Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge News - Updated 2/28/19

[TheMaxRebo]

I see what you're saying, but this was such a loooong time. Wasn't it about 10-12 years between anything new and new Fantasyland?

Well, depends what you consider big enough to qualify

there were new individual attractions - for example Toy Story Midway Mania opened ~4 years before New Fantasyland and two years before that Expidition Everest opened

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I can't see how that model applies to a theme park.

What it does is it changes expectations about what is "worth" a trip to see .... instead of individual new rides they are building these new lands. In the past, opening of Expedition Everest or Toy Story Mania was a pretty big deal, but now people see a whole new Toy Story Land with 2 new rides and solid theming, etc. as no big deal as they recently had Pandora and are waiting for Galaxy's Edge and then the stuff for the 50th

Disney's hype machine doesn't help - if you treat everything as amazing and special then nothing is amazing and special

 

[tlmadden73]

I'm actually kind of excited about potential discounts to get us to go before Galaxy's Edge opens. Of course I want to see the new land, I love Star Wars. But I am also all for discounts, especially if they are actually good deals.

But will discounts NOW matter if prices go up (with little to no discounts) a lot after SWGE? heh.

Per above, we're contemplating a Sept/Oct trip to avoid the crowds and then waiting until the hotel opens to come back. If too many people decide to squeeze a trip in before the land opens, we all might be the crowd we want to avoid...

That's my plan. While I hoped to get an AP from mid-Nov. 2018- mid-Nov. 2019 to do a 1-2 punch and see Toy Story land in 2018 and Star Wars Land in 2019, but it doesn't look like that will be the case -- so I will be happy to have a "calm before the storm" trip in October 2019 (right before my daughter turns 3 and is still free) and just hit SWGE after the hotel opens and splurge for that.

What you are describing is a treadmill that businesses work hard to stay off of - fostering the expectation that every year they will spend more money than the year before to get guests to come back. What happens if guests get to the point where we are so jaded about new attractions opening that it is no longer worth it to build new attractions?

Not sure what you are saying here. Theme parks traditionally will open new attractions every year to keep it fresh and keep the "regulars" from coming back. There are plenty of examples of Theme parks that don't keep it fresh and die out because it is the same.

I remember Six Flags Great America (Chicago) back in the 90s -- every year they would have a new attractions . .usually every other year was a new coaster (either net new or tearing down an old one to put a new one in) .. and that made it exciting to come back year after year.

Disney is a bit different than a local theme park, but they need to push out new attractions (or refresh old ones) at a faster pace than they did before New FantasyLand showed up.
Since then, it is great there is something new practically ever visit. I have been going every year and half or so since 2010 and it makes it fun to come back!

 

[tlmadden73]

What it does is it changes expectations about what is "worth" a trip to see .... instead of individual new rides they are building these new lands. In the past, opening of Expedition Everest or Toy Story Mania was a pretty big deal, but now people see a whole new Toy Story Land with 2 new rides and solid theming, etc. as no big deal as they recently had Pandora and are waiting for Galaxy's Edge and then the stuff for the 50th

Disney's hype machine doesn't help - if you treat everything as amazing and special then nothing is amazing and special

Those were a big deal because they were adding attractions to parks that were horrendously light on attractions to begin with.

But that is a good point.
I think expectations will be higher, because DHS was getting away with just adding "a new show" or a special summer parade or a Star Wars M&G area and the park's attendance suffered.

And now, DHS is practically making a brand new theme park without making a new theme park. That type of expansion is almost unprecedented.

Disney could probably continue the cycle of doing new/updated lands throughout all their parks in lieu of adding a 5th gate. There is probably expansion room in each park. But, like the point, how long can they keep that up?

 

[hertamaniac]

I feel like back in fall 2017 when we went, the discounts were not good. I also noticed AP discounts were sparse too and didn’t come out until last minute. I actually thought fall 2017 was busier than normal in the fall. Thank you for the info though. I will definitely keep an eye out of ap/Florida discounts as an indicator. I know it’s far out but so far room categories aren’t booked for any of the resorts I was looking at. Hope it stays that way so discounts come out and crowds stay out

Double meaning that a pre-SWGE opening visit and then followed up with an immediate post-SWGE opening. I guess if the discounts are deep enough it could entice some families to do both. But, I get the sense that for most families it's more of a financial limit.

For us, we now take a stark look at the onsite resort parking fees as a deterrent. I suspect that if there are plenty of rooms available over this fall/winter, there will be a free parking incentive, etc.

