I posted this in some other threads as well... I think I am going to write an article about this but wanted to post some thoughts after tonights news and the first non-reservation day.
SWGE is a hit thematically, and from a theme park innovation standpoint. Now people are beginning to question the popularity of the land and what that means going forward. In my opinion
Disneyland did an amazing job opening SWGE. The CM previews, to media days, and then reservations. It gave locals and hotel guests a "lower" crowd option to see the land and gave Disneyland management/ops some room to test and adjust. We saw several changes throughout that reservation period and even during day 1 of non-reservations we saw changes and tomorrow will bring more changes.
I do not think because of the low crowds that SWGE is not a success. Disney doesn't seem to be thrilled with the low crowds at the moment though with the lifting of CM blockouts. SoCal APs Deluxe and lower are still blocked out as well. No word if there will be any lifts there. It was also a Monday. Will the weekend be the same? We shall see of course. The virtual queue when in use worked extremely well too. I believe many just stayed away from DL today in anticipation of crowds. We shall see if that continues.
As for Walt Disney World. I imagine they were watching this today. WDW isn't the same demographic as DL. I do wonder though if they will implement the virtual queue after watching this. WDW Management doesn't always see things the same and may think its not needed. Hopefully they still have it in case it is needed. It would make everything so much more manageable.
The other point brought up is are people waiting to go to WDW? Are people waiting for ROTR to open? Definitely some are. Is that a huge amount though to make up the crowd difference we expected? We don't really know. The CM pass lifts are telling. I think Disney definitely expected bigger crowds. One more piece not as talked about but is pricing also getting to people? Park ticket, hotel, food, and then of course the Star Wars merch is not cheap. So are people just not going? More data we don't have.
Either way the days going forward will be something to watch.