I think there are four reasons for the fairly light crowds at
Disneyland with the smoothed out openings of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.
Reason One: Higher Ticket Prices and Annual Pass Blockouts.
When you compare the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, Disneyland’s attendance is more influenced by locals. The cheapest annual pass to get into Disneyland in general is the Signature pass at $1,149. This pass doesn’t cater to locals. With significant annual price increases, the cost for locals to get an annual pass to attend this summer probably doubled. For a family of four, you are talking about an extreme amount to attend Disneyland even if you didn’t want to see Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.
Even if you are not a local, the ticket prices are extremely high. If you wanted to visit the Disneyland without considering Galaxy’s Edge, the ticket prices are priced as their peak value (I believe), which I believe these are near or the same as the prices during: Christmas / New Years / Major Holidays / Major School Breaks. Summer is always the ideal time for a family to take a vacation because it is two months that kids are out of school but not worth the peak value on tickets if you wanted to simply see Disneyland and not Galaxy’s Edge.
Essentially, the highest ticket prices, only the highest annual pass with access, and block out dates have led general Disneyland park goers from not coming (possibly).
Reason Two: Fear Of Large Crowds
In general, the expectation was that Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge was going to so crowded that it would be unbearable not only in the land itself but the remaining part of the theme park, so why even go. The California locals probably had this mentality just to wait this Summer out and go next Summer. Travelers who have to make plans were skeptical on going because they don’t want to be at Disneyland in the Summer when it could potentially have Christmas day crowds.
I know I kind of fell in this category. I love Disney, Disney Parks, and Star Wars. I didn’t want to book a trip during the reservation or outside of the reservation period because I thought the crowds would be terrible and I wouldn’t enjoy my time at either Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge or Disneyland. Plus, it is my busiest time of the year at work. Also, I have a Disney World Annual Pass and it is opening up around the corner there.
Reason Three: Management’s Smoothed Out Opening Of Galaxy’s Edge
Disneyland Management has been very informative and blunt about the opening of Galaxy’s Edge. They were very strict on the information that you absolutely needed a reservation to attend the land and not to line up for it. One month of all the hardcore Star Wars, Disney, Disney Park fans, who really desired to go had a way to make a reservation that did still sell out very quickly. I think that is key to know that these reservations did sell out very quickly and if more would have been available, they would have sold out too. During the reservation period, you could still book a DLR room to guarantee a spot in the land but the cost to those rooms are extremely high compared to the hotels right across the street.
By doing this reservation period, limit the local crowds (blocking annual passes), and travelers with fear of crowds and peak park prices, the first non-reservation day crowd wasn’t as demanding because it first wasn’t the true opening day and the hardcore fans have already seen the land.
Reason Four: Rise of the Resistance
Another huge factor is that this land isn’t fully operational. What has been marketed as the major attraction for not only Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge but for a Disney Parks attraction in general is not open and doesn’t have a time frame when it will be open. As a Star Wars / Disney /Disney Parks fan, I want to see this new land as soon as possible. But I am not of the norm, as most people on this board aren’t either. With the main E-Ticket attraction still not open and announced not opening, that probably had an impact on travelers wanting to spend peak park prices to attend a half open land. Which in a way, is another smoothed out control of the crowds, maybe unintentional by Disneyland Management.
Overall, do I think Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge is a failure because it isn’t experiencing a 10 hour wait to get into the land? NO! Universal wanted to rush their new ride to compete with Disney before Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge opens at DHS. This has become a nightmare of an opening for Universal with long lines and the ride constantly breaking down.
It is not that Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge doesn’t have huge crowds, the entire Disneyland Resort has low crowds and I really think that is because of the high ticket prices and blocking out annual passes. This is a good thing. We know no matter what Disney is always packed. No one likes waiting in long lines, having to deal with FastPasses, getting around major crowds, and the high ticket prices. I think Disney has finally figured out their price point. This is the result of constantly raising prices and by extreme amounts. It makes sense for Disney to raise ticket prices, there is an extreme demand to get into the park. However, Disney also needs people to be in the park to buy their merchandise, food, drinks, etc. Disney needs to rethink what there ticket prices are.
Disney World’s Impact: Disney World is a different animal. It is almost purely a vacation destination. The annual pass increase was a little strange because that won’t impact what I would consider their usual guest, which comes only once every maybe 2-5 years. Because of this, I wouldn’t think an increase in a WDW annual pass would decrease the crowds significantly like it did at DLR. If there were a 25% increase in 1-6 day park passes / park hoppers, I would think that would have a significant impact on WDW crowds.
With the average WDW guest ticket prices not going up significantly, WDW should have the same amount of guests in the Fall thus probably more with SWGE opening. I do not think the opening of SWGE will be as smooth as DLR. I think the WDW management will read that the DLR system resulted in light crowds and won’t put the same measures that DLR did. I hope for the best when SWGE opens at WDW because that will be my first experience to see the land.
Sorry for the long novel lol
