EasyWDW VS Touringplans

[kandb]

I based my parks/adr's based on easywdw but I was just looking at Touringplans and can't believe how much different the two sites are.

On Aug. 28th we had AK as our park day, as easywdw had it picked as the least crowded park and has MK in the RED. I just checked touringplans and it has AK on that day as a 7 and has MK as ONLY a 3.

Now I am thinking of changing plans. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[wmjeffer]

I used Touring Plans for my trip last year and they were WAY off (which, of course, is always a risk!). I'd stick with Josh's recommendations on EasyWDW!

 

[SingingMom]

Josh is the only one I listen to. LOL

 

[cdnjason]

I prefer EasyWDW for crowd calendars. But, I love the lines app from touringplans to plan my trips to the parks.

 

[JZCubed]

I based my parks/adr's based on easywdw but I was just looking at Touringplans and can't believe how much different the two sites are.

On Aug. 28th we had AK as our park day, as easywdw had it picked as the least crowded park and has MK in the RED. I just checked touringplans and it has AK on that day as a 7 and has MK as ONLY a 3.

Now I am thinking of changing plans. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Do you have any information that renders the Crowd Calendar description from EasyWDW to be inaccurate?

In part:

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We’re coming off a popular morning Extra Magic Hour yesterday and have another tomorrow, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests.

Epcot is recommended, though it isn’t necessarily the best day of the week there. A Wednesday or Friday would be better with more attracting casual visitors to other Parks. Still, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will be attracting the majority of off-site and on-site visitors with long hours and plentiful evening entertainment.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people. Because Disney sells the Extra Magic Hour program so well in its marketing materials, many of these Disney resort guests follow the Extra Magic Hours schedule because they think it’s Disney telling them where they belong each day

Magic Kingdom is recommended though most people will want to wait until Tuesday to visit if they can. Today will see average crowds despite the slightly below average overall crowd level, in addition to an increased number of locals able to visit on the weekend. Saturday is a more common arrival day than it once was and many casual vacationers prefer to start their trip at the Most Magical Place on Earth and the most popular theme park on the planet. The morning Extra Magic Hour will help lure away some Disney resort guests, but that won’t have a major impact on wait times. You can still do very well with an arrival prior to Park opening and an efficient touring plan, but the afternoon will see moderate crowds that will only get heavier as it gets later in the day.

I'm inclined to 'listen' to Josh at EasyWDW and not follow data points blindly from Touring Plans.

 

[magicwdw]

I have followed Josh at easywdw for years and have always been happy. The one year I used Touringplans I regretted it.

 

[momimouse27]

I used to subscribe to touring plans and use them all the time, but I love easywdw now. I like that each day's description tells why they've chosen each park.

 

[Mikie]

I've used Touring Plans several times and felt successful with it (you can't be sure, of course, because you weren't in two places at once to compare!) I also read the description/discussion on EasyWDW to see whether it applies to me. Sometimes he advises against a park simply because of EMH or because a different day that week is a better choice, but that may not match up with what I'm trying to do, so it's irrelevant. Given that you're talking about a weekend day, I always assume MK is more crowded than the others (except Epcot during festivals maybe) and pick a park other than MK if possible.

 

[Alesia]

I haven't found touring plans to be accurate in years. Stick with easywdw.com.

 

[kandb]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I was surprised that they were saying the MK was only a 3 crowd level on 8/31 when it was having evening EMH.

 

[SPOERLX3]

I have noticed that most of the crowd calendars are off from each other. TP, EasyWDW, Undercover Tourist, WDW prep school and Kenny the Pirate. Some days they match, others days they don't and some days they are totally opposite. I have read that some of the crowd calendars rank the parks by wait times in line and others by crowd level of attendance. I like different things about each of the crowd calendars so I use different things from several of them. I do like that EasyWDW gives an explanation of why he recommends each day. Touring Plans, I like the historical crowds and the wait times for each ride from each day. At the end of the day, you never know until you are there, which park that guests are going to choose to go to.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Another vote for easyWDW. His logic resonates with me.

With one minor caveat. Being morning people when we stayed on site we would take advantage of the morning extra hour. We would get a lot done before we headed out for our midday break.

Now that we are off site I follow easyWDW's recommendations.

 

[GaryDis]

On Aug. 28th we had AK as our park day, as easywdw had it picked as the least crowded park and has MK in the RED. I just checked touringplans and it has AK on that day as a 7 and has MK as ONLY a 3.

There's a bug on Josh's (easywdw) listing for Aug. 28. If you scroll down to the prose description for August 28, you'll see that it's recommended, though not strongly. There's even a comment on the page questioning this, but I didn't see a reply.

 

[kandb]

There's a bug on Josh's (easywdw) listing for Aug. 28. If you scroll down to the prose description for August 28, you'll see that it's recommended, though not strongly. There's even a comment on the page questioning this, but I didn't see a reply.

Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, for some reason Josh had it listed as the best park to go to on 8/28. We have another day open, that I will change our AK day to. Thanks

 

[Amelia :)]

We are going for our first family trip in November, whilst planning I tried to use both sites, but easy WDW's crowd calendar for November isn't even up yet, so the info just wasn't available at the point I needed to plan. We are there for 14 days and got the free dining plan, so I had to make 14 ADR's at the 180 day mark, so unfortunately my plans are already set in stone before I can even see his calendar.

 

[magicwdw]

Waiting on easywdw Jan 2017 calendar. Even after Josh posts it things can change so much - hours, ride closures, etc.
Remember the good old days when you could just "wing it" and not worry and plan so much. Those days are gone but I do have to admit I like comparing all the crowd calendar websites and thinking about my next trip.

 

[OB1]

This is an interesting debate - and I like both. Touringplans is based on major data collected and is fact based. Josh is based on what he experiences and is also based on data and times. I really think the main strategy that both will follow is how to plan for the major attractions. I also think both lead you to skip the park with EMH. It is interesting though how they can disagree on best park of the day. In the old days I used tourguidemike, and that added another strategy - and it worked also.

 

[wmjeffer]

We are going for our first family trip in November, whilst planning I tried to use both sites, but easy WDW's crowd calendar for November isn't even up yet, so the info just wasn't available at the point I needed to plan. We are there for 14 days and got the free dining plan, so I had to make 14 ADR's at the 180 day mark, so unfortunately my plans are already set in stone before I can even see his calendar.

Josh's November 2016 calendar has been available since April, albeit without the in-depth explanation of each day: http://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/november-2016-preliminary-crowd-calendar/

 

[Amelia :)]

Josh's November 2016 calendar has been available since April, albeit without the in-depth explanation of each day: http://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/november-2016-preliminary-crowd-calendar/

Thank you! For some reason I could only find up until October?! How odd. Thanks

 

[wmjeffer]

Thank you! For some reason I could only find up until October?! How odd. Thanks

Happy to help! For some reason, November 2016 isn't showing up when you hover over the "crowd calendars" heading in the menu! I had to search to find it too, lol.