News Round Up 2019

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Wait...But didn't Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run open without any issues? :lmao:

Looks like Disney handled their opening for a new land much better than Universal did for a new ride. Yes, I know the real test is June 24th for Disneyland and who knows what it will be like Opening Day at WDW. However, waiting 10+ hours and not having the opportunity to ride would seem like a much bigger PR nightmare.

Clearly the reservation system worked at Disney for that opening but this was also just one ride not an entire land

Also, the old ride was torn down and new one out up in less than 2 year - or what Disney calls "the timeline for a parking garage if we push it" - so not surprised there are a few hiccups

Also illustrates a reason why perhaps Disney didn't push to get Rise of the Resistance open on day one if there were some technical challenges - be even worse if there were the reservation windows and then the main ride (or at least co-main) isn't working .... Rather have not everything - but what is open be in top shape and working nearly flawlessly than those potential issues
 
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I think there is PR benefit in the Hagrid coaster lines from yesterday...among other things, it gets media attention/free marketing; it builds fan excitement and feelings of exclusivity. The people who stand in those long lines get to wear it like a badge of honor. From an outsider perspective, someone who knows very little of the Star Wars or HP IPs, it would appear that HP is “much more popular” than Star Wars. And, psychology tells us that the more time/emotion we invest in something, the more positive our opinion will be of it. No one wants to say “I waited 10 hours for something that was no fun.”
 
Minus it’s main ride? Yes Disney has said that Rise of the Resistance is going to be the biggest attraction they have ever built. However, SW:GE isn’t going to be like Pandora with one premium ride and one ride that is “ok” at best. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is actually a really great attraction and I personally think it could stand on its own.
You were implying that Disney doesn't have start up issues which is just false. I think SDD also went down a some opening day/week.
 
The thing is Slinky Dog also isnt a new ride system, so I think they prob did less testing and had less requirements then smugglers run will.

Yes Disney has other trackless rides but this is the first multi story and largest trackless ride system they have ever done, I am sure this makes it a completely different beasts then other trackless systems
 


I think there is PR benefit in the Hagrid coaster lines from yesterday...among other things, it gets media attention/free marketing; it builds fan excitement and feelings of exclusivity. The people who stand in those long lines get to wear it like a badge of honor. From an outsider perspective, someone who knows very little of the Star Wars or HP IPs, it would appear that HP is “much more popular” than Star Wars. And, psychology tells us that the more time/emotion we invest in something, the more positive our opinion will be of it. No one wants to say “I waited 10 hours for something that was no fun.”

PR benefit maybe...but most effective at keeping people away. A lot of responses I've seen is "Forget that!" A few of my friends in Florida even said they are going to stay away for a few months.
 
So Universal knew this was going to happen, they wanted it to happen on day one, thats why the virtual queue was only a day 2 thing, I mean they even had Warwick Davis there for the opening, in saying that Universal needed some sort of hype to try and maintain park numbers in the immediate future once SWGE opens.
 
You were implying that Disney doesn't have start up issues which is just false. I think SDD also went down a some opening day/week.
Uh...Where in my post did I say "Disney doesn't have start up issues?"

"Wait...But didn't Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run open without any issues?

Looks like Disney handled their opening for a new land much better than Universal did for a new ride. Yes, I know the real test is June 24th for Disneyland and who knows what it will be like Opening Day at WDW. However, waiting 10+ hours and not having the opportunity to ride would seem like a much bigger PR nightmare."


I know Disney has start up issues...Rivers of Light, Cars Land, Test Track, Frozen Ever After, etc. I was implying that this opening has seemed to go without any major issue. I haven't heard of Smugglers Run going down. If it has, part of the attraction has closed and they have kept the other side open. Sorta how Flight of Passage works. I can only know of one time where Flight of Passage wasn't open (but Na'vi River Journey wasn't as well). That was when lightning hit the building in the middle of the night and they had to make sure the entire show building was safe. How do i know this? Because I waited outside Flight of Passage for 4 hours for it to open.

There are always going to be issues outside of peoples and Disney's control.

I don't know if SDD really had opening week issues because I was there as well. It closed a few times due to rain which is what happened to Hagrid's yesterday.
 


