What is going on with bookings over Labor Day weekend?

[TexasChick123]

I have some friends who are looking at going to WDW in the fall. This prompted me to start toying with the idea of going as well possibly over Labor Day weekend. You can imagine my surprise when I looked into it today and saw decent ADR availability as well as some DVC availability just a little over 2 months out. I'm very conflicted because it's opening weekend for GE (high crowds), but there is a lot more available than I was anticipating. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what's going on?

 

[Brett Wyman]

Some people who aren’t directly interested in SGE, and weren’t already locked into their trip, are probably staying away due to fear of the crowds.

 

[TexasChick123]

Some people who aren’t directly interested in SGE, and weren’t already locked into their trip, are probably staying away due to fear of the crowds.

You just described me. Haha. I was avoiding it like the plague, but now I am wondering if it'll be more manageable than I thought outside of HS. The hotels are more expensive for Columbus Day than for Labor Day which really shocked me.

 

[CarolMN]

In my experience, Labor Day weekend hasn't ever been an especially popular time for WDW, either for the parks or DVC. I think many are just too busy preparing for school (or don't want to travel right after their school year begins).

 

[Traveling on cc points]

I have some friends who are looking at going to WDW in the fall. This prompted me to start toying with the idea of going as well possibly over Labor Day weekend. You can imagine my surprise when I looked into it today and saw decent ADR availability as well as some DVC availability just a little over 2 months out. I'm very conflicted because it's opening weekend for GE (high crowds), but there is a lot more available than I was anticipating. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what's going on?

When the news first broke about SWGE opening early, there were tons & tons of people saying that they were going to cancel/move their vacations to avoid it. I usually take those types of statements with a grain of salt because people tend to have a gut reaction to bad news and say things they don’t follow through with. Maybe more people cancelled than I thought.
I was definitely one of the people who wasn’t happy about the announcement as we will be there that week. I truly did think about canceling but in the end, I just couldn’t give up my BCV studio reservation.

We are not Star Wars fans at all but am definitely interested in walking through the land to see it. I am currently stalking Disney’s site to see if I can get one of the AP preview spots to avoid the crazy crowds altogether.

 

[js]

When the news first broke about SWGE opening early, there were tons & tons of people saying that they were going to cancel/move their vacations to avoid it. I usually take those types of statements with a grain of salt because people tend to have a gut reaction to bad news and say things they don’t follow through with. Maybe more people cancelled than I thought.
I was definitely one of the people who wasn’t happy about the announcement as we will be there that week. I truly did think about canceling but in the end, I just couldn’t give up my BCV studio reservation.

We are not Star Wars fans at all but am definitely interested in walking through the land to see it. I am currently stalking Disney’s site to see if I can get one of the AP preview spots to avoid the crazy crowds altogether.

We are going September 4-14 at GFVs and also booked a separate room at BWVs the night of September 10 so we can walk over to MGM for the 6 am opening.

Can you please tell me more about the AP preview spots? We are both AP and although I have no interest in SW, I am going to get to MGM by 430 am to hopefully get on the ride.

Thank you.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

We are going September 4-14 at GFVs and also booked a separate room at BWVs the night of September 10 so we can walk over to MGM for the 6 am opening.

Can you please tell me more about the AP preview spots? We are both AP and although I have no interest in SW, I am going to get to MGM by 430 am to hopefully get on the ride.

Thank you.

Disney has announced that there will be previews for platinum AP’s prior to the official opening of SWGE. There is quite A bit of speculation when that will be but everything I have heard is it will be before August 28th so I don’t think it would help you. Here is the thread.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...-previews-watch.3738418/page-96#post-60775303

 

[drusba]

As to room availability for Labor Day weekend, a usually low to moderate DVC demand time, it is actually more full this close to the weekend dates than the last two years. Studios are gone for the weekend even at SSR, other rooms at near park resorts are mostly gone for the weekend , and the only rooms open for the entire weekend are those other than studios at SSR and a dedicated 2BR at OKW. In other words, there does not appear to be any real movement of members to avoid the expected Star Wars crowds and the indications are that DVC reservations are actually somewhat fuller than before.

