Who remembers when Pandora opened? I have a few questions....

[hllb]

We may be headed to Disneyland next summer and I realized that Star Wars Land may be open. We're not going for that, and frankly, it makes me hesitate going at all. So I wanted some info on when Pandora opened.

How long before the official opening was the date announced?

How long did they have soft openings for prior to the official opening?

How crowded was the rest of AK and the other parks in the few weeks following the opening?

 

[StageTek]

I believe it was 6 months - either October or November
Annual Passholders were given previews starting 2 weeks before. Unscheduled, unannounced days started mid April.
There was a healthy uptick in crowds during those first weeks following the opening

 

[MomOTwins]

I wasn't there personally, but followed a lot of blogs and posts at the time, and this is what I saw

1) Opening date of May 27 was officially announced the first week in February.
2) It soft opened to the public the day before and some people were also let it in on previous days but it was more of a tap-on-the-shoulder kind of soft open rather than open to everyone. Cast member and AP previews were announced and occurred weeks earlier.
3) AK was incredibly crowded; Pandora Land frequently reached capacity and after that only people with fastpasses were admitted. Other parks were less crowded. Of course, with DisneyLand only having two parks, a high percentage of AP holders, and with the ease of park hopping there, I would anticipate both parks will be insanely crowded in the weeks following Star Wars Land opening.

 

[hllb]

Thanks! Good news that the opening was announced several months in advance. I will likely wait to buy plane tickets. Right now, a lot of the guesses has it opening at the end of the week we're going, so we could potential miss it if we went to the park the first part of the week. Crossing my fingers.

 

[cindyfan]

Thanks! Good news that the opening was announced several months in advance. I will likely wait to buy plane tickets. Right now, a lot of the guesses has it opening at the end of the week we're going, so we could potential miss it if we went to the park the first part of the week. Crossing my fingers.

Just curious.... what are the "guesses" as to the official opening?

 

[StageTek]

Mid June '19 seems to be the going guess.

 

[hllb]

Just curious.... what are the "guesses" as to the official opening?

June 21st. We are planning to arrive on the 15th and were anticipating hitting hte parks the 17-19th.

 

[KellyHonos]

im no disney expert, but my gut is telling me to stay far away the year it opens. Ive never been to disneyland, so thats my next disney goal, and I will not go the opening year of star wars. Granted, I'm sure this addition will bring in a new crowd of people for years to come, but I'd rather wait until the initial mayhem has settled. You know, when a park first opens, there's media and press and soft opens and da da da that I just would rather avoid altogether.

 

[StageTek]

Lot's of AP's/vloggers will be in the parks in the weeks before opening hoping for an unannounced "technical rehearsal" of the land and ride. Be prepared for higher than normal crowds.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

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