EasyWDW Crowd Predictions

[Ava]

How accurate are EasyWDW's crowd predictions? I didn't look up a crowd calendar before I booked my ADRs but I was poking around and saw that some of my plans are in parks that EasyWDW posts as "Not Recommended" for that day. Are these accurate enough to warrant switching my plans around? This is for the end of Sept, if that makes a difference.

 

[Day-Day]

I would try to follow the recommended parks but it might not be my top priority depending on other needs, arrival day, departure day, etc. Don't drop a must have ADR just to fit the recommended parks if you can't pick it up on another day. Will you park hop? Will you attend any of the special nighttime events at MK?

Crowds are so low in September that the recommended parks may not make much difference.

We park hop quite often. The MK can be practically empty during the day when Nights of Joy or MNSSHP are scheduled for the evening.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I find Easy very accurate.

 

[Delirium]

We've had very good success over the years with it. I can almost guarantee a 'Not Recommended' park will not be the best park to visit on a given day. As mentioned earlier, in September, it may not turn out to be a big deal. But, overall, your best touring will occur if you avoid 'Not Recommended' parks.

 

[DummbGiRL]

You should also realize if the park is not recommended because it's just the worst option that day, but crowd level is still at a 4... then you shouldn't worry. It's the high crowd levels that really really matter. You'll find the recommended park(s) will always be the one(s) without EMH (and this is because onsite guests without PHs want to get the most bang for their buck).

 

[Iloveyoumost]

I feel like they are somewhat accurate, but it also seems like more and more people follow them in stone which I think makes the recommended parks just as busy.
We are going in November and I didn't stress about it. If my kids want to go to MK instead of HS one day I'll deal with it. I cannot over plan everything. I'll try for FP+ early morning in the recommended parks and from there we will go wherever or cancel them and go to another park. Most of our ADRs are in Epcot or monorail resorts so I'm not worried about being at that park that day.

For the far away reservations I did breakfast and late lunch times. That way we can do them early and if we don't want to stay there we can go on.

 

[disneyjunkie11]

We have always used Easy WDW's calendars and found them to be accurate. We honestly never pay attention to the recommended/non-recommended parks since we like EMH. Like a PP said, if the crowd level is on the higher side, I'd skip the park but the most we've had is a 6 and have still navigated the parks pretty well (but its just 2 adults and we are very easy going and can be flexible on what we see/do)

 

[twinboysmom]

I use his recommendations religiously and have never had an issue in many trips. If I deviate from what he recommends then I know what I am getting in to and it's pretty obvious why a park was not recommended. I have had much better luck with easywdw versus touring plans.

 

[kaylasmom07]

I found them to be very accurate. That being said I wouldn't stress too much about switching ADRs around. If they will be easy to switch then go for it. But if you have something like BOG on a non recommended day, I'd keep it where it was.

To me it's more important to have a good touring plan (arriving at rope drop, hitting the rides with the longest lines first, strategically scheduling fastpasses, e.c.t) than choosing the "right" park to visit that day.

 

[margaret07013]

To me it's more important to have a good touring plan (arriving at rope drop, hitting the rides with the longest lines first, strategically scheduling fast passes, e.c.t) than choosing the "right" park to visit that day.

+1

I went during first week of May - 4th to 10th and picked the park days almost against what was recommended. But... I went to parks from Monday to Friday and specifically decided to go for morning EMH for each park.

the goal was simple: stay away from the heat during the midday and take advantage of lower crowds and cooler weather in the morning with 2 toddlers and 2 strollers. FP+ for the afternoon / evening and the plan of what we wanted to see in the morning.

 

[NokOnHarts]

I always try to follow his recommendations but the crowd level numbers are pretty low end of Sept. so I wouldn't worry about it a ton. However, what would be more helpful to you than just looking at the number is to read his paragraph for each date you are concerned about. He describes in detail why one park is better than another and I always find this really helpful if I am unsure of which park to choose. If an ADR is easy to switch it might be worth changing, but I wouldn't mess with hard to get ones.

 

[Ava]

Thanks all, I think I'm going to leave well enough alone. The one date I was concerned about has a very low crowd level rating so it probably won't matter much. It's also our DHS day, which is not a high-priority park for us.

 

[Kristine316]

No site is perfectly accurate because they are after all just predictions but, we have always used Easywdw and it has worked well for us.

Yesterday according to Touring Plans "How we did" section for May the 19th Epcot and Hollywood Studios were the least crowded parks and when I checked Easywdw he had both Epcot and HS as his most recommended parks for the 19th.

He isn't always right but, I think if you had to pick one site to follow your best bet would be with Easywdw.

I do sort of agree with the idea that the more people who use these sites the less valuable they become. Everyone I know uses at least one of these sites and most use all of them. People will say that only small number of WDW guests actually use these sites but, I think with FP+ more and more people have to plan ahead to figure out which park to go to on which day of their vacation to reserve their FP's. My guess is many more people will now go looking for information about how to plan and naturally be led to sites like Touring Plans and Easywdw. Obvously, the more people who follow the recommended parks the busier that park will be, in turn making the recommendation less accurate.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

You have to remember that everyone prioritizes things differently. Just because a park is "not recommended" doesn't mean you cant have a great time and do what you want to do. You just have to be smart about it.

