Soft Openings for Star Wars Land at Disney World
“When will Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge have soft opening previews at Disney’s Hollywood Studios?” That’s become an increasingly common question, as Walt Disney World fans want to beat the crowds and be among the first to experience this new land with minimal waits. There has been much speculation about paid special events, Annual Passholder early access, and more. (Last updated July 24, 2019.)
Let’s start with Cast Member and Annual Passholder previews, both of which Walt Disney World has already announced. As we’ve previously reported, Platinum, Platinum Plus and Premier Annual Passholders will be able to register for special, free preview opportunities planned before the official opening of Star Wars Land on August 29, 2019. Same goes for Cast Members and their guests.
We now know that these Annual Passholder previews will run from August 17-21, 2019. We also know when Cast Member previews will occur, as well as the media event for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Given all of these dates, we also now know when soft openings for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge are most likely to occur…
For starters, let’s cover what soft opening even means. Soft openings are also known as trial operations or technical rehearsals, and are basically an unannounced and controlled test period. They provide an opportunity for theme parks to open an attraction prior to its official opening and conduct operations and Cast Member training in a more forgiving and low stress environment.
Since soft openings are unannounced–meaning they are not publicized via any official resources: not on park maps, the official Disney Parks Blog, wait time boards, in-app–they always draw significantly fewer crowds than official openings. Hence the “soft” part of the name. (While Disneyland called its timed reservations period for Galaxy’s Edge a “soft opening,” this is not the traditional definition of the term.)
Soft openings are good for both savvy guests and Cast Members. Guests in the know have a chance to experience a new land or attraction with a fraction of its post-opening crowds, and Cast Members get to cut their teeth in a lower stress environment. During soft openings, most guests there have some degree of theme park knowledge, and are simply giddy to experience something so elusive. Contrast that with a normal day when emotions and stress run high, and adult meltdowns are a more common occurrence.
Some sort of trial operations are an ordinary and necessary aspect of opening any large theme park addition. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge obviously qualifies; it’s the largest and most complex expansion aside from a new gate…ever? It will be absolutely necessary for the land to open in some capacity before the official grand opening.
The question thus becomes whether there will be a public soft opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, or if Disney will consider the Cast Member and Annual Passholder preview periods sufficient. Unfortunately, we have no good way of definitively answering this. What we can do, however, is offer historical context based upon soft openings at Walt Disney World.
In terms of major additions in the last decade (or so), two other additions to Disney’s Hollywood Studios had soft openings. Toy Story Mania previewed for nearly a month, while Star Tours: The Adventures Continue was around a week. Expedition Everest had 2 months of soft openings. New Fantasyland had nearly 2 months of public soft openings for 2 attractions, 2 restaurants, and gift shops. Subsequently, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had a single week of soft openings a year and a half later.
More recently, neither Pandora – World of Avatar nor Toy Story Land had public soft openings. Instead, these had a mix of Cast Member previews and free registration-only events (that filled to capacity in hours) to test things prior to their media events. Perhaps most notably, Disneyland only offered Cast Member previews of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. (During which no phones or cameras were allowed!)
When it comes to “predicting” soft openings for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World, these last three examples could be most instructive. Recent history trumps past precedent, and the Florida parks have had reticence in conducting soft openings to major expansions the last few years.
However, there’s a good chance that this is because they desired a splashy media unveiling, with most of the first big info to come out right at each land’s grand opening.
With Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the cat will be out of the bag–Disneyland opened an identical Star Wars Land months before Florida. Aside from Rise of the Resistance, which won’t open on either coast for at least several more months, Galaxy’s Edge is a known quantity.
Moreover, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is effectively opening the floodgates when it debuts its version of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Opening day will be a trial-by-fire free-for-all and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a lower capacity park than Disneyland, could face crowding challenges (although given Disneyland’s veritable ‘ghost town’ on opening day, perhaps not). This is unlike the controlled reservations system in California, which Disneyland officials repeatedly referred to as a ‘soft opening preview’ period.