 

[jknezek]

I suspect that if there are plenty of rooms available over this fall/winter, there will be a free parking incentive, etc.

This is a completely accurate and horribly disheartening thought...

 

[intertile]

What you are describing is a treadmill that businesses work hard to stay off of - fostering the expectation that every year they will spend more money than the year before to get guests to come back. What happens if guests get to the point where we are so jaded about new attractions opening that it is no longer worth it to build new attractions?

I think there is a different phenomenon at play when it comes to WDW. For a very long time they sat on there hands and did nothing, because there was no reason to. The parks remained as is...people still came, and they controlled the market in Orlando. Then Universal built Harry Potter, and WDW got a nice big slap in the face. They lost market share, and started to realize that they were vulnerable. The result was a new competition between these theme park companies that keeps pushing the envelope and keeps the parks fresh. The offerings that are coming in the next 5 years are incredible, and unless there is a major recession guests will not get "jaded" by new attractions. Rather spending is consistently going up.

 

[tlmadden73]

This is a completely accurate and horribly disheartening thought...

Money saved is money saved.

Even if they didn't charge for parking before, all the parking fee did was just raise the prices of all hotel rooms by $20/night. A $20/night discount in the future is pretty significant since most people HAVE to pay that parking fee.

I wonder if the next step is Disney will build their own centralized parking area/deck (they have the land) and charge people LESS to park there (and just bus people to the resorts/parks) and thus be able to charge even more parking at the parks/hotels since it will be considering "premium" parking to have your car nearby.
(the off-site parking concept that airports have .. the further away from the airport, the cheaper the parking).

 

[vacationer1954]

What it does is it changes expectations about what is "worth" a trip to see .... instead of individual new rides they are building these new lands. In the past, opening of Expedition Everest or Toy Story Mania was a pretty big deal, but now people see a whole new Toy Story Land with 2 new rides and solid theming, etc. as no big deal as they recently had Pandora and are waiting for Galaxy's Edge and then the stuff for the 50th Disney's hype machine doesn't help - if you treat everything as amazing and special then nothing is amazing and special

Exactly. Eventually they have to make more a lot more money than the new things they build cost.

 

[peabody58]

With all the recent aerial photos of SWGE, I notice a lot of buildings in the land. Aside from the 2 major rides, does anyone know what all the other buildings will be? I would love to see a labeled aerial photo pointing out the rides, restaurants, shops and 37 DVC kiosks.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

With all the recent aerial photos of SWGE, I notice a lot of buildings in the land. Aside from the 2 major rides, does anyone know what all the other buildings will be? I would love to see a labeled aerial photo pointing out the rides, restaurants, shops and 37 DVC kiosks.

This covers it in bulk - largely the 2 rides, the quick service location, the table service location/cantina, and then the Merchants area - which we know will include at least a creatures shop

 

[Planogirl]

I wonder what kind of food the restaurants will serve? It's intriguing to think about.

Also, wasn't there a Millennium Falcon 'shape' somewhere by the attraction? I don't see it.

 

[vacationer1954]

We can be sure there will be blue milk.

 

[rteetz]

I wonder what kind of food the restaurants will serve? It's intriguing to think about.

Also, wasn't there a Millennium Falcon 'shape' somewhere by the attraction? I don't see it.

Falcon hasn’t begun construction yet in DHS. It has in DL.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I wonder what kind of food the restaurants will serve? It's intriguing to think about.

Also, wasn't there a Millennium Falcon 'shape' somewhere by the attraction? I don't see it.

In the area outlined in red that is for the Millennium Falcon attraction there is a sort of semi-circle indent at the bottom of the shape - the physical replica of the Millennium Falcon will be within that indent

 

[rteetz]

Five things we learned about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge from ‘Thrawn Alliances’

 

[rteetz]

A ship has arrived at SWGE

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1024359980181409792

 

[rteetz]

PHOTOS: First Spaceship Lands at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios

 

[crazy4wdw]

Disney's Star Wars Hotel Episode 1: A New Concept:
https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2018/08/02/disneys-star-wars-hotel-episode-1-a-new-concept.html

(Isn't there a thread dedicated for the Star Wars Hotel?, if there is, I can't locate it )

 

[rteetz]

Disney's Star Wars Hotel Episode 1: A New Concept:
https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2018/08/02/disneys-star-wars-hotel-episode-1-a-new-concept.html

(Isn't there a thread dedicated for the Star Wars Hotel?, if there is, I can't locate it )

There is, link is located on the first post of the news thread.