Dad's Crowd Calendar FAIL!!!

[tlmadden73]

It's not just Dad's. I've checked a bunch of different calendars and they all seemed to agree that the first two weeks in May should have light to moderate crowds. Then I downloaded the Disney Experience app and started checking line wait times on that. I've been checking for two weeks, almost every day, and the lines for major rides are regularly in the 60+ minutes range (and some at MK up to 80 minutes.) Are all calendars this unreliable? Or do I just have a different idea of what light/moderate means? I'm feeling dismayed since I was hoping to go in May next year.

For me .. crowdedness is more than just wait times for the major rides.
Honestly due to fast passes and planning wait times don't bother me. I notice the crowds when I can barely move down a street (like that narrow one between Peter Pan and Small World).
What helps for me is expectations. I just expect to only do so much and just enjoy "being there" more than how many rides I do get on.

I went in end of March this year (middle of Spring break season) and crowd calendars predicted crowds would be "heavy" at 7s and 8s. I found DHS terribly crowded, but we used EMH and it made it easy to get on the few rides we wanted to do in the first hour. Despite it feeling crowded on the outside, Launch Bay didn't feel busy and wait times for the characters were low (15 min).

We had plans to hop to MK that same day and it felt not very crowded either despite being there in the middle of the afternoon. I felt we could walk around with ease and many "unpopular" attrations were walk-ons to fill the gaps between Fast Passes - Carousel of Progress, Prince Charming Carousel, Country Bears, etc. Sure .. I am sure the wait time for Splash Mountain was 60 minutes, but we didn't have plans to do that.

We went to Epcot the next day (during Flower and Garden) and it was wonderfully "empty" .. again except the big rides. But anything else except maybe Spaceship Earth was a LITERAL walk-on. But that is what rope drop and fast passes are for. I didn't feel like I was shoulder to shoulder with crowds despite the crowd calendars predicting high crowds. Longest wait was Test Track, but that was only because it broke down for the first hour and the line filled up quick once it was back online.

If you want low crowds? Go to LEGOLAND. We went to that park during the same trip and it was just plain EMPTY .. E-M-P-T-Y .. I think there were maybe 1000 total people at the park. Every ride was a walk on or 5-10 minutes tops (usually due to a low capacity ride .. (that I can't imagine what the line would be if it was actually busy) . most of them the kids could just immediately get off and get back on and they rode every ride multiple times in a row. EVERY ride.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Just when you think ____(insert slow time here) will be great, Disney announces a new discount and it changes. Expect the worst and travel when it works best.

 

[Missyrose]

I went to MK on a "1" day per Touring Plans and green/best park per EasyWDW mid-Jan 2015 (weekday; not near Mt. Luther KJ day) . It was low crowds before Noon (but headliners still weren't walk ons). By the 3pm parade it was packed; fireworks at night packed - no personal space between people. That was the year that it seemed it was just more crowded no matter when you went. (That was the year IIRC that Oct. changed alot.)

Touring Plans explicitly states that its crowd calendar is based on wait times and not how crowded a park "feels." No matter how low-crowd the time period you go, midday parades and fireworks will always feel crowded in the park because such a large percentage of the guests that day are in one spot.

Disney has also done a good job at "right sizing" its staffing and capacity. So if a day is projected to be a low-crowd day, it will schedule fewer CMs and lower the ride capacity, thus upping wait times to the same length you'd see on a busier day in the park.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

1) Crowd Calendars are self-fulfilling prophecies -- after years and years of these calendars being out there and word of mouth spreading what the "good" time is to go .. MORE and MORE people are choosing to go during those times.

Not sure I buy this. There are very few average Disney goers who know what a crowd calendar is. The vast majority of people have no idea the "best" time to go is crowd wise...they go when it is convenient for their schedule.

I also think people have widely different expectations of what "low" crowds mean. You could ask 100 people in the same park on the same day, and you would get some who think the park was low and others who think it's insane. It's all about past experiences and expectations.

