Opening Day Experiences

[garada3]

It is a total coincidence that we will be at WDW for the opening of Toy Story Land.

Will there be special guests? First day merchandise? Anything unique? I would appreciate hearing from others who have been in the parks when something new opened.

Just trying to decide if we should plan on being there because we can and being “first” is unique in itself or if it would be better to just avoid altogether?

Thanks.

 

[lovethattink]

If it's anything like Pandora's opening, it will be super busy with a huge line just to get into the land. People with FP were allowed to enter, but without one had to wait in a long line to enter. There were long lines to enter the merchandise shop. And long lines for snacks and food.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

And if there happens to be any unique opening day merchandise it will be quickly grabbed up by personal shoppers and Ebayers

 

[yulilin3]

I managed to get the limited edition ap magic band for Pandora on opening day by arriving at the park at 5am, not sure how fast that sold out.
Celebrities might be involved in press events but not usually same day as general opening day
I expect the land to be closed for capacity the same way Pandora was

 

[AngiTN]

If it's like the opening for Pandora the official opening falls before the public is allowed in. It's closed/invitation only. All the special/celebrities were there that day. None there when it opened to the public.
As for public opening day, it was an EMH morning, we got there early, they checked bands, we got in line to enter the land. We were in shortly after it opened, didn't take long. There were lines to get in all day long. The bigger line was the line to get in the store for merchandise. I got in line there, DH took DGD to get her face painted. By the time I got to the store, they were done and joined me, we all got in together. We even got in on some photo shoots for the Parks Blog, and later DGD was featured on the blog.
Lines to check out were excessive all day even after you got in the store. Plan to spend 2-3 hours just to shop.
Book a FP to ensure you can get in the land.
Also, if there is facepaint like they do in Pandora, a facepaint touch up is valid for entrance to the land too.
Pandora also had PM EMH, they had lines again for that. We didn't do the one on opening day but we did on the 2nd night. We just allocated a lot of time to wait that trip, knowing that it was a special occasion to be there for opening

 

[gap2368]

I managed to get the limited edition ap magic band for Pandora on opening day by arriving at the park at 5am, not sure how fast that sold out.
Celebrities might be involved in press events but not usually same day as general opening day
I expect the land to be closed for capacity the same way Pandora was

I got the AP Pandora MB about 5pm that day so they did not sell out right away

 

[Micca]

Hordes of people? Arriving at 5am to wait to buy merch? Sounds like a blast!

 

[AngiTN]

It's an experience that you don't always get to have at Disney. I can't say that it's a blast so much as it's just exiting. A lot like New Years Eve at Epcot. Though that is a blast (even if not for everyone). The crowds are part of what make up the environment. The energy is part of it all. You get a regular day at the parks any old time. But you only get opening days occasionally. That's why we decided to get up early and go, when we hadn't originally planned to be at AK that day.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Also, if there is facepaint like they do in Pandora, a facepaint touch up is valid for entrance to the land too.

Now THAT is a “Pro Tip”!!!

 

[AngiTN]

Now THAT is a “Pro Tip”!!!

They'll let you know this when they do the faceprint, and they stamp the receipt for you. So I can't take too much credit about it being an insider tip. It is however, a nice thing to keep in your back pocket if you are on the fence about letting the kids get it done. Get facepaint and then you'll know you can get back in later

 

[CAS239]

Hordes of people? Arriving at 5am to wait to buy merch? Sounds like a blast!

Almost as bad as Star Wars weekend when they did it. Except then people lined up the night before and camped on the concrete.

Fun fun

 

[FastPasser.]

If it's like the opening for Pandora the official opening falls before the public is allowed in. It's closed/invitation only. All the special/celebrities were there that day. None there when it opened to the public.

That was the dedication ceremony which took place 3 days before the opening and it was closed to the public. It was the press, VIPs and CMs. The VIPs were easy to control, the press, not so much.

 

[glassslippergirl]

We went to the opening of Star Tours 2.0. We got in the merchandise line (DH’s top priority) around 4 AM, and he was able to get everything he wanted when they let us in the store around 7. If certain merchandise is a priority, bring extra people if you can as some items are limited per person. For example, DH wanted pins that included actual film from the old ride’s opening sequence. With four people, he was able to get 8 pins with different pieces of film. If you put them together, you can basically envision the sequence. After that, we staked out spot for the opening ceremony. As a member of the general population, we stood behind bleachers for VIPs, but I could see (I’m pretty tall— 5’11”; DH at 3 inches shorter had some trouble, so ymmv depending on how well you can see over a crowd). It was several hours’ wait in the hot, hot, relentless May sun, so in June if you do this, bring proper apparel.

The opening ceremony was a big show with Star Wars characters, George Lucas (he still owned SW then) and Bob Iger. You should watch it on YouTube to get an idea of what you might expect. AFter the ceremony, everyone—VIPs first, of course— were directed to follow Lucas and Iger for the first rides. They had overflow lines cordoned off on Streets of America and at one point, I think the wait hit 6 hours. We went to the hotel instead, took a nap and came back in the evening when the line was a more-reasonable 90 minutes or so.

I felt like they really went all out, and the experience was totally worth getting on the road at midnight and in line at 4 AM. I don’t know if the opening ceremony for TS land will be open to the public like the Star Wars ceremony sort of was, or if it will be just one horde of people heading en masses to the rides. The show is really what made the experience special for me.