Is SWGE impacting your trip? Discuss your plans here!

rteetz

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
With the pending opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge having an impact on lots of upcoming vacations discuss what your plans are here and how you plan to either attack or avoid the crowds. Will you move your trip or will you keep it? Or are you canceling altogether?

Let us and others know!
 
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I already posted in one of the other threads, but we are not going to cancel. I was starting to have hope that it would be open by Thanksgiving.

We did add a night to make sure we have an entire day to devote to the land. We are going to Universal first, so our time was already limited!

Not sure how to plan the day until we see what happens. I'm hoping for an early morning event of some kind.
 
Booked Sept 19th-28th. Was so looking forward to low crowds because got caught in the Irma reschedule and crowds were crazy. I likely won't reschedule because I got free dining. Praying the other parks only see a slight increase in numbers since;

1. It's only half opening
2. It's still right after schools start
3. Pandora land opening only showed minimal increase in other parks (although I know SW is a bigger deal)

We will try to use EMH to hit Toystory land and other attractions and stay away from the GE and get out of there by early afternoon if possible.
 
I’ll play.

My August trip ends the 30th currently have HS booked for the 28th and AK or MK on the 29th. I am not changing anything as of now. I will probably avoid HS the 29th, even if I do think it would be cool to be there for opening.

My October trip I did book a 2nd hotel the day before the announcement, so now I need to decide Caribbean beach or Disney Springs, we have enough points that a Disney Springs hotel is free so I’m leaning toward that but want to see how the traffic is leading up to the trip. If the skyliner is open we may just stay Caribbean beach. Plan is mostly Epcot for F&W..... waiting on those dates.
 


My plans won't change as I won't wait the predicted number of years for enthusiasm to wane before I return! My plans are for early March 2020, about 6 months post opening. I would expect by then getting into the land itself to walk around will be no problem, but snagging a FP for a ride might be. Oh well. Would be nice if by 6 months in other parks are not significantly impacted, but they may be.
 
If you are looking for advice on cancelling/rescheduling your trip this is the tread to come. Please do not open new threads on this subject because they will be moved here. We are trying to keep page one of this sub-forum with as many different threads regarding SWGE as possible and don't want to see it flooded with the same type of question of reschedule/cancel/crowds.
Thank you so much
 
I'll try to keep it brief...

(3) Family groups: Grandparents (no health or mobility issues), Me and 2 DDs (16 and 14), and my Sister and nieces (11 and 7)

Grandparents and Sister/Nieces are arriving Thursday, October 17 (late afternoon/early evening) and staying at POR. Me and DD's are leaving after school Thursday and arriving VERY late (probably after midnight) and staying at Pop Century for the night.

Friday, we are all moving to AKV-Kidani and starting a 5-night stay in a 2BR. Then, we move to the BWV in a 2BR Boardwalk View on Wednesday for 3 nights. We are departing Saturday and will probably NOT be going to a park on that day. We are planning on taking one day and going to MNSSHP and that will be the only thing we do that day.

OK, so help me out...we don't want to do anything with SWGE, but we do want to see Fantasmic, ToT, SDD, TSMM, the Frozen Sing-a-Long and, Star Tours...that's it. What is going to be our best strategy? Should we wait until we are at the Boardwalk so that we can walk over to HS and avoid the bus from AKV? We were hoping to make those days our Epcot days, but now that Disney dropped this bomb on us, it's put a huge wrench in our plans. Since Fantasmic is on our "must do" list and it is a night time show, we don't necessarily want to get to HS in the morning and spend the whole day there, dodging crowds. Is there any chance that we will even be able to get in if we arrived at, say, 3pm?? We have multiple days that we can go over there so we don't need to try and see all of our "must do's" in one day and we have park-hopper tickets. I don't even know what things to try and get FP for because we don't want to go over there 3-4 days, but maybe 2 days or parts of 3 days, if needed.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated:flower3:.
 


We have reservations at POP for mid-November. We were really hoping to avoid the crowds, so I imagine we will cancel the trip. Maybe we'll explore the Royal Pacific resort at Universal; I hear it's so much better than Disney resorts AND the go straight to the front of the line sounds great! No more trying to get Fast Passes!
 
