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

[UncleMike101]

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!

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/honked_off
It's from the 60's.

 

[FCDub]

Life is, of course, what you make it. If you go into it with a bad attitude, you're going to have a bad time. This is a historic day in WDW history. Try to embrace it.

 

[Rach3975]

DH and I are booked for our first adults only trip Nov 2-5. The good news is that we'll be able to see how Sept goes before we decide what to do. I think we're still going, but we may avoid HS if things are crazy. I mentioned the possibility of cancelling to DH tonight, and he said I'm over thinking it and we'll be fine. Lol. I'm the Disney planner and forum/blog reader in the family. Much as I'd like him to be right, I think it's going to be much more disruptive than he thinks. I'm worried about ADR's and FPs

 

[tnolan]

Im kind of glad it's not going to open till after we finish our mid August trip. Not sure what we will find when we return in mid November but hopefully things might have calmed down by then.

 

[bookgirl2632]

My thinking is that some Star Wars fans will still hold out for when both rides are open. Sure, a lot, A LOT, will be there for the opening. But some will wait.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I got into a complete panic this morning -- I did not see this coming! But what to do? There's nothing to do. Must make the most out of it. I will be staying as far away, (far, far away) from Galaxy's edge as I can, but I won't be able to avoid DHS because I have to take the kids to toy story land. So, hoping that the crowd doesn't spill too much into Toy Story land. Or the rest of WDW. Not getting my hopes up, though. I am just going to brace myself and face it. I was so hoping that I would be able to avoid Galaxy's Edge this year!

 

[wendow]

I'm not buying it.

I think you're going to see a large influx of people the week of the opening coming from Florida and surrounding states who will be coming for day trips for the sole purpose of seeing SWGE. Especially with the fact that both rides won't be open right away, I don't think a ton of people are going to be booking full vacations, in March, for the back-to-school season.

This is a ploy by Disney to turn the low-low-low early fall season into a low early fall season for the purposes of closing out their fiscal year (end of September) stronger than the previous year. Does that mean crowds will be insane? Especially at the other three parks? I don't think so. My guess is instead of seeing September-like crowds, we'll see the old January/early Feb crowds we used to see where most days are 2s, with a few 3s and maybe a mid-week 1 sprinkled in there.

I think a lot of people are freaking out over nothing.

I'm tending to agree with you. Our family was at DLR this past summer when Pixar Pier opened (I know not the same as SWGE but it certainly drew the crowds) and even though Incredicoaster was a 6 hour wait and the other attractions on the Pier and elsewhere in DCA had huge waits, DL park was DEAD. If you spent the day there instead of DCA, you had quite the magical experience.

I can see how this could be for WDW too. For the opening and immediate days following, HS will be nutso, but the other parks will be more in line with normal Sept crowds. There may be some people who get fed up with the crowds at HS and spill over into the other parks but I think most will feel that they only have this opportunity to experience SWGE when it has first opened and they will hang in there despite high crowds.

Hope those of you who are disappointed and cannot move your trips are still able to have a great time. As I said we were at DLR when Pixar Pier opened. That was NOT by choice. Disney sprung the opening on us like 6 weeks or so before our trip AND lifted the blocked out AP's just a few weeks before. We had planned the dates we chose for like 9 mos because a couple tiers of AP's were blocked. We were unable to move our trip so we went and made the best of it. We DID actually choose to go into Pixar Pier on opening morning (and we despise crowds!) because it opened on our last day there and we realized this was our only chance to see it anytime in the near future. It was crazy, crazy, crazy but also, really fun and exciting and there was an energy that isn't normally there. I would not have planned that experience cause my instinct is to avoid that kind of thing but we did have a great time despite that craziness!

 

[BabybetterDisney]

There will be no fastpasses for SWGE to start.

There's no fastpass? That's wonderful news! Now I have an excuse not to get it! DS13 wants a fastpass and I told him that he would just have his fastpass, get to the entrance of SWGE, wait till midnight and still can't squeeze himself in, nevermind the fastpass.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

My guess is early-mid September will still be less crowded than Oct/Nov/Dec. The opening week coincides with the first week of school for a lot of the country, and most parents aren't going to pull their kids out of the first week of school. That doesn't mean there won't be crazy crowds, but I think those crazy crowds will be multiplied for Oct/Nov/Dec, which were already super busy without SWGE.

Probably best to avoid actual opening weekend. But if I had a Sept. trip already planned, I don't think I'd change anything.

I don't think parents will pull kids out, but there are a lot of non parents with no kids who normally don't visit WDW much but are not suddenly finding the need to swarm DHS. Might not happen, but that's my fear.

I don't know if September will be less crowded than late fall, normally it is, but at this point, all bets are off, and I'm freaking out.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I'm tending to agree with you. Our family was at DLR this past summer when Pixar Pier opened (I know not the same as SWGE but it certainly drew the crowds) and even though Incredicoaster was a 6 hour wait and the other attractions on the Pier and elsewhere in DCA had huge waits, DL park was DEAD. If you spent the day there instead of DCA, you had quite the magical experience.

I can see how this could be for WDW too. For the opening and immediate days following, HS will be nutso, but the other parks will be more in line with normal Sept crowds. There may be some people who get fed up with the crowds at HS and spill over into the other parks but I think most will feel that they only have this opportunity to experience SWGE when it has first opened and they will hang in there despite high crowds.

