Low crowds at Disneyland...change expectations for WDW opening?

SarahD112

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
I would prepare for DHS to be very crazy... I think the other parks will be about the same as usual or a little lighter. Remember that Disneyland has tons of capacity. The equivalent for here would be if they put Galaxy's Edge in the Magic Kingdom and Magic Kingdom had 25% more rides. Also Disneyland is very much a locals park and many guests visit spur of the moment or weekly assuming their AP isnt blacked out. At WDW people plan for months ahead of time to take vacations. DHS has measly ride capacity only 8 rides and 6 shows. Even a 20-30% increase in crowds will make DHS feel unbearable. My advice, spend a little more and get a park hopper if you chose to visit GE or DHS or avoid DHS in favor of the other parks. The last few years DHS is the park people chose the least often after the other 3... That will surely change.
 


Also, I think there are more crowds at DLR now with the holiday week. I guess we'll see if this continues. If hotel bookings are down at WDW, like they said on the DIS Unplugged last week, then WDW could be better than some of us are assuming. However, like others have said, DHS doesn't have a lot of attractions and can get packed pretty easily.
 
Just thought i'd mention - It was our 60 days out fastpass day on Saturday (6th) for our upcoming trip in September. We had absolutely no issues getting fastpasses for any ride on any day. This includes FOP, SDD and 7DMT. Could that be an indication that crowds will be lower?

Edit - Just to compare, we went in Sept 17 and struggled with a couple. We got them in the end but only through checking each day before our trip and some same day refreshing!
 


I agree with everyone saying you really can't compare WDW to DLR and the AP blackouts must be impacting things

That said, there are still fewer people in DLR than I was expecting even knowing all the blackouts and reservation periods and one ride open only, etc. so it is at least making me wonder if WDW might not be as bad as we originally thought

Not saying it won't be more crowded than DLR is now, just that I originally thought it would be super duper crowded for months at WDW after it opens and maybe it won't be quite that bad
 
I agree with everyone saying you really can't compare WDW to DLR and the AP blackouts must be impacting things

That said, there are still fewer people in DLR than I was expecting even knowing all the blackouts and reservation periods and one ride open only, etc. so it is at least making me wonder if WDW might not be as bad as we originally thought

Not saying it won't be more crowded than DLR is now, just that I originally thought it would be super duper crowded for months at WDW after it opens and maybe it won't be quite that bad

Right and Im hoping some of that spills over to WDW as well.
 
Based on how easy my FP 60-days-out reservations were to make this morning (the easiest I've ever had) I'm now feeling extremely optimistic for low crowds resort wide, and manageable crowds at HS itself. Glad I kept our reservation intact.
 
Me as well. Got FOP, Slinkey Dog, 7 Dwarves, and Frozen for each day I'm at those parks. The first three days I got later in the afternoon 7DMT, FOP, and then SDD, and wasn't able to move them earlier in the day, but the rest of the trip I even got those in the morning. This is crazy! Last year when we went, we were only able to get FOP once. The worst is just the new tiers at HS where you can't pick TOT with any of the rides in TSL.
 
Not to rain on everyone's "60 day out FP selections" parade, but don't count out local AP holders and those staying off property as a huge boost to crowd levels. These are the type of groups that probably won't be focused on FP reservations especially if they're only going for SWGE.
 
Not to rain on everyone's "60 day out FP selections" parade, but don't count out local AP holders and those staying off property as a huge boost to crowd levels. These are the type of groups that probably won't be focused on FP reservations especially if they're only going for SWGE.
Oh yeah, that's definately a factor, I was just worried I wouldn't be able to get anything I wanted, so I'm pleasantly surprised. Honestly I don't care if SWGE is super crowded as long as the rest of my trip is tolerable. I can always go for 6AM one day of the trip to hit up Smugglers Run and maybe build a light saber.
 
Not to rain on everyone's "60 day out FP selections" parade, but don't count out local AP holders and those staying off property as a huge boost to crowd levels. These are the type of groups that probably won't be focused on FP reservations especially if they're only going for SWGE.

Right...my comment was less about the crowds specifically at SWGE and more about WDW overall. There's been lots of speculation that WDW will be a mad house everywhere and I'm starting to become more and more convinced that not only will that not be the case, but crowds will likely be just slightly higher than historical crowds that time of year.

I'll be happy to simply pop into SWGE, check it out for a bit and then pop back out. Not counting on even riding Smuggler's Run, although we might aim to get in line right at park closing one night.
 
Plus WDW has over 35,000 rooms and Disneyland had about 3000, onsite 0 comparison I know but there will be a potential of 10K plus more people in WDW and HS just with property guests......Those numbers alone freak me out, @ my 60+ window HS had crap as far as FP+, was able to SDD but @8PM so my FP+ is locked for the day, this is on SWGE opening day on Aug 29, just hanging on to see what the crowds will be like. I am hoping for the EEMH to cut some of the wait as HS is open from 6am -10pm that day.....
 
I did my 60 day FP this morning. I also got SDD, FOP, and 7DMT for each day I was in each of those parks. I even got morning times for several of them. I am fairly hopeful given this. I did end up dropping one of my 7DMT because my first day it was late afternoon and I switched it for a morning BTMRR, but it was there for a party of 6 and was what I snagged initially.
 
<puts on flame ultra-flame resistant Mickey ears>

I may be jumping the gun here, but I'd adjust expectations based on what we are seeing in DL. SR is being described as "not an E ticket" by the critics. beyond that you have a cantina that is hard to get into and expensive when you do get in, a $200 light saber experience, and a $100 droid experience. Not saying you won't find a crowd that will spend a whole day doing just those things, but, again, looking at DL, that's not going to be the majority. In fact, I believe VERY FEW people will be in SWGE any longer than to gauge the length of the SR line and take a few selfies. Most people just aren't into Star Wars enough to spend the time and money on the other "attractions".

Rides like Jungle Cruise, TSMM and even Soarin attract longer lines @ WDW than they do at DL and DCA - I get that. Maybe SWGE does too - I kindof doubt it. Families visit WDW more than DL and FAMILIES can't afford what SWGE is offering...by and large. Sorry, but I'm calling SWGE a bust until ROTR also opens.
 
I was very hopeful with my FP booking success and the room availability that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. And maybe the rest of the parks won't be. But DHS and DSL is not the same park or destination, no comparison.

I've been telling myself that we will get to the gates at 4:30 for the 6AM opening and all will be good. Now I'm wondering what I'm going to to do if we get to the gates and there are already 1000 people in front of us. I know that a lot will depend on how Disney does lines/VQ/and crowd control.

Sitting here in my A/C I'm all ready to wait as long as it takes to see SWGE. Under the blazing sun, in the unforgiving heat-well I'm just not sure how this middle aged couch potato is going to hold up. After watching some videos yesterday of folks waiting 6-10 hours for the new Harry Potter ride, no way am I going to allow myself to think that the crowds are going to be anything but MASSIVE at SWGE opening week.
 

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