Do you follow the crowd plan recommendations when deciding which parks to visit

[LaurenT]

So EasyWDW seems to be the general preference over TouringPlans? I made my plan before knowing about these sites and like what EasyWDW has to say much better

That's perfect then! You'll be in good shape!

 

[gottagetback]

We plan as many days around evening EMH that we can. We LOVE evening EMH!!! The lines are nonexistent, and the parks have a wonderful ambiance in the evening. I use Touringplans.com, but not for the plans. I just use the crowd levels.nes.

I feel Touringplans is very accurate.

Ditto. Touring Plans Crowd Calendar has never disappointed. And Evening EMH is magic!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Perhaps, if you are concerned with others being offended by what you say, you could consider writing something like,

"I'm not an early riser, especially on vacation."

Instead of,

"Some people prefer to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn. NOT ME!!!! It's vacation, and I intend to treat it as such."

Your phrasing is an obvious criticism of others' touring styles, complete with exaggeration (crack of dawn), and an expressed belief that the way other people do things isn't really a vacation. Own it.

I didn't take what you said "to heart." I just wondered why so many people on the Dis seem inclined to constantly make jabs at people who get up early - one is always seeing negative exaggerations and comments ("crack of dawn," "stampede," "it's a vacation, not a military campaign").

I don't think the early risers give two shakes about the people who don't get up - whatever. But those who sleep in seem to take every opportunity to make comments about how silly and wrong and not really on vacation the rope droppers are.

Uuuuuuuuuuummm...Ok then. I mean, seriously...does every thread have to be a fight? Please don't read into something that was not intended to "jab" anyone.

I honestly don't understand why this is so upsetting to you. Maybe you just need a hug.

Saying: "It is a vacation and I intend to treat it as such" simply means that most people look at a vacation as a break from real life. My life is crazy busy and stressful most of the time. I choose to get away from that on MY vacation and chill. That should not be offensive to anyone. After all, it is my vacation. If someone wants to wear their underwear on their head on vacation, more power to them! It is their vacation. It won't bother me. It doesn't bother me in the slightest if you get up early. Come on now.

I'm not concerned about offending anyone with that statement b/c I didn't say anything offensive. I will only own something if I intended it as offensive. Since I have already said that wasn't my intention, and apologized if you took it that way, I think we are done here.

I think I will go find myself a nice thread about pool hopping, tipping, or refillable mugs.

I don't know Tink.... I'm a rope dropper, and I've described sleeping in as sleeping my vacation away.... Because that's how it would be for me. But I don't intend to insult someone else's choices when I say that.
I've said it in other threads, and I'll say it again.... I think it's a regional thing - just a colorful way of saying things that someone from another area might take the wrong way.
Whatever the real intention, I'm gonna go with "it wasn't intentional".... Life is just rosier that way....

Again, thanks. I'm sort of floored by the whole thing. Anyway, I don't have time for drama in my life, so I am out.

Actually, I think this one just pushed me right over the edge. I told my kids last week to yell at me if they see me on the Disboards b/c people looooooove to take a simple statement and dissect it. I'm not even talking about this thread. (Ok Love Tink? Not about you. )

When I was a new Diser I got reamed so hard b/c I asked about how much people tipped at Disney. People ripped me up and down for it, and twisted my words till they weren't anything like what I had originally said. I had to quote and requote myself until people actually read what I had written. I should have learned then.

Thanks again.

--------------------
New plan. I am going to wear underwear on MY head at Disney. After all...it is MY vacation.

I'm outta here folks! I refuse to argue over things that are not important to me in the slightest! Peace out!

 

[mamadiorio]

We didnt follow them at all on our first trip this past August. Actually we didnt really have any plan. We still did the things that we wanted, but also I think we missed a lot because we didnt make a plan. OUr next trip this May we are staying off site so I have tried to plan our days to not hit certain parks with morning EMH. Some of the days I planned were from following crowd levels but the whole week wasnt planned around it.


Jessica

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I use touring plans. I like looking at their individual park crowd level predictions and the historical crowd calendar to make my plans.

