easy wdw?

[hsmamato2]

what happened to the crowd calendars here? They don't have May,just April....any idea why?

 

[hiroMYhero]

There is a Forum/Questions section on the easywdw site. Josh wil be able to answer your concerns.

 

[rwdavis2]

I think the reason was that since WDW had been so erratic with posting hours it made the calendars somewhat problematic.

 

[sharadoc]

Last year he mentioned that WDW cuts staff when crowds are lower, so your wait times, etc. will still be longer. He didn't feel comfortable predicting crowds because of the uncertainty.

 

[anniemae]

It was too difficult to predict. too many variables. Any one thing can cause a spike in crowds, things like holidays in certain parts of the country, marathons, parties, early entry, early morning parties, etc. It was too much. Plus, in slower times, Disney understaffs and closes tracks on a multi-track ride, so not all tracks are open etc. so you will still wait. It just became too unpredictable.

One time there were huge crowds at MK and nobody knew why. Lines were crazy long for security and for rides. Turns out certain areas of the country closed schools for a couple of days for a Jewish holiday. It had a big impact on crowds that the calendars did not account for. Then people complain, "The crowd calendar said it would be a 5 and it was definitely an 8."

At least that was my take on why he stopped.

 

[CAS239]

Everyday we're at Disney feels like an 8 out of 10 day. It's rare when I see Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder under a 30 min wait after noon time

 

[supersnoop]

Crowds got incredibly unpredictable last year. The week of July 4th, which should have been the busiest week of the summer, had some parks at level 2. How do you reconcile that? And what does that mean for this year? I don't think we saw any good reasons, so there's no good way to predict going forward.

 

[anniemae]

Plus, there really are no slow times anymore. Disney is trying to "even out" the crowds so its steady all year.

 

[MermaidMommy]

While Josh had stopped doing crowd calendars for a while last year, he started then back up this year, saying that he had a "new source" for information, and produced calendars for Jan-April. However, there haven't been calendars after that

 

[bladiator]

One time there were huge crowds at MK and nobody knew why. Lines were crazy long for security and for rides. Turns out certain areas of the country closed schools for a couple of days for a Jewish holiday. It had a big impact on crowds that the calendars did not account for. Then people complain, "The crowd calendar said it would be a 5 and it was definitely an 8."

Ugh, I hate that. I don't want people to give up crowd calendars because someone is "shocked" that the crowd calendar is wrong. But that being said, I can't expect any better from people because it's amazing how often people talk smack to our local meteorologist on twitter because "they cancelled plans because he said it would rain" and he just blasts right back "I said 40%, this is your fault" or "it's called a prediction, I never said cancel your plans".

That's what crowd calendar makers should do.

 

[HopperFan]

Ugh, I hate that. I don't want people to give up crowd calendars because someone is "shocked" that the crowd calendar is wrong. But that being said, I can't expect any better from people because it's amazing how often people talk smack to our local meteorologist on twitter because "they cancelled plans because he said it would rain" and he just blasts right back "I said 40%, this is your fault" or "it's called a prediction, I never said cancel your plans".

That's what crowd calendar makers should do.

I would doubt it's because of complaints, I think it's more like those who made them are seeing that it's become very unpredictable. So for their own business credibility it's better to not keep putting guesses out there.

It's like a big site that kept putting the opening date of ROL out there like solid info, then kept changing it. It was the last straw, so I don't read any of their "newsy" stuff, I use them strictly for facts about certain things. Folks believe too much of what they read and then get mad it's wrong.

 

[Linkura]

It was too difficult to predict. too many variables. Any one thing can cause a spike in crowds, things like holidays in certain parts of the country, marathons, parties, early entry, early morning parties, etc. It was too much. Plus, in slower times, Disney understaffs and closes tracks on a multi-track ride, so not all tracks are open etc. so you will still wait. It just became too unpredictable.

One time there were huge crowds at MK and nobody knew why. Lines were crazy long for security and for rides. Turns out certain areas of the country closed schools for a couple of days for a Jewish holiday. It had a big impact on crowds that the calendars did not account for. Then people complain, "The crowd calendar said it would be a 5 and it was definitely an 8."

At least that was my take on why he stopped.

I wouldn't say Jewish holidays are unpredictable. They need to be taken into account every time there is one. It's a little harder to do than most holidays since they change from year to year, but it's well known that they increase crowds. Any good calendar needs to take them into account.

 

[jsmla]

Last year he mentioned that WDW cuts staff when crowds are lower, so your wait times, etc. will still be longer. He didn't feel comfortable predicting crowds because of the uncertainty.

This is what I remember too. I go pretty much at the same slower times (late January/early September) each year. In the past couple of trips it didn't feel like the resort/restaurant/general milling around crowds have increased in proportion to the wait times. Longish waits for the main rides but I walked up at Skipper Canteen and Brown Derby.

 

[anniemae]

I wouldn't say Jewish holidays are unpredictable. They need to be taken into account every time there is one. It's a little harder to do than most holidays since they change from year to year, but it's well known that they increase crowds. Any good calendar needs to take them into account.

Not that the Jewish holidays are unpredictable, but folks who do the crowd calendars aren't going to look at every school calendar in the U.S. to see if they are closed for the holiday or not. From what I understand only certain schools in certain states observed the holiday and closed school, and the way they fell was on a Mon and Tues, so many people took the week off and went to Disney. It was enough to spike the crowds. It wasn't on any of the calendars radars.

 

[Linkura]

Not that the Jewish holidays are unpredictable, but folks who do the crowd calendars aren't going to look at every school calendar in the U.S. to see if they are closed for the holiday or not. From what I understand only certain schools in certain states observed the holiday and closed school, and the way they fell was on a Mon and Tues, so many people took the week off and went to Disney. It was enough to spike the crowds. It wasn't on any of the calendars radars.

I see what you mean, but... I don't make my own crowd calendars, but if I did, I would definitely look up when Jewish holidays are and take that into some consideration when determining crowd levels. Certain schools in certain states observe Jewish holidays, but it's not like it's a surprise or inconsistently observed. I wouldn't think you'd need to look up every school schedule- just assume that there's going to be a not insignificant number of families heading down during weekday Jewish holidays. It's fairly consistent that there is an uptick in crowds during Jewish holidays that are observed on a weekday.

 

[Mimifree]

I'm wondering if he didn't do May or June because they might be more unpredictable with the Pandora opening.

 

[DVCcurious]

I think it's too busy for crowd calendars to be of use. Plus too many people know the "secret" of looking at a crowd calendar so more people go to the "preferred park". So the "preferred park" isn't as good as it used to be. 10 years ago a preferred park would feel like a "4" while a non-preferred would feel like an "8".

Damn Internet...it ruins everything!

 

[anniemae]

I'm wondering if he didn't do May or June because they might be more unpredictable with the Pandora opening.

I was thinking the same thing. I think all bets are off this summer!

 

[hsmamato2]

oh wow...I had no idea things had changed so much in crowd calendar land..... I haven't been to WDW since last year... Ok well I will just keep watching and hope he's able to put out more in the future.....Josh's calendars were always my go-to for planning! (all of this sounds intimidating as far as crowds go)

 

[sharadoc]

I think I would plan to follow the "next day after an EMH day" is the best park. Otherwise, I'm scared! I depend on those crowd calendars lol.