D23 EXPO 2019 Superthread - dates announced!

[Skyegirl1999]

Is it raining or something out there today?? It is 12:30 local time, and PP has 30 min, Space Mtn is 15, RSR is 35, GotG is 15, HM is "13", Indy is 20.

This weekend is probably one of the best weekends to be at Disneyland ever.

I’m not going to lie, I feel extremely validated and “I told you so”-ish about the crowds, but even my optimistic projections didn’t anticipate THIS level of empty.

 

[MillauFr]

This weekend is probably one of the best weekends to be at Disneyland ever.

I’m not going to lie, I feel extremely validated and “I told you so”-ish about the crowds, but even my optimistic projections didn’t anticipate THIS level of empty.

This is what I expected and posted too. I figured so many people would be freaked out with the Star Wars opening that the parks would be relatively empty.

 

[kpd6901]

This weekend is probably one of the best weekends to be at Disneyland ever.

I’m not going to lie, I feel extremely validated and “I told you so”-ish about the crowds, but even my optimistic projections didn’t anticipate THIS level of empty.

I suppose things may be different when school lets out (?). We are in the parks June 11 and 13-16.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I suppose things may be different when school lets out (?). We are in the parks June 11 and 13-16.

I do think it will level out a bit- I think a lot of people avoided this weekend in particular. But I think it will be “busy,” not “capacity closure” or any of that, at least until June 24.

Even then, I expect the rest of the summer to have some randomly-busy times, but not craziness Every. Single. Day.

At least... until ROTR opens.

 

[avalon451]

I do think it will level out a bit- I think a lot of people avoided this weekend in particular. But I think it will be “busy,” not “capacity closure” or any of that, at least until June 24.

Even then, I expect the rest of the summer to have some randomly-busy times, but not craziness Every. Single. Day.

At least... until ROTR opens.

You know, at this point, I'm kind of hoping ROTR does NOT open by our trip in September. I mean, it kind of doesn't sound like it will, with the rumor mill, but... I'm thinking it will be nice to have a couple of months to get a handle on strategy and let things level out. I don't think I'd want to deal with the "we're waiting for ROTR to go" craziness.

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

I guess we'll have to wait another week to see how crowds are after this weekend and when school lets out. I'm already out of school and we go June 13. When do schools over in Anaheim let out normally?

 

[kpd6901]

You know, at this point, I'm kind of hoping ROTR does NOT open by our trip in September. I mean, it kind of doesn't sound like it will, with the rumor mill, but... I'm thinking it will be nice to have a couple of months to get a handle on strategy and let things level out. I don't think I'd want to deal with the "we're waiting for ROTR to go" craziness.

Our next WDW trip is tentatively for 2021 (that was the original plan to let SWGE crowds settle in...before our DL trip suddenly and unexpectedly was granted SWGE reservation dates). That being said, we have a short 3 day DCL trip beginning Feb 28. The wheels are now certainly turning to entertain the possibility of popping into WDW for a couple of days prior, just to hit SWGE again, with RotR and just do some extra exploration that we probably won't have time for even with 2 reservations this trip.

 

[BadPinkTink]

just a quick reminder for the June Disneyland people, dont forget to join our June Check In Thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/june-2019-check-in.3718220/

 

[Laura's Dad]

Can someone tell me the price of the carrier bag for the droids that are built. Would like to budget for one on our upcoming December trip. Any help would be appreciated

 

[ateam79828592]

Some pics from our 8a 6/1 reservation.

 

[kpd6901]

This weekend is probably one of the best weekends to be at Disneyland ever.

I’m not going to lie, I feel extremely validated and “I told you so”-ish about the crowds, but even my optimistic projections didn’t anticipate THIS level of empty.

Speaking of wait times, in general, I haven't studies this, so maybe you all would know. If a ride/attraction has a preshow, how is that factored in? Like is a 30 minute wait time equal to 30 minutes before beginning the ride or 30 until the preshow starts? I know preshows aren't typically super long, but just wondering.

 

[ateam79828592]

More pics

 

[ateam79828592]

Last set

 

[cdatkins]

The land and overall theming are outstanding. The interactivity and overall experience of Falcon: Smugglers Run was an easy D Ticket attraction. The only thing keeping it away from being an E Ticket is that your experience is greatly enhanced if you have a good group of people working together. My group of friends and family went twice and the second run was much better and seemed to last longer than the first experience. Mostly due to to us knowing what to expect.

