The numbers for Galaxy’s Edge
Disney officials release economic and community impact statistics for new Star Wars park.
Building a $1 billion Star Wars land at Walt Disney World meant that for years a few thousand construction workers were let in on one of the company’s deepest secrets.
Disney Imagineers thought up Galaxy’s Edge at a large table shaped like a Star Destroyer in their California headquarters before they announced the attraction in 2015. In an age of social media with Disney bloggers chasing scoops feverishly, the company didn’t want the latest project full of surprises to get revealed too soon.
What helped was buy-in from the 5,500 construction crew members, artisans and trade workers who built the land, said Scott Mallwitz, a Disney executive creative director, during a news conference Thursday at Hollywood Studios.
The Orlando version of the land opens Aug. 29; the twin attraction in California debuted in late May.
Disney told the Orlando Sentinel last month that 1,700 new jobs were added for the 14-acre expansion, including jobs such as janitors, attraction workers, food services and other positions.
But on the construction side, to make a universe on the other side of the galaxy come to life required more than 50 contractors, 84% who were from Florida, Mallwitz said.
“We needed the community to help us deliver this,” said Mallwitz.
That meant Disney reached out to construction crews and explained the project early on so they could take ownership and
feel connected to it, he said.
“We didn’t have problems with leaks … because it became their project,” Mallwitz told a small group of reporters in the hot sun near the entrance of the still unfinished Rise of the Resistance ride, which opens in December. “We don’t get there without them.”
The finished project is “a blend of craftsmanship like no other,” said Hollywood Studios’ vice president Phil Holmes.
Disney offered its thanks through a special preview for construction workers and their families to see the land a few days ago.
As Galaxy’s Edge opening day nears, plenty of questions remain on how Walt Disney World’s debut will fare.
Pass holders avoided Disneyland’s version, fearing the buzz of long lines. But instead of huge crowds, attendance at Disneyland and Disney World dipped 3%, the company announced Tuesday in its financial quarterly earnings.
Guest survey data shows people may also skip going to the Walt Disney World opening and come visit the land later, the company also said.
When asked if he had fears about an attendance drop, Holmes did not comment but said he was impressed by how Disneyland operations handled the land opening, calling their execution “flawless.”
“We hope to, of course, replicate that here,” Holmes said.
Thursday’s news conference comes exactly a week after Universal’s top parks chief and its corporate ownership held a meeting with the press of their own to announce a new Universal theme park.
Universal, which didn’t give an opening date for its Universal’s Epic Universe, also touted its economic impact of creating 14,000 new jobs and spending $160 million to expand Kirkman Road to reach the future park.
The attraction will ignite the competition between Disney and Universal in Orlando — which hasn’t gotten a brand new full park since Universal’s Islands of Adventure opened in 1999.
Not far from the Disney news conference Thursday morning, about 1,200 children from the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida steadily streamed past in and out of the land. Disney employees clapped and waved as they walked past, creating an air of festivity.
Disney gave free theme park tickets to the children and teenagers, a last taste of summer for some before they return to school.
Boys & Girls Club members Serenity Gary, 14, and Nizaiah McDuffie, 14, rode the Falcon once and hoped to sneak another ride again before the morning ended. Chewbacca was there for selfies.
“You know the movies premiers where nobody goes except for the celebrities before the movies come out? That’s us coming today,” said Serenity, a sophomore at Orlando’s Oak Ridge High. “Some people are like, ‘How are you even going? It doesn’t even open (yet).’ I’m like, ‘I got my connections.’”
Later in the week, about 140 families staying at Giving Kids the World, which helps critically ill children, will ride the Millennium Falcon and drink blue milk, just like Luke Skywalker, in their own special preview before.