Above all else, whether there’s a public soft opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World probably depends in large part whether everything is ready to go and all Cast Members are properly trained before the aforementioned scheduled previews begin. If so, it could make sense to start testing the land early.
I’m not prepared to give numerical odds because I don’t want irate emails if these predictions don’t pan out. To be clear: I have no inside information and am only making educated guesses. However, if soft openings do occur, they would likely happen between August 22 and August 24, 2019. This does not mean they definitely will occur, those are just the only dates with nothing else, at least at present, scheduled. This would be after previews for Cast Members, Annual Passholders, Club 33 members, and before the media event.
Even with things “boding well” there’s probably only a 50/50 chance of soft openings at Walt Disney World. I think it would behoove Disney’s Hollywood Studios to offer as many previews as possible to ease demand on opening day and make sure everything runs smoothly, but no one at Disney asked for my opinion on the matter.
If you are visiting during a time when soft openings have a greater likelihood of occurring, one thing to keep in mind is that they are sporadic and unannounced. You will not see wait times in the My Disney Experience app. You won’t see anything posted in the park. If you ask a Cast Member at your hotel whether Star Wars Land is open–even after it has been doing trial operations for a week–they will likely say no and give you the official date.
To reiterate, the goal of soft openings are to conduct test operations in a less-hectic setting, and that doesn’t occur if there’s a public announcement and everyone in Walt Disney World flocks to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. However, the internet being the internet, soft openings are reported on (we will certainly update newsletter subscribers if and when soft openings begin) and people post about them to social media. The cat gets out of the bag, but still only to guests who are plugged-in to fan sites and social media accounts are generally apprised of the opening.
The sporadic nature of soft openings also means that you cannot count on them to start at park opening and continue through to park closing. This is a test and adjust phase, and usually that means delayed opening times, at minimum. Some days, soft openings may not occur at all. Other times, the attraction might break down, and the soft opening will end prematurely.
Soft openings require guest patience and a flexible schedule. If you have your entire Walt Disney World trip precisely scheduled and only have a 4-hour window in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and cannot change that, you might miss soft openings. The tradeoff in (potentially) being able to experience the Florida version of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge before the general public (and with far shorter lines) is being understanding when things break-down or don’t go exactly as planned. Resolving these problems ahead of the grand opening is one of the points of a soft opening in the first place, so you need to be prepared to roll with the punches.
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.
Need Disney trip planning tips and comprehensive advice? Make sure to read Disney Parks Vacation Planning Guides, where you can find comprehensive guides to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond! For Disney updates, discount information, a free download of our Money-Saving Tips for Walt Disney World eBook, and much more, sign up for our free monthly newsletter!
Your Thoughts
What do you think the chances are of a Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge soft opening at Walt Disney World? Do you expect a general public preview, or registration-only events for Cast Members and Annual Passholders? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
Bet they wait till 30 days out. So they get all they money for reservation.
Think this is cool with a soft opening. wish myself and family could be part of it. Going down next week end on July 18th with grandkids and parents joining after work on Friday. What a surprise it could be. Otherwise will be our return in September be fore we see it.
We love Disney and go a much as we can AP holders.
We will be at WDW the week before GE opens (planned intentionally to avoid GE crowds even though that may or may not be the case). I’m not familiar with openings of any kind at Disney parks. I’m taking away from your post that it may be worth it to keep an eye on your updates and make sure to walk by the land entrance just in case?
Not that I have expectations of this happening but since I’ll be there, might as well make sure I don’t miss it just in case. Thanks
anyone know if you should tip your bartender/server at Oga’s?
It sounds a little chaotic in there with your seats given away if you get up…
We are a family of six Star Wars fans and are hoping for a soft preview when we are visiting July15-Aug 10. It would really make my twins 10th Birthday even more special!
In a side note, we love reading your updates! Thx Tom!
Who wants to give odds on Rise of the Resistance being open by January? By mid-March?
