Is SWGE impacting your trip? Discuss your plans here!

[BabybetterDisney]

There are so far 2 schools of thought regarding to the crowd level during SWGE opening months: the crowd will be bad or the crowd won't be much outside SWGE itself.

People who think the crowd won't be much usually have reasonable arguments of how it's just September which is traditionally quiet for Disney due to school starting and heat and hurricanes,how the past history of Pandora and Toy Story Land's opening didn't stuff the entire WDW full, and by then Disneyland has already opened their copy for months so the WDW's opening isn't even new.

People who think all WDW will be packed have almost no arguments, only panic.

I am booked for an August/September trip. I understanding the arguments for why the crowds won't increase much, and I most certainly wish that it will be true. I've never been to WDW during its busy season and have never experienced what it's like. A friend went to WDW on Christmas Day a few years ago and told me that she was able to walk only where the crowd was heading -- there was no going where she wanted to go. I laughed at that while secretly knowing that I've always done so much better!

Despite all my understanding and wishes, I have to say that there is a huge amount of panic that is swelling up inside me whenever I imagine us being at WDW on August 29th and beyond. This panic was unheard of during Pandora or TSL's openings; but now, all my instincts just screams out "The crowd is coming!"

So, I'm preparing myself for the worst such that if the worst does happen, I will be able to deal with it.

Worse come to worse, we will strictly limit our park times to a few hours a day, give up on most rides that we normally go on (if it's really true that I can only go where the crowd is going, how do I even make it to the fastpasses with a stroller?), and just get out of there and chill in the hotel instead.

That will be a huge waste of our park tickets, but I'm trying to be OK with it; I won't have a choice. Also,I do want to be at WDW during Star Wars opening. I am a Star Wars fan, and although originally I was hoping to avoid this, now that it is here, I don't mind enjoying it as an added bonus. Imagine the electricity in the air when SW fans all over the world congregate at WDW for this historic event! There will be electricity not just in DHS, but in every park, every hotel, every bus/monorail/boat/Skyliner*! Imagine how I might catch a slow moment late night in SWGE and be able to squeeze myself in there with my toddler! Imagine telling my toddler years later that he was at SWGE during its opening days! Imagine looking at a land that Disney pumped a billion dollars into!

And I got free dining to do all this!

*Apparently Disney considers fall to be August, and since the Skyliner is supposed to open in fall, I'm expecting it to open with SWGE . I will float myself and toddler to DHS every night to try my luck!

 

[SaintsManiac]

I think Star Wars fans will create an influx to Universal, too. I'm glad I have EP for our trip in November!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Star Wars fans aren’t necessarily Disney fans though so maybe a lot of them won’t care about the rest of WDW?

I know I’m in the minority with my thinking, but I still think a lot of diehards will go to DL simply because it opens first. There’s also proximity to consider. If you live in Denver (for example) and don’t care at all about Disney in general, would you wait and fly to Orlando 3 months later? If it was me, I’d go to DL.

Now some fans will absolutely do both coasts, just to compare lands. But unless you have unlimited resources (both money and vacation time) will they do both right at opening, or wait until both lands are fully open? In my Denver scenario, I’m holding off on WDW until RotR is open.

I personally think that opening it in WDW at one of the “slower” times of the year was brilliant. It’s going to bring in a ton of extra people (especially Labor Day Weekend). But realistically, how many family vacationers are going to be able to make a long trip out of it for opening?School has either started or is about to.

TL;DR other than a day or two before opening and through Labor Day Monday, I don’t think there will be swells of crowds at the other 3 parks that wouldn’t normally be there.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Some are saying that historically when a new attraction(s) open (think Pandora) that the crowds slow up after about a month. From an overall park perspective.....maybe, however look at the wait times for things like 7DMT, Slinky Dog Dash, and of course FoP. I'm thinking that StarWars Land is a completely different animal...…...yes there are many Disney fans who love StarWars and they will spend their time there....the wildcard is there is also a large number of Star Wars fans that aren't WDW or DL fans that have now been added to the mix. The mix just got exponentially larger.