Hagrid isn't using the virtual line today (The sheer numbers of people that showed up kind of killed that idea), and the line is back to the front of the park. They may push back the virtual line a few days until this settles down, the response is still much larger than Universal even expected. Many who make a special trip for Star Wars will also probably come see this while down here. In fact they may have to if DHS has capacity problems. I expect the lines for the Hagrid ride will remain huge the remainder of the year.

Personally I think it's better than Everest.
 
Universal did not get any positive media with their 10 hour line yesterday. That is failure of operations.

The notion that all press is good press is nonsense.
Not sure what bad press you saw. I didn’t really see any only the normal list of things you could do with your 10 hours instead of waiting in line. I don’t consider that bad press.
 
The major network's news and cable reports on it yesterday and this morning? I'm talking about mainstream press, not theme park insider/niche media.

Anecdotally, saw two more stories referencing the 10 hour line for one attraction one two local news networks in Connecticut this morning.
 
The major network's news and cable reports on it yesterday and this morning? I'm talking about mainstream press, not theme park insider/niche media.

Anecdotally, saw two more stories referencing the 10 hour line for one attraction one two local news networks in Connecticut this morning.
But just saying it’s 10 hours how is that negative. Now if they say it’s 10 hours and thes rides not good. Ok. But just that the wait is 10 hours makes me think ok in a couple months I should get down there
 
Most of the reports I saw on tv weren't interested/didn't mention the quality of the ride at all.

The story was the line and whether or not Hagrid's was any good didn't come up, even on a CNBC report (same parent company obviously).

That is why, it took the attention away from the actual ride and made the story the miserable line. And they won't be doing another story on all these networks in a couple days about the implementation of a virtual queue or a ride review because that is not mainstream news. Universal missed there chance to market the ride itself on day 1. (my take anyway, back to news)
 
Universal did not get any positive media with their 10 hour line yesterday. That is failure of operations.

The notion that all press is good press is nonsense.

EDIT:

Heres the link to the Collider interview with Treverrow referenced above, they did the effort so I figure give them the clicks.

Exclusive: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Has Something from Colin Trevorrow’s Version of ‘Episode IX’

Have to disagree strongly, they were being very accommodating to those waiting, including entertainment and handing out water, etc. That many people just showed up. I suspect Star Wars will be similar (if not worse) without the reservation system. The friend of mine in line said they handled it pretty well and kept them updated.
 
Hagrid isn't using the virtual line today (The sheer numbers of people that showed up kind of killed that idea), and the line is back to the front of the park. They may push back the virtual line a few days until this settles down, the response is still much larger than Universal even expected. Many who make a special trip for Star Wars will also probably come see this while down here. In fact they may have to if DHS has capacity problems. I expect the lines for the Hagrid ride will remain huge the remainder of the year.

Personally I think it's better than Everest.


SO i agree with you that, most of us on this board who post regularly would prob go to Universal while going to Star Wars Galaxies edge but I do not think your average Disney nut is the same as perhaps your average American or Canadian family who is going to Disney for the first time especially to see star wars galaxies edge or is going for a once in 5 or once in 10 year experience and they had to skrimp and save for the trip. This board does have a good number of people who are at least well off enough financially that throwing in a couple grand more to go to Universal isnt a big deal. Yet if your one of those families who arent able to afford that, and you have only one week of vacation post Galaxies edge and could only afford Disney or Universal, then there is a competition for those dollars, thats why theme park attendance numbers are so different. If everyone who goes to Disney could also afford to go to Universal at the same time, then they would have about the same market share. We know this isnt the case, we also know that before Universal started with the Harry Potter themed areas, they didnt see much growth in the market share they had. I see the Hagrids coaster as Universals attempt to maintain or at least not lose as much of the market share they have due to the release of the highly anticipated opening of Galaxies Edge. Now what I do expect is that alot of the more local people to the theme parks who are able to go perhaps multiple times a year and without much planning, those people will be better off waiting until after Galaxies edge to ride Hagrids with alot lower wait times. I figure by October we can see if I am right about this. Right now Hagrids is new and exciting and isnt competing with any new thing in Orlando, lets see where we are once Galaxies Edge is open with both rides.
 
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