I am the type of large (6 people), middle-class family traveling from afar that can only go once every few years. So, I have to wait for Rise of the Resistance, as I can’t go, say, in 2019 and know I can return in 2020 for the second ride. Right now, I have packages booked for both the first week of January and the middle of March. January would save us thousands of dollars in higher airfare and hotel. But not if RotR is not open.
Just saw on another site Rise of the Resistance opens on December 5th at WDW
Love reading your blog. We are going Aug 31- Sept 7. Can’t know too much about this GE opening. I would be happy just getting in to look around, even if I didn’t get to do anything else. Thanks for all you do!
When you are going it will be fully open to the public. If you’re patient enough, you should be able to do whatever you want in GE.
any passholder events or unannounced soft openings won’t affect me in the slighrest. but, our planned trip labor day week, which also happens to be public opening week of GE is rapidly approaching the 6 week window. i still can’t believe they have announced no crowd plans of any kind. at this point, if they are going to offer any kind of virtual queue or anything aside from EEMH, they need to announce it so people coming can plan. even if my family doesn’t make it into GE, i need to know if we’re even going to be able to get into the rest of HS. we have FP and dining reservations for HS 9/5. i just wish they would provide some kind of information for people as to what they intend to do. they can’t just announce nothing. the first few days without EEMH are going to be mad enough.
Tom, has there been any discussion of reservation-only access similar to what they did for opening in California?
We are a family of 4 from the UK all with AP (Platinum) travelling July 24 – Aug 22 and have our fingers and toes crossed for a soft opening!
Do you know with the likes of Galaxy Edge in Cali that you would need a reservation when it opens?
I haven’t seen anything from Disney to Annual Passholders for a preview. Has this occurred? If so or not, how do I sign up?
I am organizer for a group of kids going Aug 17-21, performing there (Disney Springs Noon Aug 19th) and an unexpected soft opening during our time would just be, well, magical!
Pandora actually did have a soft opening. It was only a day or two that we happened to notice as we were walking by. There was no announcement or signs, it actually looked like a private event. I asked a CM and we were told anyone could enter.
We caught wind of Pandora’s soft open the day before the official opening and were able to catch it then with minimal waits. Thankfully we had parkhoppers and were able to change plans for the day spur of the moment.
Since most vacations are booked months in advance, I imagine anyone absolutely determined (or not) to go to Galaxy’s Edge this year in Orlando is already locked into a trip to WDW. With that, if you have flexibility to go this summer, head out west and go to Disneyland. The best thing about Galaxy’s Edge in California, is well, it’s at Disneyland and not Hollywood Studios. You can also walk right into the land, leave, and come back again without crowds, a need for reservations, virtual queues, soft openings, or any other congestion-related logistical/operational nonsense. I enjoyed Galaxy’s Edge, but adding large crowds would have severely lessened the experience.
As a postscript to my note above, even with very low crowds in California, getting a same-day reservation to Oga’s Cantina and/or Savi’s Workshop was still a “do it at exactly 7:00-AM or you’re out of luck” endeavor. At 7:00 AM, choice times for visiting Oga’s were already taken, forcing us to visit essentially for breakfast shortly after the park opened. I can’t imagine having to make the reservations with the reality of large crowds – many will be disappointed by the very limited availability of these experiences. (noted by Tom previously in earlier posts)
Tom, this post is indicative of what’s been happening with your blog in general lately. There is no new information here, nothing you haven’t said in previous posts. I’ve been following your blog for several years now, but it is becoming more difficult. It often seems now you are sending out stuff whether or not you have anything of real value, and so much of it is just long-winded and repetitive. Please go back to what you were doing before, i.e., fewer, more concise, more informative posts. Thank you.
Posts like this one are often in lieu of individual responses to questions people–in this case, many Star Wars fans who have little prior experience with WDW–are asking.
If I don’t cover every little detail, as monotonous as it may be to regulars, I’ll get more questions…and have to answer those.
