Plenty of rooms available for Star Wars Opening

[MissViv]

There seems to be plenty of rooms still available for the Star Wars opening if it is still 8/29. What is going on? I thought it would be a complete sellout.

I think there will be room discounts and possibly free dining for fall. We are going in November and it seems like all resorts have openings.

 

[monothingie]

There seems to be plenty of rooms still available for the Star Wars opening if it is still 8/29. What is going on? I thought it would be a complete sellout.

I think there will be room discounts and possibly free dining for fall. We are going in November and it seems like all resorts have openings.

It isn't just limited to SWGE opening weekend (Labor Day Weekend). September, October and November still have plenty of availability across all categories. (Except for typical holidays and Jersey Week).

I'm not going to get into a SWGE discussion, but I think there are a couple of things at play here.
First, SWGE is opening after school starts. Families are not going to take kids out of school for a Disney Trip.
Second, I think many repeat guests (going to F&W for example) have held off booking because they would only do so with AP or other discount packages. (Disney vets never pay rack rates)
Third, Disney World is more than just SWGE. Yes it will be large draw, but it isn't the reason why everyone goes, and people may just want to stay away.

 

[MissViv]

I'm hoping they will stay away. We are planning our trip in Nov. and NOT a Star Wars Fan so staying away from HS. Hoping it is lower attendance and cooler weather.

We do have reservations at POFQ but hoping for a discount of some kind but not going to worry if we don't get one. Going anyway, already made airline reservations during SW Sale.

 

[plutothedoggo]

A lot of schools do start that week of August which might be contributing to the lack of rooms being full.. Also like what @monothingie said about repeat guests holding off - I agree with that and I think that his holiday season might be busier than the last couple years because of that reason; those who usually go towards end of the summer or early fall, might just wait until November or December to visit this year so they can take in the holiday packages, holiday theming, and also see Star Wars land thinking the dust may have settled...

We shall see! I'm still waiting for DW to announce more plans on how they plan to handle the opening of GE i.e. reserved blocks of time like they did at Disneyland.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

The first week of school is generally soft attendance wise.

WDW, for many if not most, is a once every few years type of trip. Many people will wait for the full experience, when both attractions are open.

 

[Mickey5150]

Originally I thought SWGE in WDW was going to be opening in the fall. My guess is people who were hoping to see SWGE scheduled their trips later so that they wouldn't miss it.

 

[KCheatle]

I’m curious when the discounts will be released though?? Last year they were released today. I feel like it’s getting late...

 

[MissViv]

Some people think there will not be any discounts because of Star Wars opening but I think they will. The rooms are just NOT selling out for the fall.

 

[KCheatle]

I guess in looking at mousesavers.com's chart of historical discounts, although they were released late June last year, historically they have been released in mid-July and even in early-August. So, we aren't outside the realm of possibility.

 

[MisterPenguin]

It's also traditionally one of the slowest times of the year for WDW. Mostly because it's so darned hot.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

Just my own uninformed opinion but I believe there is a perfect storm of factors at play right now. Room rates at most Disney resorts are outrageous. Compare to Universal's resorts. And no... I'm not a Universal apologist. I love both Disney and Universal and visit both on trips to Orlando. But without some kind of discount and no perks for staying in those overpriced hotels as incentive, why would people not either stay offsite or hold out for a better deal? Then there's the construction. It's all very necessary and way overdue, but look at the entrances to every park right now. Not exactly magical. Park hours are cut, ride capacity is "managed" making wait times longer, Rise of the Resistance is indefinitely delayed, M & M's railway is indefinitely delayed... not at all surprising that people would be waiting to get the most for their hard-earned bucks.

 

[MissViv]

They have added a small 15% discount now that includes 8/29. Still plenty of rooms, a 15% is not much!

Nothing for November, when we are going, and our resort, Wilderness Lodge is now showing sold out.

 

[monothingie]

They have added a small 15% discount now that includes 8/29. Still plenty of rooms, a 15% is not much!

Nothing for November, when we are going, and our resort, Wilderness Lodge is now showing sold out.

Disney World Website is down....shocking.

 

[MissViv]

I was just on it minutes ago.

 

[monothingie]

I was just on it minutes ago.

I just got it to render, do you have a screen capture? I can’t find what you’re seeing?

 

[MissViv]

I do not know how to do a screen shot but I searched on the WDW website for the week of 8/29 and found it and also just one night for 8/28 and it was there. Try again?

 

[MissViv]

Oh, nevermind!! I see what I did. The discount is offered for 8/28 but not for the nights afterward. Thought they were doing a discount after 8/28 but NO. It wouldn't hurt them to do 15% because that is really nothing in the long run.

 

[monothingie]

Oh, nevermind!! I see what I did. The discount is offered for 8/28 but not for the nights afterward. Thought they were doing a discount after 8/28 but NO. It wouldn't hurt them to do 15% because that is really nothing in the long run.

The fact that there is large availability should really motivate them to do much more. But they won’t.

It doesn’t matter to me, I booked my September trip when they had the promo discounts earlier this year for travel through 9/30. But I would really have liked to see an AP rate.

 

[cslafferty]

As an elementary teacher, I’ve noticed over the past decade that fewer parents are pulling their kids out of school for vacations. I know if I was a parent of school aged kids, I would let the initial crowds die down, let Disney work out all the “kinks” of SWGE, and plan a vacation during one of the school breaks in 2020. So I would not be surprised if there aren’t huge crowds this fall. DH and I already have reservations for CR Dec 8-14, but am still hoping for some kind of discount

 

[MissViv]

I can't believe so many people take their children out of school to go to Disney. I am old school but I would never have done this with my daughter, who is now 45. We went Spring Breaks.