Disneyland Gets Ready For Star Wars Congestion

Via Thegazette.com:

With Disneyland expecting a surge in attendance when it opens its Star Wars land this summer, the Anaheim park is relying on a plan to ease congestion by improving or eliminating visitor chokepoints, rather than putting strict limits on attendance.

Dubbed Project Stardust, the magical-sounding but actually pedestrian project was quietly launched two years ago in the often jammed amusement park, introducing tweaks such as shrinking or eliminating tree and flower planters, moving queue lines and designating areas as stroller-parking.

“We are preparing our legacy as we welcome a new galaxy,” Kris Theiler, vice president of the Disneyland Park, said during a recent tour of the park that unveiled some of the improvements, which are ongoing.

In terms that Southern Californians might understand, Disneyland is widening its pedestrian freeways to improve flow instead of limiting the number of travelers on those roads — though it has the ability to do so.

Visitor congestion has long been a problem in the theme park industry, but it has reached a crisis level in the last few years, with parks worldwide launching new lands and attractions based on characters and story lines from blockbuster movies and books.

When Universal Studios Hollywood opened its Harry Potter expansion in 2016, based on the hugely popular books and movies featuring the boy wizard, visitors arrived long before the gates opened only to stand in hours-long lines.

A line of cars trying to get into the parking garages extended all the way to a nearby freeway exit.

The crowds in China were in such a frenzy before the opening of Walt Disney Co.’s Shanghai Disneyland in 2016 that some visitors were seen pushing children over the gates to get access to the $5.5 billion theme park.

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