Let's talk about how the opening of Galaxy's Edge will affect crowds at OTHER parks.

[Cygnus 2112]

Doesn’t F&W opening weekend coincide with SW:GE opening too?

Quite possibly. The F&W dates haven’t been announced yet but if last year is any guide, you are correct.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Quite possibly. The F&W dates haven’t been announced yet but if last year is any guide, you are correct.

I didn’t realize it wasn’t formally announced yet? I just noticed 10pm EP closes that weekend.

 

[Cygnus 2112]

I didn’t realize it wasn’t formally announced yet? I just noticed 10pm EP closes that weekend.

Rumblings say 3/12 they will (may) announce the dates.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I hope so to. I’m hoping they learned from Pandora and TSL.

Uh well TSL is still the running of the bulls every day at RD, so I’m guessing, no?

 

[cebfennell]

A couple weeks ago we booked a trip renting DVC points over Labor Day so we are fully locked in and I must say I was super disappointed when I heard the opening dates. Many thoughts ran through my head...do we keep dvc Rental and just go to universal? Do we use trip insurance and cancel? Do we stay at the hotel the whole time? Basically I’ve decided to ride it out keep our rental and do Disney. Possibilities...
1) maybe a lot die hard fans will go to Disneyland and no Disney world since it opens first and will be available during prime vacation time while kids are out of school.
2) pandora and toy story were crazy and all condensed in Orlando. Now we have 2 SWGE, 1 on each coast to spread the crowd out so maybe the crowds won’t be as bad
3) Star Wars fans aren’t necessarily Disney fans. Maybe some will want to do SWGE and universal and not MK or other Disney parks
4) maybe RotR will open in Disneyland over the summer causing more people to flock there and have both rides available

With all that said it could be a mad house and my wishful thinking could bite me in the ***. We are going with our 4 kids (3 of them are under 8) and are trying to decide if we even want to attempt DHS for toy story land since my 4 year old is obsessed and missed out on slinky dog dash last year. Hoping touring plans has some insight when thy release the updated crowd calendar tomorrow

 

[tcufrog]

We are much bigger fans of SW than we are of princesses or the Mouse. We have been looking forward to the opening of GE and have been waiting to make our next trip WDW until it opens. That being said, we hate crowds so we will wait until it’s clear the buzz around GE has died down some before we plan our next trip to WDW. I also want them to get the kinks worked out there too.

 

[Michelle Carter]

It is only one ride at first but don’t think for a minute that SWGE is just about the 2 rides, it’s so much more. It is going to be a very immersive land and that is what will be drawing the crowds. It’s definitely going to be a lot better theming then TSL and dare I say Pandora. It’s going to be busy.

No I get it’s an immersive land, but what I’m saying is, I heard nothing else will be open or done but that one ride. That’s what I’m trying to figure out is true or not. Bc if that’s the case, I’m not sure it will be too busy. My friends said they will be waiting until the ENTIRE land is open before spending the money but I know there are hardcore fans that can pay to go more than once in 2019 or live in Orlando. So maybe it will be busy! Who knows? I just know I won’t be riding anything in that area more than likely either way. I will probably book a fast pass for the 2-3 rides I wanna ride in HS and then hop over to another park.

 

[Michelle Carter]

We are much bigger fans of SW than we are of princesses or the Mouse. We have been looking forward to the opening of GE and have been waiting to make our next trip WDW until it opens. That being said, we hate crowds so we will wait until it’s clear the buzz around GE has died down some before we plan our next trip to WDW. I also want them to get the kinks worked out there too.

I would imagine you’d want to wait until the entire land and all the rides in that area are open too instead of going for this first phase instead of taking 2 trips? I dunno bc I don’t know how many rides or attractions are in that area. I heard a rumor that it’s not all going to be done, just the one ride. But I haven’t a clue since I’m not a SW’s fan and have no interest in that area.

 

[Michelle Carter]

While I am not buying into the doom and gloom, there was only two rides in the area to begin with so one ride is significant and all the other aspects of the area... theming, restaurants, shops will be ready so you can’t look at it as only a single ride. That being said I still think the impact at other parks will be minimal.

I didn’t know that. I was told it was ONLY that one ride open and nothing else (no restaurants, shops, etc.). But obviously we won’t know anything til it’s open. Maybe everything will be open but the 2nd ride. Hopefully it won’t impact much! I’ll gladly go to a different park if need be.

 

[Dug720]

No I get it’s an immersive land, but what I’m saying is, I heard nothing else will be open or done but that one ride. That’s what I’m trying to figure out is true or not. Bc if that’s the case, I’m not sure it will be too busy. My friends said they will be waiting until the ENTIRE land is open before spending the money but I know there are hardcore fans that can pay to go more than once in 2019 or live in Orlando. So maybe it will be busy! Who knows? I just know I won’t be riding anything in that area more than likely either way. I will probably book a fast pass for the 2-3 rides I wanna ride in HS and then hop over to another park.

I would be shocked if they opened it with only the ride and none of the environmental stuff done. They are not going to have people walking through a construction zone just to open a ride.

 

[Cygnus 2112]

To my knowledge the whole land is ready except for RotR so even without riding the Falcon there’s stuff to see and do. I’m a huge SW guy but I’m not suffering with crowds to see and do things. It just happened that the opening coincides with our August trip. I’d be satisfied if I could just get in and walk around and go to the shops. But after reading stuff here I’m having my doubts lol.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I got to thinking, if SWGE's opening causes only a mild increase in crowds in the parks other than DHS, in a way that is similar or just slightly better than Pandora's opening, then Star Wars's draw isn't near as powerful as is presumed. And Disney might have made an expensive mistake to build two SWGE at the same time, taking business from each other. For my own selfish reasons of not wanting my September trip crowded, I hope so. Then I will have the best of both worlds -- enjoying the opening of SWGE in relative quiet!

