Why Are Star Wars Land Crowds So Low?
It’s been almost a month since Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened, and we’re back with crowd observations and predictions for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. We’ll talk about the phenomenon of low attendance and wait times in California, whether that trend is likely to continue, and how likely it is to repeat itself in Florida. (Updated June 26, 2019.)
We’ll start with Disneyland, since that version of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the one is now open. As noted in our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Opening Weekend Recap, we couldn’t have been more wrong in our crowds prediction for Disneyland. We were shocked by just how quiet the parks were. In fact, Disneyland was busier the days leading up to the debut than it has been in the weeks after.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has now been open for almost a full month, and crowds have yet to pick up. Many people, us included, expected a boost once the reservation system ended and open access began. Now that we’ve seen a few days of that, it’s pretty clear that is not going to be the case, at least not on weekdays…
To their credit, some people did see this coming. We had a handful of readers who were skeptical that crowds would materialize as predicted. One likened it to Los Angeles during the 1984 Olympics, which was quiet because many locals left town after weeks of apocalyptic traffic predictions.
Our response to that small minority of you would be: lucky guess. Clearly, Disneyland being a veritable ghost town is not what Disney management was predicting. On the first day of the boarding pass/virtual queue system, Disneyland actually had temporary turnstiles ready to go (these never were even remotely necessary).
Enough Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening day park maps were printed that they were available for over a week, same with merchandise for the debut. Every single bag-check station was fully staffed, ditto Mickey & Friends parking structure toll booths. Speaking of parking, Mickey & Friends opened unnecessarily early for a while, and other precautions were taken.
The fears were not unfounded. This is the height of the summer tourism season for Southern California, and when Star Wars Land debuted, most Annual Passes were not blocked out, Grad Nite was scheduled, and a huge travel conference was being held at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Plus, Disneyland locals usually turn out in full force for the debut of anything, especially big-budget additions with limited edition merchandise. All of the these variables form the objective basis for what would typically be a crowded day at Disneyland.
Now as the virtual queue and boarding group system are in use and July approaches, Annual Passholders are blocked out, Grad Nites are over. There are still no crowds. This is the least busy we’ve seen Disneyland since the 60th Anniversary, and that includes during the doldrums of January and February.
Regardless of the great PR and very strong word-of-mouth buzz generated by the excellent guest experience during the last week, it’s tough to say that Disneyland experiencing low crowds was the plan all along. First, there’s all of the above as Exhibit A. Disney management was obviously concerned that locals would turn out in full force for the unveiling of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, overwhelming park and resort infrastructure.
Second, there’s the motivation for moving forward the opening dates of Star Wars Land in the first place, which was to buoy attendance projections and hotel occupancy. As a reminder, the opening date was not changed because everything was ahead of schedule (see Rise of the Resistance). It was moved because numbers were looking soft for the summer and fall at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, respectively.
Accordingly, it would make little sense for Disney to move forward the opening dates to help with numbers…only to create a system that discouraged attendance to the point that it hurt numbers. That’s impossible to reconcile.
The only plausible scenario is that Disneyland wanted to discourage overcrowding and making negative headlines on the local news, but never expected turnout to be this low. Quite simply, they overcompensated. That, plus online fear-mongering on social media and blogs like this one, scared people away. (There’s also the subplot of Burbank leadership’s goals versus Anaheim leadership’s goals, but that’s another story for another day.)
A lot of readers have remarked that they are contemplating a quick weekend trip to Disneyland to experience these low crowds. When this post was first drafted, we cautioned against that. We pointed out that Disneyland has a huge base of Annual Passholders and other locals living in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. Just as easily as they avoided Star Wars Land’s opening for fear of crowds, they could adjust their plans and start visiting as social media reports show Disneyland as a ghost town.
However, that has not happened–at least not yet. By midday yesterday, the virtual queue and boarding passes weren’t needed at all, and Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run had a ~30 minute wait for much of the day. This weekend (June 28-30, 2019) will be another test, and we’d expect a bump in crowds. Weekdays are another story entirely.