The whole "avoid EMH" thing annoys me honestly. I'm paying to stay onsite and we want to enjoy the extra time in the park! So, honestly go with what you want to do and what works for your trip. If it fits the recommendations, great... if not, you can still have a magical time.

September crowds shouldn't be an issue. I was asking about MNSSHP (which we've never been, but doing our first this September!) and I got hounded by people on the boards who wanted me to follow easywdw's schedule of "recommended parks".... really give it a rest, when the crowd levels are 1,2,3,4.... I don't quite think it MATTERS which park is "recommended." (esp for those of us who usually go in June during 7,8,9 crowd levels!)

Do as you think will be best for your trip!

 

[Ava]

You have to remember that everyone prioritizes things differently. Just because a park is "not recommended" doesn't mean you cant have a great time and do what you want to do. You just have to be smart about it.

The whole "avoid EMH" thing annoys me honestly. I'm paying to stay onsite and we want to enjoy the extra time in the park! So, honestly go with what you want to do and what works for your trip. If it fits the recommendations, great... if not, you can still have a magical time.

September crowds shouldn't be an issue. I was asking about MNSSHP (which we've never been, but doing our first this September!) and I got hounded by people on the boards who wanted me to follow easywdw's schedule of "recommended parks".... really give it a rest, when the crowd levels are 1,2,3,4.... I don't quite think it MATTERS which park is "recommended." (esp for those of us who usually go in June during 7,8,9 crowd levels!)

Do as you think will be best for your trip!

Thanks! We're doing MNSSHP for the first time on this trip too. And I chose a Friday night party, even though several people told me it will be more crowded, because I wanted to do the party on our last night. That way everyone can sleep in the next morning, as we just have to check out by 11am. And I think the party is a great way to go out with a bang.

We're also not "we have to do everything in every park!" type people. Last trip, when DD was 2, at both DHS & AK we only did a few attractions and spent time meeting characters. I think we left both parks by 1-2pm, and didn't go back. And we were all fine with that.

 

[juliehoey]

Follow Josh. You won't go wrong. As a PP stated 'not recommended' doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't go. But for best 'use of time' touring and crowd levels try to follow the recommendations.

 

[Love Tink]

September crowds shouldn't be an issue. I was asking about MNSSHP (which we've never been, but doing our first this September!) and I got hounded by people on the boards who wanted me to follow easywdw's schedule of "recommended parks".... really give it a rest, when the crowd levels are 1,2,3,4.... I don't quite think it MATTERS which park is "recommended." (esp for those of us who usually go in June during 7,8,9 crowd levels!)

It's obvious that you know everything already, but the reason people are "hounding" you is that many people are well aware of the effect the parties have on crowds at MK.

And despite your comment above, when crowd levels are lower, the recommendations MATTER even more. When the parks are at 7-8-9, hours are long and entertainment is offered every night. When the parks are at 2-3-4, the hours are variable (particularly when there are parties at MK), and the entertainment doesn't happen every night - which really drives the crowds to certain parks on certain days. So recommendations become significantly more important, not less.

Which is why every September, every early December, every January, you get people on here saying "NEVER AGAIN" and "The crowd calendars said it would be a 3 but it was packed!" Meanwhile, other people there the same week never wait more than 15 minutes.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

I find Easy to be accurate the majority of the time. And actually, Josh and TGM were always on the same page for the LCPCs. It is TP (touring plans, not toilet paper) that had something very different. I found their "predictions? to be off many, many times.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

It's obvious that you know everything already, but the reason people are "hounding" you is that many people are well aware of the effect the parties have on crowds at MK.

And despite your comment above, when crowd levels are lower, the recommendations MATTER even more. When the parks are at 7-8-9, hours are long and entertainment is offered every night. When the parks are at 2-3-4, the hours are variable (particularly when there are parties at MK), and the entertainment doesn't happen every night - which really drives the crowds to certain parks on certain days. So recommendations become significantly more important, not less.

Which is why every September, every early December, every January, you get people on here saying "NEVER AGAIN" and "The crowd calendars said it would be a 3 but it was packed!" Meanwhile, other people there the same week never wait more than 15 minutes.

You missed my point entirely. I don't appreciate anyone hounding anyone else... it happens a lot on here because everyone thinks "their" way is the "only" way.

My point is, if you can follow the recommendations, great. If you can't, there are still many many many ways to go and have a great time. It's all about priorities. There is no "one size fits all" to Disney.

I never claimed to know everything, far from it. But I do know that I respect people and expect to be respected even when my priorities differ from someone else.

 

[Ava]

Whoa, I didn't mean to start any arguments here. I truly appreciate everyone's input.

In doing some more reading on easyWDW, I see there were some recent updates to the park schedules for my week - longer hours and additional nighttime entertainment at AK, DHS, and MK. My guess is that means Disney is expecting higher crowds than originally anticipated for those days; it's the first week of F&W fest, which I know started later in prior years, so perhaps the longer hours are in anticipation of crowds for that.

I made some alternate ADRs in case I do decide to switch my DHS & AK days to follow the recommendations. So far the recommended parks haven't changed, but I'm not going to cancel any of my original ADRs yet either, just in case they do based on the new park schedules.

Planning a WDW trip is not easy for an indecisive person!