Is SWGE impacting your trip? Discuss your plans here!

[yulilin3]

I really hope they do one line to enter GE and a separate line for the rest of the park. some of us have not seen Toy Story Land.I heard of this happening elsewhere I think ?????anyone know about it ????

it could very easily be done by separating the tapstiles and then all along Hollywood Blvd right down the middle, people on the right can go to TSLand, RnRC or ToT people on the left to ST and SWGE

 

[puffkins]

We are going two weeks after the announced opening and our only modification has been to avoid Hollywood Studios. We are hoping the Star Wars area will draw so much attention that our time in MK/EPCOT will be less crowded than normal. For that reason, I hope SWGE is a smashing success!

 

[Minkishly]

I've moved our whole trip to the two weeks BEFORE SW:GE's opening. And this will probably be our last trip to WDW until 2021. We'll go to Tokyo DL and DS next year. I feel like it's still going to be more crowded than usual, but hopefully it won't be too bad. At least I managed to get the ADRs and room reservations I wanted, even though I booked everything later than the 180 days date. Luckily we'll still get to go for one of the earliest MNSSHP days, but I'm sad that we won't get to experience HHN at Universal. :<

 

[chinarider]

Ok so I guess, I bit the bullet. Our trip was planned for 9/3- 9/13 ( but really 9/4-9/12 of actual days in parks )- I had mentioned in previous posts, that I presonally am not a Star Wars fan ( really have no interest ) and we decided to bare the heat and humidity for free dining, food and wine and MNSSHP- We have also not been the WDW since Toy Storyland opened so were excited to be able to originally beat the Star Wars opening date and have low crowds. My daughter was unable to get Monday ( Labor Day off ) so we had planned to fly out on Tuesday. She has switched jobs and is now able to leave on the holiday so I just switched our flights. This will take a little of rearranging some day plans and ADRs as our ADR date was a few days before the Star Wars announcement. We had originally planned on doing Fantasmic Friday night and the EHM on Sunday but, now with the extra day, I am going juggle some things so we canavoid HS the Fri- Mon. Since it is only the second weekend, I think it will still be extremely hectic. This gives us a little extra time and flexibility as well and I think it should work out better for us. I was fortunate and was able to add a day onto our trip ( with our free dining promo ) and with Southwest airlines, I can modify the flights without incurring fees. Now on to the ADR shuffle....

 

[rteetz]

Disney has announced Food and Wine will also begin August 29th. Giving people ample things to do outside of SWGE.

 

[jle323]

We’re going Sept 7-14 for our anniversary. We were going to stay at a moderate, but SWGE opening gave me the excuse to upgrade to AKL; I figure if the crowds are crazy, we’ll just hang out more at the resort. I had been hoping to see TSL, since it wasn’t open the last time we went. But I think we may just avoid HS altogether. The last time we went was 4 months after Pandora had opened, and someone actually knocked my son over in her effort to run to Pandora after rope drop (and we were only heading to Tusker House for breakfast). My kids aren’t coming this time, but I’m small too - I don’t need to worry about breaking something. Like another poster said, this will just give me another reason to come back in a year or 2.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Disney has announced Food and Wine will also begin August 29th. Giving people ample things to do outside of SWGE.

We’re going to hit it on 8/30. I’m so excited it will be happening for Labor Day Weekend (even if it’s 110 degrees). I haven’t been to it in years!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Disney has announced Food and Wine will also begin August 29th. Giving people ample things to do outside of SWGE.

That is good news. I had extended our trip by two days, until 8/31, when I heard the announcement about SWGE. Now we have something else to look forward to. We aren’t going to battle the crowds at HS on opening day.