Hope those of you who are disappointed and cannot move your trips are still able to have a great time. As I said we were at DLR when Pixar Pier opened. That was NOT by choice. Disney sprung the opening on us like 6 weeks or so before our trip AND lifted the blocked out AP's just a few weeks before. We had planned the dates we chose for like 9 mos because a couple tiers of AP's were blocked. We were unable to move our trip so we went and made the best of it. We DID actually choose to go into Pixar Pier on opening morning (and we despise crowds!) because it opened on our last day there and we realized this was our only chance to see it anytime in the near future. It was crazy, crazy, crazy but also, really fun and exciting and there was an energy that isn't normally there. I would not have planned that experience cause my instinct is to avoid that kind of thing but we did have a great time despite that craziness!

But Pixar Pier is nothing -- I've never heard of it! So California Screaming got redecorated. I'm telling you, that's not near as creepy as Galaxy's Edge. I know you are trying to help people feel better but you are not believing in the severity of this situation. Pixar Pier is like a firecracker. Galaxy's Edge is like a nuclear bomb. OMG!!!!!

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I just made an account so I could post about my disappointment in this announcement. I have been planning our 'once in a lifetime' trip for over a year. I managed to get Pop Century with free dining for Sept. 13-23rd. Now I am 95% sure I am going to cancel it. I booked September specifically for the low crowds, which could now be some of the worst crowds the park has ever seen. We are not Star Wars fans, and want nothing to do with the crowds that this will cause across the resort. I am totally devastated and I really don't know when we might even try to re-book.

Sorry to hear that you are thinking rebooking. That is too bad.

 

[wendow]

But Pixar Pier is nothing -- I've never heard of it! So California Screaming got redecorated. I'm telling you, that's not near as creepy as Galaxy's Edge. I know you are trying to help people feel better but you are not believing in the severity of this situation. Pixar Pier is like a firecracker. Galaxy's Edge is like a nuclear bomb. OMG!!!!!

And that is why I said I knew it wasn't the same thing. But a 6-hour wait was still a 6-hour wait and ate up half a day on one attraction. Apparently a lot of people were interested in it.

And yes, I am trying to make people feel better. Not everyone can move their trips and will have to go and make the best of it. Better to do that with a positive attitude than panicking about it. Just my thoughts

 

[BabybetterDisney]

We arrive the day SW:GE opens. Literally fighting back panic tears.

It's been 14 hours since I heard the news and I'm still hyperventilating.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

We’ve got a trip on the books already for early Dec. so I’m pretty excited. That’ll be far enough out that the initial push may have subsided.

FWIW, while there will certainly be some who go for the first few days, early September is still a super difficult time to travel with school age children so I would still expect the crowds to be on the lower side.

The real diehards will go out to DL this summer. DHS doesn’t have the local traffic that DL has either. There will be lines, but I don’t think it will throw off the touring plans of the other parks in early September by a significant amount.

The diehards will only go to DL if they are in the west coast. The ones on the east coast (which has far more people) will wait for the easy drive, being that it's only 3 months away. Sorry, I can't help seeing the worst.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

Okay.........read the first page in this thread and some people are not happy. I'd be curious to know what the cancellation rate is.........also curious because this opening is during Free Dining which if you re-book I don't believe you'll be able to add it back on.

I think Disney thought this would be a good thing.......and for some (maybe many) it is. However, given what they originally indicated........this is impacting a bunch of folks in a negative way too.

Doug

This is a good thing. I mean, imagine Disney opening GE for Christmas! But it's not a good thing for me because they've been saying late fall, and now it's suddenly summer! I did not see this coming!

 

[mousefan73]

We booked Labor Day week so we could avoid crowds Not sure what to do now.

We are also there over that weekend. But are not changing our plans as we are on the fantasy a week before. It will be what it will be. I think if we go with no expectations and just expect mass crowds we will be OK even just walking around taking in all the new sites will be enough for me

 

[mousefan73]

I wonder if we are just over estimating the crowds. ??Granted the first few months will be crazier than normal as it’s the opening and that has been the case for all new lands. But it’s not like this is a temporary exhibit where fans Worldwide will be taking the once-in-a-lifetime chance treck to Mecca. I mean galaxies edge is not going away soon. Not all Star Wars diehards have the cash to now dump a couple grand for the opening months. I mean I know it will be crazy but I cannot see that every Star Wars fan at the same time will be coming that first month or two. I think most families wont plan a trip around coming to be the first to see this. Disney is such an expensive and more complicated trip to plan there’s so many other factors.

 

[mousefan73]

One more point to as for some reason I can’t edit my above post. But I think the Uber Star Wars fan will be heading out to California first anyways.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

We have our trip for 9/14-22 already planned. Booked dvc borrowing points to take the in-laws. Was also looking forward to low crowds. If it was just my family I would rebook but there are 8 of us and we all have flights booked, vacation time reserved etc. My husband and I are staying away from SWGE but my sister in-law is stoked about “grabbing a fast pass” and my mother in-law “can’t wait to see Toy Story Land”. Think I’ll just budget in extra money for pool libations and send them on their way while we hang at the pool with our 3 year old. I’m just hoping other parks aren’t greatly impacted (wishful thinking)

Tell your sil there's no fastpass for SWGE. Totally sucks.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

We are in the same boat. I know my boys will be super excited but they really have no idea what the crowds will be like.

I also have no idea what the crowds will be like and I will make sure I don't find out!