If you’re thinking that maybe the rest of the park was worse…you’d be wrong. Above is a screenshot at that same time when Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run had a 30 minute wait. The longest wait in the entire park was Hyperspace Mountain (just out of the frame to the right), which had a 35 minute wait.
At this point, it seems unlikely that summer weekdays will suddenly become crowded. Contrary to popular belief, summer weekdays are predominantly tourists (due to a mix of AP blockouts and it being California’s peak visitor season) and this demographic mostly cannot change their vacation plans at the last minute. Anaheim hotel occupancy is down year over year for June through mid-August, and we expect that to mostly remain the case.
With all of that said, continuing low crowds still are not a sure thing. Disneyland could take the bold step of lifting Annual Passholder blockouts. This has already happened with Cast Members, who quickly had their summer blockouts through September lifted in an effort to boost attendance.
Likewise, the Disney Flex pass (although still a new offering) could be leveraged to help with numbers. Disneyland could also quickly roll out SoCal ticket specials, as they frequently (and effectively) do in January to boost off-season attendance.
With so many Los Angeles and Orange County residents, this could definitely have a big impact…but we still don’t see it impacting the early mornings. For the most part, locals are not going to fight rush hour traffic to get to Disneyland early. They’ll show up at noon or, more likely, around 6 p.m. Remember, LA is the same place that’s notorious for Dodger Stadium being half empty (even during the playoffs!) until the third inning because fans don’t want to fight traffic.
The result of this has been the first couple hours of the day at Disneyland being pure bliss for the past week. Save for Peter Pan’s Flight, every Fantasyland dark ride has been a walk-on for at least the first hour of the day. Fantasyland wait times are driven by families, so this is one trend we anticipate being fairly sustained. (We cover some new Fantasyland strategy here.)
At this point, if we hadn’t already spent a couple of weeks at Disneyland to see Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in June, we’d absolutely be booking a last-minute trip for July. Even if more blockouts are lifted, we think it’s worth rolling the dice. Seeing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge with low crowds, nice weather, low humidity, and no storm season is worth the potential gamble.
If you are thinking of doing that, the good news is that Disneyland is offering some (rare) summer ticket specials. Likewise, many hotels within walking distance are offering deals (except weekends when there are events at the Anaheim Convention Center), including ‘free night’ offers. (See which ones we recommend in our Disneyland Area Hotel Rankings & Reviews.)
As for what Galaxy’s Edge crowds at Disneyland thus far mean for Walt Disney World, it’s still difficult to draw any strong conclusions. There are just so many differences between Disneyland and Walt Disney World, especially between Disneyland (park) and DHS. With that said, one big parallel that does exist is in terms of the potential attitude of tourists towards the large crowds that are/were projected.
You might recall from our 2019 Walt Disney World Crowd Predictions Post-Star Wars Land (posted back in April) that we think September will be the best month to visit Walt Disney World from the time Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens through the end of the year. This remains our position; if anything, the experience at Disneyland has further solidified our perspective on this.
As noted, hotel occupancy among the Good Neighbor/Harbor Boulevard hotels near Disneyland is down year over year. Last we heard, hotel occupancy for Walt Disney World through September was also down. This is why a ‘second wave’ of Free Dining and other discounts were released that ran through late August. (Expect more room-only discounts in the very near future.)
There also has been a chorus of Walt Disney World fans angered by the early opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. While we’ve had literally hundreds of comments to this effect on various blog posts, we largely wrote it off as selection bias (readers of this blog are more likely to be planners who are averse to crowds), and the reality that people who are displeased about something are more likely to be vocal than those who are pleased.
September is historically the least-busy month of the year at Walt Disney World. This is because it’s storm season and right after school goes back into session–two things that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge won’t change. On top of that, a lot of people are clearly worried about crowds at Walt Disney World in the immediate aftermath of the land’s opening. A historically slow month coupled with some people intentionally avoiding what they anticipate being a busy time could create a favorable window.
