Crowds Remain Low Despite Lifting of Annual Passholder Blockout Dates Across Disneyland Resort

Derek Sterling

Crowds Remain Low Despite Lifting of Annual Passholder Blockout Dates Across Disneyland Resort

Despite Disneyland opening one of the most anticipated lands in modern history, crowds at Disneyland have remained below average. Even months after opening, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has failed to drive the needle at Disneyland for reasons that seem to baffle management.

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As of today, September 4, all Disneyland Passholders can enter both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. This includes the cheapest “Southern California Select” as well as the no longer sold “Southern California” pass.

This issue seems to plague all of Disneyland as attractions in both parks are seeing below-average wait times for attraction. For example, Twitter user @hastin noted that at 3:00 p.m. PDT yesterday, the first day of no Passholder blockouts, wait times were in single digits for some popular attractions.

Check out this thread from @hastin about how low wait times at Disneyland were yesterday:

Management is clearly noticing the lack of crowd, as Fantasmic! at Disneyland Park is only being shown once per day. In addition, the dining package isn’t even being offered, indicating low crowds trying to enter the park.

https://twitter.com/hastin/status/1169102182999658496?s=20

Disneyland may have initially meant to deter Passholders and guests from Galaxy’s Edge to avoid overcrowding, but it seems to have had a much larger domino effect:

  • By delaying the opening of Rise of the Resistance, guests are deciding to avoid visiting the new land until they can experience both attractions.
  • Controlled openings and forcing guests to purchase a hotel room to visit the land initially rubbed many Passholders the wrong way.
  • Prices at on-site and off-site hotels have been raised for the anticipated crowds, which seems to have also deterred guests from visiting Disneyland.

Will Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge ever draw the crowds many people expected, like Harry Potter at Universal, or will it always remain a mild draw to Disneyland?

In any case, Disneyland is definitely suffering from a dearth of guests, and is growing desperate to draw in crowds. At least Walt Disney World can blame Hurricane Dorian for not meeting quotas this quarter.

77 thoughts on “Crowds Remain Low Despite Lifting of Annual Passholder Blockout Dates Across Disneyland Resort”

  1. The ticket prices are to blame for sure, but the amount of upselling once you get into the park is ridiculous. Fifteen dollars per-person for Maxpass, two hundred to build a lightsaber and cuts to entertainment are only going to hurt Walt’s Park. People are finding entertainment and making memories elsewhere for way less.

  2. I definitely agree with your reasons on low crowds. It is Star Wars, which is way more popular than Harry Potter, so we can expect to see MUCH larger crowds when Rise of the Resistance opens. 10 hour lines at Universal is an indicator of a failure by management to implement crowd control measures.

    • You can’t be serious. That is the most damage controlling thing I’ve ever heard. The fact at the end of the day is, Jurassic World has crowds waiting to ride it while most of Disneyland and especially Galaxy’s Edge is empty. There’s clearly something going on.

    • You shouldn’t compare 1 ride to an entire land. The only thing new at Universal was that 1 ride. Everything in GE was new, so people had other things to do.

    • 10 hour lines? Because the Disneyland horde suddenly decided to go to Universal Studios, instead. Disney needs to take responsibility for their errors and stop hiding behind lame excuses and finger pointing.

    • Star Wars is way more popular than Harry Potter? I guess maybe if you are only looking at dudes in their 40s. Pretty sure everyone younger than that prefers Harry Potter.

  3. As a pass holder and Big Star Wars fan, I have appreciated the lower Park attendance. Having been to Batuu many times now the biggest problem i see is they created a huge gift shop with one ride. Disney enthusiasts such as myself enjoy all of the various experiences. The food the art the characters the shopping and the rides are awesome. But the Casual fan is mostly there for the rides. One new ride is not worth $150 ticket. If Batuu had opened with 3 rides, things would be much different in my opinion. The average person on Batuu doesn’t even know what the Data pad is (its awesome!). Less people in the park means more fun for me.

