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.
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:
So, today is D-Day for Disneyland’s #GalaxysEdge. Park is open until Midnight due to every pass being unblocked today. First day SoCal / SoCal Select has been able to get into Disneyland since late June.
Will it be crushed after work with locals?
— Hastin (@hastin) September 3, 2019
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.
There is literally no one in line for Snow White's Scary Adventures. pic.twitter.com/q5gtpyuG2P
— Hastin (@hastin) September 4, 2019
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.
To be honest, Disney really showed their true colors with the opening of Pixar Pier & Galaxy’s Edge, I’m just So turned off by their blatant disregard towards AP holders and viewing them solely as stupid cash grabs , I sincerely hope AP holders continue to send a message to the greedy rich corporate big wigs we are more than an Instagram pic for them, but sadly some of us just are..