Now, this is not to say that we’re suddenly expecting opening weekend of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World to be a ghost town on par with Disneyland. The hammering home of ‘reservations required‘ and all of the protocol about accessing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is probably the biggest factor in spooking guests away from visiting Disneyland this summer.
As much as so many planners hate the fact that Walt Disney World has released scant details about how it’ll handle crowds on opening day and thereafter, this might actually be beneficial (to Disney, not to you). Announcing so many crowd control measures sends a message that heavy crowds are anticipated, and scares people away. Saying nothing at all about crowds certainly worries super fans about a “crowdpocalypse” situation, but there are fewer of us.
With all of that said, there’s still the real possibility that Disney’s Hollywood Studios will do enough to mitigate fears of opening day chaos. There’s also the possibility that enough guests who booked ‘calm before the storm’ vacations will have canceled. Or locals will stay home, fearful of crowds in a new land that “isn’t going anywhere.” Finally, tourists postponing trips to “wait out the crowds” is a very real phenomenon, and will undoubtedly happen to some extent here.
All of this is why we’re fairly confident in saying that, relative to other months in late 2019 and early 2020, September won’t be that bad. Note that this is not the same as saying “it’ll be uncrowded or dead!” This is a comparison to other months of the year–September could still be a 9/10 in terms of crowds (I really doubt it’ll be that bad–my guess is around 4/10 from the second week of September on), but if October through December are 10/10, our prediction is vindicated.
We already know that hotel occupancy is high for December 2019 (and has been for a while). November, January, and February are shaping up similarly, which suggests that people think those months will be a sufficient amount of time to “wait out” the Star Wars crowds. (They’re wrong.)
Mid-September through early October are likely to be busier than normal, but we still think they are unlikely to be chaotic. (At least after opening weekend of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge–we make no predictions as far as that is concerned.) Before relying on any of our predictions, just remember: we got it really wrong for Disneyland. 😉
Finally, there’s been a lot of discussion about what Walt Disney World can do to ensure its debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge goes as well as Disneyland’s. Many commenters have pointed to the reservation system, specifically the guaranteed entry for hotel guests. One thing worth noting here is that Disneyland Resort has under 3,000 hotel rooms, whereas Walt Disney World has over 30,000.
In other words, Walt Disney World has too many hotel rooms to guarantee Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge entry to every single resort guest. To compound matters, Disney’s Hollywood Studios arguably doesn’t have enough capacity outside of Star Wars Land to use a virtual queue; where will all those guests go while waiting to enter Galaxy’s Edge? (With exponentially more attractions to soak up crowds, Disneyland doesn’t have this problem.)
With that in mind, we feel the most reasonable solution is utilizing the existing FastPass+ infrastructure to open advance reservations for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The system could be handled exactly like FastPass+ for attractions, except with entrance to the land itself. Have a 60 day window for resort guests, and 30 day window for off-site guests.
Obviously, land entry FastPass+ would ‘sell out’ quickly–probably before off-site guests would have their window open. However, this would generally be an equitable solution for on-site guests (and in reality, Walt Disney World primarily cares about its hotel guests most, anyway). It would fulfill the goal of encouraging on-site hotel bookings, which would be another win for WDW.
It would also discourage people from visiting and over-crowding Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As we covered in our Huge Hollywood Studios FastPass+ Changes post, there are serious concerns about the park’s ability to absorb crowds and distribute attendance. These problems are unique to DHS, which has the fewest attractions of any Disney theme park (as compared to Disneyland, which has the most).
Moreover, Walt Disney World management could monitor attendance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and add same-day land FastPasses to the real time inventory if crowds didn’t materialize as expected. This is something Disneyland could not do with its system; instead they’ve been emailing people with existing reservations that are not full and allowing them to add more guests to their reservation (something that they previously warned would not be allowed).
