Crowd Calendars - Swear By Them or Pass on Them?

[cariann77]

I'm curious how much weight people give crowd calendars when they are planning? I've really been looking into them and know that they are just an estimated based on prior attendance, but do you find that they hold pretty true? Have they been accurate for you?

If you use them, which do you feel is the best? I'm looking at one particular day and am seeing different results between calendars. Right now, I have HS scheduled for 5/20 and MK scheduled for 5/21. Thinking about flip flopping them. I asked about this before and here I am still obsessing over these calendars.

Date: May 21, 2015

UT: Parks 7. MK HS
Dad's Guide: Parks - Green (no waiting in most lines)
EasyWDW: Parks 7. MK HS
KennyThePirate: Parks: Moderate Crowd MK (Insane crowds/worst park)
TouringPlans: MK: 5 HS: 3

So, do you have one the you swear by or that you feel is the most accurate? Or do you think they are just totally off for their predictions?

Thanks!

 

[Alesia]

I find easywdw to be spot on.

 

[Buffalo2Disney]

Swear by them. EasyWDW.

Didn't follow the recommended parks one trip and never will make that mistake again, and this was in September.

 

[ellie05]

I would read the reason easywdw has for recomending that park and make a decision based on that.

 

[BellsFam]

I would read the reason easywdw has for recomending that park and make a decision based on that.

This.

I use the reasoning behind it. Though I also try to make it work in our schedule. I can't NOT go to MK on arrival day, and Easywdw says not to, but oh well...

I followed close to their plan for the rest of my time in WDW...

 

[anniemae]

I kind of use them as a guide.

 

[CATlovesDIS]

Huge fan of easywdw- used his advice on several trips! We will also be there May 2015! Recheck easywdw May calendar though, he does not recommend HS on Wed (20th) and MK is the least recommended park for Thursday (21st). His recommended parks on Wed, 20th are MK & EP, on the 21st HS & EP. (Maybe I misread your dates/plans, but yes I would recommend switching your Wed to MK and Thurs to HS.)

Cathy

 

[bbak30]

Definitely easywdw. I like touring plans too for the park hours and events schedule.

 

[disney world dreamer]

I'm curious how much weight people give crowd calendars when they are planning? I've really been looking into them and know that they are just an estimated based on prior attendance, but do you find that they hold pretty true? Have they been accurate for you?

If you use them, which do you feel is the best? I'm looking at one particular day and am seeing different results between calendars. Right now, I have HS scheduled for 5/20 and MK scheduled for 5/21. Thinking about flip flopping them. I asked about this before and here I am still obsessing over these calendars.

Date: May 21, 2015

UT: Parks 7. MK HS
Dad's Guide: Parks - Green (no waiting in most lines)
EasyWDW: Parks 7. MK HS
KennyThePirate: Parks: Moderate Crowd MK (Insane crowds/worst park)
TouringPlans: MK: 5 HS: 3

So, do you have one the you swear by or that you feel is the most accurate? Or do you think they are just totally off for their predictions?

Thanks!

personally i hate them.
other than the no-brainer times like xmas-new years i don't find them to be accurate.
i just go with MY experiences and instincts and what park I want to go to on what day.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Love easywdw and find him to be spot on. I always use that as a guide if I am unsure of which park to visit. I do find that it is more important for me to follow the crowd calendars on lower to moderate attendance days rather than high attendance. Really, if attendance is a 9 or 10, all parks will be nuts so I am more likely to go where I want. The reason is, that 9 or 10 is usually the average of all 4 parks. At least, I believe that is what Josh said. So a 9 or 10 means that all 4 parks are going to be packed. But, on a day when they are predicting a 4, I am definitely more likely to follow crowd predictions because one park could be as low as a 2 while another is a 5 or 6. That's a big difference to me. I hope that makes sense.

 

[g8torphan]

The more I go, the less I use them.

They're just making a somewhat educated guess.
I know how to be effective and efficient at the parks.

Josh makes some good points, but hes wrong sometimes too. There is really no way to "know".
Its mostly common sense; clearly MK is busiest, weekends are busier than weekdays, SWW will be busy at HS etc

 

[cariann77]

Great! Thanks everyone. I loved the way that EasyWDW explained things.

Huge fan of easywdw- used his advice on several trips! We will also be there May 2015! Recheck easywdw May calendar though, he does not recommend HS on Wed (20th) and MK is the least recommended park for Thursday (21st). His recommended parks on Wed, 20th are MK & EP, on the 21st HS & EP. (Maybe I misread your dates/plans, but yes I would recommend switching your Wed to MK and Thurs to HS.)

Cathy

Yes, you are right! I was looking at the week prior I think. Assuming I can get our dining to line up right, I think I plan on swapping these parks. Right now, I've got Jedi Mickey dinner with Fantasmic scheduled that Wednesday. Hoping I can grab a Thursday instead. I have a little bit of time, but really need to get it situated before I choose fast passes in a few weeks.

 

[senadler]

Another vote for easywdw and I definitely plan according to the crowd calendar. I have sometimes gone to a park that is not recommended, especially on a short trip, and have definitely noticed the difference.

 

[Josh Hendy]

The Unofficial Guide said (at least in the past) that according to their testing, the most important factor is to have a touring plan. In other words visiting a park on a lightly crowded day with no plan is worse than visiting on a busy day with a plan.

I don't know how much this has changed with FP+, with (generally) higher crowds nearly all the time, and with potentially longer standby queues for previously un-busy attractions ...

 

[dprincessmom]

Love that easywdw tells you why a park is or is not recommended. The last several trips have been easier following Josh's plan. The only time I go against the advice is for PM EMH but I know what I am getting myself into and our trips aren't the same without a little nighttime magic.

 

[ModernArtist]

Easywdw all the way!

 

[MainMom]

easywdw

I followed his recommendations on our last trip and we saw and did more than any other trip prior. I will be following his calendar for July.

 

[Tissa]

I picked my park days based on what Easywdw had to say. I also am subscribed to Touringplans and I look at their info too and love the Lines app. Have a good plan and all usually works out.

 

[finedice]

I look at them once, and as others have said, then use knowledge gained both here and through experience. You can be effective in any park on any day if you learn to be ahead of the crowds in the morning and zig when they zag as it gets busier. When they get to peak - bail out and have a swim or a nap and definitely a beer, then a shower, grab a bite and head back!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I'm curious how much weight people give crowd calendars when they are planning?......

I put weight on Josh's. Simple; I go to the green, stay away from the red.