What if?

Walt Disney World
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So, I’m playing a little bit of “What if?” and I need your help.

As you all are probably tired of hearing by now, the 25th anniversary trip with my wife is planned for December 2020.

But I was wondering: What if we moved it up a year? See, our Anniversary isn’t actually in December, but about midway through the year. We chose to do December for our trip so that we could experience the holiday decorations.

Anyhow, point is, if we did our trip in 2019, it is still within a year of our actual 25th anniversary. But what would be the cons to going December 2019 instead of waiting for December 2020 as we currently have planned? (The major advantage is, of course, going sooner!)

The biggest con I foresee revolves around Star War’s Galaxy Edge opening somewhere in the time frame (no confirmation from Disney on that yet). And if Disney does make an announcement prior to us getting a DVC rental, the resorts options might fill up before we have a chance.

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That’s the con that occurs to me. Without Galaxy’s Edge possibly opening, one December is much like the next.

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You may leave this forum after your trip and then we would miss out on a whole year of your humour!

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Galaxy’s Edge insanity would be my only fear, but if it ends up NOT actually being open yet it might be the perfect time to go when many are holding off on trips until it opens.

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This. You may also find that hotels are already full for that time b/c of the anticipated announcement. I think DHS and, by extensions, a lot of WDW will be VERY full once SWGE opens. I don’t have any rational thoughts about when it might die down.

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Disney celebrates every anniversary for 12-18 months.

Buy APs and make it a Magical Anniversary Year.

Remember, with any Disney question that includes “or”, the answer is always “and”.

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Well, you know, once one trip ends, planning for another begins! :slight_smile:

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Yes…well…not sure my budget would agree with that assessment! :slight_smile:

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This reasoning is why you have so many children😉

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That’s just it. I was originally thinking that going December 2020 would be good, since it would give the SWGE hype time to die down. But would it? Is a year’s time enough for it to make that much of a difference? Who knows.

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Well, if FoP provides any model… things will still be going strong a year later!

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Yep. A bit of a gamble. Latest rumors I’ve read suggest Disney is a little behind, so opening COULD be delayed. (And doesn’t it seem crazy to open SWGE JUST before Christmas at their busiest, rather than wait until say January/February when they could bring in fresh crowds during traditionally lower days.

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Not at all. Disney says, “As soon as I can hit print on the money machine… off we go!”

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True. I’m just thinking about how much could go wrong during their busiest time. Would they want that? Maybe so! :slight_smile:

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I wouldn’t expect it to die down for several years personally. I also don’t think it will open in 2019, but it’s possible lots of people will book trips expecting it to be open.

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Also? January and February are not really that slow anymore.

No time really is.

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After doing more thinking about it, while we aren’t closed entirely to the idea, we do have some additional issues which make moving it less likely an option.

For one, we have a DS16, DD14, and DS8 right now. By December 2019, they will be DS17, DD16, and DS9. Since my DS17 will likely be taking some of his classes at the community college and working, that means there would be no car at times if an emergency arose. I will have a DS20 who technically is still living at home, but he is really only there to sleep most of the time, due to taking college classes full time, plus work, plus spending any free time he has with his girlfriend. So we can’t count on him.

We thought about my oldest son and his wife…but she’ll still be taking classes, and my son works full time plus is working on his master’s. So they probably couldn’t help.

Things improve a year later, though, in 2020 in terms of availability, etc.

We are still nervous about the thought of SWGE opening just before we’d arrive in 2019. Might not…but who knows.

Negatives of waiting until 2020 is, well, waiting, for one. Second, my parents were up here a month ago and they realized how hard it is for them to make the trip any longer (they are, in a word, old…and their health is making traveling more problematic), so that means to see them involves us going down there. We generally do so every 2 years, but we also have been seeing them up here in between. Waiting until 2020 for this trip is more than 2 years. (Not that my parents won’t have other visitors…I’m the youngest of 7 kids, after all!)

Third, there is the waiting.

Fourth, pricing could change, making an already expensive trip even more expensive.

Fifth, there is the waiting.

Sixth, construction for Tron should be nearing completion which means Tomorrowland COULD be undergoing significant closures (no way to predict that with any certainty this far out). Tomorrowland is, of course, our favorite area of Magic Kingdom. Not a HUGE deal, since we’ll have plenty else to do (after all, this was already something we were planning on anyhow.)

Seventh, there is the waiting.

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The waiting would be hard! I think I would choose 2019. Mostly because I don’t wait well. But also, if you’re going early December, I think you’re safe from SWGE being open yet. Everything I hear says they’re delayed and that mid/late December is still “late fall”. I don’t think the crowds are going to have died down come 2020.

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I can’t point to where I saw this, but I’m pretty sure I read that Tron (and Guardians of the Galaxy) are slated to open in 2021. I may have dreamed it, but pretty sure.

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You are correct. But there are other expected changes to Tomorrowland that suggest we may see various things closed leading up to Tron opening. Transit Authority and Speedway for example. Hopefully not, though!