 

[magsnwonderland]

We're going 9/30-10/4. My kids (4.5 and just shy of 2) are too little for SWGE and are early risers, so we're planning to rope drop TSL and stick to the non-SWGE areas of HS on that day. DS is so excited for SDD, so we'll probably prioritize a FP for later in the day for that, even after riding it first thing. I made an ADR for the Fantasmic dining package at H&V, so we'll get to knock out character meetings and get into Fantasmic with good seats. And we're hoping that by avoiding the weekends entirely, the other parks won't be too awful either. We'll see.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I am planning to go to DHS only in the evenings, arriving around 10 p.m. starting 9/3, the Tuesday after Labor Day. I want to spend maybe 15 minutes looking around in there, then leave. I am imagining that they will close DHS around 10:30 p.m. like they did when Toy Story Land opened. My idea is, getting there half hour before closing. I believe they will let me in at that time because a lot of people will be exiting the land, and most don't want to be in there for less than half hour so not many will be entering. And I want to leave before the park completely closes.

Alternatively, I wish Disney would have the "Disney After Hours" for DHS frequently in the month SWGE opens. They can run a little late, like from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., so that the park can open till 10 p.m. for regular guests. Then we can pay a premium and go in there, maybe even get on the M. Falcon ride in peace and not have to freak out about crowds. And this should divert the crowds a bit and not have as many people go to SWGE during the day. It will cost us another $500 or more for our trip, but it will be worth it to me. And if any Disney people are reading this, I would like the Disney After Hours to happen on August 29th, please! And please announce it soon so that I can book it.

 

[flav]

We are going to our first trip to DL as a family in August, staying at a Good Neighbor Hotel (booked a long time ago). We will keep reading on how SWGE is handled past the first month and enjoy what we can of DL.

We are also going to be at WDW for Marathon Weekend in January. We will use the same kind of wait and see approach for SWGE.

I will be curious to know when the land is fully opened!

 

[yorkieteacher]

I am planning to go to DHS only in the evenings, arriving around 10 p.m. starting 9/3, the Tuesday after Labor Day. I want to spend maybe 15 minutes looking around in there, then leave. I am imagining that they will close DHS around 10:30 p.m. like they did when Toy Story Land opened. My idea is, getting there half hour before closing. I believe they will let me in at that time because a lot of people will be exiting the land, and most don't want to be in there for less than half hour so not many will be entering. And I want to leave before the park completely closes.

Alternatively, I wish Disney would have the "Disney After Hours" for DHS frequently in the month SWGE opens. They can run a little late, like from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., so that the park can open till 10 p.m. for regular guests. Then we can pay a premium and go in there, maybe even get on the M. Falcon ride in peace and not have to freak out about crowds. And this should divert the crowds a bit and not have as many people go to SWGE during the day. It will cost us another $500 or more for our trip, but it will be worth it to me. And if any Disney people are reading this, I would like the Disney After Hours to happen on August 29th, please! And please announce it soon so that I can book it.

 

[yorkieteacher]

I am hoping they increase park hours as well-it's almost inevitable that the current 9am-8:30pm hours they have listed for the first two weeks in September will have to change if they expect crowds as large as these boards are indicating. I have said several times we plan on arriving an hour earlier than announced opening, leaving after lunch, then returning only for Fantasmic and any later evening possibilities. We don't plan on even getting near GE, and are hoping the crowds on our HS day of September 9 will allow us to even get back in around 730pm. Meant to attach this to BabybetterDisney post but got ahead of myself!

 

[poooh]

We are going two weeks after the announced opening and our only modification has been to avoid Hollywood Studios. We are hoping the Star Wars area will draw so much attention that our time in MK/EPCOT will be less crowded than normal. For that reason, I hope SWGE is a smashing success!

We're going 3-ish weeks after opening and I'm only planning one day in HS and that only depends on FP availability. If I can't get TOT or RNR at 60+4 then I'm just going to cut HS out completely and have a very Food and Wine focused trip. I'm also hoping for minimal impact at Epcot.

 

[bitty246]

We're going 3-ish weeks after opening and I'm only planning one day in HS and that only depends on FP availability. If I can't get TOT or RNR at 60+4 then I'm just going to cut HS out completely and have a very Food and Wine focused trip. I'm also hoping for minimal impact at Epcot.

