Why Are Star Wars Land Crowds So Low?
It’s been almost a month since Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened, and we’re back with crowd observations and predictions for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. We’ll talk about the phenomenon of low attendance and wait times in California, whether that trend is likely to continue, and how likely it is to repeat itself in Florida. (Updated June 26, 2019.)
We’ll start with Disneyland, since that version of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the one is now open. As noted in our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Opening Weekend Recap, we couldn’t have been more wrong in our crowds prediction for Disneyland. We were shocked by just how quiet the parks were. In fact, Disneyland was busier the days leading up to the debut than it has been in the weeks after.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has now been open for almost a full month, and crowds have yet to pick up. Many people, us included, expected a boost once the reservation system ended and open access began. Now that we’ve seen a few days of that, it’s pretty clear that is not going to be the case, at least not on weekdays…
To their credit, some people did see this coming. We had a handful of readers who were skeptical that crowds would materialize as predicted. One likened it to Los Angeles during the 1984 Olympics, which was quiet because many locals left town after weeks of apocalyptic traffic predictions.
Our response to that small minority of you would be: lucky guess. Clearly, Disneyland being a veritable ghost town is not what Disney management was predicting. On the first day of the boarding pass/virtual queue system, Disneyland actually had temporary turnstiles ready to go (these never were even remotely necessary).
Enough Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening day park maps were printed that they were available for over a week, same with merchandise for the debut. Every single bag-check station was fully staffed, ditto Mickey & Friends parking structure toll booths. Speaking of parking, Mickey & Friends opened unnecessarily early for a while, and other precautions were taken.
The fears were not unfounded. This is the height of the summer tourism season for Southern California, and when Star Wars Land debuted, most Annual Passes were not blocked out, Grad Nite was scheduled, and a huge travel conference was being held at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Plus, Disneyland locals usually turn out in full force for the debut of anything, especially big-budget additions with limited edition merchandise. All of the these variables form the objective basis for what would typically be a crowded day at Disneyland.
Now as the virtual queue and boarding group system are in use and July approaches, Annual Passholders are blocked out, Grad Nites are over. There are still no crowds. This is the least busy we’ve seen Disneyland since the 60th Anniversary, and that includes during the doldrums of January and February.
Regardless of the great PR and very strong word-of-mouth buzz generated by the excellent guest experience during the last week, it’s tough to say that Disneyland experiencing low crowds was the plan all along. First, there’s all of the above as Exhibit A. Disney management was obviously concerned that locals would turn out in full force for the unveiling of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, overwhelming park and resort infrastructure.
Second, there’s the motivation for moving forward the opening dates of Star Wars Land in the first place, which was to buoy attendance projections and hotel occupancy. As a reminder, the opening date was not changed because everything was ahead of schedule (see Rise of the Resistance). It was moved because numbers were looking soft for the summer and fall at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, respectively.
Accordingly, it would make little sense for Disney to move forward the opening dates to help with numbers…only to create a system that discouraged attendance to the point that it hurt numbers. That’s impossible to reconcile.
The only plausible scenario is that Disneyland wanted to discourage overcrowding and making negative headlines on the local news, but never expected turnout to be this low. Quite simply, they overcompensated. That, plus online fear-mongering on social media and blogs like this one, scared people away. (There’s also the subplot of Burbank leadership’s goals versus Anaheim leadership’s goals, but that’s another story for another day.)
A lot of readers have remarked that they are contemplating a quick weekend trip to Disneyland to experience these low crowds. When this post was first drafted, we cautioned against that. We pointed out that Disneyland has a huge base of Annual Passholders and other locals living in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. Just as easily as they avoided Star Wars Land’s opening for fear of crowds, they could adjust their plans and start visiting as social media reports show Disneyland as a ghost town.
