Guests will almost certainly pay to experience Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge with low waits

Image: Disney

Disney is bracing itself for massive throngs of guests to show up this winter at Disney's Hollywood Studios for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Though Disneyland's version of this land is opening first, many are expecting the Disney's Hollywood Studios version to draw more guests, especially since Walt Disney World is more of an international destination than Disneyland. 

Behind the scenes, Disney has already been preparing itself for this massive influx of guests, closing FastPass+ loopholes and considering offering paid FastPass+ reservations just for this land. But of course, we all know that the real goal here will be to sell out Early Morning Magic and After Hours events. And here's where we run into a problem again with Extra Hours. With this perk being offered for "free" to guests, it won't be much of a moneymaker for Disney, and will probably still draw huge crowds even though it is limited to resort guests only. So by devaluing it (and perhaps limiting when it is offered even further) Disney can double or even triple up on the amount of days it can offer Early Morning Magic and Disney After Hours events at Disney's Hollywood Studios, getting as many guests through Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge as possible, and driving up profits at the same time. 

There will be even more resort guests in the future, and at some point, Extra Magic Hours may become unsustainable

Right now, there are 25 on-property Disney-owned hotels, plus 7 hotels in the Disney Springs area, 4 partner hotels, and Shades of Green, which can all take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. However, a LOT of hotel addition and expansion projects are in the works, including the Gran Destino Tower at Disney's Coronado Springs, Disney's Riviera Resort, plus the unnamed new hotel at Magic Kingdom and the boutique Star Wars hotel at Disney's Hollywood Studios. So with more than 40 hotels (with an estimated 40,000 rooms) open by the end of 2021, you've got a LOT of potential guests flocking to Extra Magic Hours, to a point where this exclusive perk might just feel like another day at a crowded park.

Disney may be reaching a tipping point with Extra Magic Hours, and though one solution to this problem might be to expand Extra Magic Hours for additional days/nights (or make it longer), Disney already seems to be solving this problem with upcharge events, and we don't think that strategy is likely to change.