Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Attractions Planning

[yulilin3]

Warning: rant ahead.

Seriously. Why can’t RotR reliably achieve its intended capacity?

What keeps breaking and why can’t they fix it?

Yes, it has a billion moving parts and is the most complex ride ever built. But look at those robots at the car factory. They do the same thing over and over and over with precision in timed coordination with the rest of the assembly line all day every day. Look at any complicated factory machine like the ones you see on those “how’s it done” documentaries. Those machines aren’t running at half capacity and breaking down multiple times a day for potentially hours at a time.

It’s only been open just over a month at WDW and only 2 days at DL, but this ride has been in development for years. And we all heard about how they realized it wasn’t working as they were building it months ago. So they’ve had a lot more than just the time it has been open to fix it.

So what’s wrong? Is it one specific thing they can’t seem to fix or is it multiple things? I’ve heard there were problems controlling the vehicles, that some elements were overheating, that they can’t keep all the elements in sync. What is it?

I’m sure they’ve got really smart people working on it. But those really smart people have been working on it for awhile.

And what happens when the ride starts to experience the wear and tear of operating? If this is what it’s like when it’s brand new, imagine what’ll happen as parts start to wear out.

Is there a chance that they’ll be forced to accept defeat? Admit that it’ll never operate at its intended capacity and severely limit the number of people who ride each day?

Or will they be forced to “reimagine” the sections of the attraction that don’t work, turning them into simpler, less complicated, more reliable elements?

Or maybe they’ll just remove troublesome elements or entire sections of the ride. I mean, I understand they already ran the ride with a missing section at WDW recently. Maybe it’ll be a permanent change one day?

Or maybe it’ll go the way of Rocket Rods. Just an impossible to fix technical nightmare that never really worked right and was getting harder and harder to maintain as the days went on until it closed for another refurb and just never reopened.

Thank you for reading this rant. But I really am curious what’s wrong and why they haven’t been able to fix it. The ride is amazing and has entertained thousands of guests on both coasts, but it does seem to have a problem performing at an acceptable level of reliability. What is wrong with it and why can’t they fix it?

Only the ancients know

 

[sghokie]

FWIW, I rode smugglers run last week, I really liked it. Also, the time sign read 50 minutes I think, but the actual wait was only about 30 minutes. It also seemed that slinky dog and toy story mania wait time was about 10-15 minutes less than the posted time.

 

[sayhello]

So I apologize in advance if this has been asked before, but it speaks to the nature of my question. So far, I have tried to stay away, as much as humanly possible, from reports and spoilers about the specifics of SWGE, MFSR & RotR. On the whole, I've been pretty successful. I've been following closely the non-spoiler thread on Boarding Groups for RotR, and the merchandise thread, since I do plan to do Savi's. But I don't know much of anything about Batuu itself, the types of interactions with the characters/locals, etc. I wanted to ask folks here if I'm shooting myself in the foot or not. While I totally want to remain spoiler-free for RotR, I'm wondering if that's still the best approach for SWGE in general. If the plan is to spend the majority of my day in SWGE, wandering/shopping/riding what I can/interacting/etc, am I going to miss cool things that you have to know about to experience, or is it possible that by virtue of spending the whole day there, that I'd catch or see what's there to be seen?
I hope that makes sense!

Sayhello

 

[yulilin3]

So I apologize in advance if this has been asked before, but it speaks to the nature of my question. So far, I have tried to stay away, as much as humanly possible, from reports and spoilers about the specifics of SWGE, MFSR & RotR. On the whole, I've been pretty successful. I've been following closely the non-spoiler thread on Boarding Groups for RotR, and the merchandise thread, since I do plan to do Savi's. But I don't know much of anything about Batuu itself, the types of interactions with the characters/locals, etc. I wanted to ask folks here if I'm shooting myself in the foot or not. While I totally want to remain spoiler-free for RotR, I'm wondering if that's still the best approach for SWGE in general. If the plan is to spend the majority of my day in SWGE, wandering/shopping/riding what I can/interacting/etc, am I going to miss cool things that you have to know about to experience, or is it possible that by virtue of spending the whole day there, that I'd catch or see what's there to be seen?
I hope that makes sense!

