Crowd Calendar?

[dawgs4disney]

Has anyone ever planned their trip based on the crowd calendar on touringplans.com? We will be at WDW over Memorial Day weekend, and based on the crowd calendar Saturday and Sunday is predicted to be an "8", but Memorial Day is only a "5". I can understand people traveling back home on Memorial Day, but the Tuesday and Wednesday after Memorial Day are also listed as an "8". I had decided to not plan a park day for Memorial Day thinking it would be too busy with the crowds, but now am rethinking this decision. The only downside is that I have planned my ADR's around my original plan. Does anyone have any past experience with this particular site and how accurate touring plans usually is? Also, how much do you follow his "best park/parks to avoid" suggestions?

 

[PrincessTeresa]

We'll be there the same time!! We had noticed that last night when we were trying to figure out our days - DH said it might be a typo - that it didn't sound right. This is our first time using touringplans - do you have Lines on your cell phone? I've been checking the wait times for over a month!! LOL I love the chat they have too - You might could ask on there to see if any of the admins know why it's listed as a 5.

 

[HsvTeacher]

We were there for Memorial Day last year. We went to MK that day, because we had a breakfast ADR at Crystal Palace, and it was the recommended park. (I also remember it being rated either a 5 or 6.) It really wasn't that busy until about 12:00pm, and then hoards of people started entering the park. When we came back late that afternoon, it wasn't busy at all.

We followed the crowd calendar, and I don't recall having to wait in many long lines during that trip. We'll be there again for Memorial Day this year, too! If all else fails, we'll go early for rope drop, collect FastPasses until lunchtime, and go back in the late afternoon to use the FastPasses.

 

[maciec]

I always check the crowd levels for the times that I want to go and we have yet to be let down. If you send them an e-mail they will tell you why the levels for those days are higher than the others. It may take a day or 2 for them to get back to you, but they do respond and the response is a personal one and not auto generated one.

 

[traci]

We plan our trips with the help of touringplans...we find it to be fairly accurate (and helpful).

 

[lllGurulll]

I plan for all days to be an 8 or higher. Makes my touring easier to deal with when I just plan for high crowds.

 

[PrincessTeresa]

Don't they use estimates from previous years to come up with the crowd level number for this year? What does a "8" look like? Hour or more wait times? I'm worried a little! lol

 

[tinkerbell313]

We were at the World from Tuesday, June 2nd through the Tuesday, June 9th last year. However, Memorial day was the week before. It wasn't the same week.

Last year the parks were 8s and 9s (the numbers went up the week before we left...they were orginially 7s). The crowd numbers were very accurate...Splash Mountain had 100 minute waits as did BTR. TSM had 180 minute waits. Haunted Mansion and Pirates only had 10 minute waits.

However, if you went early or used EMH you would have no problems. The restaurants were not busy as well. Also some of the Floriday schools hd gotten out for the year on the 3rd...and we noticed more crowds from the 4th on.

 

[humboldthny]

We were just at WDW 4/25-5/2 and it was the first trip I looked at the crowd predictions on touring plans...honestly felt they were more than a little off. The days that were 8 turned out to be not so bad, but the 4 and 5 days seemed busier, like 6 or 7. Take it with a grain of salt...

 

[cbg1027]

I always plan my trips using the UG crowd calendar. I would of course, rather go during a crowded time than not at all, but I am usually flexible so I plan around low level times.

I usually follow their advice as to which park for which day, but when it's a 4-6 level to begin with, I don't think it makes much of a difference. For example, I've planned a November trip. I will be with someone who will not have a hopper ticket, so even though UG says to avoid DHS on a certain day because Fantasmic is happening, I plan to go there so we can see it. It's only going to be a 6...so I can deal, even if it is the 'worst' park that day.

I find their advice to be mostly accurate. Some days I find vary by +/- 1 point. I went on Halloween last year and they predicted a 4, but I would have called it a 3 it was so dead! When I was there in March, there were a few days they were calling for 5's, but that I thought were more like a 6.