Concerns on Crowds for 2020

shadowpup

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 21, 2019
Hello! It's been a while since we've been to WDW (almost 5 years). I'm in the early process of planning for 2020. I'd like to go in mid-September. With Star Wars opening (and we are not Star Wars people), does anyone else planning for next year have concerns on how Star Wars will affect the crowds a year later?
 
We are going May 2020 (first two weeks-ish) and I'm not very concerned about the crowds at all. The rides in the land itself will still have massive lines, but I don't expect wall to wall people at that point.

I am nervous about how much they are going to increase resort prices for next year, still waiting to find out.
 
I am concerned enough that I have moved our 2020 trip to spring of 2021. By then crowds should have lessened a bit and there should be a wealth of knowledge on this site to access.
 
We actually planned our trip for Sept. 2020 because we felt it might allow us to be there after SWGE wasn't quite as new & shiny (Although we certainly still expect long lines in that land.) but before the celebrations of 2021 start. :) And we hope that combo will lead to somewhat lower crowds throughout most of WDW.
 


I'm not concerned at all. I've gone during big openings - new Fantasyland, Pandora, TSL - and, though the crowds affected those lands, they did not affect other areas of the parks. SWGE will be crowded. Pandora is still crowded and it's been almost 2 years now. TSL is crowded. It hasn't lessened our enjoyment of other areas of the parks.
 
We actually planned our trip for Sept. 2020 because we felt it might allow us to be there after SWGE wasn't quite as new & shiny (Although we certainly still expect long lines in that land.) but before the celebrations of 2021 start. :) And we hope that combo will lead to somewhat lower crowds throughout most of WDW.
That's what I was hoping for, too! Thanks!
 
I'm not concerned at all. I've gone during big openings - new Fantasyland, Pandora, TSL - and, though the crowds affected those lands, they did not affect other areas of the parks. SWGE will be crowded. Pandora is still crowded and it's been almost 2 years now. TSL is crowded. It hasn't lessened our enjoyment of other areas of the parks.
That's good to hear! I was worried that the number of people would affect other locations, too. Thanks!
 


Pandora continued to have an effect well into the next year. I expect Star Wars to have a larger effect. Maybe not after the first month, but after both rides have opened, I think we will see a continued increase in crowds.
I would disagree that the opening of Pandora didn't increase crowd size. As I understand it, attendance increased significantly when Pandora opened. Not just in AK, but nearly all the parks. Whih makes sense, most people are not going to WDW for several days and only visit 1 park. I would expect a large increase in attendance of one park to spill over to the others.
 
Pandora continued to have an effect well into the next year. I expect Star Wars to have a larger effect. Maybe not after the first month, but after both rides have opened, I think we will see a continued increase in crowds.
I would disagree that the opening of Pandora didn't increase crowd size. As I understand it, attendance increased significantly when Pandora opened. Not just in AK, but nearly all the parks. Whih makes sense, most people are not going to WDW for several days and only visit 1 park. I would expect a large increase in attendance of one park to spill over to the others.

We were at the World 5 months after Pandora opened. The were no huge crowds. FOP still had big lines, but Pandora itself was easy to maneuver around. All the parks had similar crowds that we have experienced during our October visits. So if attendance increased that much, we sure couldn't tell.
 
Pandora continued to have an effect well into the next year. I expect Star Wars to have a larger effect. Maybe not after the first month, but after both rides have opened, I think we will see a continued increase in crowds.
I would disagree that the opening of Pandora didn't increase crowd size. As I understand it, attendance increased significantly when Pandora opened. Not just in AK, but nearly all the parks. Whih makes sense, most people are not going to WDW for several days and only visit 1 park. I would expect a large increase in attendance of one park to spill over to the others.

I would argue a .3% increase at MK, -.05% increase at DHS and 4.2% increase at EP in 2017 is not a significant increase. AK saw an increase of 15.3% that year due to Pandora, but given the other numbers, I don't see Pandora making a huge impact on the other parks. https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201805/6107/
 
I think crowds will obviously be worst within the first few months of SWGE opening, and then again when Rise opens. However, I think the crowds next year will generally be more, ignoring the 2 spikes, on a day-to-day comparison between this year, last year, and 2017. I think they will just keep increasing through 2021 and the 50th. I don't think everyday is going to be a 10, but the people who analyze the numbers, particularly Touring Plans, have seen an increase year over year for a while now.
 
I think you picked a great time to go - of all the times in 2020 to head down, mid-September is likely to be the least crowded.

And I would say that holding off until 2021 could back-fire. My bet is on 2021 being even busier than 2020 (50th Anniversary / Guardians of the Galaxy / Tron / Ratatoullie / new Epcot show, etc.) Around here, there is perhaps more excitement over those rides opening than Star Wars. 2021 sounds like the year to avoid!

Just cross your fingers against Hurricanes and have fun!
 
We will go in 2020, but then not come back again until 2023. Avoiding the whole celebration, and more importantly, a lot of the construction will be finished! Tron, Guardian's ride, hopefully a lot of the new Epcot Future World stuff.

ha! I'm already looking forward to 2023. :)
 
I think crowds will obviously be worst within the first few months of SWGE opening, and then again when Rise opens. However, I think the crowds next year will generally be more, ignoring the 2 spikes, on a day-to-day comparison between this year, last year, and 2017. I think they will just keep increasing through 2021 and the 50th. I don't think everyday is going to be a 10, but the people who analyze the numbers, particularly Touring Plans, have seen an increase year over year for a while now.

When Universal opened Harry Potter world and built a bunch of new hotels, their attendance soared massively and stayed high.

When you bring more people on property, the attendance is going to go up in your parks, obviously. Disney has built a bunch of new hotels. Then with all the new stuff, you'll have the locals flooding in too. This is no small undertaking. Disney has spent billions between buying up Marvel and Star Wars and building all these new attractions. They expect a massive increase in attendance and for that investment to pay off.

Heavy crowds are going to be the norm for the foreseeable future.
 
My wife and I have visited WDW every year since 2009. Every year since we have noticed an uptick in attendance. I always go the last week of February which was normaly a quiet time to visit. We never needed fast passes, didn't have to make dining reservations, the longest wait for a ride was 30 minutes. Ah for the good old days. I have never seen buzz for an opening like I have for Star Wars. It will only get worse in 2021 for the 50th anniversary party, star wars, tron, star wars hotel and restaurant, and all of the other additions. Hold onto your pants people, it is going to get busy soon. Oh, if the excitement is there, why not charge more for it. Yep, the prices will continue to rise. Why not, everything else does when there is a huge demand. It's the nature of the beast. We will continue to go because we love the parks and enjoy the feeling of revisiting our youth.
 
We have a trip planned tentatively for April 21-28, 2020; will be after most all Spring breaks. Hoping for the best. Older DGD enters high school in the Fall of 2020 and will be more difficult to take her out of school, younger one turns 10 (Disney adult) in October 2020. Plus I am retiring in March 2020 and this trip is to celebrate that!
we are not huge Star Wars fans but do plan/hope to experience a lot of SWGE.
 
I am steering clear away from all of 2020. We will probably go again in 2021, but I am sure the crowds will still be escalated, just hopefully not as much. Overall crowds have increased in general.
 
We have always planned to skip 2020 to see if things settled down and then they announced the opening for GE. I was surprised it would be open in November.

The short answer to OP's question is: No one knows.

If money allows we may hop over for one last trip on our APs for Mardi Gras next year. If not, fine. I honestly want to see how things go and wait it out until the Epcot projects are complete.

We might do Disneyland in 2021. I have no idea.

I think WDW will be very busy from fall of 2019 through 2022.
 
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