However, that has not happened–at least not yet. By midday yesterday, the virtual queue and boarding passes weren’t needed at all, and Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run had a ~30 minute wait for much of the day. This weekend (June 28-30, 2019) will be another test, and we’d expect a bump in crowds. Weekdays are another story entirely.
If you’re thinking that maybe the rest of the park was worse…you’d be wrong. Above is a screenshot at that same time when Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run had a 30 minute wait. The longest wait in the entire park was Hyperspace Mountain (just out of the frame to the right), which had a 35 minute wait.
At this point, it seems unlikely that summer weekdays will suddenly become crowded. Contrary to popular belief, summer weekdays are predominantly tourists (due to a mix of AP blockouts and it being California’s peak visitor season) and this demographic mostly cannot change their vacation plans at the last minute. Anaheim hotel occupancy is down year over year for June through mid-August, and we expect that to mostly remain the case.
With all of that said, continuing low crowds still are not a sure thing. Disneyland could take the bold step of lifting Annual Passholder blockouts. This has already happened with Cast Members, who quickly had their summer blockouts through September lifted in an effort to boost attendance.
Likewise, the Disney Flex pass (although still a new offering) could be leveraged to help with numbers. Disneyland could also quickly roll out SoCal ticket specials, as they frequently (and effectively) do in January to boost off-season attendance.
With so many Los Angeles and Orange County residents, this could definitely have a big impact…but we still don’t see it impacting the early mornings. For the most part, locals are not going to fight rush hour traffic to get to Disneyland early. They’ll show up at noon or, more likely, around 6 p.m. Remember, LA is the same place that’s notorious for Dodger Stadium being half empty (even during the playoffs!) until the third inning because fans don’t want to fight traffic.
The result of this has been the first couple hours of the day at Disneyland being pure bliss for the past week. Save for Peter Pan’s Flight, every Fantasyland dark ride has been a walk-on for at least the first hour of the day. Fantasyland wait times are driven by families, so this is one trend we anticipate being fairly sustained. (We cover some new Fantasyland strategy here.)
At this point, if we hadn’t already spent a couple of weeks at Disneyland to see Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in June, we’d absolutely be booking a last-minute trip for July. Even if more blockouts are lifted, we think it’s worth rolling the dice. Seeing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge with low crowds, nice weather, low humidity, and no storm season is worth the potential gamble.
If you are thinking of doing that, the good news is that Disneyland is offering some (rare) summer ticket specials. Likewise, many hotels within walking distance are offering deals (except weekends when there are events at the Anaheim Convention Center), including ‘free night’ offers. (See which ones we recommend in our Disneyland Area Hotel Rankings & Reviews.)
As for what Galaxy’s Edge crowds at Disneyland thus far mean for Walt Disney World, it’s still difficult to draw any strong conclusions. There are just so many differences between Disneyland and Walt Disney World, especially between Disneyland (park) and DHS. With that said, one big parallel that does exist is in terms of the potential attitude of tourists towards the large crowds that are/were projected.
You might recall from our 2019 Walt Disney World Crowd Predictions Post-Star Wars Land (posted back in April) that we think September will be the best month to visit Walt Disney World from the time Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens through the end of the year. This remains our position; if anything, the experience at Disneyland has further solidified our perspective on this.
As noted, hotel occupancy among the Good Neighbor/Harbor Boulevard hotels near Disneyland is down year over year. Last we heard, hotel occupancy for Walt Disney World through September was also down. This is why a ‘second wave’ of Free Dining and other discounts were released that ran through late August. (Expect more room-only discounts in the very near future.)
There also has been a chorus of Walt Disney World fans angered by the early opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. While we’ve had literally hundreds of comments to this effect on various blog posts, we largely wrote it off as selection bias (readers of this blog are more likely to be planners who are averse to crowds), and the reality that people who are displeased about something are more likely to be vocal than those who are pleased.