 

[js]

Disney has announced that there will be previews for platinum AP’s prior to the official opening of SWGE. There is quite A bit of speculation when that will be but everything I have heard is it will be before August 28th so I don’t think it would help you. Here is the thread.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...-previews-watch.3738418/page-96#post-60775303

Thank you. It makes me feel a little better it won't be while I am there LOL Thank you for the link

As to room availability for Labor Day weekend, a usually low to moderate DVC demand time, it is actually more full this close to the weekend dates than the last two years. Studios are gone for the weekend even at SSR, other rooms at near park resorts are mostly gone for the weekend , and the only rooms open for the entire weekend are those other than studios at SSR and a dedicated 2BR at OKW. In other words, there does not appear to be any real movement of members to avoid the expected Star Wars crowds and the indications are that DVC reservations are actually somewhat fuller than before.

I agree. I looked at the SSR availability yesterday just to see how the much is/is not available and was surprised that there was quite a bit of lack of availability. I have been unhealthy stalking one night, September 13 in a dedicated 2 bedroom at GFVs for our last night of our stay for a few months (have a lock off right now) and can tell you, with the exception of last week (where my date STILL was not available) there has been VERY little movement over the last few months, and I look at August and October just to gauge when the days are being put back. There is no way that Disney is paying CMs to come in at 5 am and 6 am for park openings, custodians, bus, monorail drivers, etc. if they are not expecting huge crowds.

 

[TexasChick123]

It sounds like the decision to forego WDW that weekend because of crowds is a good one for us. Thanks everyone.

 

[n2mm]

We leave on a cruise that Saturday, so coming in that Friday night. We come back to port on 9/7 and will be at bcv. I had no problem getting bcv 2 bedroom at the 7 month window after giving up my BLT standard 2 bedroom booked at the 11 month window. Since the announcement I’ve canceled all plans to the studios for that short 3 day wdw trip. I’ve canceled my 50s prime time too. We just didn’t want to deal with it, and the change In the fast-passes tiers was a deciding factor too. I’m guessing I’m not alone. Pete just posted his thoughts on the fall crowds, pretty much saying, too many people decided to stay away. I’ve also decided to cancel my October stay too, unless I decide on a short cruise....on the fence right now.

 

[Mickey of the Villages]

In my opinion folks are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards Disney and SWGE. People probably want to feel confident that they won't be blown away with crowds before they book. I know I do. We have a trip next week but won't return until spring break next year. We hope by then there will be a better understanding of how SWGE affects WDW and ways to plan around it.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

In my opinion folks are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards Disney and SWGE. People probably want to feel confident that they won't be blown away with crowds before they book. I know I do. We have a trip next week but won't return until spring break next year. We hope by then there will be a better understanding of how SWGE affects WDW and ways to plan around it.

I don’t blame you. It just timed out badly for us. We arrive the day after SWGE opens on the 30th and have another trip booked for the first week of December to finish off our AP’s. I’m convinced that with my luck, rise of the resistance will announce their opening date of December 1st.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I said the same thing about Easter. We never go to WDW for Easter but the flights were $106 rt on United for a booking a trip 10 days from Easter weekend. There were plenty of DVC studio rooms and the parks were not crowded. Usually on Easter Sunday MK reaches capacity but not this year. which we found to be odd. We could not figure out why but hey it was great for us. But I think Disney is just pricing themselves out and people are not coming.

 

[Alexander]

Some people who aren’t directly interested in SGE, and weren’t already locked into their trip, are probably staying away due to fear of the crowds.

That would be us! We planned for the last two weeks of August this year, resorts booked and everything. Fortunately, flights weren't booked yet. When they announced the August 29th date, we moved back to the second and third weeks of August. Only disappointment is that we will miss Food and Wine now.