We’re considering a trip to WDW next year. (Despite having gone this year with no intention of returning for a long time… MIL and I are persuading DH that it would be fun for the kids to go again next year, before they’re in grade school and it’s harder to pull them from the classroom. Really, it’s for the kids. Nothing to do with how much I want to ride FOP again ) We’re still figuring out when we’d go, but April 27 to May 5, 2019 seems likely.
My kids love to watch the old Mickey shorts, so I think they’d really like the upcoming Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway ride. Rumor seems to have it that May 1 is a likely opening date. However, we all know how these kids of construction projects tend to go late.
I was tentatively thinking of doing DHS on Sunday April 28 to take advantage of the likely am EMH then and the (oddly enough) relatively low crowds predicted. Now I’m not so sure. It would be awesome to ride the new railway ride. Then again, a new ride opening could make the whole DHS park crazy busy.
Would you do DHS later in the week in case the railway ride did indeed open?
Would you actively try to avoid DHS on the first days that a new ride is open?
I really love the EMH and would hate to miss them. Any thoughts on how likely WDW is to add more am EMH in April/May?
Hard to say. The ride concept doesn’t really interest me terribly (okay, I’ll admit it, I’m still lamenting the loss of the Great Movie Ride!), so I’m not terribly inclined to go out of my way to ride it. But, with kids at their ages, I probably would have a different story to tell. Are you going to do Park Hoppers? If so, one option would be to stick to your original plan, but if the ride opens, maybe sneak in a rope drop to DHS to ride it, then head over to whatever park you would otherwise do that day.
I don’t think its going to be a ride that draws crowds in. People are still going to hit TSL or ToT and RR first. There will definitely be interest, but I wouldn’t foresee anything like FOP rope drops.
I really have no intest in TSL. I will try to go in both new attractions over the next year just because I like to try everything once. I am looking forward to trying to get on Runaway Train next August. Hopefully it will be up and running.
Based on things I have been reading on other forums, I would NOT expect MMRR to be open in Apr/May; late Summer or early Fall seems to be the “consensus guess”. NO ONE really “knows” when it will open…
I think crowds, in general, are going to be hard to predict for Fall/Winter 2019 because of the “SWGE effect”. Will people push their plans later so they can see SWGE? Will people slide their trips earlier because they don’t want to be anywhere near DHS because of the anticipated crowds it will bring? Some of each? One thing is for sure, once SWGE opens, DHS will be packed, every day, for months. The park already has ride capacity problems, and the thousands of people flocking to see SWGE will “spill over” into the rest of the park. Any FPP in the park will be difficult to get and ADRs will “sell out” faster than ever. I hate to even consider what SB lines will be for non-SWGE rides…
On other forums it is assumed that initially there will be up-charge “previews” before it opens to the masses. There are rumors that they might keep entry into SWGE in a “by advanced reservation only” status for some time. This would (a) keep the crowds in SWGE somewhat manageable and (b) discourage people without reservations from creating huge lines/mobs. If it’s “first come, first in”, I predict people will be lining up outside of the park at 3:00 or 4:00 AM just to get in and multi-hour lines to get into SWGE most of the day. Once in SWGE, SB lines will probably be 4 hours (or more) for the two rides, and FPPs will be gone within minutes of the 60+10 dates. It wouldn’t surprise me if DHS had daily capacity closures every day - early in the day, at that.
I will be going the 1st or 2nd week of December (for reasons completely unrelated to SWGE) and have no idea how I might plan for the trip; a lot will depend on how they handle the opening roll-out…
This is a definite concern I have about our 2020 trip. Even though it will be a full year after it opens (presumably), I doubt it will have died down much. We might end up deciding to skip DHS entirely for that trip, as much as I hate to (since I’m a Star Wars fan-boy at heart). I’m really curious to see how it all plays out.
I’ve also wondered if it will bring larger crowds to the other parks as well. One might argue it will bring in NEW crowds (or in the very least, crowds of those who wouldn’t otherwise come) to the parks. On the other hand, one might suggest that it won’t really change the total number of people who are coming to the parks TOO much, but will shift the crowds more to DHS than was previously experienced, which might make the crowds in the other parks slightly better.
I’m considering this as well, although I would really like to see TSL and the MMRR. I’ll have 5 park days; I’m planning a full day at each park and the 5th would be my “SWGE” day - unless I decided that it just wasn’t worth it, in which case I’d split it between AK and EP. Although I am typically “morally against” up-charge events, if I could get one for SWGE I would probably make an exception (an as I will be solo this trip, the cost might be more tolerable)
On the other hand… IF there are reservations, that should keep crowds lower and if there are 4 hour waits to get into SWGE, then there might not me as many people in SB lines for other attractions…
In either case, I shall not be there in 2019 or, probably, 2020.
) We’re still figuring out when we’d go, but April 27 to May 5, 2019 seems likely.