Crowd levels on touringplans

[Ragnrok23]

I just noticed the touringplans webpage changed the crowd levels for the time I am going from mostly 8's with a couple of 7's to all 9's with one 8 and a 10 on the day I arrive

I'm not going till June, so I was just wondering how accurate these are, and how often they change

 

[jmclester]

I believe touring plans changed their way of predicting crowd levels some time last year. Used to see lots of 1's, 2's and 3's but now there are no levels less than 4 at any time of the year. My understanding is that they use peak crowd levels at major attractions to rate from 1-10.

My experience is from my trip last December (3-9th) which TP listed 4's and 5's. In reality the average wait time for the entire trip (including the weekend) was 5-10 minutes witht the longest wait being Buzz Lightyear (20 min). You will find June crowds heavier so 7,8,9 and 10 levels are probably pretty accurate so you will have to strategize. Use your fast pass option wisely, arrive early and do the major attractions first, plan to hit attractions during the lunch hour and parade and show times. The last hour or two before closing is generally a good time to be there as well.

Also, TP advises against going to the EMH parks on their particular day. I would recommend the opposite. Be at the EE parks at rope drop and the crowds will usually be fine until around 11:00 am. Then, if you have a park hopper, go to one of the parks that TP recommends for that day. I haven't been to a EMH evening hours park so I'm not sure how to recommend that.

Hope this helps some.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Also, TP advises against going to the EMH parks on their particular day. I would recommend the opposite. Be at the EE parks at rope drop and the crowds will usually be fine until around 11:00 am. Then, if you have a park hopper, go to one of the parks that TP recommends for that day.

From what I have read on both touringplans and in the UG, this is exactly how they recommend dealing with EMH if you really want to take advantage of EMH. The UG recommendation against EMH parks is due to the crowds that end up there by late morning.

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

From what I have read on both touringplans and in the UG, this is exactly how they recommend dealing with EMH if you really want to take advantage of EMH. The UG recommendation against EMH parks is due to the crowds that end up there by late morning.

Exactly, because some people just can't get their butts out of bed that early (most people, LOL), so most touring/advice sites just tell you to stay away instead of taking advantage of it to it's fullest potential.

As to the crowd level estimates, please, please, don't keep a death watch on them and let them worry you. Some things you need to know :

1) As you can see, there are no 1's, 2's, or 3's anymore...that's because it's not a 1-10 scale per se, but supposed to correspond to the PEAK wait times at the BIGGEST attractions at the BUSIEST time of day. Not an indicator of crowds all day long. So an "8" means that in the middle of the day, the biggest lines for the biggest attractions will hover around 80 minutes.

2) Like any prediction, it's all relative. You have chosen a relatively busy time to visit WDW, June, but if you follow the "smart" rules - get there early, get there early, get there early - you just need to let go and enjoy your vacation. Don't let your excitement ebb and flow based on what some website puts up.

The crowd level indicator is a nice TOOL, but it is not prophetic nor is it a "be all end all" indicator of anything about your trip. I think people give it WAY WAY too much weight and worry unnecessarily.

It's simple, you don't need to pay anyone to help you : hit the "big" attractions very early or very late, eat meals a little early or a little late, and just enjoy yourself while avoiding the crowds. It's not hard, even though some people will try to convince you otherwise. Some sites charge people to see their "best/worst" days to go, when it's just logic : if you want to avoid crowds, avoid all EMH's, the morning after a PM EMH the park that had it the night before will be slower, etc. Some find this profound and pay people to tell them; I find it simple logic.

No one has any true "inside" knowledge about Disney that will help you tour. It's all smoke and mirrors for common sense, and knowing how things work at WDW. If you are at the DIS, you've already fought half the battle.

NED

 

[mill4023]

No one has any true "inside" knowledge about Disney that will help you tour. It's all smoke and mirrors for common sense, and knowing how things work at WDW. If you are at the DIS, you've already fought half the battle.

NED

Welcome back NED !
Run into any breastfeeding, peter pan riding infants lately???

Maybe it's just me, but I'd say working at WDW for years, then spending a hundred days per year in the parks could be called "inside" knowledge. Whether you find that knowledge helpful or not and whether it's worth paying for or not is a matter of personal opinion that everyone is entitled to.

In any case, I actually agree with much of what NED said. While I've found several books and services to be worthwhile in helping me plan my WDW trips, the most important thing is to get to the parks at opening time, hit the most popular attractions first, then use FP's as much as possible for the rest of the day. This strategy works well, whether it's Disney, Universal, or any other park. The fact is that a lot of people like sleeping in on vacation, so no matter what time of year it is, the parks are always the least crowded for the first couple hours of the morning.

Yes, the UG changed their method for ranking crowd levels like 2 years ago. Instead of ranking them from 1 to 10, the number represents their guess at the peak wait time at the headline attractions. So if their 9 is accurate, that means attractions like Space Mountain, Soarin, and Rock n Roller Coaster will have a wait time of 90 minutes at the busiest time of day (usually mid afternoon). But if you get to the park right at opening time, it's likely you'll be able to do these attractions with very little wait.

The fact that the lowest number you see in their crowd levels is a 4 just means that even during the least crowded times of the year, you can still expect the wait time at the biggest attractions to hit 40 minutes at the busiest time of day.

 

[QuickGold]

In my experience, touring plan.com's predictions have been dead on