How do you plan what parks, what day?

[Coconuts]

We have been to WDW many many times and usually just go to the recommended park for that day. I was just wondering how many of you do that, or do rope drop, EMH, park hopping, etc. And I'm not sure if websites are allowed to be mentioned, but which one do you think is most accurate in picking the best park/day?

 

[hiroMYhero]

We have been to WDW many many times and usually just go to the recommended park for that day. I was just wondering how many of you do that, or do rope drop, EMH, park hopping, etc. And I'm not sure if websites are allowed to be mentioned, but which one do you think is most accurate in picking the best park/day?

Here is the most current info regarding the future of Crowd Calendars:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/easywdw-crowd-calendars.3542001/

Park strategies such as rope drop and EMH should be considered first.

 

[mzsarah10]

Personally, we avoid parks with EMH. I also look at what events are going on that week, which parks have late hours, etc. While josh at easywdw is no longer posting calendars, I try to use his logic when selecting the park for the day.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I use a combo of Touring Plans and Easy wdw. but I haven't seen updated crowd calendars on Easywdw lately.
I have found both sites to be very useful, but I particularly like TP's personalized touring plans which allows me to see walk times, waiting times etc. To me it is an invaluable resource!
Good luck

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

For us, Magic Kingdom is always the first and last park. Then I use crowd calendars to plan the in-between days. We like EMH, but we don't go out of our way to attend it or avoid it.

 

[siskaren]

I use a combo of Touring Plans and Easy wdw. but I haven't seen updated crowd calendars on Easywdw lately.

There's a post from Josh in the thread that hiro linked where he explains why he hasn't been able to do crowd calendars lately.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

There's a post from Josh in the thread that hiro linked where he explains why he hasn't been able to do crowd calendars lately.

Thanks, I did see it and read it AFTER I wrote the post!

 

[Laura's Dad]

We mainly rely on EasyWDW for park reccomendations and use Touring Plans to set up our schedule. We also look at if there are any special events that we want to see.

 

[Pesky]

I looked at crowd calendars but honestly, I also just kind of winged it by nature of plans we had based on where we wanted to go. For example, I knew we wanted to do Epcot first because with F&W, closer to the weekend would start to get nuts. So we are starting there mid-week. I knew I wanted to work in AK while we are staying at AKV because, duh, it's RIGHT.THERE. If there was ever a time for a mid-day break, easiest then so I did that. MK made sense because next resort was Poly and we could make our way from there easy enough. Well, then we hadn't fit in DHS so that was coming up.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I kind of loosely went with the crowd calendars, and my upcoming visit has my first 3 days totally against the calendar. I have an EMH DHS day planned, Saturday Epcot, then I'm doing a party at MK on Sunday. Last visit, without meaning to, I had 3 EMH days and all were wonderful. On our MK day, we didn't get to the park until 4, had dinner at Liberty Tree, and had planned on 4 or 5 attractions, and I counted 11 or 12 we did because it simply wasn't busy. Same with Epcot and DHS. I just go with the flow. I do try to pick a less busy time of year, though.

 

[Micca]

EMH mornings are great if you're willing to get up early & hit RD, and then hop to another park when the crowds build past your comfort level. Otherwise we avoid EMH parks, and stay out of MK on Mondays. I agree that hitting RD, and maximizing your FP+ is the best bet, but RD doesn't work for everybody.

 

[loves to dive]

Another winger. Usually where I'm staying helps decide, I do split stays and go to which park is closer or easier to get to. Next week I'll be solo at CSR for Mon and Tues. I'll probably arrive around 2:30 or 3. After I get checked in I'll head over to AK since it's open until 9 and no matter where you stay you have to take a bus to AK so I try to do it while I'm staying at a non-Epcot resort. Tues. I'll do morning until around 2:30 at MK, I don't have any FPs and probably won't book any until Monday night. I have a 2:45 ADR for tea at GF and am not sure what I'll do after that. MK closes at 7 that night and I'm sure I'll probably have had enough of it by my ADR time anyway. If there is something else I want to do there I'll head back,otherwise I'll either head back over to AK or maybe HS to see the FWs. Wens I move over to YC for F&W so after check in I'll head to Epcot and probably hit Soarin and a couple of other rides, I have a food and wine pairing meal at Spice roads at 1 and after that I'll just wander around Epcot. Thurs. probably head to HS in the morning then back to Epcot for more F&W. I have seminars Thurs and Friday but other than that I have no clue. I have a Sat. morning cheese seminar and another seminar at 5 I think, again other than that just wander around F&W or I'll hop over to another park if I get bored. One night I want to wander over to MK to catch Tink flying. I have no FPs booked, I may or may not book any. I just sort of go where my feet take me.

