Do you plan based on crowd calendars?

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

We'll be traveling with another family with kids the same ages as ours (4,7). I've always had the mindset that I had to go to the rec parks and follow it to a "T"! It was spot on with our 2011 trip so I was sold, but not so much with our 2013 trip. In fact TP was WAY off! So now I have all these plans based on easywdw. But I keep wondering.....should I be throwing my old habits out the window and just rebel against these crowd calendars?

 

[MandiC]

I planned our last trip off crowd calendars. Next time I will take them into consideration but they won't be as big of a factor. We missed Main Street Electrical parade on our trip because I didn't think about it until FP+ time came around and by then all our ADRs were made and I realized that ewdw put MK as the Not Recommended park on the only days of the week it had the MSE parade. I realize that this park not having that parade daily will make those days more busy, just didn't really think about it at first. Next time it is our must-do (I'm a little worried about it since last time we went with just our older kids and next time we will have our younger ones!)

 

[4under4]

I start all my planning by studying the UT crowd calendar (it's always been spot on for us, though it does sometimes change the closer we get to the trip). I use Ridemax for our day-to-day touring plans, usually setting a schedule for rope drop to 2:00ish, then playing it by ear... either heading back to the hotel, or continuing on based on wait times if the kids are up for it.

As for traveling with another family, that's a stickier issue, and one that IMHO needs more time/consideration than which crowd calendar or touring plan to use! I have twice spent time at WDW with my brother & his family, and once with my Dad. I'm now strongly in the "less is more" when it comes to sharing my WDW time with others!!

For example... They may not be able to swing rope drop (who needs an hour to eat a bowl of cereal?); they may not want to tour the same as you (my DSIL hates being on a schedule!); they may not want to ride the same rides (my DB refuses to go on CoP & IASW); they may want to snack more/less/differently than your family (I don't like letting my kids have sweets in the AM, DB lets his kids have sweets anytime). I would discuss all possible issues and either come to an agreement, or just agree to spend a couple hours together each day.

 

[mm1971]

We use them as a reference, but do not follow them exactly. We will decide what days we will be in each park based on ADR reservations and events/ride choices. Then we will adjust if the calendars show really heavy crowds. It is more to set our expectations on how busy it will be and strategy, but we will move a day if it makes sense.

 

[Farps]

EasyWDW always seems to work for us, but sometimes we do wing it a bit when we are there. But just about all of our planning is done using the crowd calendar.

 

[Crl1817]

I did not use a crowd calendar at all for our last trip, which was over Thanksgiving 2010. I figured it would all be crowded all the time. Also we booked after the 180 day mark, so I went with when I could get our ADRs and banked heavily on arriving at rope drop and the fast pass system that was in place at that time. We did all of our top priories and had only minimal waits.

This time we are going over Christmas and I'm trying to use the crowd calendar plus Extra Magic Hours to plan. I'm not sure how much of a difference the crowd calendar will make though, because we are again going when all the parks will be super busy. I'm going to weight getting our ADRs more heavily again because I figure those are the sure thing--multiple character meals for us again this trip I hope! I also hope we can use the current fast pass system to hit our top priorities again this trip even if the parks are packed; and we are pretty flexible about riding or watching whatever in between those fast passes.

 

[mousefanforever]

I am not a planner but when it comes to Disney World that is a must if you want to get to see everything on your list. We used the touring App to plan based on crowds for all 3 of our Recent trips and it worked well. You have to plan around your ADR's and FP's anyway so it's not they big of a deal. I don't know if it always works out but at least it gives you a starting point. Good luck!!

 

[GWhitten98]

I use them to a degree, but not exclusively b/c most of the time they will never recomend a park with EMH. We don't hit every park with EMH, but sometime they come in handy. This time I think we are about 60/40 on most recommended days park for the day mostly. We hitting HS and MK each on a EMH day, co those days they are the least reccomended and then we have another day or 2 that the park we are hitting falls somewhere in the middle; those I picked mostly b/c that is when the ADRs I made worked out best. I think if I was going at a super busy time I might pay more attention to them, but with crowd number at 4 or less I am not super worried.

 

[ariane37]

For all our family trips 2006-2011, I never once looked at a crowd calendar and never once did we feel we were in a crowded park. However, those trips were in Oct. and early Nov. back when those times were considered somewhat slow......

For our week after Thanksgiving trip in 2012, I planned our parks the way I wanted and compared to Easywdw. We ended up at a few non-recommended parks and they weren't that bad. Since then I do look at Easywdw but don't stick to it religiously. If there's a reason I want to be in a specific park that isn't recommended, I go there anyway If something fits better for you but isn't following any crowd calendar, I say be a rebel and go for it!

 

[Aliceacc]

We go over the summer, when crowd levels are high.

I consult the crowd calendars-- easywdw and touring plans-- before I make ADRs. But at 180 days out, they're not always the same as they'll be closer on. Regardless, at that point, my evenings at least are locked.

I make a general pre-plan for which park to start each day in, but things like weather sometimes change that-- a rainy morning will take AK of our agenda and force a change.

 

[starsweeper]

We go in October so it may not be as much an issue for us, but I don't base my plans on the crowd calendars. We are early risers and eat in the park before open to beat the crowds at MK, and arrive before rope drop at the other parks. We try to eat early lunches and dinners before everyone else, so we can ride while they waste an hour or more at a restaurant. Since we have two toddlers, we focus on the "big" rides in the evening after DH takes them to the hotel. The big kids and I can move about the park easier and quicker in the evening, and they like repeating small rides if wait times for a big ride are temporarily long but we still manage to ride all the mountains in an evening.

 

[dreamit]

I reviewed easywdw and touringplans as a starting point, leaning more toward easywdw's recommendations. But some days we're not attending the most recommended parks due to wishing to see nighttime entertainment. (During the time we're going, any time MK has MSEP and Wishes, it's not the recommended park.) I think easywdw does a great job of explaining the rationale behind the recommendations to help you understand what you may be in for as far as crowds at the different parks.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

We've never follow crowd calenders. I know it works for some and their recommendations are usually good ones... but, not everyone tours the same way (nor do they want to). They don't work well for families who utilize EMH for example. That's why I would only use the plans as a starting point and then plan the rest based on your individual preferences.

 

[ajwolfe]

I don't use them. I've looked at them and have never really thought they have been that spot on that I would live and die by them. Plus we are HUGE fans of EMH and they typically will not recommend a park on an EMH day.

 

[lucyem]

I don't use them. I've looked at them and have never really thought they have been that spot on that I would live and die by them. Plus we are HUGE fans of EMH and they typically will not recommend a park on an EMH day.

They recommend morning EMH if you show up at rope drop. If not, skip it.

We have to plan around school schedules and our days of going at low crowd times are over for now. Once I know when we are going I do use the calendars to help decide which park, which day.

 

[kohlby]

I use them as a rough guide. If I don't care which park to do, then I'll pick the recommended one. I've picked the non-recommended one as well if it's worked better for our plans. But, I go in the off-season, so that helps. We've found crowd calendars to be very accurate when we go. But since it's the off-season, it's pretty easy to deal with either way.

 

[harrisb1964]

Yes, yes,yes.! There is a website can't remember it that lists the weeks of the year and you can find the week of lowest attendance! That's pretty much how we pick our travel dates!