Crowd level calendar increase

[naomi78155]

I am not a super huge planner, but is the touringplans.com highly recommended? Or would I be able to compile my own effective touring plan? We will be going April 27-May 4.

 

[ChrisMouse]

sorry for all of the confusion over the hours for May 3rd everyone...I'm still having trouble with the new calendar (hate it!)

Boy, it's confusing for people NOT staying on site who can't take advantage of the EMH's. Doesn't affect me since we stay on site, but I liked how the OLD calendar handled EMH's.

Thanks again for your patience!

 

[marx]

I planned a trip to WDW 4/18-5/3 last Summer. At the time TouringPlans had rather high crowd numbers the first week of our trip. (I use an Excel spreadsheet to plan days based on TP, so I had the data captured). At some point between the Summer and January (when I revisited TP to download the latest forecasts for dinning planning), TP lowered the expected crowds substantially.

The crowd level was lowered so much that I sent an email to inquire why. (With an answer basically stating that many factors are used to forecast).

So now, the levels have been increased again (May 1st from a 4 to an 8). I guess I'll need to update my plans again.

 

[ChrisMouse]

It is also Grad Nite both weekends AND there is a huge international cheerleading convention or competition at WDW during this time.

When are the Grad Nites and cheerleading convention? What are the exact dates?

Thanks!

 

[marx]

Recommended parks also changed. For example, DS was rated a Best park to visit on May 3rd; now it's on the Avoid list. This is possibly due to the updated park hours and Fantasmic schedule.

 

[brentalex]

When are the Grad Nites and cheerleading convention? What are the exact dates?

Thanks!

I believe the grad nights are the 17 and 18th and 24th and 25th of April. Don't know about the cheerleading

 

[btcrane]

We always do this, but found it to be CRAZY from March 14-20. For example, on the 18th, we went to DHS--got there 45 mins before the park opened. DH went straight to TSM and got fast passes (he was front of the line), I waited for him at RnRC. By the time he returned to me at 9:10 or so, the wait time for RnRC was 2 hours and 10 minutes and the line was backed up to TOT. We have been to WDW during Christmas week for the past 12 years and I don't think I have ever seen it this busy! It was absolutely wild!

We were visiting these dates too and said the same thing--we've never seen it so packed, even at Christmas. Touring plans really didn't help much, we were lucky because we knew what we wanted to do, got fastpasses for those rides, and went with the flow. For instance, at Animal Kingdom, we were there at rope drop and made a beeline for Expedition Everest. It was NOt a morning EMH, but when we got there (and we are very fast walkers) the lines were already really, really long, both for stand-by and to get fastpasses. What we were told is that the ride wasn't even open when the park opened--people stood there for about 15 minutes and the line continued to grow exponentially before the ride actually opened. Then, when it did open, it did not operate at full capacity. We wondered if THIS was the real reason for the long wait times at all of the parks--less cast members working so rides not operating at full capacity. As we arrived and left parks throughout the week, we noticed the parking lots were far from full.

 

[thumperjr9]

no kidding. We're in the Corning area and I thought we had one of the latest spring breaks in existence in the US. Ours is April 12-19 (and we get Good Friday). So west of here is the NEXT week? Is that Jamestown or something?

Us folks up north in the Rochester area have April 19-26th off. Our district also has the 27th off too because......believe it or not we used no snow days this year. I think the Buffalo area has April 12-19th off. Most of our days increased to 7's I'm not really surprised though because of the 3 for 4 deal.

 

[ansadler]

I'm in the same boat. We're going 4/24-5/1 and all my numbers have gone up. Even May 1st went from 4 to an 8!!! How is that possible??

I did read on a live trip report this week that MK has extended their hours but just announced it after Wishes (over intercoms) and stayed open until 11pm for everyone, not just on-site guests. They are "unpublished" hours so sometimes resort CM's don't even know. Maybe this is because of the large crowds. Although, the report I read said that most everyone left and they were able to walk-on tons of rides. Hope that happens to all of us!!!

 

[*disgal*]

Us folks up north in the Rochester area have April 19-26th off. Our district also has the 27th off too because......believe it or not we used no snow days this year. I think the Buffalo area has April 12-19th off. Most of our days increased to 7's I'm not really surprised though because of the 3 for 4 deal.

Wow. that's awesome. I would love to have a spring break that late.

 

[Yoshi]

I am really worried about my sister's class trip now. 6's went to 7's and so far they are going to the parks which are the ones that they reccomend to avoid that day. Worst of all they aren't allowed to fastpass on the Animal Kingdom/Epcot day (the school keeps the tickets 1 day as some kind of cautionary thing).

Do the numbers also apply to water parks? Their day at Blizzard Beach is a 5.

 

[txsoccermom]

I just went out there and checked for the week we will be there, and what used to be 5-7-7-5-6-6-6-6 is now 8-9-9-8-8-8-8-8 Guess the 4/3 deal has really worked on bringing the crowds in. I've never been there though when it's been that crowded. Here's to hoping they're wrong!

 

[tinawv]

We are going June 3-10, and the crowd levels were listed as 5, 6, and 7's. They have now gone up to all 8's. I checked WDW's web site and the times have not been changed for the parks. Not sure how they based the crowd level increase for June based on this. Another vote for hoping their wrong.

 

[Swoop1]

Been at WDW since Wednesday, all I can say is, crowded, crowded, crowded, it's not wonder the crowd calendars are going up as Easter approaches. Lot's of economic stimulation happening here atm.

Just come prepared for large crowds and have a plan and you will be fine. Oh and here are some Spectro pics from Friday night, 3/27/09 to get you excited for your upcoming trips

 

[DisnLuvr]

Hi

I've been watching the crowd level predictor for our trip 19-26th April and it has just gone up from a rather pleasant 5-6 to an alarming 7-9!

Does anyone know why this might be

Thanks

It is among the crowded TImes. People usually visit during Easter break.. So you are in for a crowded time.. There will be no short of entertainment though

 

[jewelmicky]

I am really worried about my sister's class trip now. 6's went to 7's and so far they are going to the parks which are the ones that they reccomend to avoid that day. Worst of all they aren't allowed to fastpass on the Animal Kingdom/Epcot day (the school keeps the tickets 1 day as some kind of cautionary thing).

Do the numbers also apply to water parks? Their day at Blizzard Beach is a 5.

They would still be able to use the FP's.....it doesn't matter what kind of tickets u have, open to all. They will not be able to Park Hop.

 

[thumbelina115]

We're going to be there from April 2-4 and the crowds went from a 7 to a NINE! Yowza! I guess we'll be using some serious fast passes. And keeping our fingers crossed!

 

[GOLFDISNEY72]

We are arriving Easter day and staying the whole week. The calander had all 7's and when I pulled it up last night it is now all 10's. It looks like daddy is going to need some "special water" for this trip.

 

[ValinWV]

I am new to these boards. What is this calendar you speak of and where can I find it?

 

[ttbell]

They have May 11-18 on par with July's crowds. Interesting.

Maybe this has no bearing on crowd level but I made all of our ADR's 2 days after the 90 day window (and have made several changes since) and have gotten every time and restaurant I have asked for. I also made a Wishes reservation a couple of weeks ago for May 16. In addition, I looked at availability rates (for someone else who is thinking about going with us) and our hotel (CR) had almost every room level available under the 4/3 deal from May 12-19 just a few days ago.

Granted, this is our first WDW trip but I am not making sense of 8-9 crowds with no problems getting reservations for anything. What am I missing?