The only issue that we ran into is that we were told an hour before our reservation expired that we couldn't get in line for the Cantina (probably a 10 minute wait based on what they told me earlier when the line was longer), Lightsaber Experience (didn't know I would need a reservation), or Re-ride Smugglers Run (Showing a 10 minute wait and 5 minutes before the next wave of guests came in). Well that made the end of our experience a horrible one. We already ate and we already shopped. Why turn me away when there is an hour left. A bit easier for me since I have an AP (hurts that paid for the one night at the hotel), but cannot imagine how disappointing it would be if this was my one and only visiting opportunity.

What we did on 5/31
Had Reservation from 5pm-9pm
- Arrived at the entry tunnel at 430pm
- Walked through the shopping area and ate at Docking Bay 7 first (dinner time)
- Walked through the other parts of the land, grabbed a blue milk by the falcon. No Wait
- Waited 45 minutes for first Falcon ride
- Went by Catina but line was long, went to the shopping area to explore, bought the popcorn and a coke
- Went the the Hammerhead store
- Checked out Catina again but line was long, decided to go try Falcon again and got on. Walked right into the first pre-show.
- At about 745 went over to the Cantina to only be told that I couldn't get in line, even though the line was less than half of what it was before
- Went to the Lightsaber area and got turned away there, was told to go to Falcon again.
- Went to Falcon at 8pm only to be told that I couldn't ride again.
- Left at 805 disappointed with that final experience.

With that experience, here is my recommended strategy.

Arrive 30 minute early of the start time of your reservation. When the rope drops, the majority of the guests will be headed to the Cantina of Smugglers Run.
- Go to the Cantina First. Cantina is constantly busy but the line for Smugglers Run will dwindle as the time goes on.
- After the Cantina, make a reservation for the Lightsaber Experience. I didn't realize I would need one, so do that second
- Now ride Smugglers Run. They may tell you that you can only ride once but if the wait time is walk on they will let you go again. You can also try for the Single Rider Line
- Save the Shopping and Eating for the last hour as that is the only thing I was allowed to do for that last hour of my reservation.

ME

Awesome trip report! Thank you very much.

I do think it will level out a bit- I think a lot of people avoided this weekend in particular. But I think it will be “busy,” not “capacity closure” or any of that, at least until June 24.

Even then, I expect the rest of the summer to have some randomly-busy times, but not craziness Every. Single. Day.

At least... until ROTR opens.

I am with you. Also in late June/July (when we will be there) you have a lot of passes blacked out and those of us who frequent this board can “compete” against the 1 day local visitor in a busy scenario. So I am just not worried about crowd levels post-June 23.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Okay, you guys--am I crazy? I'm reading all these reports of low crowds and considering a last minute trip for Thursday night. Rooms are available and both Disneyland hotel and Grand Californian. We are already scheduled to come July 2-4 on a separate trip, but I'm thinking it's going to be pandemonium then and it would be nice to guarantee a relatively relaxed experience. We'll be in the general vicinity anyway for a college tour so ... What do you think? Any idea what time frame reservation I might get?

 

[Gaugersaurus]

Okay, you guys--am I crazy? I'm reading all these reports of low crowds and considering a last minute trip for Thursday night. Rooms are available and both Disneyland hotel and Grand Californian. We are already scheduled to come July 2-4 on a separate trip, but I'm thinking it's going to be pandemonium then and it would be nice to guarantee a relatively relaxed experience. We'll be in the general vicinity anyway for a college tour so ... What do you think? Any idea what time frame reservation I might get?

If it won’t break the budget I would go for it, it’s a much more relaxed experience with the controlled crowds in SWGE right now. I think time frame they give you with the hotel reservations is fairly random but people have reported being able to call and change them. If you get a midday slot I would try to call and change it to either the beginning or end of the day to avoid 2 hours of overlapping crowds

 

[GoldeneyezCA]

So, Galaxy's Edge is awesome, and they should do reservations forever. The number of people per reservation is very reasonable, and with the 8 am time slot, we had plenty of time to do everything we wanted to do. The only place that looked crowded was the cantina, and we didn’t bother with that.

Tips: there is a dedicated entrance at the gate for 8 am reservation holders, and you can check in at 6 am at Launch Bay. You need your QR code and ticket/pass to get into DL, and your QR code and ID to get your wristband at Launch Bay. After getting your “credentials” (wristband), they tell you to “enjoy the park and check in by Red Rose Tavern at 8 am”, but of course everyone lines up on the path by Nemo and is held there until 7. They then held everyone at Red Rose until about 7:35, then at the Frontierland SWGE entrance until 7:50, and then they let us in. FYI - we arrived at 6:30, and there were at least 1000 people in front of us, but since we had magic morning, they actually let us go to the castle at 7 ( we could have been the first on Peter Pan), so we walked through the castle and were amongst the first at the Red Rose Tavern.

