Is anyone cancelling a WDW trip or moving it up because of the early SWGE opening?

[familyman123]

I'm sitting here trying not to cry. DH doesn't "do" Disney, so I took my older boys last year with plans to take DD on her own first real Disney trip this fall. She'll be 4, and loves Minnie Mouse and all the princesses. I planned for September to avoid crowds and have a leisurely trip. Since the following year she'll be starting school, I saw this as my last chance to take her at an "off" time. As much as I know it's a first-world problem, I still feel so disappointed. I don't know what to do now.

There will be a lot to do with a four year old that loves Minnie that won’t suffer much from SWGE.

 

[FlyTriPacer]

Gotta keep ours for 8/25 - 8/31 as airline tickets are purchased and leave has been approved. Will move our DHS day (8/29) to earlier in the week...

We actually moved ours from 2nd week in December to avoid speculators on its opening date.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'm sitting here trying not to cry. DH doesn't "do" Disney, so I took my older boys last year with plans to take DD on her own first real Disney trip this fall. She'll be 4, and loves Minnie Mouse and all the princesses. I planned for September to avoid crowds and have a leisurely trip. Since the following year she'll be starting school, I saw this as my last chance to take her at an "off" time. As much as I know it's a first-world problem, I still feel so disappointed. I don't know what to do now.

Oh please go. I hate to hear YOU say this after the last few awesome conversations we've had. Would it just be you and your daughter?

 

[BelleBriarRose]

I called Guest Relations on the off chance that they would throw me a bone and let me move up my reservation at the same rate I had previously booked. No dice. I always knew Disney was a money-grubbing company, but to be honest I still feel sucker punched by this announcement.

For those who are saying that we're freaking out over nothing, I sincerely hope you are right! I hope I'm still able to enjoy my vacation without being overrun by crowds. It's going to be my friend's first trip to Disney, so I really want her to be able to enjoy it without dealing with max-capacity parks. Either way, though, I still think it's a scummy thing for Disney to do. Just my two cents

 

[smallsy]

Also bummed that this means we can’t do EMM in TSL because they’ll likely be opening at 8am that week. And yes I agree they absolutely opened at this date to boost end of fiscal year sales during a normally slow time. Otherwise why not wait to open when both rides are operational?

 

[KNovacovschi]

I'm not able to cancel my Sept trip due to airfare and not being able to change my vacation with work. Plus my AP expires on Sept 24th so I purposely booked a solo trip from the 15-21 and I wouldn't even want to go in July or August so I will just suck it up and not expect to ride the rides but hope to at least get into the land and drink some green and blue milk.

 

[ClapYourHands]

There will be a lot to do with a four year old that loves Minnie that won’t suffer much from SWGE.

I know. I don't have much interest in SW anyway. I just was hoping for a semi-quiet time, and to be able to get good same-day FPs and walk through the park without feeling like I'm in Times Square on NYE. Last fall, I inadvertently ended up at Epcot on a 9 crowd-level day, and I was claustrophobic just trying to walk from one place to another. I think a lot of the magic happens when you just happen to come upon a CM doing something interesting or there's the pixie dust of finding a character unexpectedly walking around. Crowds just make that a bit harder.

Oh please go. I hate to hear YOU say this after the last few awesome conversations we've had. Would it just be you and your daughter?

Just us. There's such a big age gap that my kids aren't really into the same types of rides and experiences. Since I go solo without DH, it makes more sense for me to take the big ones separately from the little one.

Sigh. I know it will be okay. Really, it will. The good news is that DD and I have the whole year to go, and now maybe I can plan for some time with better weather. I wasn't really looking forward to the heat of September, anyway. I just thought the heat would be worth it for lower crowds.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

We are already booked 8/24-9/4 with free dining. Already have our plane tickets. We were planning on HS on 8/28 and 8/31 originally. We are now going to switch it up and do both days prior to the opening and avoid HS once it opens. Switched ADR's earlier today. Just hope the other parks will remain halfway good. Trying to remain positive but we are down that this is opening so early.

 

[Pucks104]

So our September trip (first in 31 years) is fully paid, flights and all, so we are going in spite of SWGE. Really looking forward to our grownup Disney trip! I was hoping for lower crowds but .....

 

[MarBee]

I was planning on going to DL for the first time in June. I wanted to get there before the rumored opening of Star Wars. Now they’re opening 5/31. I think I’m going to wait till Fall instead...

 

[chi_disfan]

Wondering if I can get an opinion. I have our trip booked for Sept. 1 - Sept. 4 to attend MNSSHP. It looks like moving our dates to August 25-28 wouldn't change our hotel rates much (and we don't have park/party tickets or airline booked yet so that's a non-issue).

Do you all think that the days immediately before might be just as bad as keeping my Sept. 1 dates? I'm wondering if there will be crowds gearing up for the opening that would be spread all over rather than localized to HS after opening?

Just trying to get some opinions on whether moving my date would make sense or if I should just buckle down and keep my Sept. 1 plan.

 

[StacyStrong]

I have a trip in October. I'm definitely not cancelling. I didn't care much either way about whether it would be open. Disney is a massive theme park that is always crowded. Everyone wants the park to have "more", but then when they offer more, people wish that "more" was just a little later so they don't have to deal with it. There's no winning.