Sayhello

Perfect sense. I would say, land wise, it would be great if you read Black Spire Outpost by Delilah Dawson. It gives you the lay of the land, insight about the shops and the reason why the resistance and the first order are in Batuu . Spoiler wise i believe it's pretty low other than to explain why the resistance outpost is where it is
BUT if you want to remain completely spoiler free you could go in blind, and I believe still enjoy the land

 

[sayhello]

Perfect sense. I would say, land wise, it would be great if you read Black Spire Outpost by Delilah Dawson. It gives you the lay of the land, insight about the shops and the reason why the resistance and the first order are in Batuu . Spoiler wise i believe it's pretty low other than to explain why the resistance outpost is where it is
BUT if you want to remain completely spoiler free you could go in blind, and I believe still enjoy the land

That makes sense to know about the history of the place. I assume this is a book I can get on Amazon or some such?

Thanks! Sayhello

 

[yulilin3]

That makes sense to know about the history of the place. I assume this is a book I can get on Amazon or some such?

Thanks! Sayhello

Yes

 

[sayhello]

Perfect sense. I would say, land wise, it would be great if you read Black Spire Outpost by Delilah Dawson. It gives you the lay of the land, insight about the shops and the reason why the resistance and the first order are in Batuu . Spoiler wise i believe it's pretty low other than to explain why the resistance outpost is where it is
BUT if you want to remain completely spoiler free you could go in blind, and I believe still enjoy the land

400 pages? Yikes! I go in less than two weeks! Is it worth it to start the book and get as far as I can? You say I'd still enjoy the land if I go in blind, but will I enjoy it as much?

Sayhello

 

[CarolynFH]

400 pages? Yikes! I go in less than two weeks! Is it worth it to start the book and get as far as I can? You say I'd still enjoy the land if I go in blind, but will I enjoy it as much?

Sayhello

I read it on @yulilin3 ’s recommendation and found it reads fast, but I can also say that a lot of the information you’re looking for appears in the first few chapters. So I think that yes, it’s worth starting and reading as far as you can.

 

[yulilin3]

400 pages? Yikes! I go in less than two weeks! Is it worth it to start the book and get as far as I can? You say I'd still enjoy the land if I go in blind, but will I enjoy it as much?

Sayhello

I read it on @yulilin3 ’s recommendation and found it reads fast, but I can also say that a lot of the information you’re looking for appears in the first few chapters. So I think that yes, it’s worth starting and reading as far as you can.

yes, I agree. It's a fast read and you don't need ri finish it to get the gist

 

[sayhello]

I read it on @yulilin3 ’s recommendation and found it reads fast, but I can also say that a lot of the information you’re looking for appears in the first few chapters. So I think that yes, it’s worth starting and reading as far as you can.

yes, I agree. It's a fast read and you don't need ri finish it to get the gist

Thanks! I'll get going on that! Kindle version it is!

Sayhello

 

[sghokie]

So I apologize in advance if this has been asked before, but it speaks to the nature of my question. So far, I have tried to stay away, as much as humanly possible, from reports and spoilers about the specifics of SWGE, MFSR & RotR. On the whole, I've been pretty successful. I've been following closely the non-spoiler thread on Boarding Groups for RotR, and the merchandise thread, since I do plan to do Savi's. But I don't know much of anything about Batuu itself, the types of interactions with the characters/locals, etc. I wanted to ask folks here if I'm shooting myself in the foot or not. While I totally want to remain spoiler-free for RotR, I'm wondering if that's still the best approach for SWGE in general. If the plan is to spend the majority of my day in SWGE, wandering/shopping/riding what I can/interacting/etc, am I going to miss cool things that you have to know about to experience, or is it possible that by virtue of spending the whole day there, that I'd catch or see what's there to be seen?
I hope that makes sense!