I must admit I am really disappointed. :badpc: My husband and are are 60 and we were looking forward to low crowds and a semi relaxing vacation. We are booked for 8/31-9/8. So right in the middle of everything. We have three back to back bookings - Wilderness Lodge - All Star Sports with free dining - Fort Wilderness cabins. Our park days were going to be during the stay at the All Star. So idk. I dont want to cancel but have considered it. I guess we will wait till it gets closer and see if the hype continues. But I agree with another poster - hopefully with the opening of only one ride most ppl will wait. :worship: But if we go we will have to keep an attitude that we are on vacation. I do not have to go on a ride in order to be able to enjoy Disney. :mickeyjum
 
Planned for 8/31-9/9, will not be cancelling. We discussed cancelling, but really we are very excited to be a part of the madness.

I am moving around some dining and switching 1 of our DHS days to middle of the week instead of the weekend. I think our plan will be to take 1 day for GE, and the other for the rest of the park. Of course it remains to be seen how they handle the getting in to the park, where the crowd overflow will end up, etc. So all in all it's just causing some shifting in our plans as far as park days and dining.

I think most important is that we have the right expectations and attitudes. Last May on our trip it rained every.single.day, and mostly all day. We poncho'd up, put the sandals on, adjusted our attitudes and had one of our best trips ever. Same type of thing here :)
 
I'll try to keep it brief...

(3) Family groups: Grandparents (no health or mobility issues), Me and 2 DDs (16 and 14), and my Sister and nieces (11 and 7)

Grandparents and Sister/Nieces are arriving Thursday, October 17 (late afternoon/early evening) and staying at POR. Me and DD's are leaving after school Thursday and arriving VERY late (probably after midnight) and staying at Pop Century for the night.

Friday, we are all moving to AKV-Kidani and starting a 5-night stay in a 2BR. Then, we move to the BWV in a 2BR Boardwalk View on Wednesday for 3 nights. We are departing Saturday and will probably NOT be going to a park on that day. We are planning on taking one day and going to MNSSHP and that will be the only thing we do that day.

OK, so help me out...we don't want to do anything with SWGE, but we do want to see Fantasmic, ToT, SDD, TSMM, the Frozen Sing-a-Long and, Star Tours...that's it. What is going to be our best strategy? Should we wait until we are at the Boardwalk so that we can walk over to HS and avoid the bus from AKV? We were hoping to make those days our Epcot days, but now that Disney dropped this bomb on us, it's put a huge wrench in our plans. Since Fantasmic is on our "must do" list and it is a night time show, we don't necessarily want to get to HS in the morning and spend the whole day there, dodging crowds. Is there any chance that we will even be able to get in if we arrived at, say, 3pm?? We have multiple days that we can go over there so we don't need to try and see all of our "must do's" in one day and we have park-hopper tickets. I don't even know what things to try and get FP for because we don't want to go over there 3-4 days, but maybe 2 days or parts of 3 days, if needed.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated:flower3:.
Since your trip is not until October you have the advantage of seeing what Disney does in terms of crowd control and entrance into DHS
Make your plans as best fit you and your family, keep watch of this and other threads and be ready with a plan B.
As far as fp for DHS I would try and get SDD, ToT and F! since those are your must do
 
We have reservations at POP for mid-November. We were really hoping to avoid the crowds, so I imagine we will cancel the trip. Maybe we'll explore the Royal Pacific resort at Universal; I hear it's so much better than Disney resorts AND the go straight to the front of the line sounds great! No more trying to get Fast Passes!
I love Universal, it is such a contrast in mood with a Disney vacation, much much more relaxed
 
Coming the end of September and not changing our plans. Hoping we can go to DHS to see TSL but not going to try to ride new SW ride. Hubby wants to hopefully take a look around the area but that will depend on how crowds look. Hoping crowds aren’t outrageous in other parks.
 
Planned for 8/31-9/9, will not be cancelling. We discussed cancelling, but really we are very excited to be a part of the madness.

I am moving around some dining and switching 1 of our DHS days to middle of the week instead of the weekend. I think our plan will be to take 1 day for GE, and the other for the rest of the park. Of course it remains to be seen how they handle the getting in to the park, where the crowd overflow will end up, etc. So all in all it's just causing some shifting in our plans as far as park days and dining.