I understand being frustrated and not wanting the crowds, but at the same time, I don't blame Disney one bit for this. I appreciate that they are a business and that they are also offering more to their customers. I'm excited for all the upcoming attractions at WDW, not just SWGE.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I called Guest Relations on the off chance that they would throw me a bone and let me move up my reservation at the same rate I had previously booked. No dice. I always knew Disney was a money-grubbing company, but to be honest I still feel sucker punched by this announcement.

For those who are saying that we're freaking out over nothing, I sincerely hope you are right! I hope I'm still able to enjoy my vacation without being overrun by crowds. It's going to be my friend's first trip to Disney, so I really want her to be able to enjoy it without dealing with max-capacity parks. Either way, though, I still think it's a scummy thing for Disney to do. Just my two cents

I concur 100%. Disney had to have known people would book their vacations based on the “late fall” announcement. Heck it’s actually opening late summer, literally! I feel duped as well for my September dates.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

Been back and forth deciding what to do. We have a one bedroom at OKW from September 7-13, a freebie from my sister. We had our choice of dates, and because of our anniversary chose this week. Also figured there was no way SWGE would be open and were hoping crowds would be lower. We had already discussed that this would be a laid back trip, partly because we have an AP and this will be our third visit. Also, as we are getting up there in age we don’t move as quickly, especially in the heat. The past few years we have tended to just do our fast passes, try to refresh for more attractions and take our time. We tend to avoid standby rides because I have no patience!

So, tonight I am leaning towards going. Not interested in Star Wars, but will be annoyed that DHS will be so crowded as ToT is my favorite. I think what is most aggravating is that I expect it will be more crowded EVERYWHERE, certainly at the rides, but also counter service, the shops and just walking around.

Our APs expire in January, and was thinking of squeezing in one last visit before we take a long Disney break. May book rooms but hold off on airfare until we see how September goes.

 

[Crystal_Marie]

Ugh. We have the week of Sept 8 booked. We were trying to get in before it opened, hoping for less crowds. Guess that’s crap now. Not sure what we’re going to do. I’m scared.

Same week planned here. I moved my trip from December to September to avoid the crowds. I already bought MNSSHP tickets, so I guess we are doing this. Fingers crossed it's not absolutely dreadful.

 

[Heffalump12]

We have a trip booked from Sept 21st-28th and it’s our first ever WDW trip for the whole family. I’ve had this booked since August 2018. I was so excited about the low crowds even with the F&W Fest combined with MNSSHP. I’ve spent over 80 hours researching,planning and analyzing the maps and lines app. I have all my itineraries completed... even the MNSSHP which might be completely different from last year but that’s how excited I am. So when I heard the news today, I cried for 30 minutes... I have to rearrange everything... I hate crowds so much and I have a 3 yr old who will not be still in line for more than 30 min. We are SW fans but since we have never been to Disney before, I was hoping to see SWGE a couple years from now as there is already so much for rookies like us to do. I can’t cancel because it’s my daughter’s Fall break. However as I was putting my son to bed tonight I realized things could be far worse and this is a good problem to have. Nothing else to do but wait a couple of months for the crowd level indicators to give us an outlook of what’s to be expected. I sincerely hope I’m freaking over nothing.

 

[familyman123]

I know. I don't have much interest in SW anyway. I just was hoping for a semi-quiet time, and to be able to get good same-day FPs and walk through the park without feeling like I'm in Times Square on NYE. Last fall, I inadvertently ended up at Epcot on a 9 crowd-level day, and I was claustrophobic just trying to walk from one place to another. I think a lot of the magic happens when you just happen to come upon a CM doing something interesting or there's the pixie dust of finding a character unexpectedly walking around. Crowds just make that a bit harder.

I’m sure it will be a bit more crowded. But I would be shocked if it was a level 9 in the parks other than Hollywood studios. Families just can’t go in September.

I have to say, I took my now 4 year old last September, and she loves minnie as well. The best moments with her were meeting characters, the boneyard, carousel, etc. Popular attractions like SDD and SDMT were too much for her. But the simpler moments were gold. I’d hate to think you miss that

 

[UncleMike101]

Let's see........
The first week of September, hot as Hades, an extra 20 to 40 thousand people in the parks, many of them honked off because they aren't going to get exactly the experience that they want due to the inflated crowds that they themselves have caused.
Naaahhhh...............
I'll wait a year for the dust to settle.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Let's see........
The first week of September, hot as Hades, an extra 20 to 40 thousand people in the parks, many of them honked off because they aren't going to get exactly the experience that they want due to the inflated crowds that they themselves have caused.
Naaahhhh...............
I'll wait a year for the dust to settle.

Honked off....Where did that saying come from??

This is the third post on the SWGE that has made me laugh too hard. I'm a SW fan, but have no desire to visit the lands in Disney. So I never visited this forum till today, when I saw the opening announced. I am SO glad I did now!

 

[jillybean1584]

I concur 100%. Disney had to have known people would book their vacations based on the “late fall” announcement. Heck it’s actually opening late summer, literally! I feel duped as well for my September dates.

Not only do I feel duped but Disney will only refund my payment if I cancel in gift cards because that’s how we paid. We’ve been saving up to go for over a year and now it’s going to be so crowded. What am I going to do with so much money in Disney gift cards. I can understand if we canceled due to something that happened with us but Disney made the change!