Do you follow crowd calendars & suggested parks?

[MakiraMarlena]

Never. But I feel as though I no longer need them.

There are some suggestions that make a bit of sense, like avoid the park that has morning EMH unless you are actually going to do morning EMH. But a lot of these "rules" apply better to different types of Disney guests - there's a difference between a touring "commando" and a laid back tourist, a once in a lifetime versus a frequent visitor, small kids versus older kids versus all adults, park hopper or no park hopper, etc.

The OP's friend apparently had small kids and it was a priority to meet characters for autographs. If the family actually is after doing something else this time, the trip planning sites might have some strategies for getting on a few age-appropriate rides (hello Fantasyland) before going on an autograph hunt. Or getting FPs for important rides or autographs.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We follow easywdw for recommended park days - even during March Break we've found the parks manageable and are able to everything we want, and usually many times. We've travelled at the same time as non-planners who've gone to non-receommended parks and have very different stories when we come back - they talk about how they only did a few things and how crowded it was.

 

[JennyDrake]

If you are going last week in August, it's a pretty quite week, no? You should be fine.

Uh-uh. It is NOT a quiet time. Many schools don't go back until after Labor and with all the year round schools now + international visitors it is still a 5-7 (IMHO).

Just my 2 cents--I was at WDW a record 6x last year: end of Feb. first week in May, second week in August, last week in September, Nov 6-10 and Dec 6-10 and it was crowded Every. Single Time. MK was always a madhouse and AK was surprisingly "full" after lunch each time. There are certainly plenty of variables, but I do believe the days of *slow* times as we once new them no longer exist.

 

[ginah21]

I planned our feb trip using touring and easywdw. They don't always match so I tried to choose days that were common on both sites. Hope it pans out as I am not much for crowds. But it is Disney, so I anticipate it will be somewhat crowded everywhere everyday!

 

[MermaidMommy]

Uh-uh. It is NOT a quiet time. Many schools don't go back until after Labor and with all the year round schools now + international visitors it is still a 5-7 (IMHO). Just my 2 cents--I was at WDW a record 6x last year: end of Feb. first week in May, second week in August, last week in September, Nov 6-10 and Dec 6-10 and it was crowded Every. Single Time. MK was always a madhouse and AK was surprisingly "full" after lunch each time. There are certainly plenty of variables, but I do believe the days of *slow* times as we once new them no longer exist.

The last week of August is typically a slower time. easyWDW's crowd levels for that week in 2014 were 3-5.