We’ll end this by reiterating that our predictions and analysis should be taken with a grain of salt. We totally misjudged the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, so it’s not like our recent track record on this matter should inspire a lot of confidence. We’ll also say that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is unlike anything you’ve ever seen–a true Space Morocco that can be appreciated by all Disney fans irrespective of interest in Star Wars. If you have the chance to experience it this fall, you should absolutely take advantage, even if that means getting up at the crack of dawn for Extra, Extra Magic Hours. If ever something at Walt Disney World were worth getting up super early on vacation, this is that thing.
If you’re planning on visiting the new land, you’ll also want to read our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Guide. This covers a range of topics from basics about the land and its location, to strategically choosing a hotel for your stay, recommended strategy for the land, and how early to arrive to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to beat the crowds. It’s a good primer for this huge addition.
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, tips for booking a hotel (off-site or on-site), where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our predictions regarding future Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge crowds at Disneyland and Walt Disney World? Think it’ll be better or worse than we’re expecting? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Just commenting to say thanks as always for the great content, from every perspective – also, is it weird if someone nerded out seeing your cameos in the TouringPlans ridethrough video? Asking for a friend.
Any predictions on what the 4th of July will look like at DLR? The availability of hotel rooms is shocking and makes me wonder if there will be a good opportunity for the parks to be less full than normal for the time of year. My wife and I live in the Bay Area and have though about driving down but the whole reservation period ending on 6/24 gives us pause on what it will actually be like.
Tom,
We are going to WDW at the end of August and staying off-site. Will I be able to get tickets to Disney Hollywood Studio’s Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge?
Hi! I’m wondering what you think the crowds will be like in the other parks the week of Sept. 2-7th? We are avoiding HS the entire trip and spending our 5 park days park hopping between the other 3 parks. Do you expect huge crowds in those parks as well? Your articles have helped me to plan 2 Disney vacations and I’m so grateful!
following
Of course crowds were light during the opening week of SWGE. Disney required reservations to enter the new land right now. The vast majority of guests are waiting until they can enter SWGE unencumbered and without entry rules. The crowds will swell once anyone can roll into SWGE at any time. Likewise, a lot of people may be waiting until Rise of the Resistance is opened before they visit the park again. I know, I’m waiting until then.
We are going to Disney the week of Sept 28th through Oct 5th. We booked before the Star Wars announcement. My concern about crowds has come through how little advanced dining reservations are left at many of the table service restaurants-from Epcot to Disney Springs, Animal Kingdom to Hollywood -when I try to modify (even Sebastian’s) a dinner time there are not many if any selections left. This was not my experience when we went two years ago in late April/early May. This has me concerned crowds will be high -is this a valid concern?
I have went that exact week 2 different years and there are few dining reservations then, too. And you are way closer than 189 days.
We have a trip booked for December and dining opened today and I couldn’t get a lot of what I wanted at 5 am. People book multiple and then cancel closer to once plans are finalized more.
I was at WDW the last week of Sept in 2017 and it was the least crowded of any time I’ve been. I’ve been in early May the last 2 years and it was noticeably more crowded in May both times. I would guess the dining reservations are hard to come by because of guests who received free dining promotion for that time of year (as long as they arrive before Sept 30). Guests receiving free dining are much more likely to make ADRs. Free dining is not available (or very limited) in April/May. Again, just a guess-I’m no expert.
How do think things shape up longer term at DLR? Meaning next year? I know Disney also introduced the Flex pass so they are clearly trying to boost attendance on some of their current blockout days for pass holders. What do you think the new normal looks like come next Summer?
Hi Tom,
We are hoping to visit GE in 2 weeks. I have been quickly skimming some of your articles trying to avoid spoilers but trying to find info about what we should be doing to plan. We have an 8 am reservation for Friday June 21. My spouse groaned when I told him it opened at 6 am to get the wristbands because we are crossing a couple time zones.
Is there a way for you to provide a spoiler free planning section?
Thanks!
-No need to get to the park before 7, check-in and wristband distribution has been going very smoothly.
-If you want to build your own lightsaber, then your first stop after entering the land should be Savi’s to get a time slot.
