How important are crowd calendars?

[Sharon04247]

Excited to be planning a trip for September. Originally thought we wouldn't be going until 2017 but things changed. I havent been in over 10 years and this is the first trip that I will be responsible for planning. How much value do you put into the crowd calendars? With no thought of crowds I would go to AK, DHS, Epoct, then MK. My son will be 4 at the time of the trip and is not very adventurous. I feel some of the parks are more focused on shows rather than rides. I think AK with animals and shows would feel more familiar since we've been to many zoos and would be a great place to start. Build up his confidence on rides before we got up MK. I don't doubt that he will enjoy himself but want to set him up for success. Am I shooting myself in the foot so to speak if I go with this strategy? I realize Sept is generally a slow time so maybe this would be Ok. However, waiting in longer lines with a preschooler also would not be great. Our dates are 9/9-9/13 if that helps. I am worried that as a planning newbie this could be a horrible mistake.

 

[Shellyb84]

I used them for our last trip and while I am looking at them for the trip I'm currently planning, I don't put too much weight on them. We go at a busy time so I don't really see a difference between an 8-10. Some people avoid parks with EMH but I don't really notice a difference. I think starting with AK is fine, but my DD got less brave the more rides she did. We did MK the first day and weren't able to get her on much else after that.