Is SWGE impacting your trip? Discuss your plans here!

[BabybetterDisney]

My thought is that it just represents a change in plans. The other ride was further behind than they planned and they didn't want to hold off any longer until that was done, so decided to go ahead with the one that was ready. Or maybe they didn't get the number of bookings they wanted with the discounts already offered, because too many people were holding off waiting for SWL to open. Rather than face disappointing occupancy at the end of the fiscal year, they went for it, in spite of the discounts that had previously been released.

Makes sense. They might be testing the waters with the early release, and once they get the number of bookings in, decide to open in August to boost the numbers rather than have it packed during the holiday seasons when it's already packed and can't hold more. Now they can use September to take care of some overflow. Not a bad business move. But I wish they had announced this sooner, at least at the same time they announced free dining, so that people knew what they were getting into.

 

[mom2rtk]

Makes sense. They might be testing the waters with the early release, and once they get the number of bookings in, decide to open in August to boost the numbers rather than have it packed during the holiday seasons when it's already packed and can't hold more. Now they can use September to take care of some overflow. Not a bad business move. But I wish they had announced this sooner, at least at the same time they announced free dining, so that people knew what they were getting into.

For all we know the second ride could be ready for its grand opening in the midst of the December crush.

One thing is for sure. Disney will do whatever benefits their bottom line most.

 

[hdrolfe]

I was already booked for Aug 24 to 31, on the assumption it's a quiet time of year and will be our last trip for a few years (kiddo turns 10 in December so last "cheap" trip lol). My son is a big Star Wars fan, but I didn't want to go and deal with the crowds until things settled down, assuming it would open later in the year. Now... well we are still going and Aug 30th was to be our HS day, I don't want to change that. But I am going to do EMM earlier in the week so we can ride slinky dog multiple times, and enjoy the rest of HS so on the 30th we can hopefully just get in to see everything in GE, he wants a droid and a porg, and I don't think we'll attempt the ride. It has changed my plans for sure, and may even more. I currently have Mama Melrose booked for dinner on the 30th and am thinking I may change it, or cancel it. Either we'll be tired of the crowds and want to head to a different park in the evening, or we'll be enjoying it and perhaps not want to stop for a sit down meal. Or maybe we won't even be able to get in! It is our last day before we fly home and I want to have as much fun as possible I am glad I switched us back to an Epcot area resort.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I am planning to check the Disney calendar as the time draws close, like in July, when the Disneyland SWGE has opened a month. Say if MK's schedule doesn't change much from previous years, then they are not expecting much of a crowd increase and everything will be OK. If MK suddenly starts to open past midnight in September (on non Halloween Party days) then I know they are expecting a flood.

In any case, I am hoping to be able to squeeze myself in SWGE! 10 minutes! I just want 10 minutes!

 

[LSUmiss]

That is what I thought at first! But now I'm wondering if this means WDW is expecting a low crowd increase during SWGE opening, and that's why they are still offering free dining? If they thought it would be like Spring Break or Christmas, they wouldn't be so stupid as to offer anything, would they?

My thought is they offered that to fill rooms like they always do & when that wasn’t as successful as they had hoped, they decided to open SWGE to boost the end of this fiscal year.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I wasn't going to say anything to DH until I had processed all the pros and cons, but at dinner tonight my son and daughter in law were talking about it. My husband is super excited. He loves Star Wars. We just mostly want to walk around and look, and since we both avoid crowds, we're pretty good at figuring out what works best for us.
A couple of things I've worked out (maybe only in my head): I'm going the end of September. While I see a crush for the opening and probably elevated crowds, I don't really see people going out of their way to book the earlier dates, because only 1 ride will be open.
I'm not changing my plans; I'm still getting a park hopper for 1 day and a party ticket for MNSSHP (i'd love an EMM event then hop over to Epcot but I'm sure it's too early for that) I'd personally like to do EP and AK.
For those of us going to Universal, that's good news! Maybe the crowds will be down there.
Still going.