-If you want to visit the cantina, then that should be your next stop (or first, if you skip Savi’s) to get a time slot.
-Then hang out and explore and enjoy the land. The Smugglers Run line will be longest at the beginning of your time slot, but will die down significantly before long.
-While your reservation is 8-12, know that the next one is 11-3. That is, the land will suddenly get much more crowded (and the Smugglers Run line will get really long again) at 11am, so plan accordingly.
Thank you!! That is awesome info-especially the start of the next reservation period overlapping! I had assumed next group started at noon so that is invaluable to know that!
Any info about if you are eating or in the cantina when your time expires are they pushing people out?
Thanks again!
Concur almost 100%. We had the 8-12 spot Wednesday and actually walked into GE 15 min. late (the launch bay where you get your band is not close to the actual park, it is in Tomorrowland — head that way first). Even with that detour, we still just breezed in with very little crowd. I would only get there at 7 if you don’t want to wait in line at Oga’s Cantina, that was the only thing with a sizable line and when I say sizable it was nothing compared to other Disney attraction lines.
I like the idea of introducing GE attendance windows into FP+ for the opening at WDW, but there might be one thing that would prevent management from going that route. If they do restrict GE entrance to those who snag FP+, than anyone who has resort reservations and does NOT manage to snag one of these, is much more likely to dump their resort reservation. I think management might be spooked by the prospect of folks dropping their resort reservations if they don’t get a golden ticket.
We’re Tampa Bay area locals who are viewing the opening in this way. We like to stay on property and do 2-3 day trips and made reservations for Aug 28-30 when the opening was announced. I did this on speculation that resort reservation would increase likelihood of getting in without undue duress. We’ve been discussing it, and neither of us like the idea of being in the giant fustercluck that would be involved with a no reservation, no limited entry, first ones in the gate till capacity is reached opening. If there is no limited entry, or if there is limited entry and we don’t snag a piece of the pie, we’ll likely drop our resort reservations like a hot potato. The question at that point is, do those such as ourselves represent a significant or miniscule proportion of the WDW guest demographic for GE opening? If we had that kind of knowledge, we could probably get hired by WDW for 7 figures tomorrow…
This is definitely a fair point.
It’s also very well possible that Walt Disney World management has thought about all of this and observed what happened with Disneyland, and decided on a “less is better” approach both in terms of information and access. At least, better from their perspective.
Anything they do at this point is bound to scare off some faction of guests, especially if it’s prominently advertised on DisneyWorld.com (as was the case with Disneyland’s reservations system). Right now, only well-informed guests know about what WDW is or is not doing and are freaking out about it. Perhaps it’s a “wise” strategy to withhold some information. (Again, from Disney’s perspective.)
Hi Tom.
What are your thoughts on the week before SWGE opens at WDW? We will be there 8/21-24. Hoping it is dead but it never seems to happen for us no matter when we travel.
Thanks as always for your insights.
Do you think that WDW will release additional hotel incentives for Sept. to boost attendance?
I think you’ll end up seeing a lot of hotels on Priceline for September, but I wouldn’t expect more deals directly from Disney at this point.
Hey Tom! Great article. Your site has been essential to us thru several visits to different Disney parks. I am chiming in as someone who experienced the low crowds this week. We had GE reservations on Wednesday 8-12. Walked from a Good Neighbor hotel to avoid (what turned out to be nonexistent) traffic and arrived at 8am — no camping out early. Walked right into the park with no ticket/security lines — it was deserted. I have to tell you as a longtime fan, I have never seen a Disney park that empty, it was surreal. Galaxy’s Edge was similarly empty. Our wait for Smuggler’s Run was about 30 min. but that is because everyone rushed there and to Oga’s Cantina. For most of our reservation time, it was 15 min. Lines for the Disney photographers — none. Lines for blue milk (gotta do it) — none. It. Was. Wonderful. Like you, we did not expect that at all. In fact, it was Disneyland Paris-level crowds — glorious — until noon which is when it became teenager central. We were able to get MaxPasses for every top-tier ride — how often can you say that? We walked right onto Hyperspace Mountain. What? Afternoon to evening was a little more hairy but still not at a Disney World (read: bonkers) level crowd. I honestly don’t know how we got so lucky. Anyone headed to Disneyland soon — be there when the gates open at 8. Temperature is cool. Park is empty. It’s fantastic. My regret: Not staying longer in Galaxy’s Edge and riding Smuggler’s Run multiple times. And one last thing — MaxPass with photo pass? Love it. Must get it. Having ride photos show up automatically on the app — for no extra charge — was priceless. Keep up the super work, love your website!
