Crowd Calendars?

[TinkPearl]

I used to always use EasyWDW but he doesn't do them anymore sooooo.......who do you find more reliable, Undercover Tourist or Kenny the Pirate?? Or a different one?

TIA!

 

[hiroMYhero]

I used to always use EasyWDW but he doesn't do them anymore sooooo.......who do you find more reliable, Undercover Tourist or Kenny the Pirate?? Or a different one?

TIA!

I’m not sure if Undercover Tourist has a crowd calendar but here’s a crowd calendar discussion:
Why do I torture myself?

 

[Klayfish]

I’m not sure if Undercover Tourist has a crowd calendar but here’s a crowd calendar discussion:
Why do I torture myself?

Yes, read that thread. The short answer to a very long thread is that there is no such thing as a reliable crowd calendar.

 

[pitpat]

Every time I've planned park days using Kenny's calendar, I've been happy with the results. This past week we enjoyed Epcot on Wednesday, while friends went to MK. They had a packed, stressful morning, then hopped over and had an easy, relaxing afternoon.
Saturday vs. Sunday at MK had the same results.

There are better days at each park and almost every time I check wait times, I'm glad I went by his calendar.

Maybe someone with Touring Plans can tell us the actual MK crowd numbers for Wednesday 1/2, Thursday 1/3 and Saturday/Sunday 1/5 and 6. We chose Thurs. and Sun and were pleased. I looked Wednesday and saw 8 rides over 100 minutes.

 

[AngiTN]

None are terribly reliable, for the exact reason Josh stopped doing them.
Consider crowd prediction about as reliable as weather prediction (at least Southern weather)

Every time I've planned park days using Kenny's calendar, I've been happy with the results. This past week we enjoyed Epcot on Wednesday, while friends went to MK. They had a packed, stressful morning, then hopped over and had an easy, relaxing afternoon.
Saturday vs. Sunday at MK had the same results.

There are better days at each park and almost every time I check wait times, I'm glad I went by his calendar.

Maybe someone with Touring Plans can tell us the actual MK crowd numbers for Wednesday 1/2, Thursday 1/3 and Saturday/Sunday 1/5 and 6. We chose Thurs. and Sun and were pleased. I looked Wednesday and saw 8 rides over 100 minutes.

For what park? I looked yesterday and they all avg between 9 or 10 but I vehemently disagree that any day other than 12/31 was a 10. I was there. The crowds from 12/29 to 1/4 were NOTHING like 12/31. If 12/31 is a 10, the other days were NOT.

 

[fiasco32]

I don't find the day-to-day detail of crowd calendars useful anymore at all. They're wildly inaccurate.

The blogs really should change to a more general "heat map" approach. These seasons are more popular than these ones. These weeks are less crowded than these weeks, etc.

But personally, I wouldn't pay for day-to-day crowd calendar service anymore, nor would I use them as I plan my itineraries. All I really pay attention to is seasons when booking, and EMH when planning out the specific day-to-day itinerary.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I don't believe there is a reliable crowd calendar any longer as Disney changes how it staffs the parks which makes a huge difference.

That being said I still purchase TP and will again for this coming year when my current subscription expires.

 

[maryj11]

I don't believe there is a reliable crowd calendar any longer as Disney changes how it staffs the parks which makes a huge difference.

That being said I still purchase TP and will again for this coming year when my current subscription expires.

I agree with this. I used to be able to plan with the crowd calendar from easywdw and touring plans and things worked out pretty well. Now I really just decide myself because Disney has changed so much the crowd calendars are not very accurate. I still purchase Touring Plans also and check it and Kenny the Pirate, but I don't count on it being completely right.

 

[Klayfish]

The blogs really should change to a more general "heat map" approach. These seasons are more popular than these ones. These weeks are less crowded than these weeks, etc.

I think this would be a good idea. That could have some accuracy value, unlike what they do now.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Honestly I have learned more from these boards than I ever did from crowd calendars.

 

[Tinman1717]

Honestly I have learned more from these boards than I ever did from crowd calendars.

This!!!
Well said. I have learned way more from these boards as crowd calendars have been very unreliable for my last couple of trips.

 

[blakefamily]

I just checked Kenny the Pirate and if reading correctly, 3/2-3/4 are overall Yellow and green, but of course I have made our FP plans on each of the Red parks...OOPS. Oh well, we'll just have to roll with it , right ? MK on 3/2, HS morning 3/3, then maybe head to EPCOT, then AK on 3/4, morning with a mid afternoon FOP fp. Counting down the days and hoping for manageable wait times

 

[SaintsManiac]

I just checked Kenny the Pirate and if reading correctly, 3/2-3/4 are overall Yellow and green, but of course I have made our FP plans on each of the Red parks...OOPS. Oh well, we'll just have to roll with it , right ? MK on 3/2, HS morning 3/3, then maybe head to EPCOT, then AK on 3/4, morning with a mid afternoon FOP fp. Counting down the days and hoping for manageable wait times

We will be at MK on 3/2 and AK on 3/4

 

[AngiTN]

I don't find the day-to-day detail of crowd calendars useful anymore at all. They're wildly inaccurate.

