Is SWGE impacting your trip? Discuss your plans here!

[Mrs Grumpy]

We are going 8/24-9/4. Booked free dining and have our plane tickets. Yes, we are down about this but it is what it is and will go and try and make the best of it. We did have our second HS day scheduled for 8/31 but as soon as the news came out we switched some things around and will have our two HS days prior to the opening (8/25 and 8/28). We will see it all the next trip after it has been open for a year or so.

Do you think they will have extra evening EMH like they did for Pandora when it first opened? If they do while we are there I could see us maybe going and just walking around to see it but not try to ride the ride. We will see.

 

[VAtink]

We’re going September 25th-October 2nd. Yesterday it was a mix of shock and disappointment, we love our September F&W trips and the relatively lower crowds. After sleeping on it though, while I’m not thrilled that we may have to actually wait a bit to get food from the food booths and heaven forbid, eat off a trash can, I’ve gotten over the disappointment and am actually slightly excited we may get to see a new land so soon after opening.

We’re just going to go in expecting massive crowds, and if the crowds aren’t that bad it’ll be a bonus, and if they are bad, we have a plan and can be flexible (to a point) with our schedule. One year we went in the beginning of May and expected it to be low crowds, and it was the most crowded we’ve ever seen with all the school groups, tour groups, and throngs of cheerleaders (seriously, so. many. cheerleaders), and it left a sour note on that trip simply because our expectations were SO off. So we’ve learned our lesson and will expect the worst but hope for the best this time around!

One thing that will be a huge bummer is if there is no TSL EMM when we’re there. We did the first one last year and absolutely loved it, so planned on doing it again this year as our only time in HS. Oh well, if they don’t have it, we may try an EMH…we’ll see. Hopefully more details emerge before we book our ADRs in a few weeks!

 

[Dracoa Dragoon]

I feel bad for my mom.

First time going with just her and her significant other. She booked everything, and got the free dining, but this is going to cripple her trip.

No way she will be waiting hours to get into Starwars and everywhere will be overcrowded. Looks like it will be her first and last trip.

 

[tlmadden73]

I bought an AP last November -- with the plan on doing a 1 - 2 punch of seeing the new stuff arriving in 2018 and 2019. We went in November of 2018 to see Toy Story Land and was waiting to see if we could catch the opening of SWGE before it expires. Little did I expect that would become a reality. So I am not bummed. I am excited. Since we just went and since we have APs .. I don't feel any time in the parks will be "wasted" if it is crowded. We can just come and go and hop as we please. (I like that flexibility)

I have two trips booked (only planning on keeping one of them). One for mid-September and one for mid-October. They were booked without SWGE in mind. Mainly just to get one last trip in before my daughter turns 3 (and thus isn't free).

I'm not sure which trip I will keep (leaning towards September despite it being only WEEKS after SWGE opens), but I don't know if I care. I doubt I can ride Smuggler's Run without a FP with a 2yo and and a 6yo. I don't want my wife waiting for 2-3 hours (or more) with my daughter (or vice versa) and I don't think my son would be that patient. So the plan is to check out the land .. if we can. I am just curious how they are going to limit capacity in there if you just want to walk around and shop.

DHS will have another new experiences as well (like MRRR and Lighting McQueen Racing Academy).

Maybe I will wait until October (despite it probably being more crowded during the height of the Halloween season) to see how things pan out and maybe get a better idea how long they will do no Fast Passes and when the other ride will open.

For now .. I sit on two Fall reservations and wait until it is ADR and FP scheduling time.

Debating going for another early November trip with just the wife. THEN we could wait in line for the ride.

While I think some are predicting Doom and Gloom .. it may not be as crazy (if you don't go to DHS) as you think. Just as many people may be cancelling their trip (to avoid the crowds) as there are people making NEW ones. Some people may be waiting for the "full" experience before going.

 

[lilmissy7789]

We're going 9/28-10/4 and I checked availability - 26 resorts still have rooms! I was surprised. I clicked on random resorts and there still seems to be plenty room types, too. LOL I hope it stays this way!