It's my opinion (and remember I've been wrong before....right @Max Rebo ) Star Wars land will cause an influx into the parks that has never been seen before and will last for a much longer period of time. I'm guessing until the 50th and TRON...…..which could mean crowds above expectations for 3 years or more.

Thoughts?

Doug

I think it is really hard to know exactly how crows levels will go. Between the two opening dates of the different park, the 2nd opening date for each when RotR ride making really like 4 opening dates. Plus the date being earlier than expected will people that had trips booked for later in fall to WDW for GE move them up or leave them?

And when RotR opens might impact things too .... if RotR at Disneyland opens around when phase 1 opens at WDW will people really bother being at both openings or focus on being at DLR for both rides?

What happens longer term when both parks have their lands fully open? Will people that aren’t Disney fans flock to WDW for all the other things it offers and maybe after a year the crowds at DLR specifically for GE alwill lessen a bit?

(And I mean, it will be crowded everywhere, just thinking degrees of crowd)

 

[LSUmiss]

Hi DISers!
Help me understand. How come so many are bothered by this early SWGE opening? I mean Disney is only doing what they set out to do. Bring a new theme into the parks. Now perhaps it's because I'm locked in to certain times I can visit, and late August or any of September isn't it. Also because I'm visiting early June it's not directly or indirectly effecting my trip. Those who are changing dates seem to be doing for early August now. Some even to next year.

I'm not minimizing anyone's feelings as that would be rude. I'm just at a loss on how come so many awesome DISers are truly mad or upset. Is it mainly because a lot of you travel in September for the "quieter" time it brings to Disney and now that is null and void?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to explain.

It’s b/c Sept was the only relatively low crowd time left & many ppl chose it specifically to avoid SWGE. They feel duped b/c they were told Fall & discounts came out earlier & ended in Fall implying that it would not open until after that. We had booked Labor Day week b/c we have an infant & wanted those low crowd times. Luckily, we had decided on July to travel with family before this announcement so it ended up not impacting us. But, I would have been furious too if we had booked Labor Day like we were going to. Personally, we have no interest in SWGE (at this time) with an infant & I think the crowds will forever be impacted by this so we were hoping to get in one last trip before the madness (which we will but others weren’t so lucky).

 

[LSUmiss]

I think it's a double-edged sword for Disney.

Disney's family-friendly brand and commitment to customer service makes people (like those you're referring to) feel like they are a "family company," and therefore, they should cater to the needs and desires that families have when it comes to booking vacations -- give me what I want and prioritize my trip over all others. People want what they want, and they want Disney to give it to them. I want to be first in line, give me FPs and Rope Drop. I want a better deal on my vacation, give me free dining. Disney does a good job acquiescing to a lot of these demands, but in reality it only adds to the mirage that Disney is putting your needs first.

When, in reality, Disney is a global media/entertainment conglomerate that reports first not to its customers, but to its shareholders. When faced with a decision between doing what's best for "families" and doing what's best for their shareholders, Disney is going to choose the latter every...single...time.

Now, it's in Disney's best interest to serve both, and they do a good job of this most of the time. But if you've been paying attention to Disney and what they've been doing with promos around early fall/late summer (announcing free dining so early, for example) along with the SWGE announcement roll-out, you start to see a very clear pattern -- Disney is very concerned about their year-end numbers, and they're pulling out all stops possible to close out the year really really well.

Who does that benefit? Shareholders. Who does that harm (a little bit)? Families who booked their trips before the SWGE announcement.

Here's the reality -- people are upset that Disney is encroaching on their "slow" time, when the reality is that Disney doesn't want ANY slow times!! Why would they? This is counter-intuitive to business. So if you book during a slow time and get upset that Disney makes moves to add people to that slow time, you don't understand business, or you have wildly unrealistic expectations about how Disney does and should function.

Take the emotion out of the situation, view it logically and you'll have less heartbreak.

(All said by someone who booked for the week after Labor Day before the SWGE announcement and is still super excited.)

And that’s fair that they wouldn’t want slow times, but be more transparent. Some ppl feel trapped or it will cost them more money to cancel or change. That’s why they’re angry.