 

[BabybetterDisney]

To my knowledge the whole land is ready except for RotR so even without riding the Falcon there’s stuff to see and do. I’m a huge SW guy but I’m not suffering with crowds to see and do things. It just happened that the opening coincides with our August trip. I’d be satisfied if I could just get in and walk around and go to the shops. But after reading stuff here I’m having my doubts lol.

Same here. Star Wars fan but don't like crowds. I am thinking that we might be able to sneaking in there at night when they open late. Won't be able t to go to the shops, though, unless you don't mind waiting in line for hours for it.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I would imagine you’d want to wait until the entire land and all the rides in that area are open too instead of going for this first phase instead of taking 2 trips? I dunno bc I don’t know how many rides or attractions are in that area. I heard a rumor that it’s not all going to be done, just the one ride. But I haven’t a clue since I’m not a SW’s fan and have no interest in that area.

I would think that for a fan, Star Wars Land opening is a huge deal. Doesn't matter if one ride is missing; I'd be sure to be there for the opening, and then again for the missing rides's opening, and then again for my birthday, and then again for my brother-in-law's birthday, and then again for no reason, etc...

 

[BabybetterDisney]

A couple weeks ago we booked a trip renting DVC points over Labor Day so we are fully locked in and I must say I was super disappointed when I heard the opening dates. Many thoughts ran through my head...do we keep dvc Rental and just go to universal? Do we use trip insurance and cancel? Do we stay at the hotel the whole time? Basically I’ve decided to ride it out keep our rental and do Disney. Possibilities...
1) maybe a lot die hard fans will go to Disneyland and no Disney world since it opens first and will be available during prime vacation time while kids are out of school.
2) pandora and toy story were crazy and all condensed in Orlando. Now we have 2 SWGE, 1 on each coast to spread the crowd out so maybe the crowds won’t be as bad
3) Star Wars fans aren’t necessarily Disney fans. Maybe some will want to do SWGE and universal and not MK or other Disney parks
4) maybe RotR will open in Disneyland over the summer causing more people to flock there and have both rides available

With all that said it could be a mad house and my wishful thinking could bite me in the ***. We are going with our 4 kids (3 of them are under 8) and are trying to decide if we even want to attempt DHS for toy story land since my 4 year old is obsessed and missed out on slinky dog dash last year. Hoping touring plans has some insight when thy release the updated crowd calendar tomorrow

I know, right? There are many arguments on both sides but in the end, what is going to happen? Mad house or not? And I don't think touring plans is going to necessarily be dependable this time around. They are basing their calculations on past openings of Pandora and TSL, which does not and cannot acount for the Star Wars fan base.

It seems that most of the Disney pundits think that there will be no mad house. But if they are right, doesn't that mean Disney made a huge mistake building 2 identical, super expensive SWGE when one will suffice? Shouldn't they have spent the money building 2 different ones, so that fans will need to visit both?

In any case, my hope is that they did make this mistake, and we get to enjoy the WDW SWGE in relative quietness. How nice would that be?

 

[cebfennell]

I know, right? There are many arguments on both sides but in the end, what is going to happen? Mad house or not? And I don't think touring plans is going to necessarily be dependable this time around. They are basing their calculations on past openings of Pandora and TSL, which does not and cannot acount for the Star Wars fan base.

It seems that most of the Disney pundits think that there will be no mad house. But if they are right, doesn't that mean Disney made a huge mistake building 2 identical, super expensive SWGE when one will suffice? Shouldn't they have spent the money building 2 different ones, so that fans will need to visit both?

In any case, my hope is that they did make this mistake, and we get to enjoy the WDW SWGE in relative quietness. How nice would that be?

I don’t think they made a a mistake. I am just not convinced all of WDW will be packed. I think a lot of people may go to Disneyland first if they really want to see the land. I think a lot of people will also go to WDW but I also think a lot of people will want to wait until both rides are open. I think Disney has noticed how out of control Pandora is years later and has a much smaller fan base than starwars which is why it would sense to build one on each coast. If there was only one SWGE I can’t even imagine what the crowds would be like.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Touring Plans has begun updating their crowd calendar, and so far after GE's opening, only HS is showing 10's, and not for every day at that. Always sworn by Touring Plans-hope they are correct, but can't believe it won't impact other parks-maybe they are just in the process of updating the calendar and further changes will come.

 

[cebfennell]

It has impacted other parks just not a ton. We are going to WDW for SWGE opening weekend (didn’t hope to be there for that) and it bumped out MK day from a 1 to a 3 and our AK day from a 2 to a 4. Our first choose DHS day went from a 2 to a 10 so we will go with our second choice that went from a 2 to an 8

 

[Cygnus 2112]

Touring Plans has begun updating their crowd calendar, and so far after GE's opening, only HS is showing 10's, and not for every day at that. Always sworn by Touring Plans-hope they are correct, but can't believe it won't impact other parks-maybe they are just in the process of updating the calendar and further changes will come.

Dumb question of the day: how can they project this when it's not even open? They have to estimate how may die hard DSW fans there are etc.

 

[cebfennell]

Dumb question of the day: how can they project this when it's not even open? They have to estimate how may die hard DSW fans there are etc.

I’m guessing just based on past openings and events of other lands and stuff. I’m sure the crowd calendar will change a bunch between now and opening. They will also probably have a better estimate once it opens and Disneyland and if we find out more about how they will handle the crowds and access to SWGE