  4. It will be interesting if crowds stay low. I do think Disney has frustrated their fans with price increases. There is a limit on what people will pay. There’s a whole world of other experiences to be had elsewhere.Sure Star Wars is popular but I don’t think it’s nearly as popular as it used to be. People used to camp out for movie theater tickets for Star Wars movies even. Harry Potter is far more popular with younger adults and kids.

    • I don’t agree. There are literally thousands and thousands of annual pass holders which make up the majority of people who come to the park. You don’t lose this many people who have already paid for it and blame it on the pricing. It was already paid.

      • Yes a large percentage of DL guests are APs. Some of those will have had to renew at the new higher prices. Others may be frustrated at Disney’s growing disregard for their middle class guests and their thirst for the well heeled guests. Disney in my opinion is driving away their own guests with their greed.

        • As more time passes since the price increase many longtime pass holders will no longer renew (my family included) the value is just not there. And as such the number of attendees will drop off like water going over a fall. So if 5-10 thousand less passes have renewed over the last 5 months a massive decrease in attendance is to be expected.
          The greed of the mouse will be it’s own doom.

    • I wouldn’t really say Harry Potter is more popular. It’s been a while since the last Harry Potter movie and Star Wars movies continue to dominate the box office. The 10 hour wait times at Universal is simply because they did absolutely nothing to limit crowds, whereas Disney did.

      • We have tried many times to get our kids interested in Star Wars. It’s a non starter. They love Harry Potter as do all of their friends. Planning a trip to the U.K. and there is an entire travel industry around Harry Potter. Hundreds of thousands of people travel to see Harry Potter sites even though it has been years since the last movie or book. It’s still extremely popular. I’m almost 40 and I keep hoping JK Rowling starts writing more books on the Harry Potter world. Don’t care to see more Star Wars anymore. Way too much Star Wars lately.

      • I was at GE in Orlando on Day 2. Place was pretty empty. There was no crowd limiting going on, there was just no one there.

        We didn’t even plan to go, just figured we’d give it a shot and on day 2, I was shocked. The wait for Smuggler’s Run barely climbed beyond 70-80 minutes.

    • thats another good point you brought up too though about starwars not being as popular as it used to be. and the same thing is about to happen to marvel too and thats cuz Disney has very publicly been trying to control their fandoms and attacking them when they dont fall in line and instead of marketing toward them and the fans are getting very frustrated with that too

    • My three kids are in elementary school and high school and none of them are interested in Star Wars. They were lukewarm to the originals and even less interested in the latest crop. Our little one is going down to WDW with my mom in the near future, so it’ll be interesting to see his response to Galaxy’s Edge. He’s excited to go back to Universal and see Harry Potter again though.

      It seems like DL guests are talking with their wallets and they’ve finally hit a ceiling when it comes to pricing. I’m personally disgusted by where Disney management currently is and the absurd pricing. For naysayers whenever the subject of pricing comes up and the default answer is that it’s the free market and people keep spending. Apparently, they’re pulling back from spending at DL and WDW. It’s rather interesting and no coincidence.

  5. I was in LA over the weekend, and on a whim we decided to head to Disneyland on Saturday. We were halfway there before we I realized that the tickets were going to be $149/person for 1 park, no MaxPass and no parking. I’m not one of the one’s always whining about how it’s too expensive and not what Walt would have wanted – I fully get supply and demand – but I think they probably misjudged the tiered pricing model in an attempt to discourage people from visiting on days they deemed to be ‘more valuable.’ I know it kept me away.

  6. The big difference with Universal/Harry Potter is that Universal didn’t gouge the prices for everything else when the Wizarding World opened.

  7. So everyone has complained about the crowds and the long lines for years, and when will Disney do something to solve it. They finally did it, and everyone is complaining that there aren’t any crowds. I don’t get it, make up your mind. Stand in line on a hot day for two or three rides or get more for your money and have a happyer day.