We arriving around the same time and have only designated 1 day to HS as well. We do have 3 anytime Fastpasses thanks to a DVC tour we did a while back. Hoping to at least ride ToT, ST and one or 2 of the TS rides. We've never seen Fantasmic, so will try to pick that up as a same day FP. If we can do that, I'll consider it a success. We have 2+ days in each of the other parks.

 

[mercydisney]

Last year I booked BB as I do every year for Labor Day Weekend, 8/29 - 9/3. Then it was announced that Star Wars was opening the day I arrived. I honestly thought about canceling. But that free dining hooks me in every year . So after careful deliberation (i am not a lawyer, just talk lawyer when it comes to Free food ) I figured why not go a day early and do Early Morning (what ever its called) in HS. Yes it will cost me but at least I can kick that event off my bucket list and eat lots of morning breakfast food. I will hopefully miss the swarm of people piling in the next day. And if I am really lucky maybe they will let AP's go in for a sneak peak. A girl can dream
Also I had to really sweet talk the CM to let me book the extra day to get free dining

 

[flea1267]

Okay I am really starting to worry and need some help in re-thinking or not our Dec 29-Jan 3 trip - #1 I know it's the worst week of the year to go during a new SWGE Opening year BUT are we really INSANE to attempt it this year? Should we put it off until next year? My worry is, it's already over-crowded and I worry about the over-flow from Studios to the other parks! Thoughts, opinions, all are welcome to comment, and please do

 

[yulilin3]

Okay I am really starting to worry and need some help in re-thinking or not our Dec 29-Jan 3 trip - #1 I know it's the worst week of the year to go during a new SWGE Opening year BUT are we really INSANE to attempt it this year? Should we put it off until next year? My worry is, it's already over-crowded and I worry about the over-flow from Studios to the other parks! Thoughts, opinions, all are welcome to comment, and please do

I know it's frustrating and nerve wrecking to plan for something like this. The great thing about your situation is that you will have 4 months to see how the crowds flow. I am sure that all parks will be extra crowded this Christmas season but nothing undoable with a good plan. My only advice is to follow along on all the news and that will give you a clearer view

 

[yorkieteacher]

Okay I am really starting to worry and need some help in re-thinking or not our Dec 29-Jan 3 trip - #1 I know it's the worst week of the year to go during a new SWGE Opening year BUT are we really INSANE to attempt it this year? Should we put it off until next year? My worry is, it's already over-crowded and I worry about the over-flow from Studios to the other parks! Thoughts, opinions, all are welcome to comment, and please do

I have read several posts on this and other threads that if Star Wars fans are headed to Galaxy's Edge, especially in the first few weeks of opening, they likely won't have much interest on other parks unless HS reaches capacity before they can get in. So my day in HS will be early mornings and late evening only in all the areas EXCEPT GE!. Your trip should be after the GE frenzy has died down some. I can't see too many people planning trips mainly to see GE during the busiest week of the WDW year, unless they open RotR just prior to that time. And most people think they are purposely opening these rides to increase normally slow times. So I really don't believe the other parks will be much different during your week specifically because of GE crowds.

 

[yulilin3]

I have read several posts on this and other threads that if Star Wars fans are headed to Galaxy's Edge, especially in the first few weeks of opening, they likely won't have much interest on other parks unless HS reaches capacity before they can get in. So my day in HS will be early mornings and late evening only in all the areas EXCEPT GE!. Your trip should be after the GE frenzy has died down some. I can't see too many people planning trips mainly to see GE during the busiest week of the WDW year, unless they open RotR just prior to that time. And most people think they are purposely opening these rides to increase normally slow times. So I really don't believe the other parks will be much different during your week specifically because of GE crowds.

keep in mind:
Some people can't take off work/school until the Christmas season
Episode IX is opening this Christmas which will increase the interest in all things Star Wars
A lot of people will plan a trip just for SW and with a Disney ticket they might want to check out the rest of the parks. These are people that would never come to disney but are full SW fans
Disney might do a special celebration for Episode IX that will pull repeat visitors