I think most important is that we have the right expectations and attitudes. Last May on our trip it rained every.single.day, and mostly all day. We poncho'd up, put the sandals on, adjusted our attitudes and had one of our best trips ever. Same type of thing here :)
Yes!! having realisticc expectations will be key, especially for those coming on opening or during that opening week. Have a plan B, be flexible and have fun regardless
 
I replied on a similar thread-we can't change-7 family members going September 6-12, including two grandsons, first visit for one. We are refocusing on doing this one for the kids. We won't ride things they can't or won't ride. So the only E ticket rides will be Aliens and Midway Mania in HS which we will rope drop the one we cant get a FP for. Hope to do some shows and character meets. As far as the other parks, a similar plan. Hope for some Fast passes and rope drop what we can. I am figuring HS will be crowd level of 10 and the others 8. So we will do some things they haven't done before like Pirates' Adventure of the Seven Seas in MK, Wilderness Explorer in AK, Kidcot cards and Agent P in Epcot. I believe it is possible to have a great time in WDW without riding much. But I am being optimistic we can still get some E ticket fast passes for FOP and SDMT, maybe for later in the day. We will definitely get out of the parks for several hours midday. And I really hope I can sample some F&W offerings without 30 minutes waits!
 
I'll try to keep it brief...

(3) Family groups: Grandparents (no health or mobility issues), Me and 2 DDs (16 and 14), and my Sister and nieces (11 and 7)

Grandparents and Sister/Nieces are arriving Thursday, October 17 (late afternoon/early evening) and staying at POR. Me and DD's are leaving after school Thursday and arriving VERY late (probably after midnight) and staying at Pop Century for the night.

Friday, we are all moving to AKV-Kidani and starting a 5-night stay in a 2BR. Then, we move to the BWV in a 2BR Boardwalk View on Wednesday for 3 nights. We are departing Saturday and will probably NOT be going to a park on that day. We are planning on taking one day and going to MNSSHP and that will be the only thing we do that day.

OK, so help me out...we don't want to do anything with SWGE, but we do want to see Fantasmic, ToT, SDD, TSMM, the Frozen Sing-a-Long and, Star Tours...that's it. What is going to be our best strategy? Should we wait until we are at the Boardwalk so that we can walk over to HS and avoid the bus from AKV? We were hoping to make those days our Epcot days, but now that Disney dropped this bomb on us, it's put a huge wrench in our plans. Since Fantasmic is on our "must do" list and it is a night time show, we don't necessarily want to get to HS in the morning and spend the whole day there, dodging crowds. Is there any chance that we will even be able to get in if we arrived at, say, 3pm?? We have multiple days that we can go over there so we don't need to try and see all of our "must do's" in one day and we have park-hopper tickets. I don't even know what things to try and get FP for because we don't want to go over there 3-4 days, but maybe 2 days or parts of 3 days, if needed.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated:flower3:.


I would book the Fantasmic! dining package, since this is important to you.
 
Our trip is still scheduled for Oct 5th - 10th (Boardwalk Villas) and I think this is going to be great. Could have it blow up in our faces but who knows. My theory is people will rush DHS every day then be disbursed elsewhere. By then we will have already done our usual RD assault and out of the park before the throng of folks who arrive in the 10-12 crowd show up. We'll be heading back to the resort for lunch, pool, resort touring, etc. around that time and then off to Epcot for F&W at night. On our DHS day(s) we'll just plan to RD 2 hours early to hopefully be towards the front of the line so we can get on the SWGE ride quick and then back into the park to attack everything else. If we go a second day we'll just do the same thing and avoid SWGE altogether.

All of this could end up being somewhat incorrect but I really see no way this will be worse than Christmas and we found that the tried and true RD plus proper FP+ planning still wins the day even in that environment.

(Of course, to be fully transparent, it's a lot easier to plan like this when your party consists of 2 adults and 0 kids...)
 
We have been several times over the Labor Day timeframe. We return again and again for this week because of lowish crowds, and the heat doesn't bother us (our weather at home is very similar). We have a toddler, therefore a stroller.

With SWGE opening the very days we were scheduled to be there, I don't believe the crowds would be in a realm we would enjoy. At all.

Cancelling our trip wasn't a knee jerk reaction. As soon as I saw the news, I knew it was the only choice for us. We have been several times, and we know how we like to do Disney. If it were an adults only trip? Sure. Or even just me and my 9yo, probably. But not all of us, pushing a stroller (on last year's trip, we were in MK on a CL 5 day, and walking was difficult. One lady actually physically pushed me to get around me and my stroller. This is simply not how I like to do Disney).

Am I disappointed and frustrated? Yes. Am I devastated and angry? No. Hopefully, we can go next fall. I think it will still be busier than it would have been could our trip have happened this year unchanged, but maybe by a year out the craziness will have died down.
 

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