    • The only thing Disney did was raise the prices. When Igor took over as CEO he said he was going to raise the prices every year and he did just that but he started getting greedy and people can’t afford it anymore. If they don’t stop him Disney will eventually go under

  8. As a passholder parent with a toddler that just turned 4 towards the end of summer, I’d like Disney to explain how I’m supposed to tell him he can’t go into Disneyland and only California Adventure because he has a deluxe pass? I know other families we spoke to said the same thing and therefore we rarely went to California Adventure because it wasn’t worth the tears of my then 3 year old and my frustration of his crying. If I was given the option like the flex pass to reserve a spot with the deluxe we would have visited more often. But Disney said too bad there system could not do that because it wasn’t programmed that way and we are stuck and have to upgrade to enter Disneyland. Had I known about flex being offered back in 2018, when I renewed, I would have waited. But now my son has discovered a new theme park he enjoys just as much, so I bought him and I a pass there with no blackout dates to the main park and parking included for less than the price of one deluxe pass. So I’ve decided to switch theme parks after our passes expire. It saves me money, emotional distress, and the anger I felt as a high paying customer. I still can’t wrap it around my head how a passholder who paid $200 less is able to get in on 4th of July (which was originally marked as a blackout day for flex pass) to Disneyland with a reservation and my son couldn’t even do it on a non-holiday. Not sure how they thought people wouldn’t get upset or enter just California Adventure with their toddlers. For a family oriented theme park I don’t feel they took that into consideration. Disneyland has a lot more attractions for toddlers. I love Disney, but as a single parent with no child support or alimony, I don’t feel as appreciated as before. To me the reason you pay more is for better benefits. In this case I felt I paid more for less.

    • This is exactly why we’re finally letting our passes expire after having them for 9 years. No appreciation for the pass holders that kept their parks busy and turning. We too found another park that has attractions, parking, and an annual pass for less than a restricted day pass at Disneyland. They have gotten too greedy and priced middle class right out of their magic kingdom. Maybe they should change the name to elite kingdom?

      • My husband and I have also have not renewed our passes. Our passes expired the day after we were allowed to return back into Disneyland. We have been Disney passholders for many years, but now we are really starting to feel not appreciated.

  9. Attendance is down because of the way they designed Galaxy Edge. In my opinion it was designed wrong it should have been more futuristic. The Cantina only.holds 160 people.The space between the bar and the drinks is way to.large they could easily do another row of seating if they moved it in…..only two appitizers to choose from strange crackers or jello with pop rocks…… The people that got to go early and on previews felt so overcrowded …it was clostropic walking in the stores. The merchandise is not exciting. I’ve taken many friends been there at least 6 times all were board within a hour.. Nobody that I have gone with wants to spend there Disneyland time on the phone playing the game. Many have said they miss hearing the original.star wars theme song…..the strom troopers walk around but nothing to hold a capitive audience no real.entertainment. The millennium falcon needs side screens if your a Gunner or engineer and doing your job pushing buttons you do not see what’s going on, on the main screen… Obviously I am a die hard Disney fan but Galaxy Edge needs more if they want to retain attendenxe. I understand they want it like the movie set but they need to think of the public and what the visitors would like

    I love the low crowds I can’t stand it when it’s too crowded

  10. If you’d actually GO to Disneyland – rather than just rely on things you’ve read on Twitter, you’d know that despite the fact that crowds were down last June, they’re pretty much back to normal for this time of the year.

    The real story is Hong Kong Disney. With millions protesting in the streets every day for the last two months. The airport and public transportation affected, With HKD employees not reporting for work to join the protests, and the Chinese army preparing for a possible intervention, one can only guess how attendance has been affected.

    • Agreed! Myself, my spouse & 2 teenagers are AP but with the scorching heat we are experiencing in So Cal right now, so NOT the typical weather for us….that has been a huge deterrent. I prefer not to swelter @ the parks!

  11. Here’s why attendance is low:
    Price gouging
    Kids in school
    Merchandise is over priced, out of stock or constantly breaking
    1 out of 2 rides open
    The land is focused more on non-movie cannon (SW Rebels) which the general population isn’t familiar with.

