake of park profits and those of Disney’s neighbors and partners. At the moment, almost all of the Anaheim area hotels are suffering from low occupancy. The shops and restaurants of Downtown Disney are in a similar plight from under-performance. We don’t want to see Anaheim’s businesses and workers suffer, but that’s very much in the cards if the summer season doesn’t recover soon.
We’re sure Disney is already on top of the issue and looking at potential solutions. But we encourage you to take advantage of the lower attendance while you still can. The last month has offered unprecedented low summer crowd levels, but that is not likely to continue forever. Get out there and enjoy the park as you may not have experienced it before.
What are your suggestions for balancing the business needs of Disneyland and the Anaheim Resort with fears of massive Star Wars demand?
The Redemption of Main Street Cinema
Last week the Main Street Cinema saw a drastic change, one that had us very worried about the future of Main Street. As a test to increase traffic to this little spot, curtains were pulled back and merchandise was added inside the theater. We ran a poll to see what you thought should happen with the spot and an overwhelming majority of you said you’d like to see seating added. Well, that’s exactly what has happened, Disney is now testing benches in the space.
While not super full, a lot of guests were actually coming in to check out what was going on. Some stayed, some left, but it’s obvious that opening the curtains brought in more guests. The important part we observed was that while guests weren’t staying for the merchandise, they were staying to watch the Mickey shorts when benches were installed.
The seating has been moved around a bit, first, the benches were facing each other, one against the screen and one against the outside of the middle podium. The best experience, though, would be facing the screen from the middle podium. Hearing one cartoon’s audio from behind you while watching a different cartoon doesn’t necessarily create the best experience. We believe a permanent installation of seats around the podium and on the raised platform will be the best seating and viewing experience.
If Disney really wants to increase traffic to the Cinema, we recommend the new seating arrangement, an updated rotation of Mickey Mouse shorts, and possibly some theater-style concessions. Disneyland guests are constantly looking for places to sit to rest, a day at the resort means lots of walking and an air-conditioned space with lots of different things to watch (the current shorts have been running for around 30 years) that serves popcorn, cold soda, and candy could be a huge hit. If the popcorn was unique to the Cinema, they might have lines of APs down Main Street.
There isn’t much room for a concession stand, though. We think that maybe the old ticket booth with Tilly in it could be shifted over to one of the sides of the entrance.
Disneyland is always trying to reinvigorate spaces, the question is how to do that with the Cinema. What do you think should be done which would allow this iconic space to be better utilized while honoring it’s purpose on Main Street?
Prepping Galaxy’s Edge
In anticipation of the potentially massive crowds seeking to experience Black Spire Outpost, there have been a few updates to how the land works:
Oga’s Cantina
Since Oga’s Cantina is incredibly busy, some changes have been made to the way it’s been operating. The system that was being used since early in the reservation period was a text message that would tell you when you could return to the cantina. When you arrived, you would receive a card like the one below for each party member.
This past week, they’ve been handing out these cards that tell you when to come back with a mark of how big your party was.
Then, when you enter the cantina, you’re given a card with the time you arrived, your party size, and every time you order a drink it’s marked on the card. This is to enforce the 45-minute limit to the cantina and also the two-drink maximum. When you’ve had two drinks and/or the 45 minutes are up, you will no longer be served.
Blue Milk Souvenir Sipper
The Milk Stand finally received their shipment of souvenir sippers from Hondo. Better late than never.
Fortunately, they are pretty neat looking. Not only do they look like a classic milk jug, but they also light up so you can always look like you’re drinking blue milk, even if it’s actually something that tastes better.
Hondo, Ship Us Some Merch
It’s safe to say that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge merchandise is really popular. It’s hard to walk through Disneyland without seeing someone carrying around a lightsaber, porg, or droid nowadays. But with that demand, the stock has started to deplete all over the land. While not a comprehensive list, here are a couple things we noticed this week:
There were no Kowakian Monkey-Lizards available at the Creature Stall’s remote booth. Loth-Cats were also off and on out of stock as well.
A lot of the different colored kyber crystals were also gone. Note that the Sith crystal display was all full of purple crystals.
Green and blue are popular but are staying in stock. What isn’t are white and yellow, they’ve been gone for a while.
Perhaps one of the most coveted items is the rechargeable credit chip from the Droid Depot. You can tell when they are in stock because the little annex to the store in back gets a line around the building. The line goes away as soon as the chips sell out. Have you been able to find that one item you wanted? And what is it?
Looking Back…
Over the past few years, we have been following a YouTube channel called Yensid55. The channel is run by a father/daughter team of lifetime Disney/Star Wars fans, and it contains numerous videos documenting the construction of Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge. We have always enjoyed their videos, and we would like to share them with you.