The blogs really should change to a more general "heat map" approach. These seasons are more popular than these ones. These weeks are less crowded than these weeks, etc.

But personally, I wouldn't pay for day-to-day crowd calendar service anymore, nor would I use them as I plan my itineraries. All I really pay attention to is seasons when booking, and EMH when planning out the specific day-to-day itinerary.

That is sort of how Kenny does his, rather than simply ranking them 1-10 he does a red/yellow/green approach. If someone needs something to help guide them I do find this method better than most others

 

[Klayfish]

I just checked Kenny the Pirate and if reading correctly, 3/2-3/4 are overall Yellow and green, but of course I have made our FP plans on each of the Red parks...OOPS. Oh well, we'll just have to roll with it , right ?

Not picking on you at all, but this is where I think these "calendars" are a shame. People book plans and entire vacations around them. When they see that these predictions are "red" or a "10" or whatever, they think they've made a mistake, or are going to have to deal with it, or get anxious about it. To me, that simply makes no sense. Who's to say that some person who throws out predictions about crowds...or whatever they base it on...is going to be right? It's completely impossible to say. They really have no solid idea. It's even crazier, IMO, to predict that Park A will be busier than Park B during the morning 8 Thursdays from now.

Just know what times of year are busier than others, and then go enjoy!!!

 

[LVSWL]

We have used Touringplans for 20 years. They aren't always perfect, but they usually are pretty close in our experience.

 

[Wubar]

Not picking on you at all, but this is where I think these "calendars" are a shame. People book plans and entire vacations around them. When they see that these predictions are "red" or a "10" or whatever, they think they've made a mistake, or are going to have to deal with it, or get anxious about it. To me, that simply makes no sense. Who's to say that some person who throws out predictions about crowds...or whatever they base it on...is going to be right? It's completely impossible to say. They really have no solid idea. It's even crazier, IMO, to predict that Park A will be busier than Park B during the morning 8 Thursdays from now.

Just know what times of year are busier than others, and then go enjoy!!!

Agreed. Much like people getting upset or nervous over not getting their room requests or actual crowd levels - just become comfortable with the definitions of "request", "prediction", and "estimate" (all NOT guarantees), and roll with whatever you get during your trip. You're at Disney!

 

[pitpat]

Not picking on you at all, but this is where I think these "calendars" are a shame. People book plans and entire vacations around them. When they see that these predictions are "red" or a "10" or whatever, they think they've made a mistake, or are going to have to deal with it, or get anxious about it. To me, that simply makes no sense. Who's to say that some person who throws out predictions about crowds...or whatever they base it on...is going to be right? It's completely impossible to say. They really have no solid idea. It's even crazier, IMO, to predict that Park A will be busier than Park B during the morning 8 Thursdays from now.

Just know what times of year are busier than others, and then go enjoy!!!

For the first 6 months of 2018, Saturdays were 22% busier than Sundays at MK. That's why a crowd calendar might suggest Sunday as a better day to choose. You may not care as you visit often, but that's the kind of info I'd like to know if I were a less frequent guest. https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...e-week-you-visit-disney-worlds-magic-kingdom/

http://www.easywdw.com/reports15/magic_kingdom_average_wait_time_by_day_week.jpg

We had APs this year, so just finished our 4th week at WDW. I based days mostly on Kenny's calendar and because of threads like this, checked Red parks wait times when we were in Green parks, looked at morning bus queues when we stayed at a value, or compared when we park hopped. I felt we had a clear advantage. We were there over 4th of July, first week of Jan, early March and October. I'm not interested in number predictions or anything, but having someone compile extra magic hours, special events and other factors is helpful in choosing park days.

 

[HydroGuy]

I just checked Kenny the Pirate and if reading correctly, 3/2-3/4 are overall Yellow and green, but of course I have made our FP plans on each of the Red parks...OOPS. Oh well, we'll just have to roll with it , right ? MK on 3/2, HS morning 3/3, then maybe head to EPCOT, then AK on 3/4, morning with a mid afternoon FOP fp. Counting down the days and hoping for manageable wait times

We will be at MK on 3/2 and AK on 3/4

MK 3/2 and AK 3/3 for me...

 

[epcotty]

Not picking on you at all, but this is where I think these "calendars" are a shame. People book plans and entire vacations around them. When they see that these predictions are "red" or a "10" or whatever, they think they've made a mistake, or are going to have to deal with it, or get anxious about it. To me, that simply makes no sense. Who's to say that some person who throws out predictions about crowds...or whatever they base it on...is going to be right? It's completely impossible to say. They really have no solid idea. It's even crazier, IMO, to predict that Park A will be busier than Park B during the morning 8 Thursdays from now.

Just know what times of year are busier than others, and then go enjoy!!!

And then sometimes a lot of people think because of the crowd calendars "hey it won't be that crowded so let's go" and then that makes it much more crowded than the calendars said