We were hoping the last week of August would be relatively mellow, seeing as most US kids head back to school in August. Now I’m worried the whole WDW will be packed that week. (Our park days are Aug 26-30).
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Québécoise ? On est pas trop nombreux ici… 
Seeing as it opens only on the 29th, I think (I hope) there is a good chance the impact should not be too strong. Also, I would not expect parents to make their kids miss school so early in the year…
Unfortunately the bottom line is that it’s probably impossible to predict accurately…
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My assumption will be that all bets are off as far as reasons for end of August and beyond having “mellow crowds.” Even if kids are back in school, this is Star Wars. Some parents might WANT to leave their kids in school so the can go to GE!
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If this is your idea of mellow:
…you’ll be fine! 
Actually, I personally think crowds will be up, but mostly at HS.
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Je ne suis pas Québécoise - mais je peux voir La Belle Province maintenant! (J’habite à Ottawa. Je peux voir Gatineau de mon bureau.)
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I feel ya! Those are our same dates in the parks!
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My guess is it’ll make a big difference
I was in the middle of creating all my TP for our 20th sept trip, going to hold off now until see a crowd level update
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Cool ! 
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DHS will be a nightmare on the 29th and 30th; in addition to out of towners there on vacation, there will be a large bolus of locals who “have to be there on opening day”. I guessing DHS will be more crowded than usual the whole week as those who don’t really want to see SWGE will all go before it opens.
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I’m guessing everything will be more crowded all week. A lot of people who “have to be there for opening” will not want to make their kids miss too much school so they will go the week before labor day (a lot of schools in the northeast begin after labor day) and do everything else M-Th and then Galaxy’s Edge on Fri. I would guess there will be a decent increase early in the week everywhere except DHS and a substantial increase everywhere later in the week with DHS being basically impassable.
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So… is there any reason I would want to be there opening day? Other than just to say we were there?
So you can wait for 6+hrs. to ride something? You might be able to get into the land and check out the Millennium Falcon, restaurants (see, not eat), and the gift shop. I don’t know how much that’s worth to you. Even that’s probably going to a be a multiple hr wait. I wonder if Disney will let people camp out to line up the night before.
I think it will probably be a good day to be anywhere but there…
If I was going to Disney every year and had done everything else many times maybe I’d want to be there for the heck of it but I only went to WDW twice and if I was going back at that time I would focus on seeing as much as possible and getting as much done as possible and so I would definitely avoid HS on opening day. I can only assume that opening day will be crazy. It will probably be a special experience but crowds will certainly be insane.
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I wonder if HS might be a bit quieter the days before opening and then the other parks a bit quieter after ?
So, OP’s park days are 26-30 and opening is 29 (right ?). I would go to HS on the 28th, MK 29th and AK or Epcot 30th ? Not sure if any precise advice can be made for 26th and 27th. If one would like to spend 2 days at HS, I would probably shoot for 27-28.
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Yeah. So this is the kids’ 2nd trip. Also, not likely to be there last (expecting we’ll be back in about 2 years). But… they (and husband) will want to see Star Wars stuff. Current plan is:
Aug 26 - AK
Aug 27 - DHS
Aug 28 - MK
Aug 29 - EPCOT/MK
Aug 30 - EPCOT/MK
I may be overruled and dragged to GE on the evening of the 29th or 30th.
If you have a park hopper, it’s easier I think. You can ‘‘sacrifice’’ an evening relatively easily I think…Don’t get me wrong, I am dying to see GE and I am a huge Star Wars fan but I’d like to actually see GE, not be crushed to death by the crowds in GE… 
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We have parkhopper. And… I only just learned that you can walk between DHS and EPCOT.
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Just FYI, Toy Story Land did an “unannounced” (but word spread like wildfire) soft opening two nights (EDITED TO ADD: It was actually one night, the night before, on June 29, 2018!) before the announced grand opening, so there’s a chance SW:GE might “quietly” open earlier in your trip. For Pandora, they did a soft opening a day or two before for AP holders, as well.
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Yes 15-20 minutes from the World Showcase entrance.
I am at HS on the 26th. I might abandon my family if this happened. LoL
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