Crowds at HS during Star Wars Weekends

[Sweetpeamd]

I'm trying to figure out how crowded HS will be on a Friday that is a Star Wars Weekend date. We aren't really interested in the Star Wars events, so we will be visiting the other attractions and areas of the park. Is it possible that most guests will be doing Star Wars stuff and the rest of the park will be slow?

 

[thebells_Dallas]

we were there last year and it was extremely crowded. toy story mania had 2 hour wait, fast passes were gone very early in the morning for it, and we never made it to ride it because of the line. tower of terror was short at one point in the evening to 10 minutes, but i think it had just reopened after some issues. rode single rider for aerosmith and still waited over 30 minutes.

 

[Glencora]

I was wondering the same thing. I like Star Wars well enough, and I might just wander over for the costumes and parade and let it go at that, but I'm not good in huge crowds. If there's really no place that I can go in the park where I can get a "breather" from all the people, I don't know if I can go. Is the whole park packed all day?

 

[indimom]

It was crazy busy. Lines were long for rides and CS restaurants and characters. We didn't realize the SW parade would pack the streets and we ended up stuck behind the crowds when we were trying to exit the park. Couldn't see the parade, couldn't escape.

All that being said, we are going to try it again this year. Only this time we will know what we are getting into and have a better plan. I HOPE!

I'd suggest expecting and planning for the worst, then if you end up with a lower crowds/more positive experience

 

[carps09]

We have gone to SWW the last 2 years, and yes, it is crowded. In 2008, we focused on doing only special SWW events and activities, and it didn't seem so bad because we weren't fighting the "regular" crowd. We were still able to ride Toy Story Mania (even though it was opening weekend for the ride at the time!) and other attractions, including seeing Fantasmic. Last year, we watched the SWW parade, but didn't chase down characters or special activities as much. It was crowded, but we were still able to do everything we wanted to do. However, we didn't even try with Fantasmic last year - we didn't want to waste all of that time waiting in line for the show and instead rode some rides. So in short, yes, it is crowded, but it's doable.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I would not go on a Star Wars day, but a weekday.
We were there in 2006 on Friday and left about noon. The first hour or so was fine, but late morning got so crowded you could not walk. I am not talking about the Star Wars events but the ToT, RnRC, etc. Just keeping our family together through the crowd was a challenge. We gave FPs to people coming in and you would have thought we gave them gold.
We are used to the non peak times--if you go spring break or Christmas, you might be used to these crowds and not have a problem.

 

[Sweetpeamd]

Thanks for all of the advice. We are used to going in Jan. and will be going in June this yr. The day we were hoping to go to HS is a Star Wars day AND an early EMH day. Probably not a good combo for our expectations. We'll probably think about touring on another day.