  12. I’ll be there next Sunday! My first time at Galaxy’s edge! Last time I was there was in May. I have the discontinued socal pass. I hope the crowds are still thin :)

  13. I heard stars wars land is not that great. (Which is too bad cuz I’m a huge sw fan) With only one ride open, there’s just not a lot to do except shop in their expensive extra overpriced shops. Bad oversight by Disneyland. Quit being so greedy. :(

  14. I believe Disney has a reckoning in its future. They have been slowly selling their souls and deviating from what once defined the Disney experience. Walt nearly bankrupted the Disney company several times by ignoring profits abs staying true to his vision if delivering pure family oriented entertainment. in 2019 a trip to Disney world includes touring Epcot with the soul intention of getting drunk. even the “new” children’s movies and updated rides seem geared to millennials. The company seems to think its more important to be politically correct, than focusing on staying true to what built the Disney company into the global powerhouse it seems to be slipping from.

  15. Many here have hit the nail on the head, one ride and countless gift shops. I have been a huge Star Wars fan since childhood and when I went over the summer I did not feel any magic nor goosebumps. One of the problems is that Disney is using “their” version of Star Wars and not the one we grew up with. I understand why they are doing it but its just not gelling with the old school fans who have the drive or want to visit the park. For example, when I was in Oga’s I thought it was a cool bar but it didn’t feel like a Star Wars bar. A robot playing music feels more like Tomorrowland to me than anything. I wanted to see a Jawa or a creature lurking in the background to make me feel like I was in the cantina. There was nothing, not even a stormtrooper. They don’t even need to be live actors, just something to bring that “feel” of Star Wars into the bar.
    I am also a tremendous Disney Park fan. I own a season pass and visit multiple times a year but I don’t think you can compare the Wizarding World and Galaxy’s Edge. When you go to WW you feel like you are in the book or in the movie. There is just something magical about it that to me GE is missing.

    • I agree that this was a huge mistake in Disney’s part. WWHP is so popular because it feels like you’ve stepped into the movies and there’s a lot of nostalgia. Batuu is not nostalgic. There’s no Darth Vader even! Come on Kylo Ren is a sniveling kid. He’s not scary.

    • I agree, nothing about Galaxy’s Edge screams Star Wars, except the altered Falcon. Us old school fans have be thrown to the corner. Sorry, Disney but this is your Frankenstein’s monster

    • I agree. Historically, I think people tend to invest their time and money in things they are passionate and/or nostalgic about. That said, why would anyone be nostalgic about a new land some Imagineers just dreamed up a few years ago. The people who grew up with the original Star Wars are now in their early 40’s and mid 30’s and have families and kids of their own – myself included – and most of us have money to spend. If Disney’s ultimate goal is to build a mousetrap that relieves consumers of our hard-earned dollars, why wouldn’t they build something that we have a soft spot for, or strikes a chord with us emotionally and nostalgically? Why can’t we visit Jabba’s Palace? Hoth? or even the original Death Star? It’s sad they thought the smart move was to build a soul-less land that no one has an emotional connection to. Honestly, if the Millennium Falcon wasn’t sitting in the middle of it, it would just seem like some generic future space land to me personally. Oddly enough, I sort of think the Star Wars/Star Tours area at the Disney Hollywood/MGM Studios in Orlando is better themed (if you like the original trilogy). Sadly, the Star Wars you grew up with and Disney’s idea of Star Wars are two very different things. You would have thought Disney would have learned its lesson given the 2001 opening of California Adventure and the huge five-year remodel they ended up having to do seven years later after opening (to remedy the fact they built the park management wanted and not fans/consumers). Old habits die hard I guess.

    • There is an easy solution, It’s the way they handle smokers in Disney Japan. But I guess ALL INCLUSIVE is only for snowflakes and drinkers. have a magical day.

  16. Banning smoking also contributes since 15% of the population still smokes. Not an issue in California’s Great America with their 100 acres, or Knotts Berry Farm and their 57 acres, but a much larger problem in Disneylands 314 acres.

  17. For us it was ticket prices, plus the new Star Wars area was not complete. I am old enough to remember the original Star Wars films, and find the current plethora of Disney produced Star Wars films confusing with a loss of focus. Are Star Wars, Marvel Comics and Avengers good choices for the Disney brand? No. From remakes of animated classics to a new “land” with little to do but shop, it appears creativity at the Disney organization has left the building.

