Will all projects & construction work impact your next WDW vacation plans?

[HappyGrape]

I am curious if many people are thinking should they wait few years until all the newly announced projects are complete?

 

[jimmytammy]

I voted no concern, no change in plans. But we have visited over 40 times in the past so its no big deal, we have seen and experienced construction over the years and in retrospect, it didnt affect our trips enough to determine we had a better or worse time. Walt's vision for the parks were for change to happen, to not allow the parks to go stale, not rest on the merits,but rather evolve. Do I like change, not much, but its inevitable. So rather than allow it to bug me while on vacation, I just don't pay much attn. to it and enjoy the surroundings WDW intends for me to see and participate in.

But I can understand how 1st timers, or folks who don't visit often would view the construction as being a hindrance. I would have been thinking that way myself early on.

 

[wnwardii]

At this point, I am not changing any of my potential plans to go to WDW. However, after listening to the Dreams Unlimited show about Tracy staying at CBR while under construction, I may be a little more cautious of staying somewhere that is undergoing a big renovation/refurbishment. Granted the experiences Tracy had at CBR may be due to the beginning of the construction projects. So things may be better now than 2 months ago.

 

[Moliphino]

I go once a year and I'll continue to go once a year.

 

[mikebb]

No change in plans beyond avoiding the most-impacted areas of the world. We visit multiple times a year and will continue to. We recently stayed on-site at CBR (our first stay there) just to get a glimpse of what it was before they started tearing it up. Beyond that, we have been steering away from HS for all but short visits and spending most of our time at the other parks.

 

[jlundeen]

I also go fairly frequently, at least over the last few years. I'm actually looking forward to going BEFORE some of the major projects are complete hoping that the crowds will be smaller...maybe some discounts...one can hope!

 

[Tiki Birdland]

We just got back from 10 days at Disneyworld. We had lots of fun. But, AK was a crazy with the new Pandora. FOP was awesome. The land and NRJ was meh. If that's what it's going to be like when TSL and SWL opens, I think I'll wait for the hype to die down a bit. Was planing a 2019/2020 trip. But, we may put that off yet another year.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

We were lucky enough to go multiple times this past year (We were taking advantage of not paying admission for a 1 year old) and had a great time despite the tons of construction going on. The discounts were good and we hadn't been for for a while so everything felt fresh. The one exception to this was Epcot. Future World looked dystopian especially after seeing how vibrant animal kingdom was with all of its features new and old. In our mind, Hollywood Studios did a nice job of providing enough shows and attractions to make a full albeit leisurely day.

We have made the decision to not have another big (for us 4+ day trip) until 2020 or 2021 but will probably take a few shorter 2-3 day trips in the meantime. Right now in our opinion Disney World has 2 parks that are "full day" quality experiences: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom... we are big animal/zoo lovers, the shows there are great and of course Magic Kingdom is still great.

Epcot and Hollywood Studios just don't have enough to do especially now that The movie Ride is gone and so many things at Epcot are falling apart or outdated... With so few attractions at these two parks lines are long at what few attractions remain open. I hope Epcot gives me some reasons to visit again soon, I used to love that park but was sorely disappointed in June when we went.

We are considering buying Annual Pass Vouchers far in advance for the 50th Anniversary to lock in the price and then make 2,3 or even 4 plus trips in 2020/2021... is anyone else considering this? Or has anyone done this in the past so far out?

 

[Hoodie]

We go every couple of years. This year we have a bonus trip coming up. Normally we'd go spring 2019, but with all the scheduled updates over the next few years, we're trying to decide what our schedule should be to capture the expected openings - and not miss the major ones by 1-2 months and then waiting 2+ years until the next trip.

 

[GunnarCharles]

At this point in my life, trips are going to revolve more around money and time. If a decent deal comes up and seems justifiable with the money spent and vacation time used then its worth it. If I can get to WDW every 2 to 3 years I'm satisfied to get my fix and wait till next time if a new ride or land isn't complete.
From the hotel standpoint, I would consider staying at a construction resort if the savings was significant.

 

[cuteandfluffy626]

I mean, they are always building or demolishing something. I don't remember any recent long lengths of time where they weren't constructing anything. So it doesn't really matter to me and won't change my plans.

For others though, I understand why they are waiting for Galaxy's Edge and all opening up.

 

[absolutmey]

voted "waiting for projects to be complete". our next trip (as a family) will be after Galaxy's Edge opens, so we're planning for late Oct/early Nov.

 

[tlmadden73]

It depends.

The next four years are going to have so much change that I don't know if it matters to must "regulars". Most people on here are going to go on there regular Disney vacation now matter what, knowing things are constantly changing and that they will be back. So if you miss the opening of Toy Story Land, it will be there on your next trip. No matter when you go in the next 4 years you are going to "miss" something.

I've been going on short trips every 18 months or so and I've missed things by just a few months. My last trip was March of 2017 and so we missed the opening of Pandora by two months .. which is fine, because I was traveling with a 4 yo and a 5mo and we would be tough to experience those attractions with them at that age. But since we go on short trips, and go somewhat frequently we aren't concerned about seeing it all.