September is historically the least-busy month of the year at Walt Disney World. This is because it’s storm season and right after school goes back into session–two things that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge won’t change. On top of that, a lot of people are clearly worried about crowds at Walt Disney World in the immediate aftermath of the land’s opening. A historically slow month coupled with some people intentionally avoiding what they anticipate being a busy time could create a favorable window.
Now, this is not to say that we’re suddenly expecting opening weekend of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World to be a ghost town on par with Disneyland. The hammering home of ‘reservations required‘ and all of the protocol about accessing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is probably the biggest factor in spooking guests away from visiting Disneyland this summer.
As much as so many planners hate the fact that Walt Disney World has released scant details about how it’ll handle crowds on opening day and thereafter, this might actually be beneficial (to Disney, not to you). Announcing so many crowd control measures sends a message that heavy crowds are anticipated, and scares people away. Saying nothing at all about crowds certainly worries super fans about a “crowdpocalypse” situation, but there are fewer of us.
With all of that said, there’s still the real possibility that Disney’s Hollywood Studios will do enough to mitigate fears of opening day chaos. There’s also the possibility that enough guests who booked ‘calm before the storm’ vacations will have canceled. Or locals will stay home, fearful of crowds in a new land that “isn’t going anywhere.” Finally, tourists postponing trips to “wait out the crowds” is a very real phenomenon, and will undoubtedly happen to some extent here.
All of this is why we’re fairly confident in saying that, relative to other months in late 2019 and early 2020, September won’t be that bad. Note that this is not the same as saying “it’ll be uncrowded or dead!” This is a comparison to other months of the year–September could still be a 9/10 in terms of crowds (I really doubt it’ll be that bad–my guess is around 4/10 from the second week of September on), but if October through December are 10/10, our prediction is vindicated.
We already know that hotel occupancy is high for December 2019 (and has been for a while). November, January, and February are shaping up similarly, which suggests that people think those months will be a sufficient amount of time to “wait out” the Star Wars crowds. (They’re wrong.)
Mid-September through early October are likely to be busier than normal, but we still think they are unlikely to be chaotic. (At least after opening weekend of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge–we make no predictions as far as that is concerned.) Before relying on any of our predictions, just remember: we got it really wrong for Disneyland. 😉
Finally, there’s been a lot of discussion about what Walt Disney World can do to ensure its debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge goes as well as Disneyland’s. Many commenters have pointed to the reservation system, specifically the guaranteed entry for hotel guests. One thing worth noting here is that Disneyland Resort has under 3,000 hotel rooms, whereas Walt Disney World has over 30,000.
In other words, Walt Disney World has too many hotel rooms to guarantee Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge entry to every single resort guest. To compound matters, Disney’s Hollywood Studios arguably doesn’t have enough capacity outside of Star Wars Land to use a virtual queue; where will all those guests go while waiting to enter Galaxy’s Edge? (With exponentially more attractions to soak up crowds, Disneyland doesn’t have this problem.)
With that in mind, we feel the most reasonable solution is utilizing the existing FastPass+ infrastructure to open advance reservations for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The system could be handled exactly like FastPass+ for attractions, except with entrance to the land itself. Have a 60 day window for resort guests, and 30 day window for off-site guests.
Obviously, land entry FastPass+ would ‘sell out’ quickly–probably before off-site guests would have their window open. However, this would generally be an equitable solution for on-site guests (and in reality, Walt Disney World primarily cares about its hotel guests most, anyway). It would fulfill the goal of encouraging on-site hotel bookings, which would be another win for WDW.
It would also discourage people from visiting and over-crowding Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As we covered in our Huge Hollywood Studios FastPass+ Changes post, there are serious concerns about the park’s ability to absorb crowds and distribute attendance. These problems are unique to DHS, which has the fewest attractions of any Disney theme park (as compared to Disneyland, which has the most).
Moreover, Walt Disney World management could monitor attendance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and add same-day land FastPasses to the real time inventory if crowds didn’t materialize as expected. This is something Disneyland could not do with its system; instead they’ve been emailing people with existing reservations that are not full and allowing them to add more guests to their reservation (something that they previously warned would not be allowed).
