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Not yet ready for takeoff. Photo: Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty
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This May, when Disney opened Galaxy’s Edge, the new 14-acre Star
Wars–themed section of Disneyland in California, the company worked
hard to ensure the park would not be overwhelmed by crowds of visitors
coming to see it. It raised prices, required reservations, and imposed
restrictions on employee and pass-holder visits.
First of all, helped in part by some of our efforts, there was tremendous
concern in the marketplace that there was going to be huge crowding
when we opened Galaxy’s Edge. And so some people stayed away just
because they expected that it would not be a great guest experience. At the
same time that was going on, all the local hotels in the region, expecting a
huge influx of visitation, raised their prices. So, it simply got more
expensive to come stay in Anaheim. In addition to that, we raised our
prices. We brought our daily price up, so if you think about local
visitation, we brought the price of a one-day ticket up substantially from a
year ago. And then we have opened up Galaxy’s Edge with one attraction
instead of two. The second attraction is going to open in January. And so
all of those factors contributed to attendance that was below what we
would have hoped it would be.
Park attendance also fell short at Walt Disney World in Florida; Iger
said that was because travelers have been delaying their visits until the
Florida version of Galaxy’s Edge opens later this month.
This isn’t what the company hoped for, but to put it in perspective: Over
the decades, Disney-park launches have often looked rocky, even as the
company has built the world’s most successful theme-park franchise.
But the opening that may be most instructive for the performance of
Galaxy’s Edge is that of the Disney–MGM Studios in Florida in 1989.
With a sense that it had bitten off more than it could chew when building
Epcot (more than twice the size of the Magic Kingdom and boasting over a
dozen elaborate attractions at its grand opening), the company aimed
small with Studios, offering just five main attractions at opening in a park
smaller than the original Disneyland.
All five of those original rides and shows have since closed; the park, now
known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios, added its current marquee
attractions like the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Star Tours in the
ensuing years. This phased strategy allowed Disney to invest capital into
the park gradually and also gave visitors reasons to keep coming back
even if they might have thought the new park was a little … light the first
time they visited.