Let's talk about how the opening of Galaxy's Edge will affect crowds at OTHER parks.

Will SWGE make the other 3 parks more crowded?

  • Yes, it will turn September into Spring Break or worse

    Votes: 99 66.9%
  • No, DHS will be packed but others will see little or no increase

    Votes: 49 33.1%

  • Total voters
    148
Dumb question of the day: how can they project this when it's not even open? They have to estimate how may die hard DSW fans there are etc.
I'm sure others can address this better than me-I know they use resort occupancy rates as one component. The algorithm is way over my head. I do know they factor in several things and continuously update the calendar. I've seen Len Testa reply on some of these threads-he's the Touring Plans Guru. Lots of people scoff at them but their website touring plans that I customize have worked for me many times in the past.
 
Dumb question of the day: how can they project this when it's not even open? They have to estimate how may die hard DSW fans there are etc.
They don't know. It's never been done in WDW. Normally, they just go by history of the same day during previous years, and they are pretty accurate, but this is new territory. They have no relevant data to go on until at least Disneyland's version opens. That will help a bit, but even then, not completely. It's better for us to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Rather than get to WDW, packed into a sardine can in MK, and then say, "But...but...TP says 4!"
 
I'm sure others can address this better than me-I know they use resort occupancy rates as one component. The algorithm is way over my head. I do know they factor in several things and continuously update the calendar. I've seen Len Testa reply on some of these threads-he's the Touring Plans Guru. Lots of people scoff at them but their website touring plans that I customize have worked for me many times in the past.
They don't have resort occupancy numbers for the resorts. Their algorithms are a best guess just like all the others and each of them are different. The people who follow the crowd calendars each swear by the one they use.
 
They don't have resort occupancy numbers for the resorts. Their algorithms are a best guess just like all the others and each of them are different. The people who follow the crowd calendars each swear by the one they use.
Then there's hope that they must work! I haven't been disappointed yet, and I owe three good WDW trips in the past to good touring plans they helped me form! I really haven't researched how they come up with their predictions although there is an explanation on their website.
 


Hi in reading one of the other threads today and with the new rumor of a wristband and some sort of reservation system to get into the land, it is very plausible that the other parks will see much heavier crowds. Someone mentioned on anther thread that if these people get times to come back they are not going to go and sit in their resort/hotel rooms and I agree. They are going to stay in the parks and hop around. Especially if people know this ahead of time more people are going to get hoppers. I don't think any definite crowd predictions can be done anywhere, there is not a lot of info on this. I will agree with all the posters on here that say Star Wars fans will come here whether the land is completed or not. They will come in droves.
 
I know, right? There are many arguments on both sides but in the end, what is going to happen? Mad house or not? And I don't think touring plans is going to necessarily be dependable this time around. They are basing their calculations on past openings of Pandora and TSL, which does not and cannot acount for the Star Wars fan base.

It seems that most of the Disney pundits think that there will be no mad house. But if they are right, doesn't that mean Disney made a huge mistake building 2 identical, super expensive SWGE when one will suffice? Shouldn't they have spent the money building 2 different ones, so that fans will need to visit both?

In any case, my hope is that they did make this mistake, and we get to enjoy the WDW SWGE in relative quietness. How nice would that be? :rolleyes1
Did Disney make a mistake? No, it does not have to be immediate mass chaos to be a huge success.

There will be an increase over time across all the parks as SW significantly expands what Disney has to offer, but it’s not going to be an overnight flooding of all the parks and it’s not going to turn into Christmas everyday. Initial impact during the first couple months for those of us going in early fall should primarily be restricted to HS. However come November and December when massive numbers of people start traveling again then the level of busy could be off the charts.
 


Hi in reading one of the other threads today and with the new rumor of a wristband and some sort of reservation system to get into the land, it is very plausible that the other parks will see much heavier crowds. Someone mentioned on anther thread that if these people get times to come back they are not going to go and sit in their resort/hotel rooms and I agree. They are going to stay in the parks and hop around. Especially if people know this ahead of time more people are going to get hoppers. I don't think any definite crowd predictions can be done anywhere, there is not a lot of info on this. I will agree with all the posters on here that say Star Wars fans will come here whether the land is completed or not. They will come in droves.

This is how they are doing it at Disneyland until June 23rd and then it’s gone. There has been no mention of them doing it this way at a Disney World.
 