We’ll end this by reiterating that our predictions and analysis should be taken with a grain of salt. We totally misjudged the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, so it’s not like our recent track record on this matter should inspire a lot of confidence. We’ll also say that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is unlike anything you’ve ever seen–a true Space Morocco that can be appreciated by all Disney fans irrespective of interest in Star Wars. If you have the chance to experience it this fall, you should absolutely take advantage, even if that means getting up at the crack of dawn for Extra, Extra Magic Hours. If ever something at Walt Disney World were worth getting up super early on vacation, this is that thing.
If you’re planning on visiting the new land, you’ll also want to read our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Guide. This covers a range of topics from basics about the land and its location, to strategically choosing a hotel for your stay, recommended strategy for the land, and how early to arrive to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to beat the crowds. It’s a good primer for this huge addition.
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, tips for booking a hotel (off-site or on-site), where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our predictions regarding future Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge crowds at Disneyland and Walt Disney World? Think it’ll be better or worse than we’re expecting? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Ive been an AP for over two decades and have witnessed the decline in “Disney magic” and the rise of the all mighty dollar within the parks, I think the final straw was the $300 unfinished, repainted Pixar Pier “preview” (that unfortunately people Actually paid for)
Disney needed a wake up call, The fact that the “crowds” aren’t jumping through hoops to enter their precious Galaxy’s Edge gives me hope that not all people are die hard sheep.
Why Are Star Wars Land Crowds So Low?
KARMA. Things do have a propensity to come full circle and people end up getting just what they Deserve
Given how much Disneyland costs now, it’s not worth it to me to visit Star Wars Land until Rise of the Resistance (billed as the most intricate Disney ride ever) is open.
I’d visit Star Wars Land before RotR if they had discounted tickets that allowed for entrance to Star Wars Land only, for say $40… Yeah, that’s not happening.
Disney thought just buying Star Wars, it would be a cash cow no matter what junk they put out. Now they are realizing that’s not the case but they have a ton of lazy like galaxy’s edge already produced. Turns out, building a big replica of the falcon and throwing a bunch of junk around it and calling it finished just doesn’t excite people.
Build tatooine, have a land speeder ride. Build hoth, have an at-at ride. Build Endor, have a speeder bike ride through the forest. Build the deathstar, twice the size of spaceship earth and put a ride IN it. Let people do the things that made the movies so damned popular. A lame falcon motion simulator, that feels cheap just isn’t exciting.
You make some very good points and have some fantastic attraction ideas!! You should be a Disney Imagineer. It kinda makes you wonder – did they bother going out and polling star wars fans and asking them what they would like to see and what would draw them into the parks. And if not – WHY NOT?? I do realize perhaps space is limited at Disneyland but theyve got tons of land at WDW. Im looking forward to seeing it but dissappointed at the same time as to how limited it sounds.
I think a lot of us want to ride in the Millenium Falcon! So not sure I fully agree that they didn’t consider what fans want. But your other ride ideas are great!
To your point, “Rise of the Resistance” is coming later 2019 which means the newer trilogy. Seriously? You built an entire Star Wars land without having Darth Vader in any of it (except maybe him roaming around)? Who is the genius in charge?
Those ride ideas are awesome! I would be way more excited about Galaxys Edge if they had done that instead of what they have done. The new trilogy is just not nearly as good. Kylie REN is a whiny kid not nearly as menacing as Darth Vader. Why they unmasked Kylie REN so fast I will never know.
Disney’s insistence on cramming their version down everyone’s throats while ignoring the OT is going to be their undoing.
Agreed. Great ideas !
