Easy WDW - opinions?

[DisneyFan2013]

Okay, clearly he's done his homework and he knows stuff, but...

-His plan for our trip would have us miss every single extra magic hour
-The busiest day of our trip is a 6 with all the others ranging from 2-5

Have you used his predictions in off-peak season? How crucial was it to your planning? Would you consider deviating in order to take advantage of EMH?

I like the site. I look at the crowd calendars, but I do what I want regardless.

 

[Princess Mulan]

Josh has never steered me wrong.

 

[chmurf]

Just a quick reminder
Sites like Josh's are read by both onsiters AND offsiters. There is no way of knowing if you stay onsite and can do EMH or if you stay offsite and can't do EMH
So it's easy to understand why EMH are advised to be avoided
An offsiter will have no interest on going to an EMH park since they won't be able to be'efit from EMH and when they're let in, several hundred guests are already in line with a one hour head start
Also EMH have to be avoided by onsiters who don't have hoppers, as the park will get busier

So, since there is only a minority of onsiters with hoppers who can get the best of EMH AND recommanded parks, EMH parks do not get recommendation


Now as far as easywdw is concerned, I absolutely like Josh's insight and how he backs his predictions with detailed analysis for each day
I use easywdw in conjunction with touringplans, and since they sometimes disagree, the final decision is mine (shoulnd't it be that way anyway ?)

I use easywdw as a reference, not as a ''bible'' if you see what I mean

I've been following Josh for a few years now and he never got me into ''trouble''

 

[Baklava]

We plan to do rope drop every park day except our first. We'll be up late and we're from the West coast, so trying to get people to the park at what will feel like 5am seems like a really bad way to start a vacation. In fact... I wonder if the family could be persuaded that that ought to be a non-park day. Currently they're scheduled for day 5 and day 8, but maybe day 1 and day 6/7 is a better plan. Hmm...

I don't do crowds well and DD is better with shorter waits, so it's sounding more and more like we ought to listen to the experts. I'm tempted to pay for Touring Plans to see what they think.

 

[bbjunkie]

OP--your original thought illustrates one of the main reasons Josh's recommendations are right on.

Because you are onsite and able to take advantage of EMH, but do not have park hoppers, you are tempted to go against Josh's advice and use the EMH....but will be forced to only go to that park that day because you don't have the option to go elsewhere. Others will be doing the same thing, causing that park to be noticably more crowded.

I think if you re-read your original post, it says everything you need to know, "obviously he has done a lot of research and knows his stuff,". Yep, he does. Stop right there. No need for the "But..."


That being said, it is of course your vacation and you are certainly welcome to take advantage of his advice or not.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[bbjunkie]

Oh, and I personally don't think paying for touring plans is worth it. Josh's advice is better, and it's free. (In my experience)

 

[North of Mouse]

I like the site. I look at the crowd calendars, but I do what I want regardless.

This is us, except we don't always even look at the crowd calendars. We always have AP's or hoppers so go wherever we want to - if things get too crowded, we're ready to move on - has always worked for us.

 

[johnsonet]

I plan out our park days according to his recommendations. Josh/EasyWDW also has gorgeous photos and thorough explanations of his recommendations. Most importantly - a great sense of humor

 

[Fastpassminus]

Josh is awesome. He understands how the parks work and how the crowds move. That being said if your EMH day at the MK is the only day that works for you that trip, then arriving 30 minutes pre RD for EMHs ( so like 7:30 am, yup be AT THE PARK at 7:30am) have a good solid touring plan for the first 2-3 hours of the park being open, use your FP plus attractions AFTER the first 2-3 hours, eat lunch and then head for the pool. You can then return for evening entertainment and have a great day. If you arrive at 8:45 am on an AM EMH day, grab a starbucks and a photopass with the castle on the way up MS, Use your FP plusses between 9-11, and then try to get on other rides as the crowds are arriving ( make sure you stand in the stand by for A&E too) then you will accomplish very little that day and find yourself cranky and burnt out by the 3pm parade.

 

[Fastpassminus]

I plan out our park days according to his recommendations. Josh/EasyWDW also has gorgeous photos and thorough explanations of his recommendations. Most importantly - a great sense of humor

His photos are tilted.... so they are artsy....

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I find easywdw's advice spot on for what we see in the parks and the best way to tour for avoiding crowds. with a good 30 trips under my belt I don't follow a lot of advice online for most things but his do line up with what strategy I come up with one my own so if you don't have time to put into the research yourself (and the actual in park experiences) I'd go with his advice.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Josh's advice is excellent. We prefer the non emh parks, as he suggests. We like lower crowds to higher crowds. Getting to the recommended non emh Park at Park opening works great. And with no hopper ticket, going to the emh Park, makes for a less than desirable day. Use his suggestions,they are good, they work.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

We plan to do rope drop every park day except our first. We'll be up late and we're from the West coast, so trying to get people to the park at what will feel like 5am seems like a really bad way to start a vacation. In fact... I wonder if the family could be persuaded that that ought to be a non-park day. Currently they're scheduled for day 5 and day 8, but maybe day 1 and day 6/7 is a better plan. Hmm...

I don't do crowds well and DD is better with shorter waits, so it's sounding more and more like we ought to listen to the experts. I'm tempted to pay for Touring Plans to see what they think.