 

[JohnneeO]

Historical data for crowd calendars is based on historical data that no longer applies. The variable pricing for one-day tickets, and the new tiers from annual passes is affecting decisions people are making right now on which days to attend, but there are no data points that reflect these new attendance patterns.

 

[kelliejason]

I've been to WDW at least 35 times in the last 25 years and the crowd calendars have never (and will never) be spot on. It's just a tool for you to check. I've seen Heavy Attendance days in the park be listed as low attendance on the calendars and vice versa. But I agree that the parks seen busier and busier. And when they get StarWars land & Toy Story land up and running, don't even think about the crowd calendars. That place is going to be crazy, but I'll be one of the crazies there, lol.

 

[CeruleanMoon]

It's not just Dad's. I've checked a bunch of different calendars and they all seemed to agree that the first two weeks in May should have light to moderate crowds. Then I downloaded the Disney Experience app and started checking line wait times on that. I've been checking for two weeks, almost every day, and the lines for major rides are regularly in the 60+ minutes range (and some at MK up to 80 minutes.) Are all calendars this unreliable? Or do I just have a different idea of what light/moderate means? I'm feeling dismayed since I was hoping to go in May next year.

Probably.

Well, that's an eye opener but good to know. I went to Disney in Nov 2013 just for a brief trip (2 days, MK and AK only) and that was my first time back in 30 years. I was expecting it to be like I remembered from my trips as a kid during spring break - packed, 2 hour wait times, etc. Imagine my shock when the place looked practically empty. I'd never, ever experienced Disney like that! We walked in to BOG at dinnertime, no reservation, and sat in the main ballroom, got to see the Beast. I was stunned. It made such a difference, that I vowed that this time (planning my own trip myself for the first time) I'd try to duplicate it the best I could. That's turning out to be a lot harder than I'd hoped!

 

[tlmadden73]

Well, that's an eye opener but good to know. I went to Disney in Nov 2013 just for a brief trip (2 days, MK and AK only) and that was my first time back in 30 years. I was expecting it to be like I remembered from my trips as a kid during spring break - packed, 2 hour wait times, etc. Imagine my shock when the place looked practically empty. I'd never, ever experienced Disney like that! We walked in to BOG at dinnertime, no reservation, and sat in the main ballroom, got to see the Beast. I was stunned. It made such a difference, that I vowed that this time (planning my own trip myself for the first time) I'd try to duplicate it the best I could. That's turning out to be a lot harder than I'd hoped!

Exactly.

My memories of Disney as a kid in the 80s was waiting in "long" lines too (probably because we HAD to go either in Summer or Spring). This was before they had as many attractions as they do now and before fast passes were even an idea. So going now when there is four parks, and two waterparks and Disney Springs to "spread out" the crowds don't bother me. Add in Fast Passes where I don't wait in a few key lines a day and it is busy .. but I no longer feel my kids are waiting in a ton of long lines like I did as a kid.

I mean things like Spaceship Earth at Epcot in the 80s was a long wait.
I remember the queues as much as the rides themselves. Now? I've skipped all the cool interactive queues.
I remember a long, (and scary) wait in the queue for Pirates. I remember waits in the hot sun that stretched to Liberty Square for Haunted Mansion and being able to read EVERY single tombstone.
I remember waiting a very long time to ride Star Tours (and most times I go this decade it is practically a walk-on without Fast pass).
Rides like Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain were always long waits.
And this was in the 80s and 90s when supposedly Disney was less crowded.

So I don't know exactly what people consider "low" crowds. You'll never get crowds where the place seems empty (unless you get there super early or stay super lat) where everything is a walk-on, even if it is a cold, rainy day in January .. but go to Universal, Sea World or LEGOLAND on the same day? Those places will likely be ghost towns.

I think a lot of people are remembering back to 2001-2010 where Disney was experience super low crowds due to the crash in the economy. Plus, when you can skip 3 lines a day .. ANY line longer than 15-30 minutes seems long.