Last week we went to AK, MK, and EP. Crowds were substantially lower than predicted crowd levels. Our opinion anyway. Sure hope you are right about the future room only additional discounts coming. We are looking to book the last week in August through Galaxy’s Edge opening. A CM confirmed to lower attendance and speculated that people were waiting till later in the year. We waited three hours on TSL opening day to ride SDC. Parking lot opened at 3 a.m. I am betting on a midnight opening for Galaxy’s Edge. We love early morning touring too! Just curious, how long were the lines for the limited edition items like magic bands and pins, etc.on opening day at DL?
I believe the low crowds this week at DL are just due to the wierd way July 4th falls on a Thursday next week. It is making people hold off on their vacation weeks of until next week. I expect next week will be fully crowded everywhere. I live in FL and we are seeing the same thing he this week with low crowds over all. Just chalk it up to July 4th falling on Thursday this year.
Are we loosing Disney…..Disney has always been unique everything they had they made. And they are good at it. They are turning into Universal Studios ,have bought a lot of rides that have no cohesive themes but it’s Universal that’s what you expect. Not so with Disney to me Marvel, Star Wars and avatar are not Disney. They bought them but that doesn’t make it so. It’s going to be a jumble of things they are not.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Agree ! Also Star Wars is past its peak, recent releases can’t match the impact of the originals, and with new releases coming out every six to twelve months, it further dilutes the movies following. It follows the same game plan of the Parks, which has made a lot of people unhappy. More money for less!
Really….past it’s peak. Last years “Star Wars Celebration” had record numbers at the event. Maybe Disney should have went there and seen what people were really interested in. If you go to one, people are dressed in the original trilogy costumes by factors of the Disney trilogy. It’s mostly original trilogy stuff there. Disney decided to act as if the original trilogy didn’t exist and banked on their own movies. They chose poorly.
YES!!
I agree!
I just grit my teeth and put up with it.
Wondered if you have an ETA on when GE will be included in the 1 or 2 day itineraries? Obviously, you need to wait a few weeks for a pattern to emerge (and then maybe again when Resistance ride opens), just trying to plan while I have some time.
I am bringing my family out 1st weekend in October–I grew up in LA but left in ’04 and haven’t been to DLR since. Looking forward to it!
Thanks–this is a great resource
We were at DL a few weeks ago. I’d suggest not hitting GE first thing as that is when the longest lines tend to be (like 75-120 minutes) There is no FastPass for the ride, so just watch the wait time through the app, and when it’s 45 minutes or less (45 seemed to be the typical wait), head that way. They haven’t had to use the virtual que more than a few times, but if they do, using the app you can easily get a boarding group and then head to the land when it’s your turn.
I think it is going to be busy in WDW but I think the change in the fast pass system will drive those numbers down. Not being able to secure a FastPass for GE and almost all of the other rides being tier 1 will make us avoid Hollywood studios altogether. With 3 kids, the unknown wait times, and the cost of our 7 day tickets make our time to valuable to chance it. We may head over for a fourth fast pass if available but only because my son is obsessing over his first tower of terror ride. That being said I am afraid the attendance will be higher in the other 3 parks.
If you do two full days at the other 3 parks, you will still have an entire day to go to Hollywood Studios. That makes no sense at all to avoid it completely. And crowds at the other 3 parks will be totally unaffected, other than Epcot being softer than normal.
If crowds are so low, why can’t they keep merch in stock? Did they purposely order so little to make it feel more exclusive? Are people buying 20 of everything, and Disney is letting them? Confusing, and probably upsetting for those that can’t make it back in a few days to check stock.
I think Disney is just really bad at estimating demand for merchandise. Remember the difficulty in getting Frozen merchandise for like the first year after the movie came out? It was ridiculous trying to find Frozen merchandise because Disney hadn’t ordered nearly enough to meet demand. Monsters Inc 2 had too much merchandise ordered.
Reminds me of Toy Story 1 back in 1995. Try getting your hands on a Buzz or Woody toy then. They even made fun of it with “Tour Guide Barbie” in Toy Story 2. Agreed with Monsters University… I think they had “Oozma Kappa” on everything.