I personally love touring plans. Every single bit of advice I have received there has been spot on. Also as you're touring the parks you can update instantly as change occurs. (Is: a magical character interaction, an unexpected FP, or just a need for a snack or break that you hadn't planned for). I love WDW, but I'm still not willing to stand in line 60minutes when it could a/shoulda been 15! Have fun whatever you do!

 

[CdnCarrie]

Have you thought about posting this on the EasyWDW forums?

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

And I also agree with the possibility of not getting up at what would be for you, oh dark thirty, on your first day. Perhaps make that day a half day evening park. Look at the crowd levels for HS or EPCOT, arrange an ADR, and arrange your FP+ to coincide with your plans. It could be a park you want to explore further on another day, or the only day you tour that park. But you're right about not being the general who gets the troops up at the crack of dawn and they're unhappy! But please enjoy your trip, whatever you decide...

 

[Disnsyncey]

I like him explaining his reasoning.....park hoppers help a lot....we usually do a few AM EMHs (but for some reason, there aren't any AM ones that interest me this time, strangely enough) and then hop to one of his recommended parks, to get the best of both worlds.....but I would pick a few key EMHs, but then go to the lighter crowd parks the rest of the days.....

 

[notfrostyjosh]

Caveat: I operate easywdw.com.

If you want to do the morning EMHs and actually arrive in time to take advantage of the full hour (which is rare because everything is going to take longer than you expect from getting ready with one sink and one shower to transportation issues that early etc) then you can do very well, particularly at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. It works at Magic Kingdom because there are enough attractions open that the crowds are adequately dispersed. Animal Kingdom works because very few people bother. Epcot is less advisable as it basically just moves the morning rope drop crowd up an hour. Everybody is still going straight to Soarin' or Test Track and at Studios, everybody is going to Toy Story or Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. So you basically see similar morning wait times from 8am-9am than you would see on a regular day without EMH from 9am-10am. And on the EMH days, you reliably see longer average and peak waits as the day progresses and by the time 11am rolls around, you're now in a Park that's busier with higher waits than recommended days.

The recommended Parks are more important in my opinion during Mickey's Party season from mid-September through mid-December. People avoid Magic Kingdom when it closes at 7pm and flock to it when it's open until 10pm or later and offers the Electrical Parade/Wishes. You see some huge fluctuations in daily crowds and because Disney runs free dining promos and other popular events, resort occupancy is usually higher than the summer, which means more people with access to EMH. And the people who are staying during those times are also usually some of the more intelligent park visitors that will have similar ideas to yours.

Overall crowds are driven by the number of people visiting from off-property. I'd have to look for an updated figure, but there are something like 30,000 rooms on property with access to EMH. So in September, when you see the lowest crowds of the year, you still have 97% occupancy at Disney resorts. But overall crowds are significantly lower because far fewer people are visiting from off-site.

Here in the summer, when the parks are open the same number of hours and nighttime entertainment is much more common, you don't see the crowd fluctuations that you see during the "off season." Monday at Magic Kingdom might see a peak of 72,000 people while the most-recommended days is 61,000. Lower crowds sure, but there isn't a big difference between a 60 minute wait for Jungle Cruise at 1pm on Monday and a 55 minute wait at the same time on Wednesday.

On the evening EMH front, Magic Kingdom is very good if it's late and you can stay through the end. So if your EMH is 11pm-1am or later and you can stay until 1am, you're golden, particularly in Fantasyland in that last hour. But if it's 9pm-11pm or you try to stay until 1am but only make it to 11:30pm because you forgot that the weather in September is still brutal then you haven't really gotten anywhere. At Epcot, you've still got long lines for Soarin' and Test Track through the first hour. It can be delightful to walk through World Showcase late at night with few people around, but you can do that any other night too with dinner reservations going late into the night. At Studios, the priorities are still going to see long waits for at least the first hour. But that can be mitigated if EMH is from 10pm-12am instead of 7pm-9pm.

Avoiding EMH is more foolproof and for a lot of people, more doable. The mornings aren't as early. The evenings aren't as late. And because you're not out so late in the evening, you're better able to make the 9am openings.

But you could certainly devise intelligent plans that take advantage of the EMH. You just need to be certain that you actually take advantage of them. And if you're visiting during Mickey's Party season, be wary of the non-recommended parks. They will be much more crowded, relatively speaking, than when crowds are heavier and park hours/entertainment are more consistent.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

We don't do EMH because we just can't get up that early! Going on slow (4 or lower crowd days), I usually use EasyWDW as a guide for which park to attend which day, but then mostly make my own plan. Agree that if you do EMH morning, plan to hop over somewhere else after the morning. Maybe plan to use your FP+ at the other park in the afternoon.

 

[Flamingeaux]

For our November trip we will have to go against Josh's recommendations a couple of times and go to MK and EPCOT with morning EMHs. Not a lot you can do when they have parties with no Wishes and the other days are morning EMH. We want to see wishes so we have to bite the bullet. Not too worried about EPCOT. Getting there early we can get a lot done that morning and just take it easy that afternoon and do the WS stuff.

 

[Flamingeaux]

And Josh Rules!!!