We have a DVC trip booked from OCT 5-12 booked this year and we are actually really excited that GE will be open. Oct is fairly slow and I agree with other posters here, HS will be crazy (very similar to AK when Pandora opened), but the impact to the other parks will be fairly minimal. Sure the other parks will have slightly larger crowds, but during these times of the year I'm guessing parks like MK will go form a 2 to maybe a 4? It is definitely nothing that would make me even consider changing my vacation plans.

As far as rope drop I just think that it is a tough strategy to pull off. I just have never understood why waking up really early while on vacation and waiting hours in line (for the park to open) is any better than waiting hours in line after the park opens, but to each their own. Our in-laws are also DVC members and we all booked at Boardwalk so we have a tentative plan that they will watch our kids some nights and allow the wife and I to go to HS super late (like 10-11pm) and get to see GE some. We did this when Pandora opened (did not plan to be there when it opened, just kinda worked out that way) and it went much better than planned. That time it was only the wife and I so we just took turns watching the kids. Being at BW will be nice since its a quick 15 min walk to HS, so if GE is too full we will just walk back to BW, stop at Jellyrolls since we have a sitter anyway, and live the good life.
 
We have a DVC trip booked from OCT 5-12 booked this year and we are actually really excited that GE will be open. Oct is fairly slow and I agree with other posters here, HS will be crazy (very similar to AK when Pandora opened), but the impact to the other parks will be fairly minimal. Sure the other parks will have slightly larger crowds, but during these times of the year I'm guessing parks like MK will go form a 2 to maybe a 4? It is definitely nothing that would make me even consider changing my vacation plans.

As far as rope drop I just think that it is a tough strategy to pull off. I just have never understood why waking up really early while on vacation and waiting hours in line (for the park to open) is any better than waiting hours in line after the park opens, but to each their own. Our in-laws are also DVC members and we all booked at Boardwalk so we have a tentative plan that they will watch our kids some nights and allow the wife and I to go to HS super late (like 10-11pm) and get to see GE some. We did this when Pandora opened (did not plan to be there when it opened, just kinda worked out that way) and it went much better than planned. That time it was only the wife and I so we just took turns watching the kids. Being at BW will be nice since its a quick 15 min walk to HS, so if GE is too full we will just walk back to BW, stop at Jellyrolls since we have a sitter anyway, and live the good life.
the thought process with rope drop is this: yes you wake up extra early, let's say get to the park at 5am for a 7am opening, you're in line for 2 hours, once the park opens you ride and are on your way to something else without cutting any additional park time.
For someone who doesn't rope drop, they arrive at 7am, spend 2-3 hours in line cutting into park time
 
the thought process with rope drop is this: yes you wake up extra early, let's say get to the park at 5am for a 7am opening, you're in line for 2 hours, once the park opens you ride and are on your way to something else without cutting any additional park time.
For someone who doesn't rope drop, they arrive at 7am, spend 2-3 hours in line cutting into park time

I get the idea, but my argument would be that as rope drop has gotten more and more competitive it seems to me like its less likely to get right on a headliner ride at first, unless you were one of the first people in line for rope drop. I do agree though if you are trying to optimize park time rope drop is an effective strategy.
 
As it turns out, I’m stuck. It would end up costing double the price of the airline tickets to change them. :( Very much NOT happy about it. I know it will do no good, but I am going to email Disney and let them know of my disappointment that what should have been a last trip before insanity is now stuck with it.
 
Wanted to throw my 2 cents in here... I think there are a couple of considerations here... I don't think wait times will increase dramatically at other parks until the holiday season for a few reasons.

1. Most people that visit Disney plan far in advance and/or visit at peak times... the vast majority of these people have children and will do their best not to pull kids out of school for more than a few days. Peak Times at WDW: Race Weeks, Summer Vacation, Christmas-NYE, Spring Break, Thanksgiving.

2. Many people have put off their Disney Trips to wait for SWGE... I have to believe that the average guest will plan trips around school and work schedules... Virtually all schools are back in session by late August/ Early September and most people take vacations during the summer, not early fall (thus all of the discounts)

3. A die hard Star Wars Fan is going to take time out of school/ work regardless, but not likely for a full-blown weeklong vacation. I would guess maybe a long weekend 2-4 days. They will line up as early as possible and devote as many as 2-3 days just for DHS.