I think it’s one part that Disney is bad at estimating demand (or guessing what’ll be popular–to be fair, that isn’t always easy) and one part that even though crowds have been low, the people showing up to Star Wars Land are dropping a lot of money. Purchase limits are being enforced, but if there’s a constant stream of people at cash registers, some things are going to end up selling out.
Yes! Tons of Monsters Inc 2 merchandise everywhere but finding Frozen merchandise was super hard. My daughter like many girls HAD to have a Frozen birthday party so for weeks I was calling and calling Party City for Frozen party stuff and Disney Store for ANYTHING Frozen lol. I had to run to Disneyland to the World of Disney because they had one in stock of a Frozen toy that I could use for a cake topper. So Disney is just really bad at estimating demand.
I feel like opening the land without one of the major attractions has contributed to the less then expected crowds. If I was planning my next trip, I’m waiting until both rides are open to go. Even locals in California may have been interested in going some time in the past few weeks, but decided to hold off on their visit until both rides are open therefore only dealing with the “crowds” once and paying for tickets once.
Will be interesting to see how things go in Florida.
I agree. We all have limited vacation time and money so if someone wants to spend that time and money to go see Galaxys Edge then many would likely want to wait until both rides are open.
One crowd aspect that isn’t low is Ogas’s Canteen and Savi’s Workshop. We went last Saturday and got in line before out entry, headed straight to the next line for the Cantina virtual que, waited 20 mins only to be told they were full. Wonder if the WDW version will have more capacity?
Only one of the two rides being open is why we’ve stayed away so far.
For me personally, Trips to Disney have just gotten difficult. We use to go every year- it was our destination of choice for our family vacation. However, we haven’t been in a couple of years because the last trip we went on was just so darn difficult- huge lines, crowds, lots of people with no respect for others, having to plan forever in advance for things that you hope you will be able to do, etc… We planned a vacation to go back in mid September at the beginning of the year and now realize we will be there 2 weeks after galaxys edge opens. It was at first exciting, but now I am just panicked at how crazed our vacation might be. It certainly appears that Disney is more concerned with making more money than with the magical, family oriented fun place that I have lived in years past. It use to be that going to Disney was more fun & magical than it was work & stress. Now it is the opposite- and combined with the continued rising prices, it just doesn’t make since why I would continue to pay a premium to have to work so hard for something that is suppose to be a vacation and fun time away with my family.
Oh I hear ya. Vacations should be fun and exciting not a bunch of work researching and scheduling everything. I could plan a trip to Italy in a couple of hours but DW I’ve been researching and planning for months and I’m still worried I’m overlooking a bunch!
I think there’s on final piece of the puzzle missing and that’s the impact of D23 and Star Wars Celebration Anaheim next year. With the cost of a trip to the park sky rocketing I know many are being very selective about their trip planning. “Why spend the money on another expensive trip to Anaheim when I’ll be there for D23 or Celebration next year and can see it then. Surely the lines we’ve been warned about will be done by then” has been heard a lot! Especially from fans the Celebration Chicago waiting in line just for a peek of the land in April.
I loved Disney but getting out of my price range I am staying for a month down on the gulf side of Fl for less than two weeks at Disney we were going to Disney but when we found out that we could stay for a whole month for much less we canceled our trip to Disney just to much money
Could the low crowds just be due to the fact Star Wars Is too scary for young kids? I am seeing Instagram posts showing young kids crying at the sight of the characters in the new land. I think some parents are avoiding Star Wars land because their kids are not ready or don’t understand it. I am sure some reservations were not used fully due to this.
No.
That’s absurd.
Kids even yell and scream at Tigger and Pooh when they see them. It’s because they are so bigger than the little kids. It happens all the time. Nothing to do with Star Wars.
