As many of you have probably heard…or are now tired of hearing…yesterday was May 4th, also know as Star Wars Day. . . and that makes today “Revenge of the Fifth!” But perhaps Disneyland is suffering some Star Wars fatigue, because this year’s celebration was significantly reduced. We have a look at the festivities this year and a little speculation on the future of this “holiday.”
but first, a bit of gossip. Yesterday I posted a Marvel News article which resulted in being sent some sad follow-up information about upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! attraction previews.
It now appears that all of the previews have in fact been canceled. The Walt Disney Imagineering family party on May 20th has been cancelled, the Cast Member ticketed previews from May 20th thru the 22nd have been cancelled, and the AP Previews scheduled for the 23rd and 24th have also been cancelled. There will be no formal previews of any kind, and only a limited number of Imagineers and DCA Cast Members will be allowed to ride before the 26th. This is all per Michael Colglazier, who wants to sell as many tickets as possible to the $150 up-charge event on the 26th and not have any info or videos leak about the new ride before the 26th.
In the movie industry, that sort of activity is a sign that the studio doesn’t have confidence in the product. Let’s hope that’s not the case here, and this is just a sign of Disney trying to pick our pockets (much better, right?!).
| May The Fourth Be With You |
The park downplayed Star Wars Day at Disneyland this year. Last year’s celebration was promoted in the Disney Parks Blog over a week ahead of time, featured more merchandise, had a special Rebels screening in place of Path Of The Jedi, and was topped off with a trivia contest in the evening. You can read our coverage from last year here:
I have a theory about where this could be going, but first, let’s take a look at this year’s “celebration.”
Star Wars Day started off with a bang at rope drop. It was a busy day with lots of people wearing licensed Star Wars gear, some Star Wars bounding and a few even snuck in Jedi robes.
Disney made no public announcement about events, merchandise or even an acknowledgment that May The Fourth was being recognized this year. It made me wonder if anything was going on at the park and maybe I should look for another way to celebrate. Once at the park, the two and a half year old “Path Of The Jedi” film was still playing as scheduled in the theater. There was no signage or info about commemorative merchandise. And the worst news of all…there was no trivia contest at the Tomorrowland Terrace this year.
The only indication that anything was going came later when cast members put out tape for a line outside Little Green Men Store Command. This was the only location selling commemorative merchandise.
The line for this store switched back and forth outside, went in through the exit of Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, around to the back entrance of the store and then weaved through the store twice before you got to the counter to buy one of the items.
The line took about an hour and a half to go through and there was no real communication about what was going on. I saw a couple groups of people waiting in line for an hour thinking they were waiting for Buzz Lightyear. I’d be upset about that.
While this year’s one shirt looked a lot better than the two florescent colored shirts last year, the list of commemorative items was a lot shorter this year. Almost half. A couple pins, water bottle and a couple ball caps were it. One of the ball caps was leather and sold for $125.
The only other recognition of Star Wars Day was the photo opportunities. There was a TIE wing set up in front of Launch Bay and Photo Pass Photographers carrying around “May The Fourth” boards around to snap souvenir photos.
One thing that was fun, but unrelated to Star Wars Day, was the Lightsaber Churro. Red or blue sugar coloring lets you decide if your Churro is from the light side or dark.
Where I Fear This Is Heading
I was puzzled that Disney didn’t take the opportunity to promote May The Fourth as a day to visit the park to celebrate Star Wars. Last year was a blast and it didn’t cost anything substantial to put on a trivia contest and show something special in the theater. But on the head of the Disney Parks Blog (Disneyland) yesterday, instead of Star Wars Day, is an article about the Tomorrowland Skyline Lounge, a new upcharge experience coming to the park at $45 per person.
Also, coinciding with Star Wars Celebration Orlando, Disney Hollywood Studios recently had a Star Wars Galactic Nights special event. Once again, an up-charge event at $129 per person that sold out.
Next year, May the Fourth is on a Friday. Is there a possibility we will see a Star Wars Day Event next year at $175 per person? Could be. Especially if the Guardians Of The Galaxy – Mission: Breakout Galactic Premiere Party sells out at $150 per person.
What do you think? Is this Star Wars fatigue or laying the groundwork for another up-charge experience?
| Star Wars Land Construction |
We’ll start this week’s Star Wars Land Construction photo update in the north end of the site where some recently trimmed trees give us a little better look at the mysterious Millennium Falcon attraction.
And nearby, on the nicely landscaped berm, you can see the green exhaust fans at the top of the new Disneyland Railroad tunnel that runs behind the Fantasyland Theater.
Where the Big Thunder Mountain Trail construction is winding down as the path gets ready to reopen for the summer crowds, we can see some of the more detailed items coming into place.
And it looks like they are getting ready to lay the concrete.
Moving over to the Hungry Bear Restaurant, the bridge over the Critter Country entrance to Star Wars Land is now in place.
And with that bridge in place, a wall is going up where the trail will turn away from the backstage area.
At the massive Battle Escape show building, the unique portions of the attraction are starting to blend together.
This part of the building is two stories above ground and one below. The pit has recently been taken over by the main structure.
The cylinder shaped portion is getting ready to have another floor laid on the rebar.
And from there, new walls are taking the building further out.
That’s it for this week. You can see the archive for all the Star Wars Land News here along with photos of the progress over the past year. Thanks for reading!
| As Always… |
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