 

[cebfennell]

We rented DVC points a few weeks ago for our annual quiet Labor Day trip. We are locked in a can’t back out so going to make the most of it. We have 4 kids all under 12 and would love to hit TSL since we missed out on slinky dog dash last year but I’m trying to avoid crowds as much as possible. Originally out plan was
8/30 MK
8/31 DHS
9/1 Resort day at AKL
9/2 AK

Super interested in anyone else’s plans that weekend who are trying to avoid the masses!

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I made all my ADRs. 6 months ahead.
I've never done this before except with California Grill. Normally, I make my ADR the day before or even the same day. We decide right then if we feel like eating out, and that's never a problem in September. But for this year...better safe than sorry.

 

[Nikred513]

I have plans to go to HS on 9/18 for my trip. While I would love to see SWGE, I am ok if I don't see any this trip. Last time we went was in April of 18, just a few months before TSL. I am hoping that HS isn't to capacity so I can take my little one to TSL (and I want to go too!!)

 

[ladyderks]

We rented DVC points a few weeks ago for our annual quiet Labor Day trip. We are locked in a can’t back out so going to make the most of it. We have 4 kids all under 12 and would love to hit TSL since we missed out on slinky dog dash last year but I’m trying to avoid crowds as much as possible. Originally out plan was
8/30 MK
8/31 DHS
9/1 Resort day at AKL
9/2 AK

Super interested in anyone else’s plans that weekend who are trying to avoid the masses!

We are in the same boat. Just rented DVC points 3 days prior to the opening date being announced, and we can’t cancel We will have 4 adults and 5 kids (all under 8) between our two families. I had everything all planned out - now I feel like I’m having to start over.

My kids really want to get on SDD - I’m really just hoping for a FP for that. I think I’m going to change up the days. No more dedicated resort days. Just mornings in the parks - head back after lunch. See how we’re feeling and maybe go back to the parks after dinner if we can snag any 4+ fast passes. Definitely going to make more meals in our suite/eat at Disney Springs compared to our original plans.

 

[cebfennell]

We are in the same boat. Just rented DVC points 3 days prior to the opening date being announced, and we can’t cancel We will have 4 adults and 5 kids (all under 8) between our two families. I had everything all planned out - now I feel like I’m having to start over.

My kids really want to get on SDD - I’m really just hoping for a FP for that. I think I’m going to change up the days. No more dedicated resort days. Just mornings in the parks - head back after lunch. See how we’re feeling and maybe go back to the parks after dinner if we can snag any 4+ fast passes. Definitely going to make more meals in our suite/eat at Disney Springs compared to our original plans.

Yeah I would be okay with just going to DHS and using 3 fast passes but I’m wondering how hard they will be to get. Since the park closes in phases as long as you have a fast pass you can still get in the park during most closure phases I think. Makes me wondering if people trying to get into DHs just for SWGE will take any fast passes they can get even if they don’t intend to use them.

 

[Disneylover99]

Yeah I would be okay with just going to DHS and using 3 fast passes but I’m wondering how hard they will be to get. Since the park closes in phases as long as you have a fast pass you can still get in the park during most closure phases I think. Makes me wondering if people trying to get into DHs just for SWGE will take any fast passes they can get even if they don’t intend to use them.

I would imagine if people are just going to HS for Star Wars, they’d probably still try to get 3 fp’s for whatever they could, unless they plan on going to another park later in the day.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I have plans to go to HS on 9/18 for my trip. While I would love to see SWGE, I am ok if I don't see any this trip. Last time we went was in April of 18, just a few months before TSL. I am hoping that HS isn't to capacity so I can take my little one to TSL (and I want to go too!!)

Same here. I want to get to TSL. Disney can make it such that SWGE have a separate entrance (just for the opening days) so that the crowd don't block up the rest of DHS, which is small. But I don't know that they will do that.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Same here. I want to get to TSL. Disney can make it such that SWGE have a separate entrance (just for the opening days) so that the crowd don't block up the rest of DHS, which is small. But I don't know that they will do that.