Glad to hear you had a great time!
One thing we did (to great success) this week was rope dropping Disneyland, sticking around for a couple hours, and then bouncing for the middle of the day before returning at night–by which time, all of the Grad Nite kids were over at DCA. During the middle of the day, we spent time in Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, and Pasadena. It was perfect!
That was definitely savvy. I did wonder if it would have been a better plan to go two half days and enjoy the low crowds in the mornings instead of one full day. Our legs were about to fall off by that evening!
What do you guys think for the week that it actually opens in Florida? We did a trip two years ago, and crowd level was awesome last week of August with southern state schools back in session. Pounced on the same window when they did the early free dining this year. Have been planning on cancelling since the Star Wars opening dates were announced but held off. The posts on CA opening have given some hope, and maybe we won’t cancel. Crowd tracker websites have gone from green levels to yellow levels with 10/10 labor day weekend which is when we depart. I’m really hoping they can implement something similar to what you’ve experiences at Disneyland. The opportunity to be there opening day, fell in our lap basically, I would have never planned this in a million years. The opening date happens to be a day we were planning a “pool day” so we have no reservations for anything, and could conceivably go to just stand on line til we get in.
So last week in August? what does your gut say?
“So last week in August? what does your gut say?”
I’d expect it to be mostly the same as normal. So much of the crowd patterns this time of year are dictated by school schedules, and those are not changing.
Basically, for that week to get noticeably worse, there would have to be a large influx of guests arriving in advance, specifically for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There are a lot of dedicated Star Wars fans, but you also have to keep in mind that the most diehard of that group will visit Disneyland’s as close to opening as they can, or will hold off until Rise of the Resistance is open.
Then again, my ‘gut’ was completely wrong about Disneyland crowds for opening weekend, so what do I know?
more than me, I’m just a guy that doesn’t mind the heat and hates crowds. I saw photos from my neighbors trip during spring break the same year and almost had a panic attack. Last week of August was very very nice!
Thanks for the reply
Extra, extra magic hours will be extended through at least the first week of December (when we’ll be there)…Jedi mind trick.
I will and am delighted to practice my mental flexibility and resilience to bring my family to experience Galaxy’s Edge and large crowds of co-travelers… Also Jedi mind trick.
Cancelling or changing our plans is not an option.
“I will and am delighted to practice my mental flexibility and resilience to bring my family to experience Galaxy’s Edge and large crowds of co-travelers… Also Jedi mind trick. ”
Ha. I’m going to practice this Jedi mind trick too. I need a different one to make crowds on Aug 29th be sane (or at least manageable with my mental flexibility and resilience.)
My only concern is that we don’t know how hotel reservations are doing for September 2019 (do we?). But if dining reservations are any indicator… those seem to be running pretty tight! Do you think that’s a good proxy?
Not really. Free Dining was offered for September, and that drives ADRs more than anything else. The same happened last September, and the parks were (mostly) dead.
Got it. Thanks for the insights Tom – fingers crossed!
after they announced EEMH, i was still able to move around several of my ADRs, including within HS. i was surprised that many were still available.
From my perspective anyways Disney is stressing and exhausting their guests about GE. Opening it months earlier than expected, EEMH which many aren’t happy about because most don’t want to get up at 3am on vacation, HS fast pass changes, and just the general worry of what crowds will be like.
