Anything more accurate than touringplans?

[sonjaandsue]

I have gathered from some posts that touringplans is not all that accurate in their predictions for DL crowds. Do you agree/disagree? Is there somewhere that has better predictions? It seems like crowd flow is a whole different thing at DL vs WDW. We are there for a whole week (Oct 22-29) - is it more expecting crowds on weekends/evenings and less during the day? Is DL always more crowded than DCA? Do I need to give up my WDW-type crowd planning and just go with the flow?

Thank you for your help!

 

[sunflowermom2]

My family and I are heading to Disneyland Resort the first week of October and I have signed up for Touring Plans but am also debating RideMax. (ridemax.com) The reviews are really good, price still very reasonable even if it only saves us a few hours and it will build you a true custom itinerary based on the actual rides you want to go on. It seems pretty neat to me.

Just waiting for 30 days out to get started as we are a Mac family and need to download a trial version of software that will allow ridemax to work on my MacBook. All that info is on their site too. They also have an app for the iPhone that we will use when we are at the parks.

Good luck with your trip!

 

[skiingfast]

TP is good, for WDW, pretty unreliable for DLR.

There is no good park to go to like in WDW. DL always has way more people because it's larger with more attraction.

On your visit because of Mickey's Halloween Parties people without ticket will go over to DCA. So DCA is busier at night than during the day. The parties are in DL.


As suggested look at Ridemax if you want some planning software.

 

[maryrm]

if you have an iphone, download mousewaits. we LOVED it and it was dead-on for most of the rides. we made a game out of guessing the wait time for each ride as we were waiting to get on rides! we had people ask us, "hey, can you tell me how long the wait is for such and such ride?" We saw many people in the parks w/mousewaits...it is great.

 

[LittleWoodenHead]

I have gathered from some posts that touringplans is not all that accurate in their predictions for DL crowds. Do you agree/disagree?

I posted in another thread after looking at Touring Plans crowd projections for October. I'd say it was accurate -- for 10 years ago!

Is there somewhere that has better predictions?

Other than anecdotal reports, I find one of the best "predictors" of DL crowds to be DLR itself. If the Park is scheduled to be open, say, from 10:00AM-8:00PM, that means they are expecting lower crowds. At the other end of the spectrum: 8:00AM-Midnight = super busy.

That said, October's schedule is still a bit wonky. First, you have Mickey's Halloween Party scheduled on some nights, so that throws things off. Also, the Park has been known to suddenly extend the hours when the crowds warrant. (It's happened to me twice in October over the past several years.)

It seems like crowd flow is a whole different thing at DL vs WDW.

Overall attendance at DL has been on an upward swing ever since the 50th, and major promotions like HalloweenTime have also had a big effect. Also, you have to realize that Disneyland is very much a LOCAL park. It is estimated that the number of Annual Passholders is around 1 million. Popping in for half a day or for an evening after work is "the thing to do" for many AP holders.

Is DL always more crowded than DCA?

Yes, but DL is a bigger park with more to do, so it can absorb more people than DCA. Don't be surprised if TSMM in DCA is one of the most crowded rides during your visit.

Do I need to give up my WDW-type crowd planning and just go with the flow?

EXCELLENT IDEA! Go with the flow, enjoy what you can every minute and don't overly stress about crowds, schedules, etc. You don't need to micro-manage your time. Disneyland is a lot more compact than Magic Kingdom, so you can cover much more ground. Also unlike WDW, the two parks are a few minutes walk apart, so you don't have to plan which bus you're going to catch that morning or how you're going to park hop later in the day.

My advice: Have a general plan of attack each day -- as far as which Park/Land/Ride/etc. you want to hit first and what show/parade/etc. you want to try and catch later -- and then just HAVE FUN!

 

[MelindaRuns]

We use Ride Max, with great results. We used it just today, in fact, in Disneyland, and have used it extensively in the past at both DLR and WDW parks, and we are able to do so much more than if we try to wing it. Even though we know the parks pretty well, it helps us plan the day. And, I think what you were referring to, it tells you which park is the best choice for a particular day. It has always worked great for us.

 

[HydroGuy]

Yes, but DL is a bigger park with more to do, so it can absorb more people than DCA. Don't be surprised if TSMM in DCA is one of the most crowded rides during your visit.


EXCELLENT IDEA! Go with the flow, enjoy what you can every minute and don't overly stress about crowds, schedules, etc. You don't need to micro-manage your time. Disneyland is a lot more compact than Magic Kingdom, so you can cover much more ground. Also unlike WDW, the two parks are a few minutes walk apart, so you don't have to plan which bus you're going to catch that morning or how you're going to park hop later in the day.

My advice: Have a general plan of attack each day -- as far as which Park/Land/Ride/etc. you want to hit first and what show/parade/etc. you want to try and catch later -- and then just HAVE FUN!

I could have written that myself! Totally agree!

 

[sonjaandsue]

I knew I could count on getting some great advice - thank you everyone. I got MouseWait and I am going to check out Ride Max but mainly I'm not going to worry. We have a plan for the Halloween Party days - going to the party on Tues and going to Legoland on Friday. And we will make plans to do WOC, Star Tours and Toy Story in an intelligent way. Other than that, if it is crowded, we will stop and enjoy the details that we never got to at WDW!

 

[Tink-aholic]

We just came back from DLR (Aug 24 and 25) and Touring Plans was dead on! It said that the crowds would 4/10 and 5/10. After over 100 trips to WDW, I would say that I know how to read a crowd and I figure they were pretty accurate. We walked on California Screamin on the Thursday morning three times in an hour and walked up for dinner without a reservation at Blue Bayou.

I also used the MouseWait app and loved it, though we used it more to find out which attractions were down than for actual wait times.

 

[keahgirl8]

I recently went to DL and DCA during the D23 Expo. I was a little nervous because Touring Plans showed crowd levels at 9 and 10. I didn't find this to be true. Nearly every ride was a walk-on. OT, but I used TGM when I went to WDW and didn't find it to be very accurate either.