  18. A lot of what is being said here is correct. Price increase after price increase is turning a great experience to an afterthought. And when that happens, I look to other things like Universal and sea world for vacation. The urge to go to Disney fades away, and we still have family fun.

  19. The reason is there is no connect outside of Star Wars fans. There is no magic. The Groupthink of Disney is ruining it’s own revenue stream. Where’s Luke, Leah, etc. And No E ticket ride Just a mall with Blue and yellow slim

    • No E-Ticket ride!? That’s hilarious. Last time I looked there’s something called Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run and the soon to come Rise of the Residtance, which will by the best theme park ride by far!

  20. I went to the LA County Fair last weekend and you could barely walk with the number of people that were there. People have options in LA, and they are going to go to the places where it does not cost an arm and a leg to enjoy rides and have fun. I know carnival rides don’t compare to Disney, but they are still very fun.

  21. Why is this issue constantly being called out? Disney raised daily ticket prices and Annual Passes prior to Galaxy’s Edge opening just to keep the crowds low. The hotel stay, Star Wars land reservations. pass blockout dates…all too keep crowds down. I was at Galaxy’s Edge on this day when all the passes were allowed back. I still couldn’t get a reservation for the Cantina unitl after 10pm (I did this about 9am) and the wait line for Smugglers Run was steadily about 45 minutes throughout the day. I say that those wait times are just right. we don’t need longer lines than this and the Cantina has plenty of business.Just like Disney stated in their quarterly earnings report ” The decrease in volume was due to lower attendance, partially offset by higher occupied room nights. Guest spending growth was primarily due to higher average ticket prices and increased food, beverage and merchandise spending” .Why constantly complain that there needs to be more people in the park? It’s good-leave it.

    • Disney absolutely wants way more people in the parks. They are not happy with these low crowds. They expected epic crowds so blocked APs and did the reservations to start. They were in no way expecting this. They are doing everything they can at Disney World to avoid the same thing happening there. When they expected to not have to have discounts they are discounting like crazy to bring in crowds. They will be in trouble with their investors if the crowds don’t show up.

      The cantina has a low capacity so even on a low crowd day it will be hard to get reservations.

  22. Disney Parks will not have anymore loyal following the next decades, if parents can’t afford taking their kids to the Disney Parks what nostalgic experiences are these kids going to tell their kids about Disneyland or the WDW. Walt Disney wanted a park which everybody can enjoy not only for those who can afford it.

  23. Been a long time Signature AP member and big Star Wars fan…3 price increases in a row at $150/pass to renew my membership was too much for me. Decided I would not renew again…probably ever.

  24. I’m a huge Star Wars fan and was pretty excited to snag a reservation. The ride was ok, the bar was ok, the merchandise was meh, the food was mostly bad, the music should have been the original, there was no comfortable seating or shade for those of us needing it (especially in the heat) and the cast should have dropped the “in-character schtick” when being asked a serious question. Not all was bad…I liked the ships and the storm-troopers—but the bad outweighed the good. After that visit, I was Deluxe-pass-blocked for the rest of the summer and didn’t get a chance to give it another try…and by the time my pass was good, I had lost interest.

    • Totally agree with Mno’s comments about the music. So much about Star Wars is the musical score. Whenever kids dress up as Darth Vader or a Storm Trooper, someone is always humming the theme from Empire Strikes Back. Disneyland is never done, so I can’t imagine that Galaxy’s Edge will always be void of the music.

  25. It probably isn’t going to generate capacity crowds, but What’s the point in selling an annual pass if they aren’t going to come in and buy stuff? Open the parks up to all passholders. Land/World what’s the difference, if I’m in Anaheim on business and I’m a DisneyWorld annual passholder, I can look at an outlandish ticket price and easily pass on visiting or I would happily use my 2-coast valid annual pass and go spend a couple hundred dollars buying food and souvenirs in Anaheim while I’m in town.

  26. I love Star Wars but I don’t give one though to going to these parks… Make a good movie! Stop with the stupid park crap.

