How important are the crowd calendars when planning?

[mshanson3121]

We're going the last week of June, using WDW crowd calendar, the crowds are predicted to be 8-9 all week. With crowd levels that high, is it really going to make that much of a difference if we do the recommended park or not? Or is it still best to try and go with what they recommend?

Also, should we try and do our Sea World and Discovery Cove days on the weekend? (Saturday is listed as a 9, every other day an 8).

 

[BayouMickey]

We never used em. So for us, not very important.

 

[CarolynFH]

Having been to WDW 20+ times in the last 20 years, I just recently began using crowd calendars and have found them to be very useful. I like staying away from the most crowded park, especially when staying off site and not having EMH "privileges."

 

[MrInfinity]

No, it's not that important. It's more important to plan around what would work for you and your trip, not a theoretical recommendation that may be based on things you don't value the same. I like to read the crowd calendars just to hear some thoughts on why this or that park might be busier than another, but then make my own decisions from there. Sometimes I agree w their line of thought, other times not so much.

SeaWorld... my instinct would be that SeaWorld has a little higher percentage of locals, and thus is busier on the weekends. Also being that if I was to do SeaWorld at all, it would be for one day -- ever, I would want to put that midweek to fully experience it. Disney World people visit for a whole week, so the weekend / weekday gap would be less. Just my opinion of course!

 

[Greenfield1984]

The higher the crowd levels the more valuable crowd callender and touring plans are.

Unless you have a good reason not to use them I don't see why not.

 

[grimley1968]

I think they're most useful during the most crowded times. It's at those times that visiting the parks listed as the least crowded really pays off, versus going at a generally less crowded time when all parks are easy to get around.

In the past I would have said they're not that important, but with ADR's and FP+ requiring more up-front planning anyway, looking at some crowd calendars isn't that much extra work.

 

[bluezy]

The higher the crowd levels the more valuable crowd callender and touring plans are.

Unless you have a good reason not to use them I don't see why not.

I agree. I find them to be helpful if for no other reason than to be aware of what crowds are predicted to be like for specific days. We usually travel to Disney World during the 3rd week of June, so the summer crowds have already started rolling in and I've found them to be very helpful in planning our days. I use the crowd calendars at EasyWDW because Josh provides an explanation of why certain parks will be more/less crowded on certain days. We go for 7 days and spend 1 full day in each park and then spend the other days going back to various parks and hitting the attractions we missed the first time or doing our favorites for a second (or third) time. We always try to plan our full day in each park for the most recommended day but the shorter park days we just play by ear knowing that we could be going to a park on the worst day of the week, but at least we know that going in. For example, for our upcoming trip this June, we'll spend our full day at MK on Wednesday because that's a "least crowded" day for MK (that certainly doesn't mean it will be empty, though). We know we won't get everything done that day, so the plan is to go back on Thursday. But since we know that's a busier day at MK crowd-wise, we will plan accordingly. We have a lunch ADR at BOG and I will plan our 3 FP+ reservations around that lunch. After we've done those things we may hit a few more things with short waits or we'll just hop to EP or back to the resort. Avoiding the parks with EMH, being at the park for rope drop, and using the crowd calendars allow us to get a lot accomplished at the parks during very busy times.

 

[kaetra]

No one should use the crowd calendars except me.

 

[mshanson3121]

I agree. I find them to be helpful if for no other reason than to be aware of what crowds are predicted to be like for specific days. We usually travel to Disney World during the 3rd week of June, so the summer crowds have already started rolling in and I've found them to be very helpful in planning our days. I use the crowd calendars at EasyWDW because Josh provides an explanation of why certain parks will be more/less crowded on certain days. We go for 7 days and spend 1 full day in each park and then spend the other days going back to various parks and hitting the attractions we missed the first time or doing our favorites for a second (or third) time. We always try to plan our full day in each park for the most recommended day but the shorter park days we just play by ear knowing that we could be going to a park on the worst day of the week, but at least we know that going in. For example, for our upcoming trip this June, we'll spend our full day at MK on Wednesday because that's a "least crowded" day for MK (that certainly doesn't mean it will be empty, though). We know we won't get everything done that day, so the plan is to go back on Thursday. But since we know that's a busier day at MK crowd-wise, we will plan accordingly. We have a lunch ADR at BOG and I will plan our 3 FP+ reservations around that lunch. After we've done those things we may hit a few more things with short waits or we'll just hop to EP or back to the resort. Avoiding the parks with EMH, being at the park for rope drop, and using the crowd calendars allow us to get a lot accomplished at the parks during very busy times.

What's your best advice for planning for late in June? Our first day in parks will be June 26th, our last day July 2nd.

 

[Belle61513]

They're helpful in terms of picking what week to visit and what parks to aim for/avoid...and also to set expectations. I color code my schedule with each of our parks as red, yellow, green, so we can mentally prepare for the level crazy we're about to walk into.

In addition to the crowd calendars, I do my own research/thinking and I've been really lucky to have picked some of the most empty weeks with the least amount of closures.

I think it's at least worth a look so you can maximize your $$ and time and avoid crowds when possible...for instance, if Star Wars isn't your thing, you'll at least know to stay away from HS those date or avoid certain parks when a race is happening there...

 

[ABCastillo]

I like to use them some to get at least an idea of the parks to stay away from each day.