That would be helpful - have some of the tapstyles for people going in to GE and others for the rest of the park .... have to figure out some way for people that are doing rest of park and then want GE later (though who knows how that will work, if you will even be able to get in later or only way will be to line up at beginning of day and wait

I am cautiously optimistic Disney will have a plan - just unclear of exact details but they have to know this will be something they have to deal with (people who want to go to DHS but not GE)

 

[yulilin3]

That would be helpful - have some of the tapstyles for people going in to GE and others for the rest of the park .... have to figure out some way for people that are doing rest of park and then want GE later (though who knows how that will work, if you will even be able to get in later or only way will be to line up at beginning of day and wait

I am cautiously optimistic Disney will have a plan - just unclear of exact details but they have to know this will be something they have to deal with (people who want to go to DHS but not GE)

the could split Hollywood Blvd in half with ropes and CMs. People entering through the right tapstiles can access TSLand/Animation Courtyard and Sunset Blvd. People entering on the left can access SWGE, Puts accessing Indy, ST, Frozen Sing along harder though
They had an excellent set up for the reopening of Star Tours, they even had shaded retractable tarps above Streets of America for the overflow of guests in line, I'm sure they are busy planning a good strategy

 

[Sara_H]

According to touring plans, they don’t think magic kingdom or Epcot will really be impacted much at all. I have used and valued touring plans for 3 trips now. So hopefully they are right again this time.

I hope you are right. If the other parks aren't impacted with higher crowds and it is just HS or even just the SWGE area then I'd be ok with that. We chose our vacation time partially on crowd calendars and partially on school calendars so hopefully the rest of the parks just see "normal" crowd levels.

 

[AaronInWI]

We are booked for September 9-15. We will not be cancelling. Like most of the other people have said, it is disappointing that they moved the opening date up when originally it was "late fall" and we had planned on low crowds as a result. But the way I see it, my wife has been after me for years to slow down during these trips, and maybe the increased crowds will force me to do this. I'll just not worry about always having to be doing something, and instead just enjoy being there. We usually spend 1/2 day in DHS so I can ride RnR and TT, and I would have liked to have checked out the new ride in the old Great Movie Ride building, but I think we'll just skip the park all together this year. Oh well, more time for AK or MK! My philosophy in life has always been hope for the best, plan for the worst. I am hoping this won't have a significant impact on other parks, but I am planning on insane crowd levels. If it falls somewhere in between that, I'll be happy.

 

[miamimama]

We have an AP that expires Nov 13 this year, so have a trip planned with points Nov 3-10 at BWV and won't be changing it. Expecting that Epcot F&W will be more crowded with overflow from SWGE but not much we can do about that at this point. I'm just glad we've been able to enjoy SDD and rest of TSL on previous trips. Will be curious to see how this all pans out with crowds and closures, etc.

 

[birdiegirl9800]

We are booked for Sept 5-14; having booked for the low crowds and also because it fits into our sons' school schedules (college students whose classes begin later in September). We haven't been to WDW since 2010; we likely won't be attending again anytime soon, and we're pretty stuck with these dates. I am disappointed, like many of you, to find out we'll be there shortly after the opening of SWGE, and I'm hoping the crowd predictions are overhyped. I have a hard time imagining that the hordes are going to descend on Orlando right after a long holiday weekend, just when most kids have just started school and would have a hard time missing classes. Added to this skepticism is the fact that if people really are dying to experience this new land/attractions, wouldn't they just wait til later in the fall/winter until the entire thing opens? I'm sure the opening day/weekend/week will be packed, but hopefully we'll have a window of calm while we're there. One thing is for sure--I'm going to stop worrying about it. We'll deal with it however we have to, but getting worked up about the what ifs and what are we gonna do's is just an exercise in futility. Ain't nobody got time for that!

 

[KarenP64]

We thought we'd cancel & go to Universal instead, but Universal just doesn't speak to our hearts the way Disney does. So, we're keeping our POP resv. for mid-November (2 weeks) for the time being & waiting to see how crowds, etc. are when it opens. If the second ride doesn't open until after our trip, maybe it won't be so bad going to the other parks & skipping HS. There are several new articles out saying the other parks may not be too bad with spill-over. But, we're also considering just going without getting park tickets. The problem is, we'll need to get them before we can hear how the crowd levels are so we can get the 60-day advance FastPasses. So, Disney has set it up to mess up any kind of plans for many of us.