Maybe it was a fluke when I looked then! Lordy I hope so! Would be great if it wasn't completely insane!!!

 

[Tempty]

Fiancee and I had planned for 9/12-9-17 and while we weren't necessarily hoping to miss SWGE, we were certainly expecting to miss it lol
I kept telling him hey don't hold your breath, it probably won't be open until late 10/2019 at the earliest
Listened in on the shareholders meeting and lo and behold, there it is
I feel a couple different things at the moment
1) hey we won't miss it! We're only young once, let's join the chaos!
2) ...that's... a lot of chaos
3) oh man, imagine booking 9/2019 specifically to miss SWGE and then this happens! Yikes :I

Conflicting feelings! But mostly happy I think? Fiancee is definitely happy

 

[yulilin3]

I feel bad for my mom.

First time going with just her and her significant other. She booked everything, and got the free dining, but this is going to cripple her trip.

No way she will be waiting hours to get into Starwars and everywhere will be overcrowded. Looks like it will be her first and last trip.

It doesn't have to be this terrible.
If she doesn't want to wait hours do not go to DHS, go to the other parks and rope drop, you will most likely find morning hours to be manageable, book your 3 fps and be flexible.

 

[lilmissy7789]

Trying to be very open minded. This is my little ones 1st time ever (Shes 2) so hopefully she'll be ok to just meet a few characters, ride a few little rides like Small world & dumbo, and play at the resort. We have no interest in Star Wars land. Boo.. Going to try to make this trip about the LO & just remember to breathe, and enjoy it, regardless!

 

[hakunamomtata]

We are going 9/26-10/3. Absolutely not changing or cancelling our plans.

We make great use of FP and Rider Switch since our youngest can't go on almost anything. I'm confident with planning and going into it KNOWING crowds will see a swell, it'll still be a great time.

I honestly don't believe the crowds will be insane much past 2 weeks of the opening date. In my opinion, most people that diehard will fight through the crowds when it opens and the days following, and then most will push off a visit until both rides are open. Not saying there won't be an increase in overall crowds as it is a new draw, but it won't be insane. I'd say crowds will probably be a solid 4-5/10 across the board where it'd usually be a 1-2.

Disney is well versed in crowd control, and they won't let their entire park be closed to capacity just for folks waiting in a queue to get jnto SWGE. I firmly believe they'll have an organised queue inside the park for those going to SWGE, and that queue will extend outside the park entrance and will solely be for entrance to SWGE. That will allow others looking to see the rest of HS in, and able to control the crowd spread that way.

 

[crewsn]

We booked 9/28 - 10/6 to avoid galaxy’s edge this year. We typically go in December.

Personally I’m torn. After I went through the stages of grief over the trip I had planned in my head. I finally thought can’t cancel now due to flights so might as well look on the bright side. I feel like the crowds could be bad, but hopeful after the opening stampede of a week or so then things will die down overall. At least in terms of capacity. (I feel terrible for those who were not planning on it being during their trip and landed with opening day being during their trip.).

I’m hopeful for some who would just want to book a trip will either head to Disneyland since it’s opening first or wait until both rides open.

I of course know there will be lots of additional bookings to head there though so it will definitely be more crowded then originally planned, but I am hopeful that as long as we put Hollywood studios in the middle of the week we can at least get in easily and head to the rest of the park. They have been planning for this additional traffic and demand. We will be at Pop so we may suck it up and try the gondolas if that’s easier. Disney is good at streamline crowds so hopefully the kinks will be worked out too somewhat by the time we get there.

I am sad though as the Saturday of our trip is my sons 9th bday and he requested lots of rides on rock and roller coaster then ohana for dinner. I’m thinking blizzard beach as a back up now.

 

[yulilin3]

Trying to be very open minded. This is my little ones 1st time ever (Shes 2) so hopefully she'll be ok to just meet a few characters, ride a few little rides like Small world & dumbo, and play at the resort. We have no interest in Star Wars land. Boo.. Going to try to make this trip about the LO & just remember to breathe, and enjoy it, regardless!