Tom, another impressively restrained response! Half the reason I visit this blog daily is to witness and hopefully absorb some of the temperament which I believe is one benefit of your having grown up in the mid-west. In other words, you are my polar opposite: in particular, patient (nearly self-deprecating) with rude folks who habitually complain about the efforts of those willing to share their thoughts and talents with others.
I love this blog! Yes there is repeated info but your perspective is always interesting!! Keep doing what you’re doing, you are my fave Disney blog!
You do a great job! Most people would just skip the posts they’re not interested in and move on, but there will always be a few complainers you’ll never satisfy. Don’t worry about them.
Um, Tom, there’s possibly a nomination for sainthood coming your way for the respectful replies you offer in the face of snark. Just wanted to let you know, my eyebrows shot up at the PP into my hairline reading the commentary.
I love your blog and read it faithfully. It’s informative and funny as all get out. You keep doing you and know other sane people enjoy it.
Value is indeed in the eye of the beholder. I personally learned new info here and I enjoy going over the what-ifs in various scenarios that may impact my stay. Plus it’s interesting to me since the SWGE project is a big moment in Disney history and I just like stuff like this! These posts go well with my morning coffee (and afternoon tea) and are a welcome and entertaining break to remind me that we have a freakin awesome family trip coming soon. Positivity.
Personally, I learned a lot from this post in particular. We are going to be there just before the official opening and had no idea how soft openings worked. I will now keep my eye out in social media groups while we are there to increase the odds that we hear about one should it happen. We have park hopper tickets and would certainly jump over there if something came up. Thanks, Tom. I appreciate the information and insight. 🙂
Sorry Kathleen, looks like you are in the vast minority here. Seems like most people, including myself, really enjoy and appreciate the information on this blog. Keep up the good work Tom!
Tom, you also have to factor in the start date of this round of College Program. They make up such a large force of the employees at WDW. I can only imagine they will take on the roles in GE or fill the roles the GE staff are leaving. If the CP all start in August they will need some training before opening the land.
I’m just guessing they need some on hand experience before opening day, with real crowds.
My guess is you’ll see some soft openings the weeks leading up to August 31st.
DVC member previews would be nice. Allowing a DVC member with their Gold level AP access to a Galaxy’s Edge soft opening would be equally nice(hint, hint, WDW)
My family and I lucked into a soft opening for Story Time With Belle pre-opening of New Fantasyland back when. It meant a lot to us then, and we still speak fondly of it now.
May the Force be with me this August.
Agreed! WDW did a DVC preview of Pandora, and I thought they’d do the same with SWGE.
I was thinking the same thing!!
My son & I are going in August 8-22 & have AP…I am crossing my fingers we will get an invite 🙂
We’ve had one opportunity to participate in a soft opening, and that was when fantasyland opened. It was our last day and we ambled past where at the entrance a cast member was manning a rope. I think it was for annual passholders, (which we weren’t at the time),but we begged our way in and thought we were the cats meow!
We rode under the sea, and shopped in the little store. It was awesome and we have never forgotten that experience!
I would be ridiculously excited to be able to get to attend a galaxies edge soft opening, and have been watching my email for an annual passholder preview notice. But, I heard all people attending need to be passholders and only my husband and I have active AP’s. My kids expired and I’ve been hesitant to renew as I am not sure if they will be able to get down there this year.
I’ve been hoping they will offer DVC members a preview, if so we will be booking flights from Pittsburgh!!
Have you heard any rumors on offering DVC members previews?
What to we need to do to purchase tickets? We have read everything we could including subscribing to the newsletter. Do you have to be a member? We are not interested in opening day, just other dates in October. It’s difficult to book flights and accommodations. We do not want to book and get there and be told we cannot enter.
Debbie, there aren’t any tickets to buy. Disney World has not announced anything about how they’ll be handling crowd control for admittance to Galaxy’s Edge and until they do, there’s no pre-planning you can do other than staying on property and being at Hollywood Studios very early for Extra Extra Magic Hours rope drop.
we got an unannounced soft opening of new fantasyland as well, which was cool.