Figuring out which day/which park - craziness!

[GatorChris]

With a trip coming in July/Aug, I'm trying to figure out which parks I want to do on which day so I can make my dining reservation. Been a while since I've done it the WDW way.

There's so much mixed information out there, i don't know which way to go! One site will say don't do MK on Monday or Wednesday - but then WDWPassport will use actual ride line data which shows Tuesday way busier than both of those days. One site will say don't do Epcot on the weekend, while others say Saturday is good at Epcot because it absorbs the crowds. And all the rest is just a jumbled mess.

So...is there a true science? Or is it just guess work added in with a little info? Or maybe all these online tools convince people one day is crowded and they inadvertently make that day really easy.

What's the secret?

 

[leebee]

I think it's mostly guesswork. The parks are pretty crowded these days, regardless of when you go. I usually use TouringPlans crowd estimator to pick my park days, then book my dining around this. However... Although TP is usually pretty accurate, they gave my MK day a "3" (which is why we chose to go to MK that day). That didn't work out. Anytime you see Small World with a 35 minute standby line, you know it's NOT a level 3 day at the Magic Kingdom! Tron never went below 90 minutes, Tianna never was below an hour. We waited 62 minutes (8yo timed it) for Mine Train, even though it said 45 minutes. It was crazy-busy in MK that day!

 

[danceintherain]

I dunno. I have 3 different website's estimates in a spreadsheet. I also look at thrill data. Nothing agrees exactly.
I expect the general estimate for all the days is a better indicator of overall crowds than a specific park number.
Touring plans has always said that a "good plan" is more important than which day you go. In the past, my parks have been largely based on when I could get a harder to get ADR.

I wouldn't worry about "too many people" using the same plan/guide, because as you've noticed there are many different opinions. Implementation varies quite a bit too, so even if every single person who is at the parks that day is using the same calendar....some will still arrive at 11am....or not book ADRs....or whatever.

My best advice is to go in with a plan, and a decent knowledge-base so you can pivot as necessary.