Another HS after SWGE Opening Question

Hi Everyone!

We will be in Hollywood Studios on September 2nd and are not planning on SWGE (unless we just walk through to see the awesomeness) this trip. I originally had us scheduled to attend the EEMH and to arrive at 6 am but after looking at it and realizing that the shows and meet and greets do not begin until after official park opening, I’m thinking that may not be ideal. We will be there with my DD1.5 so there are not many rides she can go on and we have a FastPass for TSMM which is the priority ride. That being said, I’m considering going to MK in the AM and then hopping to HS after lunch.

With the very little we know on crowds and how this will play out, I would just like to get thoughts and opinions on this!

Thanks in advance!

I like the idea of avoiding SWGE during this time. Remember, all of DHS is going to draw a lot of ppl there that morning. That number will increase as the day goes on. If you think not going to EEMH will help you avoid crowds at DHS later in the day, I’m not sure that’s going to work. If you’re going to DHS just to do TSMM and leave that’s a good plan.

The problem everyone keeps pointing out about HS is that there aren’t a lot of attractions in general, so even if people are there just for SWGE, if they can’t make it into the land due to capacity, or if they hang around before or after they get in, the wait times will spike at every other attraction, show, meet and greet, etc. Presumably some days will be pretty rough just moving around.

But on the other hand … maybe everyone is just overreacting and early September is usually relatively quiet, so maybe the two factors will offset each other and it will be fine. I’d keep your FPP for TSM, watch the crowds on the days just before you arrive, and have a backup plan just in case it’s a zoo.

1 Like

This is going to be a holiday weekend with a brand new land opening at WDW. IMHO - it’s gonna be insane!!

WDW has announced no plan for crowd control - first come, first served…yikes!

I arrive on Sept 2. We plan on going trough the HS gates around 1:00. My DS is a huge SW fan, we are not so much. I made a 6:00 50’s PT ADR. But other than that we will see what we can see.

I forgot Labor Day was that Monday - that could complicate things, especially at HS. But that said, the Crowd Calendar shows a relatively quiet week in the other parks:

I’m all in favor of avoiding DHS entirely this week. I’m not worried about a CL 10. As we know, a good TP can make a CL 10 feel like half that. For me, it the chaos of a new land opening and all the untested logistics that are going to happen those first couple of days.

If this trip was a couple weeks later or if WDW would say anything about how they plan to accommodate in park crowds for SWGE opening weekend I’d be more comfortable with a DHS visit.

1 Like

Fair enough. But I do feel bad for a family who doesn’t get many trips to WDW or who really wants to see SWGE or even just other areas of HS. It may not be an attractive option to skip the whole park. Given my experience attending SWGE at DLR opening weekend with very light crowds, I might be biased, but I think it would be worth scoping things out in the first few days of operation to see if the crowds are materializing. They probably will since this is WDW, but there’s always a chance it could be manageable.

1 Like

I am visiting Sept 2-7, I am hoping for the best, planning for the worse. If my trip is a bust, then it is back to DL next April.

Just a suggestion …

If it were me, with a 1.5 y.o I would (a) skip TSMM, (b) get 3 FP+ for MK in the morning, and © if you want to see a couple shows at DHS and the crowds sound reasonable from a look at the Liner App, then after lunch go to DHS for some shows. A 1.5 y.o can’t really do the games on TSMM so I would choose 3 MK FP rides over TSMM and 2 FP+ for DHS shows.