I agree all the characters can be intimidating to young visitors. In my opinion though, Chewbacca and Stormtroopers take it to a different level. I feel parents of young children may be avoiding Disneyland at this time, waiting for the Star Wars hype to die down a bit. The stroller brigade that visits Disneyland during the week days probably isn’t headed to Star Wars Land.
I think it’s a hodgepodge of things coming together. 1) Disney’s insane price jumps in last several month on admission, Annual Passes, food, etc. has made it cost prohibitive for some if not many. 2) The Star Wars fan of today are not as rabid Star Wars fans of 70s/80s (like me). Star Wars started this crazy blockbuster trend that we see everywhere. Kids today like Star Wars for a month or two after movie releases then are done with it because other things pop up along the way now (Marvel especially). Yes, there are still BIG fans, but do you honestly think the fans of Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo Ren really trump Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and Darth Vader? No way. It’s just not the phenomenon that it was 30-40 years ago. What I am saying is that Star Wars is not the only game in town anymore like it was. 3) Disney is gradually losing it’s family status (side note: I think Galaxy’s Edge does help it) with thrill rides and such. The casual observer may just say, “Let’s just go to Knott’s Berry Farms or Magic Mountain… it’s cheaper.” 4) Disney’s politics doesn’t help. Some people are just turned off, and maybe that will only effect 2% of revenue, but it’s still 2% of revenue (maybe this one is a stretch). I know… 20/20 hindsight, but I am one of those people who have been saying this for a while (including WDW). The tell tall sign is look for discounts (or extend free dining). You know when Disney discounts, something is up (Disney will never lower prices… just discount what they have).
I dunno about Star Wars fandom losing steam. The Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim sold out of (most) tickets faster than ever. https://www.showclix.com/event/swca20divo3ms
I think you’re onto something about the across-the-board price increases, and even if that’s not the root cause right now, it’s going to catch up with Disney eventually.
Not denying that at all, but look at the fandom at the Star Wars Celebration. Look at the age of many of them. Look at what they are wearing… I bet you will see a lot more Darth Vaders than Kylo Rens. Yes, there will be many Reys there, but I bet there are more Leias. Then there are the crazy Chewbacca fans. Wearing a 50 pound rug is not my idea of fun, but I digress. Look at the movie, “Solo”. The fan boys did a number to that (as well as The Last Jedi), but we can argue other causes of both of them. What ever the case, the Star Wars fandom is secondary to my point. My major point is money. Just outrageous all the way around. Even the littliest of thing like a bottle of water is $4.50? Maybe I am wrong all the way around, but we know soon enough. Again, look for discounts… it may be things like they did in the past… “13 months of an annual pass for the price of 12” or bumping up more locations for discounts for DVC, AP, or Tables In Wonderland. Things like that.
Do you think that Star Wars event in Anaheim right when GE opens at DW will help crowds be lower at DW. Seems like it would. Hoping DW has low crowds like DL after opening. I’ve definitely been surprised by the lukewarm response to GE opening at DL. I expected huge crowds. Maybe Disney has finally started pricing themselves too high and people are going elsewhere. We all have limited vacation time and money and want a good return for our hard earned money. Disney has been angering many over their constant money grab. I’ve been watching the hotel availability at DW resorts during our September/October trip for a couple of months and still lots of category availability. I really expected hotels to start selling out after the opening announcement but even DL didn’t get close to selling out their 3 hotels during the reservation period with guaranteed reservations. Disney has me a little reluctant to hand over money to such a greedy company so I wouldn’t be surprised if many others feel the same.
I wish I had known. We went May 5-9 in hopes to catch a non crowded park because everyone was waiting for Star wars. But it was soooooo busy!
We don’t have any Star Wars interest. We would ride the rides and look around, but we are not the target market.
I thought it was odd there was only one ride.
As an outsider who has watched some opening stuff all I see is a money grab:
1 ride
Coloured milk
Overpriced bar with a $40 drink
$200 make your own saber
$$ make your own droid.
