Is SWGE impacting your trip? Discuss your plans here!

[LarrySos]

Anyone mention the fact that only one of the rides will be open at first? I wonder if this will help at all with spreading the crowds out a bit? Will some people wait until both rides are open? We are going Aug 21-31....I just added a day onto our plans. I booked the extra day yesterday. There were still plenty of room options rack rate only. I’m really hoping to keep all plans intact and try for Galaxys Edge on the 30th‍. I doubt we will even get in....
We are huge Starwars fans but always try to plan our trip when the crowds are lower.
Will the week before be crazy with people trying to get there before opening day??? Head spinning!

 

[LarrySos]

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!

Love May! Wonderful time to go.....

 

[fiasco32]

We were booked Sep 6-15 before the news and we're still booked Sep 6-15.

It's going to be great. ADP window opens up Sunday morning and the itinerary is all set.

 

[Artygal90]

Anyone mention the fact that only one of the rides will be open at first? I wonder if this will help at all with spreading the crowds out a bit? Will some people wait until both rides are open? We are going Aug 21-31....I just added a day onto our plans. I booked the extra day yesterday. There were still plenty of room options rack rate only. I’m really hoping to keep all plans intact and try for Galaxys Edge on the 30th‍. I doubt we will even get in....
We are huge Starwars fans but always try to plan our trip when the crowds are lower.
Will the week before be crazy with people trying to get there before opening day??? Head spinning!

I've been thinking about that and wondering if crowds will not be as horrendous for months as everyone is expecting due in part to the phased opening. I think you will definitely end up with an insanely crowded Labor Day weekend as locals, people who already booked for that time frame, and super-fans who were always planning on going opening weekend flood DHS (and the other parks as well). However, 1) it's still hurricane season, 2) school is still starting up for most people, and 3) one of the two new rides won't be open yet. So I would imagine the people who were on the fence about going and/or have kids they don't want to take out of school will probably wait to take their trips until the entire land is open.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I happen to be staying at Boardwalk on August 29th! It's just a resort day, so I won't be going into DHS, but I can go look at the entrance to see what it looks like on the outside. How exciting! This is going to be the biggest opening of any expansion in WDW history!

 

[sarcasticblonde]

We are taking our two sons (one is 9 and the other will be a few weeks shy of 6 when we go) for their first, and possibly only, trip to Disney. We are scheduled to be there September 8th-14th. I'm excited that our boys will probably have the chance to see the land and ride the Millennium Falcon ride. We booked this trip last June and was sad that we were going to miss the Star Wars land stuff so we were pretty stoked to see we wouldn't miss it. Now, it's just not having to wait in line for hours. Was thinking about getting a reservation at Hollywood and Vine for an 8am breakfast just so we would be in the park earlier but my kids don't care for any of the characters and I don't like the food there so we will just have to wing a rope drop situation I guess. There was no way we would reschedule. We have the resort we wanted and got free dining (though we upgraded it to the Deluxe plan).

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I've been thinking about that and wondering if crowds will not be as horrendous for months as everyone is expecting due in part to the phased opening. I think you will definitely end up with an insanely crowded Labor Day weekend as locals, people who already booked for that time frame, and super-fans who were always planning on going opening weekend flood DHS (and the other parks as well). However, 1) it's still hurricane season, 2) school is still starting up for most people, and 3) one of the two new rides won't be open yet. So I would imagine the people who were on the fence about going and/or have kids they don't want to take out of school will probably wait to take their trips until the entire land is open.

All the reasons you listed are good, and I might add that DLR will already have had theirs open for a while which should help, but I still fear that they won't be enough to overcome the flood that is coming. But ultimately, the hope is that all this fear is nothing and I'll be able to get in there! I so want to be in there! And I want September to be relatively quiet like it's supposed to be!

 

[mshanson3121]

We are taking our two sons (one is 9 and the other will be a few weeks shy of 6 when we go) for their first, and possibly only, trip to Disney. We are scheduled to be there September 8th-14th. I'm excited that our boys will probably have the chance to see the land and ride the Millennium Falcon ride. We booked this trip last June and was sad that we were going to miss the Star Wars land stuff so we were pretty stoked to see we wouldn't miss it. Now, it's just not having to wait in line for hours. Was thinking about getting a reservation at Hollywood and Vine for an 8am breakfast just so we would be in the park earlier but my kids don't care for any of the characters and I don't like the food there so we will just have to wing a rope drop situation I guess. There was no way we would reschedule. We have the resort we wanted and got free dining (though we upgraded it to the Deluxe plan).