 

[hgeisler]

Uuuuuuuuuuummm...Ok then. I mean, seriously...does every thread have to be a fight? Please don't read into something that was not intended to "jab" anyone.

I honestly don't understand why this is so upsetting to you. Maybe you just need a hug.

Saying: "It is a vacation and I intend to treat it as such" simply means that most people look at a vacation as a break from real life. My life is crazy busy and stressful most of the time. I choose to get away from that on MY vacation and chill. That should not be offensive to anyone. After all, it is my vacation. If someone wants to wear their underwear on their head on vacation, more power to them! It is their vacation. It won't bother me. It doesn't bother me in the slightest if you get up early. Come on now.

I'm not concerned about offending anyone with that statement b/c I didn't say anything offensive. I will only own something if I intended it as offensive. Since I have already said that wasn't my intention, and apologized if you took it that way, I think we are done here.

I think I will go find myself a nice thread about pool hopping, tipping, or refillable mugs.

Again, thanks. I'm sort of floored by the whole thing. Anyway, I don't have time for drama in my life, so I am out.

Actually, I think this one just pushed me right over the edge. I told my kids last week to yell at me if they see me on the Disboards b/c people looooooove to take a simple statement and dissect it. I'm not even talking about this thread. (Ok Love Tink? Not about you. )

When I was a new Diser I got reamed so hard b/c I asked about how much people tipped at Disney. People ripped me up and down for it, and twisted my words till they weren't anything like what I had originally said. I had to quote and requote myself until people actually read what I had written. I should have learned then.

Thanks again.

--------------------
New plan. I am going to wear underwear on MY head at Disney. After all...it is MY vacation.

I'm outta here folks! I refuse to argue over things that are not important to me in the slightest! Peace out!

Amen! I'm pretty new here, and have been made to feel that way too As a former middle school teacher of 10 years, I recognize sarcasm when I read it. I didn't find anything offensive about your comment at all.

 

[2Tiggies]

We use crowd recommendations when planning our parks. We do not always necessarily follow the best park for the day but we do always use this information to help us structure our plans because we use EMH and we do park hop.

 

[BeerMe]

 

[keishashadow]

Years ago we'd follow the UG touring plans and were die-hard commandos. I've lost count of how many times we made the running of the bulls to SpMt. Fast-forward, we've been fortunate enough to visit often, so we've learned to relax. However, I understand how many feel the need to be at the parks for opening (the best way to get a lot done imo) & are compelled to schedule things in an attempt to squeeze in all the magic. it's nearly impossible to do everything but great that there are multiple planning tools available to help in the quest.

That said we are the exact opposite: typically avoid parks with am EMH & MK on weekends and always spend a morning or two poolside when it's nearly deserted. I do sneak a peek at the predictions for touring now and again and find that what I have planned often tends to often go against the grain but it works out well for us.

 

[MsCoz2000]

Ok, so I've read through this thread and must say I'm more confused than when I started...

I have NEVER used crowd calendars, EVER... But, this trip I am going the week after Easter so I know it is going to be busier than I have ever experienced, so I thought let me try the crowd calendar to help. I started with undercover tourist but after reading this thread I looked into easy wdw. Their predictions are different, so now what? I'm starting to wonder if I should just ignore it and go with my own gut. UGH!

Anyone have any suggestions? TIA!

 

[jennylyn_b]

Ok, so I've read through this thread and must say I'm more confused than when I started...

I have NEVER used crowd calendars, EVER... But, this trip I am going the week after Easter so I know it is going to be busier than I have ever experienced, so I thought let me try the crowd calendar to help. I started with undercover tourist but after reading this thread I looked into easy wdw. Their predictions are different, so now what? I'm starting to wonder if I should just ignore it and go with my own gut. UGH!

Anyone have any suggestions? TIA!

Read why easywdw is making its predictions for your days. That may help you in planning. I've said before that his crowd calendar has never led us wrong and we go twice a year for 10-14 nights each trip. That's our experience anyway.

 

[squirrel4569]

I've looked at easywdw but I refuse to pay for Touring Plans or any site that requires money for information. I know some people swear by their app and site and it works for them but I'll pass.