4. Most Disney visitors go for only 1-2 days which means they visit Magic Kingdom and one other park... obviously they will choose DHS, some will wait it out, some will get discouraged/ turned away and head to another park as a late arrival in the middle of the day (most Disney guests are stubborn and do not arrive early enough or plan ahead) This is what happened when AK opened and when Pandora opened... wait times at AK went up, DHS and Epcot times went down or stayed flat.

5. Once weeklong vacationers DO show up everything WILL be more crowded... Im thinking Thanksgiving, Christmas-NY, and Spring Break 2020 we will start to see property-wide increases in crowds as families and long term vacationers line up to see the new land. Hopefully Disney bumps up ride staffing to meet demand so that peak crowds have peak operational staffing to move people on to rides... Often during "slow times" when people complain of longer than normal waits, this is what is actually causing them, not higher crowds alone.

Conclusion: If you did book a trip in September or October hoping to avoid GE crowds I wouldn't cancel... You may not notice a difference and its only going to be worse If you put off your trip. All of 2020 and 2021 will be packed. Also prices will go up and there isn't much relief in sight.
The thing to me that seems most telling is that Disney offered free dining and room discounts EXTRA early this year. It could mean one of two things in my mind:
1. Disney knew they would be opening GE super early and wanted a peace offering for folks like myself who plan way in advance and were potentially trying to beat the crowds of GE. I thought my Sept 7-14th trip would be very low crowd level wise.
2. Disney is still worried that they won't be able to fill all the beds even with opening GE early and was hoping this would just draw more folks in.

FWIW I had my dining reservations open up on Monday morning and there was tons of availability at HS (granted most of the restaurants are nothing to write home about) but the only thing I had any trouble with is Cinderella's Royal Dining which is pretty hard to book in general.
 
As it turns out, I’m stuck. It would end up costing double the price of the airline tickets to change them. :( Very much NOT happy about it. I know it will do no good, but I am going to email Disney and let them know of my disappointment that what should have been a last trip before insanity is now stuck with it.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why anyone would be upset with Disney about opening a planned section of a park. They always said it was a fall opening, so this is not totally out of the realm of what they stated. By the same token if it would have opened in Early November people would be emailing Disney about it not opening early enough I guess.

There is no way that GE is going to ruin a Disney trip unless you were going to spend a lot of time in HS. The other parks will be fine, just don't even worry about it and enjoy your trip.
 
I'm sorry, but I don't understand why anyone would be upset with Disney about opening a planned section of a park. They always said it was a fall opening, so this is not totally out of the realm of what they stated. By the same token if it would have opened in Early November people would be emailing Disney about it not opening early enough I guess.

There is no way that GE is going to ruin a Disney trip unless you were going to spend a lot of time in HS. The other parks will be fine, just don't even worry about it and enjoy your trip.

They had repeatedly said “late Fall”. September is nowhere near “late”. November would be “late” and more in line with what they have said all along.

Those who get shut out of Studios (which have been dead to me for a while) will end up in other parks (because they will have to go somewhere) and will not be happy about it and will be vocal about that. And yes that will make it horrible for the rest of us who planned early fall trips to avoid that mess.
 
I'm sorry, but I don't understand why anyone would be upset with Disney about opening a planned section of a park. They always said it was a fall opening, so this is not totally out of the realm of what they stated. By the same token if it would have opened in Early November people would be emailing Disney about it not opening early enough I guess.

There is no way that GE is going to ruin a Disney trip unless you were going to spend a lot of time in HS. The other parks will be fine, just don't even worry about it and enjoy your trip.
I think there's a problem with balance
Disney said late fall at first and changed it to fall a couple of months back. Plenty of people decided that Sept. would be safe, before the opening so they planned for Sept. I understand the frustration.
By the same token I would tell these people that, yes it will be busy but with a good, flexible plan and a positive attitude you can have a good time still.
On the other end for people saying that it won't affect the other parks or that the effect will be minimal I say that you are setting yourself up for disappointment. The super fan will go to SWGE and camp out and wait for hours but the average SW fan and the average Disney visitor will probably go elsewhere once they see that DHS is at or close to capacity. The other parks will see above average crowds, some even, very crowded in the case of MK with all of their halloween parties taking chunks of night time entertainment.
So, again balance, it's not going to be regular crowds and it won't be Christmas every day.
All about the planning and attitude going in
 
How likely are extended hours outside of HS? I hope we get a bump in hours all around. I am also praying they keep 'summer' staff and ride capacity (Disney)World Wide.
 

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