Crowd Calendar?

[ddpaints]

From those of you that have used the crowd calendars by vote which one did you find to be the most accurate?

Planning for a Thanksgiving week trip with my family and a family that has never been. I have issues (as in I hyperventilate) if I'm stuck in human wall crowds and I also want to be able to help our friends see as much as possible since this may be there once in a lifetime(or at least for a long time) trip.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

This year touring plans has been badly underestimating crowds, and they don't seem to be adjusting adequately to the crowd increase that has been consistent all year. So while I would normally put them right there with easywdw, right now I give the edge to Josh. I have not used UT in a while.

 

[hill6]

I think a lot of folks went to Florida to get away from the brutal winter we had. They would not have factored that into the crowds. I have used Touring Plans a number of times and they have been pretty good.

 

[UncleMike101]

I think a lot of folks went to Florida to get away from the brutal winter we had. They would not have factored that into the crowds. I have used Touring Plans a number of times and they have been pretty good.

Yup...
The Winter up here convinced a lot of people that they needed a warm spot to thaw out and Orlando seems to be the spot of choice.
It'll be interesting to see how many people did their Disney trip over Spring Break this year instead of waiting for Summer Vacation.
Perhaps Summer won't be quite as busy as in the past.

 

[maciec]

I used both touringplans and easywdw. Both were pretty accurate. However, when I planned the trip both sites had the crowds lower than they were and FP+ was barely rolled out. I now know what a level 7 crowd feels like. I guess that's a good thing for future planning.

 

[MacDalt]

I think a lot of folks went to Florida to get away from the brutal winter we had. They would not have factored that into the crowds. I have used Touring Plans a number of times and they have been pretty good.

There is snow on my car this morning. I'm in central Indiana, not Alaska. I wish I were in Florida.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I don't really use any of them anymore. But I think easywdw is much better at giving some general guidelines to follow for each day. For that and touring plans, I think it is good to not get hung up on the numbers. Here are the guidelines that we usually follow. Not always... because if I want to be in Magic Kingdom one night, I'm going despite crowd predictions. I have park hoppers and that helps if we decide we want to try a different park.

For us... we like to get to the parks very early so little wait time for attractions. But we also like to stay late and enjoy Fantasmic/Wishes/etc. If we do that, it's difficult to get up early the next morning. So we try to mix some early mornings with some to sleep in.... MK and HS are a must to have at least 1 early morning. Epcot and AK, I'm less concerned about.

Even if the park is predicted to be crowded, it is possible to have a great time:

• Go for morning EMH then get out.
• Arrive at park opening time (actually before the posted time).
• Do rides during parades and fireworks and during dinner time.
• Stay away from Main St. at MK.
• Don't try to exit the park right after Wishes.
• Watch Wishes somewhere other than Main St. then exit quickly to one of the lands.
• Watch parades from Frontierland or Liberty Square, not Main St.
• Enjoy attractions that do not have lines or are fast loading.

Our general guidelines. Although crowds are NOT predictable. For example, we have park hopped to Epcot for the evening magic hour before and there was no wait for rides. We have stayed at MK after Wishes and rode Splash Mtn repeatedly without getting off the ride. It just depends....

• Best time to go to WDW? When you want to go. We prefer to go when schools are typically not closed (not holidays, not summer, not Thanksgiving, etc.).
• Arrive to the park early, before the posted opening time.
• Arrive to the park early (did I say that already?)
• Arrive to the park early (enough emphasis?)
• Do major attractions first.
• Magic Kingdom always seems good on Fridays during the day and even Saturdays sometimes. Saturday evening - expect the crowds to roll in.
• On party nights (MNSSHP Halloween Party and MK Christmas Party), go to MK during the day.
• When a park has evening magic hours (and you did not go...) go to that park the next morning early.
• Animal Kingdom park seems to be less crowded early in the morning and closer to park closing time.
• Hollywood Studios is best at park opening if you want to do Toy Story. Forget about evening magic hours there -- the wait time for rides will still be long. The only reason I'd go to evening magic hours at HS is for the Disney Jr. dance party thing.
• If all we are gong to Epcot for is World Showcase, it doesn't matter when we go. It's a big park and heading there in the evening for dinner/drinks is fine. But I dread trying to exit right after illuminations... too many people, long wait for buses. Stay back in the park longer if evening magic hours or take your time exiting (be one of the last to get kicked out by cast members) or exit to the Boardwalk resort and relax for a bit and take a taxi from there back to your resort.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

There is snow on my car this morning. I'm in central Indiana, not Alaska. I wish I were in Florida.