In the past we've set our schedule based on ADR's and where we wanted to eat on a particular day. This trip we're not doing ADR's so we've pretty much said we want to start and end with MK (which are not reccommended by easywdw on our days) and we'll decide the day before or the day of which park we want to hit on which day in between. Sunday and Monday will be parks. Tuesday will be water parks and rest. Wednesday and Thursday will be parks. Going into it knowing that crowds will be moderate on any given day and that we won't see everything helps to level set our expectations. We have a small list of must do things each park/day/area and then anything else we can hit is a bonus. We know we'll be back and we can catch most anything on a return trip. We try to get to the parks at the start of the day and while we haven't taken mid day breaks in the past we may on this trip. We don't park hop so we just pick a park and go with it and what the day and crowds give us.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I do, every trip. And it works very well. I use Easy and the subscription to TP is a drop compared to the cost of a trip, both well worth their use.

 

[2012bella13]

Amen! I'm pretty new here, and have been made to feel that way too As a former middle school teacher of 10 years, I recognize sarcasm when I read it. I didn't find anything offensive about your comment at all.

Ditto!!!

This thread started out a simple question.

 

[mdsd8700]

Another for Josh and EasyWDW. Josh spends lots of time in the parks and always gives reasons for his choices. He has never lead us wrong yet!

 

[itchin2go]

I use some sort of guidance for every trip. I've used touringplans and tourguidemike, as well as some of the free sites. I also put together my own info based on EMH, nighttime shows, special events, and hours.

I know for some, vacation is about winging it and sleeping in. If that's you, then do that. For me, vacation is about maximizing the fun. That's why I plan and plan and plan. It's also why I'm there at rope drop. It's also why I work the fastpass system as much as possible. It's also why I book my ADRs at the 180 day mark. I know for some people, that sounds miserable. For me, misery would be winging it. I love the planning part of it, and I love knowing that I have a solid plan. To each their own.

For our upcoming trip, there's a day when DHS closes at 6:00 pm, and has no EMH. Given that we're typically only in the park until about 2:00 in the afternoon, and we're not interested in seeing Fantasmic, that's an ideal DHS day for us. It should be DEAD. If I didn't look into this and plan accordingly, we'd likely be at DHS on a different, non-DEAD day, and we'd be sacrificing our time needlessly.

So yes, I look at whatever crowd calendars I can get my hands on.

 

[I-4Bound]

Another vote for Touring Plans - the Crowd Calendar is great, and we've found it to be pretty spot on over quite a few trips. You can usually get a discount from Mousesavers. For me personally, $10 a year is worth it. I also use it all the time to help newbie friends plan their trips

 

[NorthernBuckeye]

Second trip as adult with family, last was in 2009. My plan:

Easy Josh for park.
UG for MY strategy on rides, confirm plan with DD8 and her preference.
Robo & Mesaboy for answering my questions prior to arrival.
Rope drop and midday break.
Lines and MDE while in the park.

 

[cruisingkat]

We (DH & I) don't follow any plans. We decide what park we want to go to that day based on how we are feeling.
We often play bus roulette - whichever park bus comes in first is the park we go to. If it is too crowded for us, we just head over to another park.
However, we do go several times a year (usually about 4 times a year - last year we were there 7 times) for 3-5 days at a time. We spend just a couple of hours at a park and do other things around Disney (minature golf, shop, go to listen to Elliot Dyson perform at POFQ, relax at the resort, etc.) We do live over 1,000 miles away and have AP but since we are retired, we can take multiple trips.
We do use Mobile Magic for fast pass availability times for a ride that we want to do instead of walking across the park only to find out the fast passes or gone or are too late in the day. If the ride line is too long, we skip it as we figure we catch it on the next visit.
We don't do ADR's except if we want a character meal or special event. We use the mobile site to look for available restaurants a couple of hours before we want to eat and usually find one of our top three choices of cuisine available for around the time we want to eat (table for 2).
That is our style for doing Disney - it works for us.

 

[richmo]

...We often play bus roulette - whichever park bus comes in first is the park we go to. ..

I'm usually offsite, so I have a car, but I love that idea!