Yesterday, May 31, 2019 was the official first opening day for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and while many were guessing that this massive new land opening would be a huge event with throngs of guests flooding the land, thanks to a well-executed reservation time system it ended up being a fairly low key affair, with reasonable wait times and rave reviews from inside the land’s first day. And though we know that Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be running their opening a little differently, there are some important things to be learned from this new land’s opening day on the west coast.
1. Drinks and merchandise are where the lines are
Image: Disney
Though you might think the biggest draw for guests visiting the land of Batuu for the first time might be the brand new Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run attraction, it looks like the majority of guests visiting this land headed for two main areas: Oga’s Cantina and Sa’vi’s Workshop (where guests can create their own lightsabers). Though there was some fluctuation throughout the day, the lines to get in to these two popular destinations within Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge typically stayed between 2 and 3 hours, meaning many guests who wanted to experience both were unable to during their 4 hour window.
2. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run did not have an insane wait time
Image: Disney
Conversely, though the lines at Oga’s Cantina and Sa’Vi’s Workshop were super intense on opening day at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the queue at this new land’s signature attraction, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, was anything but, with the attraction generally fluctuating between a 30-60 minute wait for most of the day, only topping out at 90 minutes a few times. Though this could be due to the fact that this attraction has a pretty good capacity and Disney hasn’t been letting guests overwhelm the land just yet, we’d guess it has more to do with the fact that guests were so busy in line for drinks and merchandise that they didn’t make riding this attraction a priority (even though most guests probably rode it at least once).
So what can Disney’s Hollywood Studios learn from this?
Image: Disney
Right off the bat, we know that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is going to have a bigger opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, simply because Disney has confirmed that they will not be using reservation times to manage guest levels inside this new area, which is one of the big reasons why things have been pretty manageable inside this new area so far at Disneyland. However, that doesn’t mean it has to resemble the opening of The Hunger Games either, as there are some pretty simple things Disney can do to ensure its East Coast opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge goes as well as its West Coast counterpart.
Schedule as many specific visitation times for different groups as possible
Image: Disney
We already know that Disney will be offering Extra Extra Magic Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios daily following the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in an effort to give resort guests plenty of time to experience this new land without massive throngs of guests. However, there’s some additional things that could be done to ensure different groups of guests are able to experience this land in as organized fashion as possible.
- Just like they did with Pandora: The World of Avatar, scheduling 2-3 hour windows for annual passholders to preview this land a week or two before opening would go a long way towards minimizing crowds
- Holding an exclusive after-hours event just for DVC Members would also be a great way to get this group in to this land at a time where they won’t be adding to the crowds of regular guests trying to get in.
Have a plan for merchandise
Image: Disney
Right now the biggest line at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland seems to be Sa’Vi’s workshop, but guests who have visited this land have reported long lines at other merchandise locations as well. Though Disney has said flatly that they are not requiring reservations to visit this new land, potentially giving guests return times to visit shops (like a retail FastPass, perhaps) would help cut down on lines.
Though Walt Disney World still has a few months to plan their opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, it looks like the opening of the West Coast version of this land has gone pretty well, perhaps minus the long lines for drinks and merchandise. And though we’re sure that things will be quite different at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney can definitely learn a lot from these early guest patterns and hopefully tweak their strategy and make it as efficient as possible so that August 29, 2019 goes off without a hitch!