No appeal to me at all! I understand star wars fans see it much differently than I do.
Maybe people are waiting for kids to be out of school? Maybe waiting for a 2nd ride?
Maybe heading to Orlando instead once SW is open there, and also be able to do the new Hagrids coaster at Universal.
Odd for sure!
I have to think the fact the land opened with only one traditional attraction is a big part of why the crowds haven’t shown up. That exaggerates the fear of long lines and makes it feel like the land isn’t truly open. I realize there is more open than not (dining, retail, environmental), but for many visitors, 1 of 2 attractions is only 50% of the experience.
I genuinely wonder what portion of potential visitors actually realize only 1 of 2 rides is available. Anyone reading a blog like this with regularity certainly knows, but people only seeing billboards in LA, commercials, or even the radio/television puff pieces? They likely have no clue. Back when Season of the Force debuted, the way it was promoted made a lot of SoCal locals think *that* was Star Wars Land.
Not saying it’s 50% who don’t know (it could be more, could be less–I really don’t have the slightest idea), but I’ll bet it’s more than 33% who don’t know.
We were there during the end of the reservation period (so – people who made some effort to get there, even if it was just part of their hotel reservation), and saw several people walking up to the RotR entrance not even knowing what it was.
That’s an excellent point, Tom. So it wouldn’t explain low crowds, but it does still support lower-than-expected levels.
There maybe more factors than people trying to stay away from crowds. As stated in a earlier post Disney has raised prices on a lot of things and may have started to price the casual Disney fan out of the experience hoping that the die hards will make up the difference, that may have also been a mistake on Disney’s part. The other factor is gas prices in the state of California. When in Disney World travel is not as prevalent of a need as Disney has a huge amount activities in and outside of the parks within Disney World’s realm of travel. If Disneyland is made up mostly of local attendance then the gas prices and the rise in the prices of everything Disney may be too much for the AP crowd to stand.
I think prices, or perhaps better stated as “value for money” (exception of crowds v. cost) is one big thing keeping people away.
I don’t think gas prices explain it, though. The average price of gas in Orange County is currently $3.672, which might seem like a lot, but it’s only 3.7 cents more than one year ago. (Source: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/SoCal-Gas-Prices-Resume-Declines-511738642.html)
Maybe, just maybe, the crowds are low because even the the Disney die hard fans-aka me, are just tired of being nickeled and dimed to death by Disney. When they go to DL they want to get their “moneys worth” and go when they can experience everything at once. That being said we are going in August;)
So true. I was shocked at a $6 churrro. I remember the days they were $2! Ok inflate them a bit, but 6 bucks for a churro is insane. Also in WDW and on the Disney Cruise, if you buy a popcorn bucket, refills are only 1.50 at any park. They don’t do this at DL. I found the prices on my past trip to seem inflated even more! I went way overbudget on food and snacks this past trip!
I laughed reading this…..even the WDW popcorn refills have gone up apparently. I just returned ant bucket refills are now $2.00. 🙂
Interesting read!
Thanks for the update.
Why was it a “lucky guess” by the “small minority” who “did see this coming”? Sounds like they called it exactly right. Whatever that prediction was worth (not much unless they planned a vacation around it) I don’t see why that is any luckier than any prediction you or Disney management have ever called correctly. In fact, sounds like it was a rational prediction based on actual lived experience, and I say kudos to them for that insight.
Whomever those people were (for sure I was not among them), the “lucky guess” comment sounds a little bit like sour grapes directed their way and a bit beneath the usual tenor of this blog.
It was intended to be a cheeky, offhand remark.
If it offended you or anyone else, my apologies. Ultimately, you/they got the last laugh anyway by being right.
Ok, my bad, sorry. I must have read a snarkier tone into it because I haven’t had enough coffee yet this morning. Definitely did not offend me personally; I predicted insanity like has never been seen before, just like most everyone else.