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

I have a trip booked from Sept 3-9 and am planning a trip for Wine & Dine in November. I was shocked at the announcement but I don't think it's going to destroy my trips. I was at WDW for Superbowl weekend and TSL opening/4th of July this past year and it was busy both times and we still had a ton of fun. Granted, this will be an all adults trip and we've all been before so there's less pressure on us to see everything. I am a Star Wars lover too and hope to at least catch a glimpse of the land. We also didn't have any trouble getting some good dining reservations too.

 

[StarWarsJez]

Despite being a massive Star Wars fan, we've been planning on going early September in the mistaken belief there was no chance the Galaxy's Edge would be open by then

I know it’s going to be more packed than a Death Star Trash Compactor - but were going to have fun! Lots of very early starts and afternoons either in less-busy parks - or off site

So last weeks news was completely unexpected, but let’s be honest - we can’t really complain that Disney are actually ahead of schedule - and we're on vacation!!!

 

[iona]

I am hoping they offer some sort of hard ticket event, if not I might do a TSL EMM just so we can focus our efforts there one morning. IDK. Seriously so many things I am not sure on yet - only thing I am sure of is we are going and we are excited!

I’ve got a nasty feeling there aren’t going to be any TSL EMM for the first few months that SWGE is open. We’d been planning on attending one in September but whilst they were releasing them for booking 180 days out they suddenly stopped with the last date available being August 28th...

 

[fiasco32]

And that’s fair that they wouldn’t want slow times, but be more transparent. Some ppl feel trapped or it will cost them more money to cancel or change. That’s why they’re angry.

How do you know they haven't been as transparent as possible? How do you know that construction timelines didn't shift (favorably for Disney) recently?

A lot of assumptions being drawn here.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Dropping in to remind everyone this SWGE Sub Forum follows all TPAS Posting Guidelines and the topic of this thread is “how the opening of SWGE has impacted many DISers’ vacations.”

The TPAS Mods in conjunction with @rteetz developed this thread specifically for DISers who need to discuss the impact of SWGE on their well planned WDW trips.

Although @rteetz doesn’t have moderating duties for this sub forum, he’s still able to Report posts that are off-topic. Please remain on topic as to how SWGE has impacted a future WDW visit.

DIS Guidelines posted
here .

 

[MaryKM]

I was talking about this earlier with my husband and had an idea about the crowds. A lot of comments expressing crowd dread seem to be based in two schools of thought. 1) The "If Pandora was bad, this is going to be nightmarish" group, and 2) The "Star Wars has a monumental and very dedicated fanbase and people are going to come out of the woodwork to see it" group. ("If you build it they will come....")
It made me think... the Star Wars fans will have two parks to choose from to experience GE, whereas Pandora crowds were all concentrated in Orlando. People can go to whichever Disney park is nearest to them, which was not an option when Pandora opened. So at least we aren't going to see a national movement of SW fans migrating to one park. That's a good thing, right?

I do believe the crowds are going to be exceptional, but I think the folks local to FL will do a day trip to see the new land and not a full week's stay, so I don't feel the crowd levels are going to impact the other parks. When I first saw the date of opening in Orlando, I wondered if it would affect our mid/late August trip in the sense that people will move their trips away from opening just to avoid the crowds, but I think the number of people who can do that is probably few enough to not make a notable difference in the crowds for our trip.
Now I can just kind of cross my fingers that they do some exclusive sneak peeks for AP holders or DVC members.

 

[Wood Nymph]

People who think the crowd won't be much usually have reasonable arguments of how it's just September which is traditionally quiet for Disney due to school starting and heat and hurricanes,how the past history of Pandora and Toy Story Land's opening didn't stuff the entire WDW full, and by then Disneyland has already opened their copy for months so the WDW's opening isn't even new.

People who think all WDW will be packed have almost no arguments, only panic.

I am booked for an August/September trip. I understanding the arguments for why the crowds won't increase much, and I most certainly wish that it will be true. I've never been to WDW during its busy season and have never experienced what it's like. A friend went to WDW on Christmas Day a few years ago and told me that she was able to walk only where the crowd was heading -- there was no going where she wanted to go. I laughed at that while secretly knowing that I've always done so much better!