If your main concern is the happiness of your little 2 year old I can guarantee you she'll be happy playing in the splash area at MK, running around at the Dig Site in AK and just seeing all the new places, no rides needed

We are going 9/26-10/3. Absolutely not changing or cancelling our plans.

We make great use of FP and Rider Switch since our youngest can't go on almost anything. I'm confident with planning and going into it KNOWING crowds will see a swell, it'll still be a great time.

I honestly don't believe the crowds will be insane much past 2 weeks of the opening date. In my opinion, most people that diehard will fight through the crowds when it opens and the days following, and then most will push off a visit until both rides are open. Not saying there won't be an increase in overall crowds as it is a new draw, but it won't be insane. I'd say crowds will probably be a solid 4-5/10 across the board where it'd usually be a 1-2.

Disney is well versed in crowd control, and they won't let their entire park be closed to capacity just for folks waiting in a queue to get jnto SWGE. I firmly believe they'll have an organised queue inside the park for those going to SWGE, and that queue will extend outside the park entrance and will solely be for entrance to SWGE. That will allow others looking to see the rest of HS in, and able to control the crowd spread that way.

And the fact that you are coming a month after opening will give you and Disney a good amount of knowledge on how to treat the crowds

We booked 9/28 - 10/6 to avoid galaxy’s edge this year. We typically go in December.

Personally I’m torn. After I went through the stages of grief over the trip I had planned in my head. I finally thought can’t cancel now due to flights so might as well look on the bright side. I feel like the crowds could be bad, but hopeful after the opening stampede of a week or so then things will die down overall. At least in terms of capacity. (I feel terrible for those who were not planning on it being during their trip and landed with opening day being during their trip.).

I’m hopeful for some who would just want to book a trip will either head to Disneyland since it’s opening first or wait until both rides open.

I of course know there will be lots of additional bookings to head there though so it will definitely be more crowded then originally planned, but I am hopeful that as long as we put Hollywood studios in the middle of the week we can at least get in easily and head to the rest of the park. They have been planning for this additional traffic and demand. We will be at Pop so we may suck it up and try the gondolas if that’s easier. Disney is good at streamline crowds so hopefully the kinks will be worked out too somewhat by the time we get there.

I am sad though as the Saturday of our trip is my sons 9th bday and he requested lots of rides on rock and roller coaster then ohana for dinner. I’m thinking blizzard beach as a back up now.

I'm glad you are being proactive and have a plan B in mind, I'm sure he'll have a great birthday

 

[maranara]

We're planning an end of January trip. I would just skip DHS but the people I love love Star Wars...so...yeah...

I'm mentally preparing for much larger crowds everywhere. And I think that I will budget for park hoppers this time as well. I'm really hopeful that by January there will be FP+ for Star Wars and that we can somehow manage 2 mornings at the park before heading out for somewhere relatively more quiet. Of course, I could be wrong...and my kid might just want to spend her entire day on the lookout for Darth Vadar...

 

[yulilin3]

We're planning an end of January trip. I would just skip DHS but the people I love love Star Wars...so...yeah...

I'm mentally preparing for much larger crowds everywhere. And I think that I will budget for park hoppers this time as well. I'm really hopeful that by January there will be FP+ for Star Wars and that we can somehow manage 2 mornings at the park before heading out for somewhere relatively more quiet. Of course, I could be wrong...and my kid might just want to spend her entire day on the lookout for Darth Vadar...

Darth Vader will be easy to spot during Jedi Training Academy if they are still doing it

 

[Mollydolly334]

We are booked at the GF from 8/30-9/5. Before this was announced, we had actually made a Sci Fi Dine-In Theater Dinner ADR for 8/30 at 7:15! Our arrival day is our only planned day at DHS since it's our least favorite park anyway. I'm hoping we can at least get into the park to do our dinner (Sci Fi is my family and I's absolute must-do restaurant every trip), and maybe see if we can can get FPs for Fantasmic, RnRC and TOT. That would be a successful day for us!