I’m super happy that Disneyland has been a ghost town this past week. They built a too small land for a super popular IP and opening it half done.
You are so right. They are stressing guests out. Higher prices, confusing strategies on which rides you will get to go on and when, too many special ticket events and the place is turning into one huge construction zone. So even though we severly need a vacation, a staycation looks awesome to me with short daytrips as the primary means to “get away”. I’m disabled and its very hard for me to travel in the first place, but with all this, it’s also emotionally, financially and logistically overwhelming anymore. And for anyone thinking, “You just need a travel agent.”, unless they can get Bob Iger to drop prices then no, I really don’t. *sigh*
I really hope someone at WDW reads your blog and sees your idea for a FP+ type system for reserving SWGE. Brilliant and sensible. Thank you, btw for all your research for your groupies 😉
Any thoughts/guesses about the EEMH getting extended through the end of the year?
I get the incentive stuff, but if the reality is more people have booked late fall through December it doesn’t seem prudent to get rid of the extra operating hours as the resort gets busier…
My hope and expectation is that EEMH is extended given the bookings in November and December.
My fear is that it won’t be popular enough in September and October, and Disney will use that justification as the reason to not extend…overlooking the reality that November and December have higher occupancy rates. (In the latter scenario, I could see a last minute scramble to extend park hours instead.)
Thank you!
I hope you are right…
question…do you know how the DAS system will work in Star Wars Land?
My assumption is that it’ll work the same as anywhere else, but Disney has not released specifics. It should be pretty easy to implement on Smugglers Run. (I know it’s in place at Disneyland because I saw it in action, but I have no firsthand experience–sorry!)
“Accordingly, it would make little sense for Disney to move forward the opening dates to help with numbers…only to create a system that discouraged attendance to the point that it hurt numbers. That’s impossible to reconcile. The only plausible scenario is that Disneyland wanted to discourage overcrowding and making negative headlines on the local news”
^except this is exactly how things are playing out for DHS. between EEMH and the new fastpass nightmare announced, people are ticked off. things are not going well for florida’s SWGE at all. it’s going to be an absolute nightmare. they have no plan, unless you count a stampede and shoehorning in as many people as they can into the park with no real plan to absorb the crowds. ROTR isn’t open yet, MMRR isn’t open yet, and now fastpasses are… whatever you want to call them. it’s not enough. but it’s so clear the people in charge at DHS really don’t care. i guess they don’t want the good PR disneyland is seeing? if they’re going to have a plan, it’s going to have to come in the next couple weeks, otherwise people making FP selection for opening week (fp window is first week of july) are going to be screwed once again (this now comes to about 3x that particular group has been screwed in their vacation plans since this was announced). i am so mad, it makes me want to cry.
The part that’s impossible to reconcile is intentionally moving forward the opening date to boost attendance, only to take such extreme measures to discourage attendance. I’m saying Disneyland didn’t *want* to discourage attendance to the degree they did; it was an overly cautious approach.
To be honest, I don’t think Disney cares as much about negative headlines in Florida. For one, the splashy positive headlines have already been made in California–that’s where the gala opening was; it’s the exact same land in Florida, so there’s unlikely to be as much media coverage when the WDW version opens.
For another, Disneyland is a beloved SoCal institution, albeit one that has had a rocky relationship with Anaheim recently. Disneyland management no doubt wants to do everything possible to maintain and strengthen the local affection for the parks. It’s a totally different dynamic in Florida; negative headlines on the local news are more par for the course (and don’t matter as much).
Well if Disney doesn’t care about their WDW guests now they will lose guests and a recession is coming. Ticking off so many of their fans is a really dumb move. Spending as much as a European vacation at a theme park means we expect a great experience or we will not be back. Feeling more and more like we are paying for a Ferrari but getting a rusted out Hyundai.
“Well if Disney doesn’t care about their WDW guests now they will lose guests and a recession is coming. Ticking off so many of their fans is a really dumb move.”
I totally agree, and have expressed similar sentiment here for years.