Despite all my understanding and wishes, I have to say that there is a huge amount of panic that is swelling up inside me whenever I imagine us being at WDW on August 29th and beyond. This panic was unheard of during Pandora or TSL's openings; but now, all my instincts just screams out "The crowd is coming!"

So, I'm preparing myself for the worst such that if the worst does happen, I will be able to deal with it.

I hope that some of the panic you are feeling starts to lighten up. The end of August is the slow season for many reasons, and all of those reasons will still exist this August 29th. Many schools across the country are back in session, maybe even most of the schools. We have grandchildren in three different states and all of them are back in school by the middle of August. The second reason August is slow is that it is hurricane season and you get lots of rain this time of year. I think you might get huge crowds at Hollywood Studios, but I would think it very unlikely that there would be a huge jump in attendance at the other three parks. It is hot and rainy and many schools are back in session at the end of August. We are not changing the trip we booked earlier this month. In fact, we added two days to the end of it so we can increase our chances of actually getting into SWGE.

 

[Jocelynaus]

.

 

[MamaJessie]

I’ve got a nasty feeling there aren’t going to be any TSL EMM for the first few months that SWGE is open. We’d been planning on attending one in September but whilst they were releasing them for booking 180 days out they suddenly stopped with the last date available being August 28th...

Yeah I have definitely considered that too. I don't expect them to release any EMM or anything for DHS until they revamped the hours to include updated EMH though

 

[BabybetterDisney]

It’s b/c Sept was the only relatively low crowd time left & many ppl chose it specifically to avoid SWGE. They feel duped b/c they were told Fall & discounts came out earlier & ended in Fall implying that it would not open until after that.

That is what I thought at first! But now I'm wondering if this means WDW is expecting a low crowd increase during SWGE opening, and that's why they are still offering free dining? If they thought it would be like Spring Break or Christmas, they wouldn't be so stupid as to offer anything, would they?

 

[mom2rtk]

That is what I thought at first! But now I'm wondering if this means WDW is expecting a low crowd increase during SWGE opening, and that's why they are still offering free dining? If they thought it would be like Spring Break or Christmas, they wouldn't be so stupid as to offer anything, would they?

My thought is that it just represents a change in plans. The other ride was further behind than they planned and they didn't want to hold off any longer until that was done, so decided to go ahead with the one that was ready. Or maybe they didn't get the number of bookings they wanted with the discounts already offered, because too many people were holding off waiting for SWL to open. Rather than face disappointing occupancy at the end of the fiscal year, they went for it, in spite of the discounts that had previously been released.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

Despite being a massive Star Wars fan, we've been planning on going early September in the mistaken belief there was no chance the Galaxy's Edge would be open by then

I know it’s going to be more packed than a Death Star Trash Compactor - but were going to have fun! Lots of very early starts and afternoons either in less-busy parks - or off site

So last weeks news was completely unexpected, but let’s be honest - we can’t really complain that Disney are actually ahead of schedule - and we're on vacation!!!

Another Star Wars fan here, but perhaps not massive -- just dedicated. Same here: thought I didn't have to worry about SWGE opening. Joke's on me.

Beg to differ: don't know how to have fun in a Death Star Trash Compactor except panic like Luke. Can't do early starts, but may be able to do late nights.

Don't believe Disney is ahead of schedule. Believe they've known this all along. That's why free dining is offered early.

Agree with being nevertheless happy with the good luck of being there right when SWGE opens (not that I can get in with a toddler, but still cool).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

My thought is that it just represents a change in plans. The other ride was further behind than they planned and they didn't want to hold off any longer until that was done, so decided to go ahead with the one that was ready. Or maybe they didn't get the number of bookings they wanted with the discounts already offered, because too many people were holding off waiting for SWL to open. Rather than face disappointing occupancy at the end of the fiscal year, they went for it, in spite of the discounts that had previously been released.

I agree - and probably a combination of things ... one ride taking a bit longer, rest of the land could be ready early, get some more $ into this fiscal year, etc

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I’ve got a nasty feeling there aren’t going to be any TSL EMM for the first few months that SWGE is open. We’d been planning on attending one in September but whilst they were releasing them for booking 180 days out they suddenly stopped with the last date available being August 28th...

Oh no! Sorry to hear that.