Wait to ride Smuggler's Run until at least 90 min into your reservation. We rode it back to back at 9:45 am with 15 min waits, but it was 70 min at 8 am and again at 11 am when the next group entered. The overlap period is not pretty.

Decide what experience you want to do, find it on the map while you're waiting, and go there FIRST. They cut the lightsaber line early - like before 9 am, and the cantina line, too, so if you want to do that, or a droid, do it first. We saw several people in tears outside Savi’s because they went to another attraction first and were told that the line was closed. We headed straight for Savi’s and had about 30 people ahead of us, which put us in the 3rd group (they do 14 ppl at a time). We waited 25 min to select and pay for our lightsabers and were told to return at 9:10 am for our 9:15 appointment. So, we had about 45 min to explore, and we checked out the Den of Antiquities, Rondo’s and the Forest. In total, it was a 75 min wait, but we weren't in line for most of it, which was wonderful. And the Savi’s experience was very, very cool. My kids are asking for droids now, since we walked into the droid depot, but it’s definitely a less intimate experience than Savi’s, and one we’ll save for a future visit.

If you don’t care about the cantina, lightsabers or droids, you can sleep in and still have a great time!

 

[RomCom]

We have a 8am-12pm reservation. All we really want to do is ride the Falcon, buy a couple souvenirs (nothing custom), take pictures and possibly have blue milk or popcorn. Would it be crazy to try and sneak in Dumbo before entering GE? That is the one non fast pass ride that is a must and I hate to wait 30-45 minutes for it. Assuming the park does get busy again. (It is a Monday so no MM)

 

[JMommyof3]

OK so random question and I'm pretty sure I know the answer but kids are allowed in Oga's right? I'm thinking yes but just want to make sure. I haven't seen any reports of people with kids going.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I haven’t had a chance to read thru all these, but I will give my tips based on visiting. We had 2 slots yesterday: 8am and 8pm. I’m currently chilling at Hungry Bear waiting for my third slot.

The 8am slot is golden! Best way to get in and have a relaxing time. By 10:45, the wait time was 5 minutes and there was a lot of free space and openness. Same thing for the last couple hours of the night. The overlap is the tricky part and hard to avoid for most people. Best thing is to have a plan of attack:

1) if you want to do a lightsaber or Oga’s, you are really going to need to pick one. The lines for both are insane and you will take up all your time.
2) set up your mobile food order early. You can do it that day, pretty much once Disneyland opens, and you don’t need to even have entered the park. Once the lunch crowd enters, the available time slots get filled up quickly. You can set up multiple mobile orders for times later in the day. If you miss that time slot then the order just expires and you don’t get charged. You can also cancel it. You just can’t modify it. Otherwise lines for Docking Bay 7 were long at meal times.
3) if you have an overlapping time and you don’t want to do Savis or Oga’s, then spend your first hour getting food. Maybe shopping. Wait to ride Smugglers until the overlap has ended. The wait time will go down significantly. The single rider line is also an excellent option; we had one 10 minute wait (during an overlap when standby was 90 min) but the other times it was a walk-on via SR. You do miss the repair Bay and Hondo animatronic with SR though, so do Standby at least once.
4) for the ride, my favorite was pilot (right side then left side). I didn’t mind engineer, though you do get thrown around a bit. Gunner was my least favorite. Again, those are my opinions. Everyone has different preferences!
5) all food I had at Docking Bay 7 was great. Batuubacha tea was gross. Blue milk was good, Green was too floral; apparently some people mixed them and said it was good, but I haven’t tried yet.
6) Droid depot was fun, and not too bad of a line. The cash registers were a bit slow, so maybe before getting in line to make your droid, pick you other merch and you can buy all at once.
7) they aren’t being crazy strict about the time limits. You won’t be allowed to ride the ride, and I didn’t try to order food or shop, but you can still walk around the land. You may even have luck picking up a mobile order (more likely Ronto or milk stand), but YMMV. They aren’t doing full sweeps of the land. But 4 hrs is a good amount of time for a particular slot.
8) Rey will wander the land, even without a character attendant. Try to see if you can see Chewie when he’s inspecting the Falcon. He may be unhappy with you!

Just try to take time to experience the land. I loved just sitting in areas and hearing and watching all the effects! I haven’t had time to experiment with the app yet.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for sharing your account! We have an 8am reservation -- what would you suggest as a plan of attack if our priorities are the ride (obviously) and Oga's??