Sayhello

FWIW, I went there this past Thursday. The crowds were extreme. I went through security and got in at 6:55 am for the 7AM opening. I was able to get a boarding group pretty easily (luckily) right away at 7am, I got boarding group 18. The crowds were extreme, did I mention that already. For me, in Star Wars Land, it absolutely drove me nuts when I would be walking (on the right side) of a massively crowded area and out of no where the people in front of you stop and get out there phone to take a picture, but because of the crowds you have no way to go around them.
Managed to get breakfast in the place where they have the ronto wraps, I had the oatmeal, my daughter had the breakfast ronto wrap. I liked the oat meal, she liked the ronto wrap breakfast. We left star wars land because it was super crowded of course. The ROTR was broken down until about 9 AM, but once it came up they got to boarding group 18 pretty quickly, I think by 10 AM or so our group was available. We had to wait in the queue probably 15 minutes before the ride actually started.

We went back around 5 or so, after we had already done other things to ride smugglers run, the queue line sign said 50 minutes, but the actual wait was only about 30 minutes. We asked to be the pilots, I was the left pilot, my daughter was the right pilot.

I tried the lunch ronto wrap and it upset my stomach. I don't recommend the ronto wrap, sorry for the spoiler.

Anyways, I like that the 2 rides don't have fast passes because who wants to wait 3 hours in a line for a 2 minute ride like Flight of Passage.

I really liked smugglers run, I wish I had gone on it a second time.

 

[sayhello]

FWIW, I went there this past Thursday. The crowds were extreme. I went through security and got in at 6:55 am for the 7AM opening. I was able to get a boarding group pretty easily (luckily) right away at 7am, I got boarding group 18. The crowds were extreme, did I mention that already. For me, in Star Wars Land, it absolutely drove me nuts when I would be walking (on the right side) of a massively crowded area and out of no where the people in front of you stop and get out there phone to take a picture, but because of the crowds you have no way to go around them.
Managed to get breakfast in the place where they have the ronto wraps, I had the oatmeal, my daughter had the breakfast ronto wrap. I liked the oat meal, she liked the ronto wrap breakfast. We left star wars land because it was super crowded of course. The ROTR was broken down until about 9 AM, but once it came up they got to boarding group 18 pretty quickly, I think by 10 AM or so our group was available. We had to wait in the queue probably 15 minutes before the ride actually started.

We went back around 5 or so, after we had already done other things to ride smugglers run, the queue line sign said 50 minutes, but the actual wait was only about 30 minutes. We asked to be the pilots, I was the left pilot, my daughter was the right pilot.

I tried the lunch ronto wrap and it upset my stomach. I don't recommend the ronto wrap, sorry for the spoiler.

Anyways, I like that the 2 rides don't have fast passes because [] waiting 3 hours in a line for a 2 minute ride like Flight of Passage.

I really liked smugglers run, I wish I had gone on it a second time.

Thanks for all the info! Yes, Thursday they had a really delayed start, so I imagine a lot of folks were hanging around wondering when the ride would start up again. I've heard the crowds *are* much better in the evening.

Thanks for the heads' up on the ronto wrap. I was thinking about trying it, but I'm pushing it with some of these rides and my stomach, so I don't want to tempt fate by eating something too heavy!

Sayhello

 

[only hope]

So I apologize in advance if this has been asked before, but it speaks to the nature of my question. So far, I have tried to stay away, as much as humanly possible, from reports and spoilers about the specifics of SWGE, MFSR & RotR. On the whole, I've been pretty successful. I've been following closely the non-spoiler thread on Boarding Groups for RotR, and the merchandise thread, since I do plan to do Savi's. But I don't know much of anything about Batuu itself, the types of interactions with the characters/locals, etc. I wanted to ask folks here if I'm shooting myself in the foot or not. While I totally want to remain spoiler-free for RotR, I'm wondering if that's still the best approach for SWGE in general. If the plan is to spend the majority of my day in SWGE, wandering/shopping/riding what I can/interacting/etc, am I going to miss cool things that you have to know about to experience, or is it possible that by virtue of spending the whole day there, that I'd catch or see what's there to be seen?
I hope that makes sense!

Sayhello

I agree with others about the book. Crash of Fate also takes place in BSO but there’s not nearly as many details. The myths and fables book has one or two that are myths from Battuu. Pirates Price, a very short junior novel, explains why the Falcon is there. That one may be worth a read before you go. My library system has all of these, got most of them digitally- your library may have them too.

