How important are the crowd calendars when planning?

[dkrauss]

TouringPlans is predicting 5's, 6's, and 7's the last week of June 2015...........it stays that way until the 4th of July (obviously a 10). For 2014 they show a consistent 7 for WDW park levels......2013 they have a couple of 9's in there. I guess the thing you can derive from this is that its probably gonna be a 6 or higher and a 9 is possible. Personally I do use this information in determining what park is best on what day. HOWEVER, I have a caveat when it comes to ADR's especially the one or two ADR's that we have as must do's. If I have an ADR in a park we're usually in that park on that day. If its a popular ADR, like say BOG............I wouldn't my park for the day unless I could change the ADR. Therefore I take this into account when planning my ADR's.............and I try to use the historical info. Also keep in mind the estimates are just that estimates................things change that impact park crowds. We've traveled mostly in May and Sept when crowds tend to be lighter........so we've had a lot of success with using this info. Haven't traveled during a busy time so I'd be more flexible. Just my thoughts..........yours may be different.

Have a great vacation!!!

Doug

 

[mshanson3121]

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.

Oh my! Would you be willing to share your success plan? I would love any advice because we only have 5 days in Disney Parks, and two special needs kids that while high functioning, do have their limitations. We will have a DAS, which I know will help, but I would still take any input!

Also, when people say "touring plan", do they mean as in literally having your day mapped out? As in knowing which rides you're going to do, in order?

 

[georgina]

I think Discovery Cove on a weekend day would be fine. They limit attendance so it doesn't feel too crowded, so do it on a day that the Disney parks will be busiest. We love Discovery Cove, it's beautiful and relaxing.

 

[ellie05]

Oh my! Would you be willing to share your success plan? I would love any advice because we only have 5 days in Disney Parks, and two special needs kids that while high functioning, do have their limitations. We will have a DAS, which I know will help, but I would still take any input!

Also, when people say "touring plan", do they mean as in literally having your day mapped out? As in knowing which rides you're going to do, in order?

I don't know much about DAS. When I plan I use crowd calendars from touring plans and easywdw. I always pick the recommended parks, if there is a disputed between the two I read the reasoning for it at easywdw. I customize my touring plans according to the party we are going with at the time. My best advice is arrive at RD and take afternoon breaks if you need it. Yes touring plans has your day map out and on their website you can customize it (you have to subscribe). It helps to plan out the fp+, walk less, and give you and idea how much you can accomplish in a day. If you haven't check them out, do it I am sure there is probably a plan using DAS.

 

[Mikie]

Oh my! Would you be willing to share your success plan? I would love any advice because we only have 5 days in Disney Parks, and two special needs kids that while high functioning, do have their limitations. We will have a DAS, which I know will help, but I would still take any input!

Also, when people say "touring plan", do they mean as in literally having your day mapped out? As in knowing which rides you're going to do, in order?

I think mostly if people say they have a "touring plan" they do mean a pretty detailed idea of what time they're arriving and in what order they'll go to attractions, when their meals & breaks will be. It can be down to the hour/minute, it can be just an outline, or it can mean simply knowing whether you'll head left or right when you enter the park and an idea what's where so you don't get off every ride saying "okay, now let's pull out a map and see what's next?"

If a minute by minute plan sounds intimidating to you, easywdw.com has what they named "cheat sheets" that tell you generally whether to head left or right, when to catch certain shows. . . An organized path through the parks.

 

[lauradis]

I use them. One thing I have noticed over the years is that Magic kingdom is always more crowded on Mondays and Saturdays and all federal hoildays.

I refuse to go to Disney during times of over avg level of 5 or higher, wow are those dates of low season are getting smaller and smaller.

I'm a reforming commando style from rope drop till they kick us out is what I want.

Yes do what the above pp make yourself a cheat sheet. Just remember its not the bible and that it is ok to not do everything. get a list of must do's, make those happen and everything else you do is extra.

 

[loveysbydesign]

For those of you have have gone at the end of June and end of July did you notice much differences in crowds?
On easywdw crowd calenders there are 7's for July and 8's for June and I thought it would actually be the other way around.
We have never gone in July and may need to change plans from end of June to end of July due to my 16 y.o. ds's baseball schedule (don't want to miss play-offs)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We don't use them.
I looked up for my next visit for kicks and it turns out ours is the unrecommended park. Oh well.

I don't find my vacation or time there is "at risk" because we are doing what we wish to do.

My youngest wants to do MK on her birthday in a few months. The crowd calendar won't change her mind.