BOO!!! Crowd calendar just went up for next week AGAIN!

[goofyx3]

Thanks for making me feel better. I think I'm just going to forget about things I can't control and just focus on the trip I've been looking forward to for two years. I'm going to Disney! Woo-hoo!

 

[dolphindan1]

Thanks for making me feel better. I think I'm just going to forget about things I can't control and just focus on the trip I've been looking forward to for two years. I'm going to Disney! Woo-hoo!

I assume you are going the week after thanksgiving...you will be fine...crowds have grown a little in early Dec but still a great time to go...we have always gone in early Dec till last year...wife work schedule has prevented it recently...avoid MK on Sat the 4th and you will do fine

 

[Cat0727]

Like another poster said, I don't pay much attention to crowd calendars anymore. I look at them once and that's it. They'd drive me insane otherwise.

 

[goofyx3]

I'll be there 12/4 - 12/11 and am avoiding MK both 12/4 & 12/5 in case the taping ran over to the next day. The last time I was in Disney that week was 3 years ago and it was perfect, weather and crowds. Even if it is a little more crowded than it has in the past, it's still a beautiful time to be done there. Thanks again for your help.

 

[DISdreamin']

Honestly, when I consider the crowd calendars and suggestions (I have used/looked at touringplans, tourguidemike and easywdw), you definitely see days where their suggestions and parks to avoid differ. I tried to look at what we wanted to see and line it up with parks that looked reasonable. We're definitely not hitting them on optimal days, but we're also not doing them on "AVOID AT ALL COSTS" days either. As the calendar changes, I won't be altering anything or I would be certifiable by the time we depart for vacation.

So my advice is to look for big red flags (and I don't mean it being someones park to avoid...I mean a day with Fantasmic! and an 8.5 crowd level versus a non-F! day at 3.0). The parks to avoid seem sort of arbitrary. There is a day where HS is "neutral" where the crowd level is 3.1 with F! for our trip (last time I checked). Two days later the crowd level goes down to a 1.2, but because it's EMH in the morning, it is the park to AVOID. Which will really be worse if you plan to spend the whole day?

 

[notfrostyjosh]

goofyx3, easyWDW is "my" website and you're welcome to send me a private message or email with your itinerary and we can discuss ways to overcome the fact that you'll be going to the parks on some of the days that are "not recommended." Going to the "most recommended" park is only about 25% of the battle. Arriving early, visiting the headlining attractions first thing, and using FASTPASS throughout the day is more important than blindly going to whatever Park any of us recommend on any particular day. I wouldn't necessarily worry about it that much if you're "touring smart." The recommended Parks are more important when the overall crowd calendar is a 7+. Crowds can still be heavy at certain Parks when the overall crowd level is lower, but it's more easily overcome.

Hope that makes you feel better and like I said, feel free to send me your itinerary and we can figure out what you want to do more specifically.

 

[DebbieB]

all of the sites will not recommend any park for EMH's...most of them except tourguidemike will tell you to avoid MK on party days...Also DHS on fantasmic showings will not be suggest, well it may but it will be crowded....so if you are going on EMH days thats why it suggest avoiding, especially if the EMH is in the AM...an evening EMH is not as drastic if you arrive at RD

I found the same thing last month. MNSSHP days at MK was the park to avoid. Not because of crowds, because of the early close and no night parade or fireworks. Those were the BEST days to go. On Tuesday Oct 26, Space Mountain was a 5 min wait at 1:30pm! I've never seen it so empty as it was that day. We went on Pirates, we walked all the way through and straight onto a boat without even stopping!

 

[Heidi Loves Disney]

Today was considered a 3. I'm here now, and I'd hate to see it above a 3. Both Epcot and MK were very crowded. I usually go at slower times, and this was the first time I saw people getting fast passes for Buzz Lightyear.

We're still having fun though. Can't beat being here no matter what the crowd level is. I haven't run into any cranky people so far, and this is our 2nd day.

 

[notfrostyjosh]

That's what you get for going to the two least recommended parks on easywdw ^_^ Epcot is busy because it's the last Saturday of the Food and Wine Festival and Magic Kingdom is busy because because of the long hours and Main Street Electrical Parade. The line to Expedition Everest was 15 or minutes or less at 3pm and 5 minutes at Kali River Rapids pretty much all day.

 

[dolphindan1]

We are here now...sitting on the bed in my 3 bedroom at bonnet Creek...tower 2 room 638...we went to DTD and it was a madhouse....I expected it to be busy...so I was prepared...AK in the am with a Donalds breakfast at 8am...will let you know what crowds are like

 

[pipervali]

We are here now...sitting on the bed in my 3 bedroom at bonnet Creek...tower 2 room 638...we went to DTD and it was a madhouse....I expected it to be busy...so I was prepared...AK in the am with a Donalds breakfast at 8am...will let you know what crowds are like

We're checking into Bonnet Creek tomorrow, so see ya there!

 

[crzy4my2]

I just went on easyWDW and looks like half my trip is a 9 and the other half is 3..AND boy can I pick them, loos like a few days I have planned for the parks are in Red on the days we are going
oh well..I still can't wait to go!!!

 

[Nayan]

We got back yesterday but wow the crowds! We went two years ago to F&W and it was a little busy but very managable. I've never seen crowds like I did this week. Just be prepared to walk slowly, stop suddenly and you'll be fine .

 

[Daisychick]

I have just returned and before I went (and whilst I was there) I used touringplans and easywdw.

Got to say that on the days we went to the parks I thought easywdw was more accurate.

We went to Epcot a few times and the first day we were there Epcot was supposed to be 7.2 and the second time 3.6. The second time was so much more busy than the first - if anything the numbers were the wrong way round!

When I go again I will use both as a guide but I would not get too stressed about the actual numbers on the touringplans. I thought the recommended parks on Easywdw were spot on!

 

[wheeliefun]

I have just returned and before I went (and whilst I was there) I used touringplans and easywdw.

Got to say that on the days we went to the parks I thought easywdw was more accurate.

We went to Epcot a few times and the first day we were there Epcot was supposed to be 7.2 and the second time 3.6. The second time was so much more busy than the first - if anything the numbers were the wrong way round!

When I go again I will use both as a guide but I would not get too stressed about the actual numbers on the touringplans. I thought the recommended parks on Easywdw were spot on!

Ageed. The crowds this week have been much more than I expected. However, I noticed looking at the attraction/ride times that many of the headliners have been listed at the 20-40 min wait time as Touring Plans suggests. There just seems to be a lot of people in the streets and non ride attractions, which Touring Plans is not really accounting for. I'm wondering if the Children's Miracle Classic has added to the crowds, plus the weather has been absolutely perfect. We saw Jesper Parnevik and Steve Young mulling around the parks this week.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

We're locals and we're so confused by the crowd levels this year. Since June until now, it's been PACKED. Normally there are some quiet/dead times in October and November...nothing! This is the first time in years it's been so busy before the holidays.

 

[dolphindan1]

We went to AK today and while it was busy we were able to do everything we wanted...even brought back 6 FP for EE...only thing we didnt do was Nemo...no one wanted too and Bird show...we rode EE with no wait 3 times...but the people were definitely in the parks...we would have done more but we had an infant that slept for almost 2 hours so we sat and people watched and the boys and I walked all the trails around the tree of life...still had a great day...off to Epcot tomorrow

 

[pipervali]

Got to MK around 3pm. Pretty much walked onto Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion. Waiting about 10 minutes for Pirates. The worst lines we saw were for Peter Pan, which never seemed to drop below a 30 minute wait.

The ferry boat ride after Wishes was INSANE though. I've never seen the boat that full before.