Same thing here in Columbus. Crazy - 80 degrees 2 days ago, 74 yesterday, woke up to snow this morning.

Will be in Florida/Disney nexy week.

 

[maryj11]

This year touring plans has been badly underestimating crowds, and they don't seem to be adjusting adequately to the crowd increase that has been consistent all year. So while I would normally put them right there with easywdw, right now I give the edge to Josh. I have not used UT in a while.

I agree they are not adjusting and Josh is the most accurate but maybe a little lower than actual crowds . They dont seem to be trying to adjust the crowd increases or maybe it is hard for them to. I dont know

 

[ddpaints]

I don't really use any of them anymore. But I think easywdw is much better at giving some general guidelines to follow for each day. For that and touring plans, I think it is good to not get hung up on the numbers. Here are the guidelines that we usually follow. Not always... because if I want to be in Magic Kingdom one night, I'm going despite crowd predictions. I have park hoppers and that helps if we decide we want to try a different park.

For us... we like to get to the parks very early so little wait time for attractions. But we also like to stay late and enjoy Fantasmic/Wishes/etc. If we do that, it's difficult to get up early the next morning. So we try to mix some early mornings with some to sleep in.... MK and HS are a must to have at least 1 early morning. Epcot and AK, I'm less concerned about.

Even if the park is predicted to be crowded, it is possible to have a great time:

• Go for morning EMH then get out.
• Arrive at park opening time (actually before the posted time).
• Do rides during parades and fireworks and during dinner time.
• Stay away from Main St. at MK.
• Don't try to exit the park right after Wishes.
• Watch Wishes somewhere other than Main St. then exit quickly to one of the lands.
• Watch parades from Frontierland or Liberty Square, not Main St.
• Enjoy attractions that do not have lines or are fast loading.

Our general guidelines. Although crowds are NOT predictable. For example, we have park hopped to Epcot for the evening magic hour before and there was no wait for rides. We have stayed at MK after Wishes and rode Splash Mtn repeatedly without getting off the ride. It just depends....

• Best time to go to WDW? When you want to go. We prefer to go when schools are typically not closed (not holidays, not summer, not Thanksgiving, etc.).
• Arrive to the park early, before the posted opening time.
• Arrive to the park early (did I say that already?)
• Arrive to the park early (enough emphasis?)
• Do major attractions first.
• Magic Kingdom always seems good on Fridays during the day and even Saturdays sometimes. Saturday evening - expect the crowds to roll in.
• On party nights (MNSSHP Halloween Party and MK Christmas Party), go to MK during the day.
• When a park has evening magic hours (and you did not go...) go to that park the next morning early.
• Animal Kingdom park seems to be less crowded early in the morning and closer to park closing time.
• Hollywood Studios is best at park opening if you want to do Toy Story. Forget about evening magic hours there -- the wait time for rides will still be long. The only reason I'd go to evening magic hours at HS is for the Disney Jr. dance party thing.
• If all we are gong to Epcot for is World Showcase, it doesn't matter when we go. It's a big park and heading there in the evening for dinner/drinks is fine. But I dread trying to exit right after illuminations... too many people, long wait for buses. Stay back in the park longer if evening magic hours or take your time exiting (be one of the last to get kicked out by cast members) or exit to the Boardwalk resort and relax for a bit and take a taxi from there back to your resort.

Thank you for posting your family's touring plan,I appreciate your post. Typically my family does exactly what your family does but this trip is different because we have 4 people with us that have never been to WDW, they will want to see everything, this is a once in a lifetime/longtime trip for them and we were able to make it possible for them by using our DVC points so that they could afford the trip. So with that in mind they are doing base tickets and no park hoppers bought through a discount site. One of them is a school teacher and wouldn't have been able to have gotten out of school so we have to go during Thanksgiving. With all this in mind and not knowing if they can run hard like my family (as in from rope drop at one park to staying up until 1 am closing at another park) I have to plan accordingly. This is why I wanted to know who had used the crowd calendar and which one they used so that I could come up with a solid touring plan for us that wouldn't leave too many "must see" attractions out. Thankfully no one in our party could give a hoot about parades or fireworks so that frees up a lot of ride times for us.We will be making breakfast in room and packing lunches so we can eat in line if needed. I'm thinking I'll go with Easy wdw it seems that is the clear favorite. Now I'll be able to plan our dinner restaurants according to the area we will be in for each day.
Again thank you for your insight.