 

[mullysisters]

I always look at them when I'm picking a week to go. I also use "**************.com". I went in Feb in 2012 and found that the "easywdw" crowd calender was completely wrong. It was listed as 3-4 and yet the parks were jammed.
Josh reccommends not to go to EMH but I always do. I park hop so I go to EMH and stay until I can't handle the crowds then, go back to my resort (or a resort for lunch) and head to the EMH park around 6pm. I have found this works really well, especially with FP+. I use my FP+ either at MK or my afternoon park, whichever comes first. I've been 9 times so it doesn't ruin my vacation if I don't get on Soarin' more than once. I've really enjoyed the relaxed pace that came with FP+. Last trip I went to HS at EMH RD and rode RnR 6 times in a row! That was a great thrill for me. No waiting, even on the 6th trip!

 

[bluezy]

What's your best advice for planning for late in June? Our first day in parks will be June 26th, our last day July 2nd.

My advice would be to plan to do rope drops when possible and avoid MK on Saturday. Since you're leading up to the 4th of July, I think the crowds in general will increase every day so I would do as much as possible at the beginning of the trip. If my family was going for those dates, this is probably what our schedule would look like. For the record, our kids are ages 16, 14, & 10 so they can tolerate long days; we do very few (if any) table service meals; and our kids can take or leave the character meet & greet's -- they'll do them if there's little or no line but don't want to spend time waiting for a picture with a character when they could be riding rides. Fireworks and parades are not "must do's" for us. If they fit in our schedule, we do them; if not, no big deal. We like to try to alternate "long" touring days with "short" touring days so we're not completely exhausted by day 3. We also like to "front load" our week by doing a full day in each park during the first 4 or 5 days so that the last few can just be spent going back to things we missed the first time around. It also allows us some flexibility to rearrange things if we have a very rainy day during the beginning of our trip.

6/26 - MK - Rope drop until closing or however late we feel like staying (most likely with a break in the afternoon). We would probably not do MSEP or Wishes that night but take advantage of shorter lines during those things and ride the rides.

6/27 - AK - This is usually a short day for us so it would work well after a long day at MK on Friday. We would probably schedule our first FP+ for 10:00 - 11:00 so we could sleep in if we wanted to. Evening would be spent doing a TS dinner, special event (like a fireworks cruise) or just hanging out at the resort/swimming.

6/28 - DHS - Definitely a rope drop day for us so we can head straight to TSMM and ride standby and then ride it later with FP+. We would probably be finished at this park by late afternoon so we'd head somewhere for dinner (most likely in Epcot) and then back to the resort.

6/29 - EP - This would again be a rope drop day so we could ride either Soarin or TT in the standby line (we would get FP+ for the other one). We would probably spend the entire day at EP and possibly stay for Illuminations. If we're too hot, we might head back to the resort in the afternoon and then come back to EP to finish up World Showcase another day.

6/30 - This would be a sleep in day. Then we'd head back to one or two parks to catch things we missed earlier or want to do again. This is a night we would possibly head back to MK at night just for Wishes and the later MSEP since we would have slept in this morning and not be too tired.

7/1 - Sleep-in day or maybe a special breakfast. Then we'd head to Downtown Disney and head to a park or two for a few hours. We would go DHS for Fantasmic if anyone was interested.

7/2 - More re-visiting of a park or two and time at the resort to swim and pack.

Like I said, this is how our family would do things -- your mileage may vary.

 

[mshanson3121]

Since you're leading up to the 4th of July, I think the crowds in general will increase every day so I would do as much as possible at the beginning of the trip.

Really good point. We're planning 2 days MK, 1 day at the other parks, plus 1 day at SW and DC. We were originally thinking SW/DC in the middle to break it up some, but maybe we should save those for the end.

 

[Divah]

We have Always used them. We also plan after holidays or spring breaks.

April and October are our good months. Always after Easter and spring break. The rates are cheaper, better deals, and easier for hubby to get vacation time. Mostly less crowds and great deals, upgrades and freebies.

 

[linskypens]

I think if you are in the early planning stages, and have a number of times to choose from, they are very useful in deciding when to go. If you are there for a week, they are useful in deciding what day to do what park, as you can plan around the most crowded times, EMH etc. If you are there for less than a week, then RD and FP+ are going to get you through any situation.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

We used to never use crowd calenders because we always go in low attendance times. However, now there never seems to be "low attendance" times, just "crowded but not peak" times and I've found following the calendars does make a difference, especially easywdw. I like his because you can read his reasoning and if his reasons don't affect you for some reason or you disagree with him you can make your own informed choice. However, he's usually pretty accurate and I haven't been disappointed following his advice.

 

[ellie05]

I use them every single time plus touring plans. I say they are a must. We just came back from days that crowds were 8-10 and never waited more than 20 min for any ride(and we did all the headliners) with a group of 16. The same day I heard of people waiting 30 min on the fp+ line in the same park.

 

[Mikie]

I follow crowd calendars, and have been very happy with my results with them. However, I've never risked a vacation by going against recommendations just to test it, so it's not like I have a valid side-by-side comparison.

I disagree about the idea that calendars are more important in crowded times. I actually think a *touring plan* is more important during 8+ crowd level days, but the "recommended" park is less crucial (IMO) - once you hit 8-9 level, it's just plain crowded - you don't see a whole lot of swing, it's just full of people everywhere. On the flip side, on low crowd days 1-3, it's quiet everywhere and you'll have success. I feel like it's the 4-7 zone where crowd levels are most crucial - a 4 is slowish, but if you pick the "wrong" park and end up in the 7 level park, that's crowded-ish and a very different experience.

 

[tink9702]

I agree with Mikie. the 4-7 level days are more crucial to avoid the busiest park & a touring plan is most important on high crowd days.