When Mark and Megan heard that Disneyland was making a Star Wars Themed land, they were eager to follow and watch as much of the construction as they possibly could. They decided to create a video journal documenting what they observed along the way. The journal started in February 2016 and ended in May 2019. Mark said that the experience created great father/daughter time together, especially with the editing.
Since today is the first day that Black Spire Outpost is open to the public, it’s a great time to look back at the transformation from backstage buildings to a remote planet in a galaxy far, far away. The first video documents construction from February 2016 through May 2019, and the second video covers their experience attending the 8am – noon session on May 31st. Mom shows up in the second video!
Please take some time to watch the videos. They are well-produced and enjoyable to watch. Please welcome them to the MiceChat family by subscribing, liking, and sharing the videos.
Outside the Outpost: Disneyland Prepping for Galaxy’s Edge
All around Disneyland, the park is prepping for the “boarding pass” system that will be in place to control entry into Galaxy’s Edge beginning today. We have a full article about how it all works here if you need to catch up.
There are several digital signs being installed all over the park to display information about boarding passes, the first being the permanent one that was installed recently in front of the Plaza Inn on Main Street.
We spotted a few more, including this one near the Frontierland Galaxy’s Edge entrance (The were all covered when we shot these photos, but they are all up and running now!).
And this one by the Harbour Galley.
Other preparations we’ve noticed were an increased Outdoor Vending (ODV) presence, especially around Big Thunder Trail. It’s safe to assume there will be an increase in traffic through the area as people wait for their boarding pass to come up. If there are short lines to enter through the portals as guests show up for their times, these will be important.
There are some cutouts in the trail we assume are also for ODV, but are currently still unoccupied.
A pleasant surprise popped up in front of the Hungry Bear, just a hop and a skip from the entrance to the Critter Country entrance to Galaxy’s Edge. There’s been a mildly themed cart here selling churros for a long time, but this past week an adorable little birdhouse façade was put over and around it.
The facade has this beautiful Splash Mountain aesthetic to it which is very inviting.
This is the kind of stuff we love to see, it’s very classic Disneyland to theme all the little things.
Emotional Whirlwind
The last attraction of Pixar Pier is just about ready to open. The ride is now under almost constant testing.
The tarp-covered walls were removed revealing purple metal fences.
The ride vehicles have unique artwork inspired by a specific character. They’re pretty simplistic, but they are a great reskin of Flik’s Flyers. I don’t see any take-out containers or raisin boxes anywhere…
No Promotion? No Problem: Summer Foods
Summer promotions have become the norm at Disneyland for a while, but this year, besides the Tale of the Lion King, the promotion is the opening of new attractions (or in this case, an entire land). That didn’t stop Disney from putting out a whole myriad of summertime treats. While not a comprehensive list (we almost need one!), here are some highlights we spotted around the resort.
And let’s just start with the best: the Watermelon Julep at the Mint Julep Bar. We think it might even be better than the regular Mint Julep. Pair it with the Butterscotch Beignets left over from Get Your Ears On, and you’ve got an incredible snack.
This poke bowl looks pretty interesting. A lot of restaurants around the Resort have started to offer different poke options, it’s something unique for a theme park meal.
Chamoy has invaded California Adventure lately, no complaints from us. Schmoozies has a summer menu with plenty of Chamoy, but they also have an interesting looking Cookies and Cream shake.
The menu must be good, the line has been extremely long at Schmoozies lately, more so than we’ve ever seen it. It’s nice to see this normally sleepy stand get some traction.
No snack trip is complete without a stop at the Cozy Cone, which has a ton of summertime treats right now.
Almost every cone has a specialty option, it’s like hog heaven.
We mentioned before that some Get Your Ears On items are still around. We never even noticed this Maple-Bacon Churro near Grizzly River Run so we decided to grab one.
This one tastes like a breakfast churro, it’s got bacon, a maple glaze, and of course cinnamon and the churro.
We also wanted to channel our inner Thanos so we bought the Power Stone Churro from the Hollywoodland churro cart.
This one we weren’t entirely enthused with. The hard candy made it hard to chew the churro and the sugar made it feel like you were eating a bowl of glitter. Disappointing, really, because it looks really cool.
Do you have a favorite churro in the resort?
Pixar Pals Parking Structure
Although the Pixar Pals structure won’t be open for the Star Wars Land’s first day, it could easily open within the coming week. Parts of it are in use already.
The Luxo Ball was installed near the escalators for Pixar Pals.
