Lower crowds before Star Wars opening?

[DisneyDeb83]

We are planning another September trip and are curious as to whether everyone thinks crowd levels will be down? Hoping that people are possibly delaying trips to wait for Star Wars.

As for us, I think it will be our last trip for awhile afterward until things calm down. Just don’t know how long that will take!

 

[disneyjr77]

We are planning another September trip and are curious as to whether everyone thinks crowd levels will be down? Hoping that people are possibly delaying trips to wait for Star Wars.

As for us, I think it will be our last trip for awhile afterward until things calm down. Just don’t know how long that will take!

You read my mind lol...I was just thinking about that and hoping the same thing. We're planning a trip in the beginning of August

 

[yulilin3]

many people are thinking the same way, the possibility of Sept and Oct being very crowded is high because of this mentality

 

[JETSDAD]

The thing is that a lot of people have posted this strategy and are planning the same thing. At what point do the people trying to avoid a crowd become a crowd?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

At what point do the people trying to avoid a crowd become a crowd?

It happens every day - rope drop

 

[DazzleT]

The other factor is that people here might not represent the general population. Supposedly there is still a large amount of people who don’t know fastpass so it would be nice if someone’s like had access to like hotel reservations and could compare prior years, based on reservation size 10 months ahead.

 

[a11ie]

I don't think enough people are planning to go pre-GE for it to make much of a difference. The fact still remains- people travel during holiday/school breaks. I don't think it will be too much different than normal. Disney Die-hards who aren't interested in SWGE might make an earlier trip but I wouldn't expect the masses to adopt that strategy.
We're going in September after labor day because I'm low seniority at work and no one is fighting me for those days.

** also, most people can't/don't do multiple trips to Disney. I can see a lot of people waiting not only for SWGE but for the 50th as well.

 

[Smittolis]

Over the past couple of years my family and I have found that there really isn't much of a 'down period' like there used to be. I think the median crowd levels are pretty consistent with the addition of really busy times at really peak times. The issue with going at the end of August or into September is that all of the UK schools will still be out and as they only get out in July, there are lots of tempting offers to get people over. As a result, while it may be a lower demand for US based visitors, it makes up for it with the influx of foreign based visitors with exciting incentives etc...

We tend to try and plan around the weather as opposed the crowd levels! lol...

 

[Imamom2]

Disney is a well-run business so the concept of a 'slower time to visit' is becoming a thing of the past. The past few years have seen events and ride openings spread out all year so that something new is always drawing people to visit. Kudos to them - it may be inconvenient for those of us who really plan our trips and work with each other to get the most out of every visit but business is business and they do need to make money. Thanks to all of us they are making a lot

 

[daisy2013]

We rescheduled our usual November trip to August (3rd week) in part because of Star Wars. We have no interest in it really so why potentially be there for the crowds. That’s said we chose the week in August because the crowd blogs have it as a lower volume week so we will see how it goes

 

[DisneyDeb83]

I would think that those who go every few years may wait so they can be there for SWGE more than those, like us, trying to get there prior before the craziness. Fingers crossed. I have a feeling we won’t be back for at least a couple years.

I remember maybe ten years ago going in September and January, and at times the parks seemed empty. Now those same times are much more crowded. I just imagine that it will be a constant crowd level 9 for years to come starting in late 2019 and that is not appealing at all. Just wish they would have planned an entire new park to spread out the crowds!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I wanted to get an idea of this and started a poll. It was moved to the community forum (so isn't getting as wide an audience) but a majority of people who did the poll said they either weren't changing their plans or were skipping 2020 after it opened to avoid crowds. That really surprised me. I agree that disboard readers aren't necessarily representative but people here aren't delaying their trips to see GE soon after it opens. So there may not be a big impact on crowds this year.

 

[Ds4angels]

I'm hoping the "general public" is having the wait till GE opens and this year will be a little slower. But I'm not really expecting it. The last week of Feb there's no Value and very few Mods with availabilty.
Just hoping we have a decent touring plan and we'll be able to get most of what we want done (also hoping the MK moves their hours till at least 9 instead of 8pm)
I know for us, we won't be back till 2021 to try and avoid the crowds GE will create

 

[LSUmiss]

It happens every day - rope drop

Thank you! I never get this strategy that ppl swear by. IMO you spend just as much time getting there early, waiting to enter the parks, etc.

 

[JETSDAD]

Thank you! I never get this strategy that ppl swear by. IMO you spend just as much time getting there early, waiting to enter the parks, etc.

That waiting time is during non-park hours though. Waiting 1 hour while the park is closed means you don't lose any touring time....waiting 1 hour during park hours is wasted time.

That being said, we don't arrive real early....typically right around RD rather than well before...but we rely heavily of FP's.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Thank you! I never get this strategy that ppl swear by. IMO you spend just as much time getting there early, waiting to enter the parks, etc.

And those early arrivers do get tired out and leave early, which is why the shortest waits of the day are in the evening.

Things can be done at night that could never be accomplished in the morning, no matter how early you arrive.