EasyWDW?

[pennylane16]

Hi all,
The past 2 trips I planned, I used EasyWDW's daily advice for which park to visit each day. I went to get an idea of planning for an August trip and saw that EasyWDW doesn't have anything past January 2017. I was so disapointed because I found that site SO helpful. Does anyone have any recommendations for a similar site that gives advice on which park to visit each day? I paid for TouringPlans but so far I'm underwhelmed, but maybe I just haven't played around with it yet.
Thanks!!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

We always stay onsite, use EMH, and park hop, so recommendations for which park on which day from either of these sources haven't really been of use to us. There is DISCUSSION of which park on which day on TP -- not sure what else is out there that is more extensive on that front. Generally speaking, if I've had to pick ONLY ONE source it's been TP -- even when Easy WDW was doing the calendars far ahead of time.

I generally refer to each of the following, just when picking when to travel -- not sure what they all (besides TP) have wrt which park on which day...

• http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/crowd-calendar
• http://www.kennythepirate.com/crowd-calendars/
• http://**************.net/2015/10/18/2017-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/
• http://wdwprepschool.com/disney-world-crowd-calendar-for-the-2017-2018-school-year/

 

[reisdawg]

Josh stopped doing the calendars with Disney changing schedules right up to the day before. Basically he suggests using what suits your family best and your plan for the day is the most important part. For example, if your family can get up early enough for EMH, then go to those parks and get as much done as you can. If not, then avoid those parks. Getting to the park at least thirty minutes before opening is critical but you can have success at any park if you plan it right.
I will admit I bought TP for our trip in two weeks. I did find it useful but they changed recommendations after I had set my FP. Kind of too late.... I will let you know how they work out but we chose mostly the best park with the lowest crowd level expected except for one evening EMH (we've never done evening one before).

 

[FCDub]

Hi all,
The past 2 trips I planned, I used EasyWDW's daily advice for which park to visit each day. I went to get an idea of planning for an August trip and saw that EasyWDW doesn't have anything past January 2017. I was so disapointed because I found that site SO helpful. Does anyone have any recommendations for a similar site that gives advice on which park to visit each day? I paid for TouringPlans but so far I'm underwhelmed, but maybe I just haven't played around with it yet.
Thanks!!

The EasyWDW site definitely still has crowd calendars, they are just not out as far as they used to be because Josh has changed the way he puts them together. If you go to the site now, you can see through March.

 

[pennylane16]

Thanks for the help, everyone! We've had success with following that plan of getting there for EMH rope drop, then taking a break & heading elsewhere in the evening. Good to know that Josh is still running the site!

 

[pennylane16]

Josh stopped doing the calendars with Disney changing schedules right up to the day before. Basically he suggests using what suits your family best and your plan for the day is the most important part. For example, if your family can get up early enough for EMH, then go to those parks and get as much done as you can. If not, then avoid those parks. Getting to the park at least thirty minutes before opening is critical but you can have success at any park if you plan it right.
I will admit I bought TP for our trip in two weeks. I did find it useful but they changed recommendations after I had set my FP. Kind of too late.... I will let you know how they work out but we chose mostly the best park with the lowest crowd level expected except for one evening EMH (we've never done evening one before).

Interesting that they changed recommendations so close to the date... curious how it goes! Have a great trip!

 

[LilyWDW]

Disney doesn't release finalized park hours now until much closer to the date. It makes predictions a lot more difficult, especially since it could including changes to shows, parades, and fireworks. Knowing the general advice really works better now as opposed to following the crowd calendars in my opinion. While I was sad to lose the ability to check what Josh suggests as far out, I am glad that he has taken all this into account and feel it makes for a much better overall product.

 

[crispychicky]

EasyWDW is still the best in IMHO. I've learned so much from Josh, even how to DIY your own crowd calendar.

Basically, take the published operating hours (https://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDW_TAC_2017Aug.pdf) and the best parks to visit on a given day are the parks with yesterday's & tomorrow's EMH.

For example, if you want to know the best park to visit on Tuesday 8/8, look at the parks with EMH on Monday 8/7 (AK) and Wednesday 8/9 (MK). Magic Kingdom & Animal Kingdom are your best bets. Granted, there could be other circumstances that you should account for (anything special going on at Epcot on the weekend? if so, Epcot may not be the best park, even if yesterday's/tomorrow's EMH are for Epcot; ROL only offered on certain days? if so, AK may not be advised even if yesterday's/tomorrow's EMH are for AK). But, it doesn't look like any of those certain circumstances apply for August.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The EasyWDW site definitely still has crowd calendars, they are just not out as far as they used to be because Josh has changed the way he puts them together. If you go to the site now, you can see through March.

We're DVC and book trips 11mos out. We do ADRs 180 days out. So we're pretty set on which parks on which day 6mos out (then adjust some once we're there based on crowds, etc.).

Question for those who still use easywdw calendars for "which park which day" recommendations: how is it useful to have those that late? Maybe for locals? Those who don't make ADRs?

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Thanks for the help, everyone! We've had success with following that plan of getting there for EMH rope drop, then taking a break & heading elsewhere in the evening.

Cool! Sounds like what we do. So with that, honestly, you don't need the calendars except to choose when to travel (assuming you have flexibility on that).

 

[maryj11]

It is harder this year to figure out what parks are best to go to because of all the changes going on. I still love easywdw and touring plans. I go to both sites for planning and both have always helped me in some way or another.

 

[RealBlast3]

I have always used easywdw and undercover tourist. They almost always came to the same conclusion, more or less. Some years I used one, others the other one. Always been happy with their findings.

Here's the link: https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/

And undercover tourist still goes up to early next year.

 

[klmall]

I used to rely very much on the different crowd calendars and found them very helpful in choosing a park for each day. I still refer to them and put their recommendations for Best, Worst etc. parks in my planning spreadsheet but I now just look for some sort of general guidance.

If you do use a particular crowd calendar be sure to understand what they base their recommendations on. Some strongly advise against visiting the park with Early Morning Hours. This is meaningless to us since we like rope drops and park hop every day. It doesn't matter to us how crowded a park stays later in the day due to EMH which some predictions take heavily into account.

As some have posted above, Disney has made meaningful planning for visits very difficult now. Too many additional new events such as dessert parties, park-to-park express busses, last minute park hour changes, new shows and new tours etc. can throw the best of plans into chaos.

Most of this chaos is less a problem for repeat visitors who know what they want most to do and how to navigate the parks. I do feel sorry for first timers though.

We are at the point now where we just choose a park to start in; use our FP+s and then go to another park usually for the afternoon/evening. Crowd predictions seem to be way off more often than not in the past year anyway. And there are so few low crowd times now. We are definitely into a new touring era; all bets are off!