 

[pktbMouse]

well heres the thing...no one can see into the future so everyone knows crowd calendars are taken with a pinch of salt..also its a given that the whole month of May has cheerleeders..I guess if you are new to Disney this is something you wouldnt have known. I dont mind the cheerleeders as much as the Brazilian tour groups though..

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I feel like the announcement that wishes was ending is what threw everything into a tailspin.

Exactly!!!

 

[Corryn]

Thanks for your replies!

I've been spoiled all these years, this is my 19th trip, and while I had a rough night with the wheelchair at Hollywood Studios last night, today at Epcot was a breeze, just like I remembered.
It wasn't until we were leaving at about 2:30 that the cheerleaders started to make their way into World Showcase. We rode Frozen, Soaring and Test Track (10 min waits with FP for TT/Soarin, 30 min wait for Frozen without FP). While the cheerleaders overcrowded Hollywood Studios, nothing quite beats being in the park with the Brazilian tourists.
I'd take cheerleaders over them any day LOL

As for crowd calendars, I've never used them before and I won't use them again. I'm just going to see what conventions are in town as one DIS'er suggested and what events are at Wide World of Sports before I book.

 

[vinotinto]

LOL, yes, it's crowded all the time. I took a quick peak at the website and I don't think that crowd calendar is any good. I don't think *any* weekend at WDW should be green!

 

[Micca]

Never heard of Dad's

Is he still in the Root Beer biz? What can you say about crowds at WDW? It's a very busy place that varies from really crowded to insanely crowded(like around holidays.) If you're in WDW and it's not crowded it's an aberration--something in the space-time continuum is askew and will correct itself in short order.

 

[kahrani]

Yes! I loved EasyWDW's calendars and was disappointed to see that they don't seem to be updated any more.

That's a shame, I used his too for our Dec/Jan trip 2013-14 and thought they were really accurate.

 

[KimBean]

Before planning our trip this year, I checked Dad's to see how this week/weekend would be, it said it would be a great weekend - Green and Light Blue- indicating low crowds. Awesome, right?
Now that we are here, we notice all the roaving bands of young girls in pigtails and huge bows - there's a cheerleading convention here this weekend. Shouldn't Dad have taken this into consideration? It's mobbed! I'm really bummed! I chose this week because my daughter is in a wheelchair and we didn't want to deal with the crowds

If you are going to use a calendar you picked just about the worse one.

TP has the week at a 6 and states that they under-estimated
Easy WDW has the week at a 6
UT - average to high

It's going to be a crowded year. I agree with those saying we have to take crowd calendars with a grain of salt. As my 8 year old says 'It'll be what it bees."

 

[KimBean]

In all my years on the dis, I have never heard fellow posters mention that site.

Yeah I'm not sure why you've (the OP) seen dads so much here. I am aware of it but not through here. Usually I hear about TP and easywdw. I would assume because neither are TAs.

 

[Suzi Zix]

Don't think the crowd calendars are that reliable anymore!!!!!!

We just got back from a Saturday to Saturday trip and it was very crowded in the parks. We always go in early May to beat the crowds but MK was crowded last Monday (5/8). It got so bad that we left. It seems that there is no such thing as a 'slow' season anymore. A cast member told me that Disney is extending out the Flower and Garden and the Food and Wine Festivalls and scheduling various sports and class trips out onto the 'slower' times to even it up. They are a business and a 'slow' time is not good for their bottom line though we hate the crowds.

 

[klmall]

April 25 - May 1st this year was busier than all of the crowd predictor sites speculated. In addition, the temps were warmer than predicted and really impacted our trip enormously. My first week of June 2012 trip was far more comfortable temps wise. We will go back to late November or Jan-Feb trips in the future.

 

[unrequited23]

We got back from our first trip (5/6-5/14) and it didn't seem too bad in the parks. Saturday we were able to hit 11 rides, one character meeting, plus get stuck on the Carousel of Progress and make it to our resort before the rain started around 2:30. (We were hitting all the kids favorite rides, so I think that's why we were successful.) I noticed the most crowding from the cheer groups in the food courts back at the resort.