We don't really have interest in Star Wars but have no plans to change or cancel. We have all been to WDW many times before, and are very flexible in our traveling We are actually a bit intrigued and excited to be in WDW the day after something so historical opens! If the lines get too long, we will go to other parks or back to the resort and simply adjust as needed! A crowded day at Disney is still 100% better than a day at work

 

[Tiggerlover91]

A crowded day at Disney is still 100% better than a day at work

THIS!

 

[monica9]

I wonder if this is why promotions came out so early??
We can't reschedule. We booked for end of September but rented DVC points and can't change the week.
We are very excited about seeing GE but purposely picked September to avoid the crowds and wanted them to die down for a year before seeing it.
We will be HS on the weekend and the holiday Monday ( think it's yom kippur) and will try to hit it at rope drop when we go. Our goal is to get to RnR for my oldest daughter and get to TSL, maybe walk through GE area but I don't mind missing the rides.
I'm just praying the other parks are still low-key because I REALLY wanted this to be a relaxing week hence the booking of September in hurricane season/beginning of school.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I'm going right when it opens, not cancelling. After I got over my initial shock, I am now excited. I am looking forward to looking at the crowd in SWGE. Not hoping to be able to to get in there myself (I'm a Star Wars fan with a stroller, so, not gonna happen), but it would be fun to watch how packed it is from a distance! That is, assuming I can get inside DHS to look, of course. If it turns out that I only get to watch the crowd outside DHS and can't get into Toy Story Land, that would be very disappointing. Oh well, we'll just spend more time at MK.

See, if everybody else is also spending more time at MK, I can see how the other parks are going to have more people. [Take deep breath.]

I really wish WDW will do a reservation only thing just like DL. I wouldn't even mind if I have to pay extra. Then I can get a reservation and get inside! Wow! How cool would that be? I mean, DL lets you have a reservation if you book a Disney hotel. Why can't WDW do the same, like let you buy a reservation if you book a Disney hotel? Seriously, I am willing to pay, it would be so awesome to be in SWGE when it first opens! I just don't want to pay by getting there at 3 a.m., I want to pay with cold, hard cash!

Ok, I'm just dreaming. None of this is going to happen and I won't be in SWGE for a long time.

But still, all this is super exciting!

 

[mshanson3121]

We were booked Sept 12-17. Two special needs kiddos. No way are we going then. I canceled our trip today and am rebooking for May. I was initially super bummed and upset. Now I'm kind of happy - better weather AND our trip is now less than 60 days instead of 180+ away!

 

[Artygal90]

I'm feeling really torn. We've booked a week on points at Universal this September and have been planning to spend a week at Disney next September so we could go when SWGE was open (thinking of course that GE would open closer to the crazy-busy and expensive holiday season).

Now I'm reconsidering if should we cancel the Uni trip and do WDW instead, even though we are already doing DLR in May. We did both USO and WDW in 5 days last March and felt very rushed and stressed, so we don't want to try and do a split stay this fall. I also want to experience Food & Wine and MNSSHP, so it's not like I'd want to just do WDW next Jan. or something. We don't have the PTO to do both this year. Argh!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I have no idea what we are doing at this point. We've gone the last week of August for the past 8 years and I booked our trip - August 22 - 29 - last October. My initial reaction was shock and excitement and I quickly modified our dates to August 23 - 30, but I could tell my DH no longer wanted to go. He loves Star Wars, but doesn't want to deal with the crowds (can't say I blame him). As I started talking about it, I could tell DS11 didn't want to go either. I haven't cancelled yet as I'd still like to see if they have any AP previews or other hard-ticket events or tours. I'm also considering cancelling our week long trip and just flying down for a day myself as I honestly wouldn't mind being there. We'll see. Part of me also just wants to wait until the entire area is open and WDW has had a chance to figure out crowd control, possible FP+, etc. I'm glad I didn't purchase airfare as of yet!