Right now, Walt Disney World is relying very heavily on first-time visitors who are mostly ‘one and done’ guests. That’s fine in a booming economy when there’s a surplus of such guests.
What remains to be seen is the damage done with long-time, faithful fans after a few years of guest-unfriendly policies and practices. Will guests who were alienated by price increases, parking fees, erosion of on-site benefits, increase of upcharges, etc. come back with aggressive discounting, or has WDW lost them forever?
i’ll add- disney can, and should, be doing something for resort guests for SWGE and they are simply choosing not to. it’s disney people, they can do just about anything, but i think they are sailing on the “oh there’s nothing we can do due to us being too large” ship, which is garbage. anyone who believes disney simply “can’t” do anything for the expected crowds got duped.
there could be a way to implement reservations for resort guests if they choose. a- not all resorts guests are going to want to see SW, so make it a choice: take advantage of a reservation window, or decline. some people won’t be able to decline fast enough. b- there’s possibility, at least in the beginning, that not all rooms will be filled. offer reservations for the same timeframe disneyland is and you’ll avoid that fall window where things spike up. c- require the reservation choice be made 14 days prior to your trip. if you don’t choose, you lose. this all would make a system work and control at least some of the chaos.
Yeah they are risking a lot by going after one and done guests at the expense of their loyal guests. No matter the economy (and it’s mostly just booming for the wealthy) there’s a limit on the one and done crowd. They will need every guest they can get when the recession hits. This is our first WDW visit and I’m already not sure we will go back because all of this just angers me and feel like Disney just wants to get every penny they can and don’t care if they give you a good experience for the money. We loved being APs at Disneyland several years ago before this big cash grab escalated. Our youngest is 5 and we wanted him to get to see Disney but I’m wondering more and more if we should just cancel and go elsewhere. I’m definitely at the least shortening our 10 days at Disney to 4-6 days. Feeling more and more like I don’t want to give Disney my money.
“i’ll add- disney can, and should, be doing something for resort guests for SWGE and they are simply choosing not to.”
The daily Extra EMHs are absolutely a SWGE perk for Disney’s hotel guests. I know a 6am park opening isn’t particularly exciting or glamorous, but Disney hotel guests are getting 3 hours of access to SWGE every morning for 2 months. You may not like that benefit, and you may not think it’s enough, but you can’t really say that they aren’t “doing something for resort guests for SWGE.”
andy, how many young families with little kids do you know who can get them up and out the hotel door at 4am to make it to a park opening by 6am? be serious. that is a joke and frankly a slap in the face to families with preschoolers who planned a september trip to AVOID SWGE opening at all costs. there’s no one with small kids who can make it for that, so please, don’t act like it’s some big perk. for singles or couples without kids, sure, maybe.
they could absolutely have a better system in place, such as disneyland’s reservation system or something similar, so people don’t HAVE to get up that early and deal with the stress of kids, but they are simply choosing not to offer anything, point blank.
Laura, I have a 5 year old and plan on taking her by myself on Labor Day weekend (my wife doesn’t want to go and my 2 year old is too little to ride anything, so I can’t really take him without another adult). We will be getting up and will be at DHS before 6AM. Just because you don’t want to get up doesn’t mean others don’t. I hate getting up early, but I hate lines and crowds more. I’m not really sure what to tell you other than I really appreciate Disney offering the EEMH’s and will definitely be taking advantage of them, even though I have a preschooler…
whit, where did i say i wouldn’t be attempting to be there at 6am? i didn’t say that, is aid it’s next to impossible with small kids, especially more than 1. i’m saying, if that’s the only “bone” disney is giving, it sucks. it’s not enough. it’s incredibly difficult to do. everyone can just stop trying to put words in my mouth or acting like i’m not right to be upset at all of this mess and having my vacation potentially ruined. we all spend a lot to go on these trips, we deserve more than what they’re offering. if you think EEMH are enough, then fine, you’re entitled to that opinion, but i am also entitled to think it’s not nearly enough and disaster is waiting to happen upon opening.