The new escalators are already running, even though the levels aren’t being parked yet. 
All the levels are the same colors as Mickey and Friends but with Pixar characters. It’ll be important to remember which structure and property you parked at, the color won’t be enough.
Yesterday the new security entrance and tram loading area were opened. They’re a huge improvement over previous areas.
The lanes should help make tram loading easier for guests and cast alike. We like this area a lot. 
There’s even a bit of seating built between the loading zones.
The pedestrian bridge is still a little while away from being completed, but we’re surprised at just how much work has been done in such a short time.
The Rotunda now has LED strips all around the lip of the ceilings.
Quite a lot of the extra parts of the bridge are now in place, it just needs to be connected to the rotunda.
There’s still a lot of dirt around the end of the bridge leading into the Downtown Disney area, but the structures are there.
Protective scaffolding is also up near sidewalks to keep guests safe walking under the construction.
When all the parking updates around the resort finish, each parking area should have two entrances. That means Magic Way will soon be very busy as guests enter the Pixar Pals structure from that street.
The Toy Story Lot will be extended into the cast member lot soon, adding a second entrance to that lot. Cast members are being moved to different lots, including the new Manchester lot currently being finished.
Soarin’ Extended
Disney announced this week that due to popular demand, Soarin’ Over California will be extended through the summer to August 31st. We’re ecstatic about this update, the original film is far superior to the new Over the World film. We hope that the original version is left permanently in some capacity, even if that means running it on one of the two theaters and/or running it in some sort of rotation with more new Soarin’ films. And wouldn’t it be cool if they could randomize the destinations as they do on Star Tours?!
While wait times have been relatively low around the resort for summer lately, Soarin’ Over California (which is improperly being displayed as Around the World on the Buena Vista Street time board) has been commanding some of the highest wait times for California Adventure. On Saturday, Soarin’ and Grizzly had the longest wait times at the park.
Grand Californian Hotel and Spa
While construction finishes on the new pool bar, other changes are coming to the Grand Californian which could cost it a diamond on its ratings. These beautiful gates were added near the California Adventure entrance.
They’re full of gorgeous details like butterflies, quails, and poppy flowers.
Next to them, an RFID reader, which we assume is for reading guest room keys. Does this mean they’re planning to lock this area behind the gate for hotel guests only?
That’s interesting considering this is where the spa is, which is the namesake of the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. We’ve been informed that the spa is actually leaving soon as well, so we’re unsure what the future for this area is. Note that if the spa isn’t replaced, that means that the Grand Californian loses a Diamond, although I imagine we can’t expect room rates to decrease even if that did happen.
The other thing back here is White Water Snacks, which also has a new gate in front of it.
The pool bar itself looks like it’s nearing completion.
This and That
We’ve noticed a few updates to the operation of the monorail. If you’re using it for transportation, it’s important to note not only does it close from 8-10pm for fireworks, it also becomes one-way from Disneyland to the Downtown Disney platform 30 minutes before park closing. The last train will also leave Disneyland 5 minutes before park closing.
While we’re in Tomorrowland, it’s hard to miss the giant Alien Pizza Planet facade. It looks complete now, finished with some planets on the fin.
And…what’s this? An actual planet made of pizza?
Indeed, we’ve been making jokes about planets made of pizza and there actually is one on the sign.
Over at DCA, some small construction projects are ongoing.
The seating area for Award Weiners is getting a refresh.
Seating is still available in front of PhillharMagic.
I can imagine some visitors who aren’t in-the-know might think this attraction is closed, hopefully, the construction is finished quickly.
Near Captain Marvel, the king of Wakanda has moved in next door. Black Panther used to meet in Stage 17, but his new location is just on the side of the building that’s housing Danvers’ F-15.
Over at Pixar Pier, there’s plenty of Toy Story 4 to see. Forky’s still by the Lamplight Lounge, but we found another photo place inside of Knick Knacks.
We also noticed that the Garden Grill in Paradise Park was offering its standard menu, which is actually unusual lately with the different promotional menus that have been offered recently in this spot.
A Returning Icon?
On our way to the resort the other day, these little bugs from the Main Street Electrical Parade were on their way back to the resort. Does this mean a return of the beloved show might be on the horizon, or are they perhaps just returning for storage?
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ALL of our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge news, photos and reviews HERE:
Well folks, it’s a week of mostly good news. Yesterday was blissfully uncrowded and area hotels are far under their normal summer booking rates. It just doesn’t seem like the Star Wars traffic storm is going to hit in the way that we all thought it would months ago. What do you think? What changes should Disney make, if any? And should the Main Street Electrical Parade return for a summer run?
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