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

Yep. I'll be there from 9/9-9-16 and hope to see Hollywood Studios and Galaxys Edge once. I figured once ADRs and FP were a breeze that crowds were abysmal. I still don't think this solves their problem as most kids in school at that and most not planning a vacation 2 months out but we shall see

Exactly what I was just thinking.
Plan is, avoid SWGE opening week (week 1 of my trip) so that all the locals have been and the second week it shouldn’t be too awful! Result!
 
They just announced another round of free dining for fall. Obviously they are not liking what they are seeing at all in terms of vacancy. Free dining at opening of Galaxy's Edge, Christmas, and Thanksgiving? Those numbers must be a disaster at this point.

September 1 through September 18, 2019
November 17 through November 27, 2019
December 8 through December 23, 2019
Wonder why I can't see it on the MDE website. Guess I have to call and see?
 
My take on this - and you can color me the optimist - here’s what I think:
ROTR announced for December, people planning their vacation to do SWGE will schedule their time for both rides to be open. WDW is a major outlay for most families and they will go for the best bang (not counting locals of course who will show up right away). Of course some fans are so rabid they won’t be willing to wait - most likely they have already visited SWGE in DL. SWGE at WDW is a duplicate of DL so why would they bother with both. My take: there will be crowds but it won’t be terrible.

I have a good friend who lives in Southern CA. He was very excited about SWGE - scored 4 reservations during the soft opening. He’s pretty much over the place now. His take- it’s about a 2 hour land. People won’t stay and savor the place all day. My strategy - wait till the early arrives get tired and hot and leave, then go in. We will see how that works out. 😁. We are arriving on Sept 14.
 
Really? Talked to many kids lately? With the new movies in the last few years, it is VERY popular for my seven year olds and their friends. Light saber battles almost every day. We are going to WDW for one day this fall solely to do SWGE for them. My sons have been earning and saving chore money like crazy to afford a Savi Workshop lightsaber, which my son has declared is "the only thing in the world he wants."

The kid fandom runs DEEP. It's going to be nuts and I keep praying they will announce some kind of reservation system to make it less insane.

True. Have you told your lads that the lightsabre Workshop is $200 (not sure if that includes taxes) I think that is way too much money for this. I'm not someone always accusing Disney of ripping people off, but, for once I think it is and people are saying the lightsabres they have built don't last long. Just check that out as it'd be a shame for your lads to work so hard to earn the money and this to happen.
 


They just announced another round of free dining for fall. Obviously they are not liking what they are seeing at all in terms of vacancy. Free dining at opening of Galaxy's Edge, Christmas, and Thanksgiving? Those numbers must be a disaster at this point.

September 1 through September 18, 2019
November 17 through November 27, 2019
December 8 through December 23, 2019

THIS, more than anything, told me that things aren't going quite as Disney planned. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I personally think WDW is overreaching (has been for a while) and finally made it past the price-pain-point for the average American visitor.
 
My trip is Aug 30 - Sept 2nd. Last Friday (July 19th) I was able to modify my 7DMT FP for Sat Aug 31st, which means there was still availability for it.

I have a feelings crowds are going to be lower than projected. I have 0 issues getting and changing any of my FP selections for our trip. Shocking for a holiday weekend.
 
My trip is Aug 30 - Sept 2nd. Last Friday (July 19th) I was able to modify my 7DMT FP for Sat Aug 31st, which means there was still availability for it.

I have a feelings crowds are going to be lower than projected. I have 0 issues getting and changing any of my FP selections for our trip. Shocking for a holiday weekend.

Similar trip dates (we’re staying through 9/3). Other than DHS and F&W in WS, I expect MK and AK to be very manageable for crowds.
 


Similar trip dates (we’re staying through 9/3). Other than DHS and F&W in WS, I expect MK and AK to be very manageable for crowds.
Good thing we're spending about half of our time in MK! Hoping to enjoy the low crowds and low-ish wait times.
 
I personally think WDW is overreaching (has been for a while) and finally made it past the price-pain-point for the average American visitor.

Think it is at the too expensive level, but there are still a lot of people out there with money to burn.. all the theme park boards are full of people who only stay deluxe club level and have no hesitation paying $600 for a water park Cabana.

I was skipping Disney this year because even though I could afford it, it has gotten too much with all the greed Disney has shown last few years.
So had no plans for GE anyway.. But really wasn't going to deal with crowds. Even if they are less than predicted, the overpriced offerings do more to keep us away, than want to go.

Disney's timing on the opening is odd being at the end of summer with only the last holiday weekend before the kids go back to school... Think will have to see what happens during Thanksgiving and Christmas to gauge the success/flop of GE.

Be interesting to see if the tipping point had been reached with the other expensive projects they have coming.
 
I personally think WDW is overreaching (has been for a while) and finally made it past the price-pain-point for the average American visitor.
I think you might be right about this - maybe more at DL than at WDW. I think it especially affects the locals - those who cannot afford an annual pass but may take their family to Disneyland for a special family event. They can’t take advantage of multi day passes anymore to manage the cost. So for a family of four to go to DL to celebrate for instance a daughters birthday would cost $1000.00 before buying food or souvenirs. It’s a pretty small segment of the population that could splurge like that. It’s no longer something a family would do as a day trip and that cuts out a huge segment of the population.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top