The only way to avoid spending hours in line unfortunately, will be if they release a paid event.

 

[dkbnyc]

We are booked Aug 26- sept 2 and will cancel our trip. We don’t do well with hot weather but were willing to give it a try in return for free dining and lower crowd levels. I specifically booked this time in order to avoid missing any school and Star Wars crowds.
I’m kind of bummed out since I don’t know when I’ll be able to reschedule. But also, secretly glad to skip August heat.
D

 

[SaintsManiac]

I've been thinking about that and wondering if crowds will not be as horrendous for months as everyone is expecting due in part to the phased opening. I think you will definitely end up with an insanely crowded Labor Day weekend as locals, people who already booked for that time frame, and super-fans who were always planning on going opening weekend flood DHS (and the other parks as well). However, 1) it's still hurricane season, 2) school is still starting up for most people, and 3) one of the two new rides won't be open yet. So I would imagine the people who were on the fence about going and/or have kids they don't want to take out of school will probably wait to take their trips until the entire land is open.

Agree 100%

I firmly believe that they are doing the phased opening at that time of year for crowd control reasons.

 

[cdoc29]

Booked Sept 3-9 to take advantage of the free dining offer. Made all my dining reservations the am of the announcement for the entire trip, Only one I was not able to get was Cinderella's Royal Table at the time we wanted on the day we wanted (and we even got an 8am reservation one of the days at Hollywood and Vine, my little girl has got to see Fancy Nancy). Then Disney Announced SW:GE opening dates, people starting saying they were now not going and suddenly a lot more options for Cinderellas Table popped up. Now I got the last reservation I needed for the time and day I wanted, At the rate of people dropping out getting fast passes 60 days out for all the other parks is going to be a breeze. Sure it will probably be more crowded at HS and it may even spill over to other parks as well but then again a Hurricane could blow through (it is September after all). Still planning to make the most of it, As I have learned in all my Disney World Trips planning will take you a long ways to a good vacation in the world and as an added Bonus I may even get to experience the new land during my trip.

 

[Rach3975]

We're scheduled for Nov. 2-5. At first I was wary and wondered if we should cancel, but we're going to go with it. It's our one and only adults-only trip, and we can't reschedule early enough to miss the GE crowds. Our trip is late enough that we'll have the advantage of seeing how the first month goes before we make our final payment and will have 2 months of data to try to anticipate whether HS will close due to capacity and when, etc. I'm hoping things won't be as bad as we're all fearing.

I don't know yet how this will change our overall plan. Our original plan was to spend 1 afternoon or evening of our short trip at HS, but I don't know if that will work now. I think I'll make 2 sets of ADRs, 1 for if we decide to try to get into HS and 1 for if we skip it entirely. After we see how things go in Sept and Oct, I'll decide whether to cancel the HS ADR. I hope they announce the EMH plans (and what "select WDW resort hotels" means) soon, before our ADR dates.

 

[RedWolf95]

Not doubting in any way that it's going to be huge and particularly opening day up through Labor Day I can imagine will be miserable from a crowd perspective at HS, BUT there are a lot of variables that might significantly depress the enormity and duration of the impact and therefore the impact to the other parks. The fact that only one ride is being opened is a variable and Aug./Sept. is a very slow time of year that creates many issues with getting kids out of school, etc... However, another factor (which was not in play with either Pandora or TSL) that might play into how much of the die hard SW fan base that would wait days in lines for the movies is that there is ANOTHER almost replica opening 3 months earlier. By the time SWGE opens at HS, the one at Disneyland could perhaps even already have or be close to opening ROTR. So, if you are a die hard SW fan who does not live in the Southeast, are you going to plan a trip to Disney World specifically due to SWGE to go to HS at opening or even during the first couple of months after opening OR are you going to go to Disneyland in June/July/August to get the same experience sooner and possibly even get ROTR? Again, not saying it won't be extremely busy at HS, but for 75% of the country where there is not a significant proximity benefit to HS I would think that this will play a huge factor in the decision making of many who decide to plan a trip primarily because SWGE is opening. Maybe I'm totally off, but if I was dying to go to SWGE (at or soon after opening) and lived from DC North or from Texas West, or anywhere internationally I think I'd be going to Disneyland. That being said, though I really like SW, I don't fit any of those criteria so this can be taken as an entirely uneducated guess

 

[iona]

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!