 

[Klayfish]

Honestly, we don't bother with crowd calendars or even have any clue which parks have EMH. In our opinion, the crowd calendars have no real accuracy, and we never noticed any crowd difference with EMH. The only thing we do consistently is start with MK. Beyond that, the way we plan park days is as simple as trying to just make sure we rotate. No real "strategy" per se, never felt we needed one.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It's a mixture. We always hit MK on our first and last days. Epcot on our second day and the day before our last day. For the middle we decide based on EMH and crowd calendars. We do park hoppers and midday breaks with FP+ in our second park. We also do one whole rest day.

 

[Corbinator]

I don't know if this will work out...but I used a variety of planning sites to narrow the days, knew we only needed one day at HS, one nonpark day, no AK, and no Saturday anywhere. One of each of our 2 days at MK and Epcot is busier than the other according to predictions for MNSSHP and FW...but that's just the way it worked out. Also, we have little kids who don't stay up late or last all day so reduced park hours sometimes didn't bother us. A nighttime EMH wouldn't even be on our radar so choosing a shorter day is an advantage to us. Like I said I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I ignore crowd calendars and EMH and rely on rope drop mornings in one park and afternoon/evening FastPass+ reservations in a second park to avoid long line queues. My rope drops are generally MK and AK. I choose my afternoon/evening park based on entertainment and dining that my partner and I want to share together. (He doesn't like doing rope drops.) And I like to begin and end a WDW vacation with MK. It's a bit hard for us to balance our park selections, though, because I'm not the typical adult WDW fan who prefers Epcot or Hollywood Studios. I could spent all my time at MK and be very happy.

 

[DrunkJam]

We go with
a) the ADRs we have made.
b) What we fancy seeing / doing that day.

Obviously, now you have to pick FP+ 60 days out. We will be more structures to use these, in relation to ADR, BUT, also, having hoppers, or whatever the UK go anywhere anytime version is called, we can still nip somewhere else if we want to see something different...

Honestly, this is already on the edge of too much planning, so, I don't look at crowds or EMHs or aim for RD or anything.

 

[jwolfpack]

At minimum, we do MK first full day and the last evening for sure (sometimes all day the last day depending on how long our trip is). I schedule other parks in the middle, going for morning EMH whenever I can. We park hop and Epcot, AK, and HS are not full day parks for us, so having that extra morning hour helps us knock out everything we want to by mid-afternoon so that we can hop back to MK for evening or have downtime at resort. I try to make sure we have at least one evening in the middle of the trip where we can swim or just hang in room if we need a down night. I also try to make sure we get at least 2 pre-park opening ADR's at MK on mornings without EMH or EMM. This will be our 5th trip, and my kids are 8, 6, and 2.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We go over somewhat busy fall break and live by the crowd calendars. We used whatever free ones are available and make sure all have green. Works like a charm as we've seen HS, AK and especially Epcot completely empty when the hotels are jammed full. Out of 20+ park days in the past 3 years I would only say there was one "miss", a Wednesday at Epcot that was much busier than the calendars thought. It's amazing how accurate the calendars work though.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

We usually hit the AM EMH and then hop to a another park.

We don't bother with PM EMH due to the non-hopping folks taking advantage and the fact that non-resort guests can stay (but not ride). The fact that AM EMH is limited to resort guests only makes it way more appealing.

Other than a loose plan regarding morning EMH, we don't make plans. I refuse to make ADRs because I feel like a schedule while on vacation is completely ridiculous. We snack and QS when hungry.

That's our loosey goosey 'plan' of attack on WDW.