I recommend googling hidden details etc after you’ve seen it. Even as a huge fan who was looking for such things, I discovered after a google search and reading a few articles I had missed a lot! If you have multiple days, that gives you time to look stuff up for day #2.

 

[EjandMD]

We will be there Saturday, January 25. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos over the weekend regarding tips on working the app for a boarding group. One Youtuber showed that he got the strongest and fastest signal under the crossroads gift kiosk then by the time he walked backed to TSL, SDD already had an hour wait. My question is two parts, is there a rope at the end of Hollywood Blvd or do they let you go back to TSL? And if they do, has anyone tried to get a boarding pass while waiting in line for SDD first thing in the morning? In short, I'm thinking the minute the open the park go right to SDD and try and get a RoR boarding pass while waiting for SDD. Will that work?

 

[Amy11401]

We will be there Saturday, January 25. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos over the weekend regarding tips on working the app for a boarding group. One Youtuber showed that he got the strongest and fastest signal under the crossroads gift kiosk then by the time he walked backed to TSL, SDD already had an hour wait. My question is two parts, is there a rope at the end of Hollywood Blvd or do they let you go back to TSL? And if they do, has anyone tried to get a boarding pass while waiting in line for SDD first thing in the morning? In short, I'm thinking the minute the open the park go right to SDD and try and get a RoR boarding pass while waiting for SDD. Will that work?

This is one of my concerns with Boarding Groups. The last time we went to Disney there were times I had trouble with trying to get extra fastpasses because of signal issues, etc.

 

[EjandMD]

This is one of my concerns with Boarding Groups. The last time we went to Disney there were times I had trouble with trying to get extra fastpasses because of signal issues, etc.

Yep, I don't want to blow getting a boarding group because I can't get a signal by SDD.

 

[McManus]

Can anyone tell me if the Millenium Falcon has flashing or strobe lights of any kind?

 

[sghokie]

Can anyone tell me if the Millenium Falcon has flashing or strobe lights of any kind?

It wasn't too intense, but those don't bother me, I can see why you might be concerned though.
Have a look at the POV spoiler video,

It might help you decide.

Edit, I just watched the video, the lasers and explosions might be of concern.

 

[siren0119]

We will be there Saturday, January 25. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos over the weekend regarding tips on working the app for a boarding group. One Youtuber showed that he got the strongest and fastest signal under the crossroads gift kiosk then by the time he walked backed to TSL, SDD already had an hour wait. My question is two parts, is there a rope at the end of Hollywood Blvd or do they let you go back to TSL? And if they do, has anyone tried to get a boarding pass while waiting in line for SDD first thing in the morning? In short, I'm thinking the minute the open the park go right to SDD and try and get a RoR boarding pass while waiting for SDD. Will that work?

When you RD at Hollywood Studios, they do not let you go all the way back into the lands until a little before the park "officially" opens. You tap in at the tapstiles, then they hold the crowds at Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Blvd and CM prevent you from going any further into the parks. People who are RD Star Wars Land line up straight ahead toward the Chinese Theater, people RD Toy Story or ToT/RnR line up toward the left facing Sunset Blvd. When it's time, the CMs walk the lines back to the lands. You can certainly try getting Boarding passes when you're allowed back to TSL, but depending on the crowds you may miss your window of opportunity if you wait that long.

 

[EjandMD]

When you RD at Hollywood Studios, they do not let you go all the way back into the lands until a little before the park "officially" opens. You tap in at the tapstiles, then they hold the crowds at Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Blvd and CM prevent you from going any further into the parks. People who are RD Star Wars Land line up straight ahead toward the Chinese Theater, people RD Toy Story or ToT/RnR line up toward the left facing Sunset Blvd. When it's time, the CMs walk the lines back to the lands. You can certainly try getting Boarding passes when you're allowed back to TSL, but depending on the crowds you may miss your window of opportunity if you wait that long.

Yeah for sure we won't miss a boarding group. But I'm wondering can you try and get a boarding group at 7 am while moving towards SDD, or is the cell service spotty in the park. Otherwise we will hang at that crossroads kiosk where the cell signal is strong and fast.