I’d stick with your original plan - relaxed trip to Universal this year and then WDW next September when both rides are open, things aren’t quite as crazy and hopefully FP+ is available.

 

[vacationer1954]

We moved our trip from mid November to early December to increase the chances of being able to see SWGE open; looks like we misfired. I'm not sure we can move our dates again, but we might try, not so much to get closer to the SWGE opening (but I still want to be there after it opens rather than before) but to pull in some other aspects of our trip (things related to our eventually move to the area).

 

[;-)]

I know not all of you will agree when I say this, but I really think the way Disney is approaching this is smart. First they said fall, which in actuality is now opening in summer. They are trying to fill in their “slow” season with a partial opening of SWGE. Although it will bring intense crowds, I believe some will hold off traveling to come to Florida until it’s 100% complete, and by then the bum rush and thrill of opening will be over. I think if they waited to open all at once, and it being busy with food and wine, Halloween, Thanksgiving , etc, it would have been pure madness. Not saying it won’t be pure madness now, but Them doing it in phases definitely helps. I’m heading home 8/20, before opening day, but if I was scheduled after opening I wouldn’t change my trip plans. I’d probably just try to avoid HS, depending on access to SWGE, but I’m sure (and I hope) Disney would keep the line entrance to enter the land separate from the rest of the park. Oh, and no fast passes are a smart choice too! It keeps it fair. I predict wait time 11 hours....lmao!

 

[Princessclab]

Unfortunately I have a trip booked September 1- 7, pretty much right at the beginning of the onslaught. All things around the openings at HS more than likely will not quite be sorted out that first week.
I will still go primarily because of non refundable plane tickets.

It certainly will change the plans I have while I am there. I will do the best I can to enjoy what was supposed to be a quieter time at WDW, which why the trip was booked at that time in the first place. IMHO I will not be able to tell how things are in advance at all, so will need to wait until I get there. Maybe more time outside the parks than originally planned.
As someone already said, disappointed, yes; devastated, no. It will be fun, I am going to the WDW bubble afterall!

 

[FlyTriPacer]

I’ve said we’re not canceling in another post, but we are now seriously considering changing our 8/25 - 8/31 trip at Pop to our 1st trip to Universal 8/27 - 8/31 at Royal Pacific (we’re on SW Airlines and can move dates w/out $ right now).

We’ve been eight times since 2008 (mostly in late August...even brought the kids a few times) and wanted one more trip before all the new rides/50th celebration craziness starts. We chose late summer instead of a December/Christmas trip to avoid late fall because that’s what was being pushed by Disney as an opening date. I do plan at least being in the Magic Kingdom for a little while on 9/29/21 because I turn 50 and set a precedent by turning 40 in the MK two days before it did. We’ll eventually get back into our old routine of regular visits, but after the newness wears off...until then DCL will be getting our $ (cruises 4 & 5 in 2020).

My guess is attendance before the announcement was way down and Disney had an ace up their sleeve, so they played it. They’re a business and that’s fine, but a lot of folks were banking late fall when they booked earlier...

Good luck everybody!

 

[Runnsally]

Agree 100%

I firmly believe that they are doing the phased opening at that time of year for crowd control reasons.

I think you’re right...opening this beast around Thanksgiving/Xmas seemed like a recipe for disaster. Although on-property hotel occupancy doesn’t predict crowds, the fact that there is a decent room discount that overlaps the opening of SWGE is telling...

 

[DFrost]

We are booked for the first 2 weeks of November. Excited about the news, but we are 2 adults. Looking forward to conquering as much of SWGE as possible. Even if it’s just a glimpse of the Millennium Falcon!