  27. Corporate Greed will get you sooner or later. Why spend all that money money to wait in lines and overpriced food.?

  28. Wow, almost everyone on here jumped to conclusions about this issue. There’s many reasons for this, but so many can’t admit that Disney did an OUTSTANDING job on Galaxy’s Edge, with expansions coming in the future. It’s kind of sad to see how a lot of fans have turned this into a form of politics.

  29. There are a few difference between Harry Potter and Star Wars that affected the turnout:

    First, HP was a fresh IP, so this was the first time you’d get to see the HP world in a theme park anywhere. SW isn’t new to Disney; they’ve had Star Tours, Launch Bay, various shows, and the SW weekends for years. If you’re a SW fan, you’ve already been coming to Disney for years; there are few new fans to draw from. So Universal was able to draw in different people who weren’t otherwise already going there; Disney is trying to draw the audience they already have.

    Second was promotion. Universal focused on the main ride and the overall experience of stepping into the HP world. Disney seemed scattered and spent more time promoting all the things you could spend money on. Universal had unexpected success with merch and butterbeer; that wasn’t their primary goal.

    Third, Disney made the experience sound painful. At worst, Universal only restricted access to the land and put up a line similar to stores on Black Friday (when people leave, we let more in). The whole thing about reserving a spot to get into the land, then reserving a ride, a restaurant, … you might want to stay in our hotel to get a spot … oh, you probably won’t fit in the store due to crowds. And something about getting an app so I can stay glued to my phone. I go on vacation to get away from all of that.

    Finally, I’m not impressed at how they handled the theme. I’m a huge Disney Parks fan and have always raved about how great they do theming, but this all feels half-assed. They created this world that isn’t tied to any specific movie which means I don’t get to walk into a scene I’ve loved… you don’t get that impact like you do walking into Hogsmeade. I get that they wanted to keep it a little loose rather than tying down to one specific trilogy, but you have Hans ship without Solo, or whatever. But what annoys me more is that there is all this other SW stuff scattered all over the park. The “Star Tours is an ‘off-world’ experience” is the lamest excuse ever.

  30. As a family of 5, the ticket prices are a huge deterrent! We have spent years goi g nearly 5 times a year, for 5 days each time.

    Our last season pass will be our last

  31. I said for a long time now if igor kept raising the prices at Disney he would eventually kill the business and this is just the beginning. I am 69 and have taken my family to Disney at least 60 times. That may not seem alot but when you live in south bend wa and you have to pay for travel hotel and foid it adds up. I have 10 kids and 33 grandkids and can no longer afford to go to Disney. And that id the fault of Igor. Maybe he should think about lowering the prices so people can afford to come back.

  32. I can tell you you why the crowds have declined Disneyland can contact me anytime and I tell tell you…why…
    I’ve been going for 40 yrs

  33. The fact of the recent pass price increases has finally hit threshold limit. Many longtime pass holders are no longer renewing their passes because it’s just not worth it, therefore, there are upwards of a few thousand people each month dropping off the roster. Tied in with the facts which many others have already voiced has led to a decline in attendance. The greed of the mouse will be it’s own doom.

  34. First, I love Disney and I love Star Wars. I believe the ticket prices were intentional to improve the crowd sizes and make the park more enjoyable. The price increases worked, and I will be surprised if we see additional increases in the near future. I think there is even a chance the prices will be frozen next year. Frankly, there have been a number of times before the price increases when the crowds were so intense that I swore I wouldn’t return. What I find most amazing is the amount of upselling required for a full experience in Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and here is where I think Galaxy’s Edge went too far. Like it or not, the $200 light sabers and $140 droids are what grabs most of the headlines with Galaxy’s Edge, and often these headlines are not in a positive light. These experiences were designed for more intense Star Wars fans than what typically attend the parks. Eventually, Smuggler’s run will require some re-design to improve its interactive experience; at the end of the day, unless you are one of the pilots, pressing a button whenever it flashes is one step above a whack-a-mole game, and this is what you primarily get in term of any ride experience in Galaxy’s edge with the price of park admission. Galaxy’s edge is beautiful, but in its present form it was primarily designed for food and merchandise, and I this is why Galaxy’s Edge doesn’t maintain the attention of most attendees. I attended when reservations were required (in mid-June), and I estimate that easily half of the crowd that entered at the beginning of my reservation period had already dispersed to the rest of Disneyland after 2 hours. Of course, this could all change with Rise of Resistance.