Thank you everyone that has voted this helps a lot.

BTW What is up with snow in mid April

 

[BigMommaMouse]

Thank you for posting your family's touring plan,I appreciate your post. Typically my family does exactly what your family does but this trip is different because we have 4 people with us that have never been to WDW, they will want to see everything, this is a once in a lifetime/longtime trip for them and we were able to make it possible for them by using our DVC points so that they could afford the trip. So with that in mind they are doing base tickets and no park hoppers bought through a discount site. One of them is a school teacher and wouldn't have been able to have gotten out of school so we have to go during Thanksgiving. With all this in mind and not knowing if they can run hard like my family (as in from rope drop at one park to staying up until 1 am closing at another park) I have to plan accordingly. This is why I wanted to know who had used the crowd calendar and which one they used so that I could come up with a solid touring plan for us that wouldn't leave too many "must see" attractions out. Thankfully no one in our party could give a hoot about parades or fireworks so that frees up a lot of ride times for us.We will be making breakfast in room and packing lunches so we can eat in line if needed. I'm thinking I'll go with Easy wdw it seems that is the clear favorite. Now I'll be able to plan our dinner restaurants according to the area we will be in for each day.
Again thank you for your insight.

Thank you everyone that has voted this helps a lot.

BTW What is up with snow in mid April

I think it is wonderful that you are spreading the magic. Your going to have a fantastic time.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Hello fellow Marylander. Yes, snow and sleet and 30 some degrees F after a beautiful weekend with 80F temps.??? So much for Spring!

Good point. Every trip and family is different. We went in 2008 Thanksgiving week. That was my first trip and I did not really plan it. I underestimated how much there was to do in each park. We can still do a full day in AK park... whereas some people don't go more than half a day. That's our place to relax and not rush, rush, rush, go, go, go. Same for Epcot. We did hop sometimes and it seemed to waste time although we enjoyed the monorail between MK and EP and the boat from EP to HS. Touring styles make a big difference. In 2009, we went character crazy. This year, DS just wants to do the fun stuff and is not interested in characters so we can forget about those lines!

Also in 2008, we had a mix of generations. Everyone kind of went their own way during the day then we met up at different points in time, and always for a family dinner each night. Early birds got up and went to the parks right away, teens stayed up late and slept late, some of us toured commando style, others strolled leisurely.

Although it was a long time ago, Thanksgiving week was reasonable crowds early in the week... then a MAJOR increase in people Wednesday evening through Saturday night. I'm facing a similar situation going the week before and including Memorial Day. Our strategy is to do all our favorite attractions early in the week several times, then enjoy some more leisurely touring on the weekend (and resort time).

For this May trip, the weather could be hot and that means we might need to go a little slower or take a mid-day resort pool break some days.

So, if we were not going to park hop and I had to pick one day... I would definitely go with easywdw because he explains why he says each park will be crowded and gives more detail about what the park will look like during the day. Epcot is often the most recommended park, but I only want to go there during the evening for dinner/drinks. That's why I say we don't get hung up on the numbers.

Thank you for posting your family's touring plan,I appreciate your post. Typically my family does exactly what your family does but this trip is different because we have 4 people with us that have never been to WDW, they will want to see everything, this is a once in a lifetime/longtime trip for them and we were able to make it possible for them by using our DVC points so that they could afford the trip. So with that in mind they are doing base tickets and no park hoppers bought through a discount site. One of them is a school teacher and wouldn't have been able to have gotten out of school so we have to go during Thanksgiving. With all this in mind and not knowing if they can run hard like my family (as in from rope drop at one park to staying up until 1 am closing at another park) I have to plan accordingly. This is why I wanted to know who had used the crowd calendar and which one they used so that I could come up with a solid touring plan for us that wouldn't leave too many "must see" attractions out. Thankfully no one in our party could give a hoot about parades or fireworks so that frees up a lot of ride times for us.We will be making breakfast in room and packing lunches so we can eat in line if needed. I'm thinking I'll go with Easy wdw it seems that is the clear favorite. Now I'll be able to plan our dinner restaurants according to the area we will be in for each day.
Again thank you for your insight.

Thank you everyone that has voted this helps a lot.

BTW What is up with snow in mid April

 

[ddpaints]

I think it is wonderful that you are spreading the magic. Your going to have a fantastic time.