I hope to go two more times before my daughter is three (as that saves a TON of money), so I will try and plan those around the opening of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land. I am just not sure if I will go in fall of 2018 to see Toy Story Land and then Fall of 2019 for Star Wars, or just wait until 2019 and kill two birds with one stone and see both new lands in DHS in that year. (Though it probably will be a challenge to do everything new at DHS in 2019 since it will likely be CRAZY popular -- DHS could go from a 1/2 day park to a 2-day park overnight (depending what other stuff remains open after Star Wars Land opens).

My main concerns for waiting for new stuff to open:
1) Fast pass availability for new attractions (as we've seen with 7DMT, A&E M&G, Frozen, Flight of Passage, getting a Fast Pass for any new attraction is impossible EVEN AT the first possible moment at your 60 days (because people getting longer vacations beat you out).
2) Increased ticket prices (no doubt Disney will continue the yearly ticket increase as demand will for sure go up)
3) Increased hotel prices .. (the affordable Pop Century will likely go up in price due to its access to the Skyway).

 

[absolutmey]

I hope to go two more times before my daughter is three (as that saves a TON of money), so I will try and plan those around the opening of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land. I am just not sure if I will go in fall of 2018 to see Toy Story Land and then Fall of 2019 for Star Wars, or just wait until 2019 and kill two birds with one stone and see both new lands in DHS in that year. (Though it probably will be a challenge to do everything new at DHS in 2019 since it will likely be CRAZY popular -- DHS could go from a 1/2 day park to a 2-day park overnight (depending what other stuff remains open after Star Wars Land opens).

totally agree with your assessment of what DHS will be like in 2019 when SWGE opens. I'll be explaining to the family that we're just going to have to extend our trip b/c DHS is at least a 2-day park with both new lands.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

The next visit always depends on the budget, so it has nothing to do with construction. It's a fascinating rumor mill to keep up with though.

I look forward to seeing the new things that will be completed by the time we get to WDW again.

 

[tlmadden73]

totally agree with your assessment of what DHS will be like in 2019 when SWGE opens. I'll be explaining to the family that we're just going to have to extend our trip b/c DHS is at least a 2-day park with both new lands.

Ya ..

Who knows if they will have tiering. Maybe all these new attractions will mean that Tiering will go away or be limited (like at AK).
I can't imagine both Star Wars Rides, Slinky Dog, TSMM, RnRC and potentially Runaway Railway all be Tier 1. There wouldn't be anything left to use for Tier 2.

Either way, it will probably be hard to get fast passes for 5 new attractions .. and you figure the lines will be long too for the first few years.


Heck, they probably will have to ration how many people simply ENTER Galaxy's Edge for a while. Who knows .. maybe I am biased since I am a huge Star Wars fan and expect others to have the same excitement as I do.

 

[huskies90]

While I doubt my plans would change, I voted "I am concerned about the impact on my vacation". One of the reasons I go to Disney is to get away from it all. I never like seeing construction there but I understand it is necessary. However, it just seems like Disney takes waaaaay too long to complete anything. On my last trip, the entire property seriously looked like a construction zone not a vacation resort. Traveling all around reminded me of driving through I84 in Waterbury CT more than visiting a magical place. And now with even more construction coming for years and years. I just don't see it ever ending or looking like the beautiful magic place it should be. I wish Disney would either scale back on these projects or complete them much quicker!!

 

[HappyGrape]

While I doubt my plans would change, I voted "I am concerned about the impact on my vacation". One of the reasons I go to Disney is to get away from it all. I never like seeing construction, there, but I understand it necessary. However, it just seems like Disney takes waaaaay too long to complete anything. On my last trip, the entire property seriously looked like a construction zone not a vacation resort. Traveling all around reminded me of driving through I84 in Waterbury CT more than visiting a magical place. And now with even more construction coming for years and years. I just don't see it ever ending or looking like the beautiful magic place it should be. I wish Disney would either scale back on these projects or complete them much quicker!!

I can relate to this! We were there 2014 October and there were building walls everywhere! We were also there October 2016 and while there were many things they weren't as much in your face.

 

[sndral]

I dislike the construction walls and finally skipped going last year because I was tired of waiting for AK to get done.
I wish they would focus on one park, get it done, then move on. Instead we have construction happening in 3 of the 4 parks, so there's just no escaping it I suppose.
Not that the parks have been w/out construction - AK w/ Pandora & the new food eating area, Epcot w/ Frozen becoming Maelstrom and the redo of Soarin. MK w/ the new hub redo the addition of the carnival stuff in the back plus the new fantasy land.
Likewise they are doing 2 massive resort projects - CSR & CBR, lots of change. But w/ the resorts they're always doing stuff, the VGF DVC addition, the Poly gut/redo of lobby & lonhouses + the bungalows, the redo of WL adding DVC in main building + the addition of the cabins, the total chaos of the DTD metamorphosis into DS, the addition of BLT, addition of Kidani @ AKL & the redo of the 5th & 6th floors in Jambo, so I guess there's been never ending construction for a long time.