  35. We spent Labor Day weekend at the DLR resort and the crowds were certainly present but there were also very short waits for some attractions. At California Adventure the park was particularly busy and it didn’t help that Radiator Springs was up and down like a yo-yo.

    We went for the weekend to specifically see Galaxy’s Edge (GE) and we weren’t overly thrilled with what we encountered. We entered from the Fantasyland side and noted that the people walking towards us, and out of GE, seemed rather expressionless and lacked any energy or enthusiasm. Maybe it was the heat but I’d almost say they seemed somber. Even the kids lacked their boundless energy and just seemed happy to be pressing on.

    Upon first entering GE it seemed interesting as it was so new but the attention to detail was not readily accessible. I felt like I was not in Star Wars but almost like sets from the movie “Dune” or something. Adults looked like they wanted to have fun and be nostalgic for Star Wars but it seemed like everyone was just phoning it in. The Storm Troopers walked by so quickly you couldn’t understand much of what they were saying. Some of the other roving actors looked realistic and, in fact, Rey looked like she walked out of the movies but she didn’t seem very entertaining or engaging. I had heard this place was supposed to be interactive but, quite frankly, I guess I missed that part of the experience. The cast members also seemed to be indifferent and the food and beverage cast members, while polite, were weary from explaining that the “Tip Tap” (or whatever it was called) was more like beef than chicken or vise verse. Merchandise wasn’t flying off the shelf either unless they did a great job of instantly restocking items. I wanted to buy a shirt but ended up waiting until the Emporium to buy a more generic one as that seemed like I’d get more mileage out of it.

    The fan boys were walking around and they were trying to convey enthusiasm but even they couldn’t buoy their emotions. I tried blue milk and once was enough. It’s not a “must have” item that on future visits I’d rush to GE just to get my fix. We did like the Falcon ride and seeing the ship was cool, but I hardly “cried upon first seeing it” as some of the initial GE reviewers did. The Hondo AA is a total let down as you can’t understand a thing he says. I think Jar Jar Binks is more articulate and engaging (God help me, did I just say that???).

    As for Oga’s cantina we were unable to get it. Gee Disney, let’s leave good money on the table because you undersize what will surely be the most popular place especially when they do implement Fast Passes. A tab for a party of four at Oga’s, consuming two drinks each is much more than the cost of building your own droid will be, even more will be spent with the take home glassware.

    I truly hope that Rise of the Resistance is the great equalizer that GE needs to have the staying power to be a cool place to visit. Right now, I give it a 6 out of 10 in its current incarnation and that might be on the low end of 6. Harry Potter just seems more engaging and, well, fun. You see surprises around every turn at HP. You want to see what’s inside the shops and restaurants because it’s all so realistic. You don’t mind lingering at WWHP. At GE you want to get in and ride and then leave to explore more enchanting areas of the park. I don’t blame the Imagineers as much as I do Iger as he insisted that the attractions and overall concept be based off the new movie franchise. 5 years ago this probably seemed like a good idea but since the movies were such a yawner they are going to have to revisit this decision and intermix some original trilogy lore but even that might be putting lipstick on a Bantha.

  36. Maybe the rise in ticket prices, rise in food prices, and anti-smoking, Disney fail to understand most Europeans go on vacation in the summer months and a large amount are smokers, no smoking in the parks could cause many to go to universal instead of Disney I wonder if Universal saw a rise in attendance this summer?

  37. Has annual pass holder I got discourage to go with all block out dates and crowd control techniques because galaxy edge. I’m not in hurry. Star wars not going anywhere.

  38. Has no one seen the connection here…. Disney bans smoking in may 2019 and Sept 2019 their attendance goes down…. THAT’S IS EXACTLY WHY

    • So all summer they can’t figure out why they lost money the whole summer….. YOUR DECISION TO BAN SMOKING….
      THERE’S MORE OF US THAN YOU THINK

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