LOL, me too. It'll be hot as Hades, and now insanely crowded too. Jeeze, maybe we'll get a hurricane?
Now that I've had some time to process this bomb they've dropped, and to go through the stages of grief for the loss of any semblance of a pleasant vacation, I have to admit...I still haven't come in off the ledge. I still feel sucker punched. For 2 reasons. 1) SWGE effectively removes HS from my touring plan, I won't attempt to go near it on my 2 week trip. And it makes me angry that I'm getting even LESS value for my money now, as an entire park is no longer available to me. The value of my trip is already inherently compromised due to all the people and the lines they generate-lines for buses, lines for security, lines for food, lines for rides, lines in shops (sometimes even just to walk through!), lines for bathrooms, lines for characters, and waiting for spots for parades and fireworks. Can I expect to even get on 6 rides in a day (including FP)? Can't help but think I'm paying a ton of money to just...stand in lines, and spend more money. Add to this the emotional distress of being crammed in anywhere with a lot of hot, tired, entitled people...and I am also paying a premium to be run over with strollers and ECV's and to be yelled at by their operators. I was in MK on the 45th anniversary (crowd level 7/10) and I witnessed some of the ugliest human behavior that I have ever seen and experienced anywhere else in the (real) world. I never wanted to be in that environment again. And 2) I feel like Disney doesn't care about the quality of the guest experience anymore, not every guest anyway. The way they deliberately withheld SWGE opening date, and said it would be fall/late fall and then dropped it on us in the summer when those of us who are extremely adverse to crowds would be willing to travel...it feels like a personal affront. There seems to be only very few short windows for people like me to visit during the year anyway, but Disney is still actively trying to stuff the parks at those times too. I get it, they're a business, but I thought they were also one of the few businesses that truly valued the quality of the customer's experience. I see now that I was naive about that.
So, I have to avoid an entire park for my trip, and probably afternoons at all the others. I will have to hide out at AKL more than I intended (I know, first world probs, but still...). That's how SWGE will impact my trip. But I think I have also learned that this will be my last trip to Disney for a long time. WDW is not for those of us suffering from anxiety. We are clearly not welcome. I'm sorry, I wish I could see this another way but I'm just not there yet. I'm envious of those who can just brave the hordes, my life would be so much easier if I could do that.
. I did not think of it this way -- parks full of angry people. That's never happened before!
Best of luck to you!
