Are the crowd calendars still accurate?

[leebee]

I've been reading about increased attendance, effects of FP+, etc., at Disney World. It's making me wonder: Do you feel that the crowd calendars are still accurate, or are crowd levels and attendance shifting? I can see how FP+ might effect this, with not being able to get FP+s at more than one park (so hop or not? stuff like that). I don't mean this to be a commentary on FP+… I just want to know if you were surprised by the crowds when you got to the parks, or are they still pretty much what the crowd calendars are predicting?

 

[JennyDrake]

Let me begin with a disclaimer that I've never been a big fan of crowd calendars. With that said, I look AFTER each trip to see what the calendars said; IMHO, all of the calendars are underestimating crowds. In all fairness, they are based on previous years and each years the crowds seem to increase significantly.

I was at WDW the last week in February and was very taken aback at the crowds. It's also hard to say how much FP+ is affecting wait times, etc.

 

[sarkell]

I've been reading about increased attendance, effects of FP+, etc., at Disney World. It's making me wonder: Do you feel that the crowd calendars are still accurate, or are crowd levels and attendance shifting? I can see how FP+ might effect this, with not being able to get FP+s at more than one park (so hop or not? stuff like that). I don't mean this to be a commentary on FP+… I just want to know if you were surprised by the crowds when you got to the parks, or are they still pretty much what the crowd calendars are predicting?

Im confused as well Magic KIngdom is 9 today but wait times dont seem impossible peter pan, splash space mountain all around 70 but thats whats been seen on a 6 day. Were going in 3 weeks i havent been since i was a kid nearly20 years. Were going on 5 or 6 days mothersday weekend. And we arent doing any rollercoasters. I think they are busier year round than they used to be but it seems to vary.

 

[cigar95]

The weekly TouringPlans "report card" shows that they have been within one or two levels of what actually happens almost all the time recently - sometimes high, sometimes low.

There was one day a week or two ago when two days of rain were followed by a clear day when the MK got slammed and one or two of the parks were off by three levels. Not much they can do about that prediction-wise. (History can tell us how many days of good and bad weather we can expect, but so far it can't tell us which ones!)

 

[akadada]

The last two times we went we felt the calendars were off (underestimated). We went February, October. But when we went in March 2 1/2 years ago we felt the calendars were accurate.

Our last two trip in February and October we felt the calendars were way under the estimate. . . meaning we felt it was super crowded. The last two trips FP+ was in some form either Pilot or operational. The March there was no FP+ in place.

 

[jcjen519]

when we were there earlier this month we were prepared to do nothing beyond our fp+ selections...crowds were at an 8. We were able to do lots of things each day and were surprised by how low lines for most things were.

 

[wunkmom]

Crowd calendars for last October were WAY off. I'll just say that I'll not use them when planning a trip again. The week we were there was predicted to be #2 least crowded week of the year. WAY WAY off. I also don't think that the crowd calendar folks are up to speed on year round school and the various breaks they take during the year.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Either the crowd calendars have been off, or folks on the Dis have been exaggerating the crowds/lines that they have experienced.

 

[ptcbass]

I have heard that the crowds are bigger this year. I think it may be because the spring specials have thrown them off. Disney advertised them on TV A LOT! Then there are also the mailers they sent out with codes on them. When Disney does a promo who knows what will happen.

 

[travelinggnomes]

I agree...the year round calendar really plays a role. Our kids are off for 2 weeks in October, and I can't tell you how many families went to Disney! Also, we have moved from having time off at Easter, and have 2 weeks at the end of March, no matter when Easter falls.

We homeschool, so we try to go at good times...but it does get tricky!

 

[Ariel on Land]

Crowd calendars for last October were WAY off. I'll just say that I'll not use them when planning a trip again. The week we were there was predicted to be #2 least crowded week of the year. WAY WAY off. I also don't think that the crowd calendar folks are up to speed on year round school and the various breaks they take during the year.

We must have been there the same week---- WAY OFF!!!!

At this point, I don't expect a certain level crowd, but use them as comparison. Ie: sept will be better than august, which will be better than July. KWIM?

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Also remember the StandBy lines have increased due to more people using FP+. So the crowd levels might actually be "the same", but experienced visitors may perceive them as being much more busy.

 

[UncleMike101]

A lot of Yankees got fed up with "The Winter From Hell" and took the first opportunity available to head South and shed their Winter fur.
Spring Break this year nearly emptied some cities.
Plus, most school systems are extending their school year to make up the dozen or so snow days that they were forced to deal with, so Summer Vacation will be later, which made many families trade Summer in the South, for Spring in the South.

 

[maryj11]

A lot of Yankees got fed up with "The Winter From Hell" and took the first opportunity available to head South and shed their Winter fur.
Spring Break this year nearly emptied some cities.
Plus, most school systems are extending their school year to make up the dozen or so snow days that they were forced to deal with, so Summer Vacation will be later, which made many families trade Summer in the South, for Spring in the South.

Well I hope they all will be done going to Disney by the end of May

 

[dizzyinwdw]

We were there April 1-8. I felt that crowds at MK and Epcot were predicted well (6-7) but AK and DHS were underestimated at 3-5s-- they seemed much more crowded. The parks definitely got busier as the week progressed and on Sunday we noticed a huge influx of resort guests. Nothing unbearable for wait times I thought even in stand by. We did FP+ for some of the attractions with very long wait times ( eg mountains, soarin, etc). I think we timed it right as the next couple of weeks crowd predictions were/are 9s. I think the long winter and longer school year really accounted for more people. We are in Michigan and it seemed everyone we knew was going to Disney for spring break and we met tons of people from MI at Disney.