Thanks! I think I'm more excited about bringing them along and showing them "The World" then they are about coming (and they are totally jump up and down excited about coming).
I just want to make this the most magical trip they have ever been on. There have been and still are, some major medical issues that the Dr's are having problems figuring out and I would love to give the whole family a week of not having to think about any of it. Also their daughter and my son are best friends and have been since kindergarten. We joke all the time about hanging out with the in-laws. Hopefully with all my planning we will have an amazing smooth trip even though it will be a typically busy week and for 7 days the real world will not exist.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

Hopefully with all my planning we will have an amazing smooth trip even though it will be a typically busy week and for 7 days the real world will not exist.

This is why we keep going back too!

 

[hsmamato2]

Easywdw has never failed us in the predictions love that site!!!

 

[sethschroeder]

Average them all about what is the best park for the day. The numbers mean nothing unless your trying to decide between May and November. If you want two days at MK you look for any days if possible where it is the best park.

Each of the three have strengths but touringplans strength is not in crowd calendars it's in the in park app.

 

[michigandergirl]

That Wednesday through Saturday of Thanksgiving week is going to be busy no matter which crowd calendar you look at, but with good, strategic touring you will have no problem getting it done.

We went last year Thanksgiving week and we followed easywdw's park days and general touring advice. We hit the parks at rope drop, went back to the resort most afternoons, and most evenings we went back to the parks.

The only thing I would have changed is reserving a FP+ for Wishes or Illuminations, especially later that week.

 

[summerskye]

I don't really use any of them anymore. But I think easywdw is much better at giving some general guidelines to follow for each day. For that and touring plans, I think it is good to not get hung up on the numbers. Here are the guidelines that we usually follow. Not always... because if I want to be in Magic Kingdom one night, I'm going despite crowd predictions. I have park hoppers and that helps if we decide we want to try a different park.

For us... we like to get to the parks very early so little wait time for attractions. But we also like to stay late and enjoy Fantasmic/Wishes/etc. If we do that, it's difficult to get up early the next morning. So we try to mix some early mornings with some to sleep in.... MK and HS are a must to have at least 1 early morning. Epcot and AK, I'm less concerned about.

Even if the park is predicted to be crowded, it is possible to have a great time:

• Go for morning EMH then get out.
• Arrive at park opening time (actually before the posted time).
• Do rides during parades and fireworks and during dinner time.
• Stay away from Main St. at MK.
• Don't try to exit the park right after Wishes.
• Watch Wishes somewhere other than Main St. then exit quickly to one of the lands.
• Watch parades from Frontierland or Liberty Square, not Main St.
• Enjoy attractions that do not have lines or are fast loading.

Our general guidelines. Although crowds are NOT predictable. For example, we have park hopped to Epcot for the evening magic hour before and there was no wait for rides. We have stayed at MK after Wishes and rode Splash Mtn repeatedly without getting off the ride. It just depends....

• Best time to go to WDW? When you want to go. We prefer to go when schools are typically not closed (not holidays, not summer, not Thanksgiving, etc.).
• Arrive to the park early, before the posted opening time.
• Arrive to the park early (did I say that already?)
• Arrive to the park early (enough emphasis?)
• Do major attractions first.
• Magic Kingdom always seems good on Fridays during the day and even Saturdays sometimes. Saturday evening - expect the crowds to roll in.
• On party nights (MNSSHP Halloween Party and MK Christmas Party), go to MK during the day.
• When a park has evening magic hours (and you did not go...) go to that park the next morning early.
• Animal Kingdom park seems to be less crowded early in the morning and closer to park closing time.
• Hollywood Studios is best at park opening if you want to do Toy Story. Forget about evening magic hours there -- the wait time for rides will still be long. The only reason I'd go to evening magic hours at HS is for the Disney Jr. dance party thing.
• If all we are gong to Epcot for is World Showcase, it doesn't matter when we go. It's a big park and heading there in the evening for dinner/drinks is fine. But I dread trying to exit right after illuminations... too many people, long wait for buses. Stay back in the park longer if evening magic hours or take your time exiting (be one of the last to get kicked out by cast members) or exit to the Boardwalk resort and relax for a bit and take a taxi from there back to your resort.

Excellent Post

Very good points

 

[StuartJax]

easywdw.com The BEST!

 

[rbrbnd]

Personally I like Touring plans...but I don't think you'll need a calendar Thanksgiving week...just plan on packed