How much should crowd calendars factor into my trip planning?

[ceeteenj]

We will be attending my daughter's Make A Wish trip to WDW Feb. 28th through March 3rd. I have 4 children, ages 5-9. As much as we would like to accomplish as much as possible, I also don't want this to be a stressed vacation and I want the pace to be slower. I will be around 20 weeks pregnant at the time. I anticipate getting to the parks 9:30 - 10:00, and aside for Wishes, don't think we'll be staying till park close. And unless we finish up everything in one park and still have tons of energy, we won't be park hopping either.
Here's my question. With MAW, you get FP+ access to everything (so cool!). Our first day, Sunday the 28th, we won't be able to get to the parks before 11:30 or 12:00. I thought it would be a perfect day to go to HS, and because of the later start, be able to stay for Fanstasmic and Star Wars fireworks. But that day is AM EMH at HS. Being that we have FP for all the rides, should I be concerned about that? Or should I worry less about the crowds and do what works best for our schedule?
(the rest of the plan, 1 day at each: Universal/IOA, MK, AK, Legoland or Universal/IOA, depending on if the kids want another day there. Other advice/critique welcome.). Thanks!

 

[DHisaDisneyScrooge]

Larger crowds will obviously make it more difficult to move through the parks, but if it's only slightly more crowded that time difference will be negligible.


I know that they changed the way they do the passes for those with disabilities so they still have to go through the FP+ line. However, I'm not sure about the MAW groups.

When we were there in 2010the MAW parties were (rightfully so) treated like absolute royalty and went to the front of the line at each ride so crowds at rides will hopefully not be an issue at all.

An acquaintance took her son an a Wish and she said it was magic overload-everyone went above and beyond to make it special and magical for them. I hope you have an amazing trio!!!

 

[caroline1851]

If you have fp+ for EVERY ride then go wherever you want whenever you want.

 

[W.E.D.]

I wouldn't worry about crowds. My step-daughters have CP. We took a MAW trip with them in 2003. They typically sent us to the exit and we boarded all attractions as soon as the exit was clear of guests. Got to take the elevator for POTC. They thought that was grand that they were "backstage".

 

[Amanda999]

Hi OP - you might want to post your question (with MAW in the title too) on the disAbilities part of Disboards - there are tons of very helpful people there who have been on MAW trips and/or work with MAW guests, so the info is terrific. They'd absolutely be able to answer whether MAW families go through the usual FP+ line or if they go to the front (I believe the true Make a Wish children still do that, but don't quote me - the disAbility peeps would know for sure!). HTH!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

as a previous poster mentioned if you have FP for everything than dont worry about the crowds. We usually go to Disney in the spring break season so its moderately crowded bc we try not to go the week that most schools are off lol. Anyways my son has ASD so we get the DAS for him and even with that hes able to do a lot of the headliners rides multiple times, and thats not even having a FP for everything, lol. Dont worry about the crowds just have fun!

 

[Day-Day]

I think you are visiting during a low-crowd period so it probably doesn't make much difference on which parks to go to. If going at a more crowded time of the year, I would avoid a park that may have the higher crowds for that day just because the park itself may be crowded and a hassle to navigate even with FP+ for all rides.

 

[Oswin]

I would look at crowd calendars, but keep in mind that they have pretty much all been off the past year or so. 2015 saw record highs as far as how many people were crammed into the parks during supposed "low crowd times". You are going in a time that will be a lower crowd than the insane spring break season, but it still won't be the low that many people envision when they think low crowds. It will still be busy and you may wind up surprised by how busy it seems. Your idea of taking it slow and using your MAW pass (it is different than just regular FP+ - it's really more or less front of the line access in many locations) on everything is a good idea. I would worry less about crowds and just do things at your own pace and what suits you, because WDW will be crowded everywhere. It's really more of a scale of busy, busier, busiest, and insanely busy these days.

 

[ceeteenj]

Thanks everyone. I think we'll do HS that first day because it makes the most sense time wise. The rest of the week, I'll try to stick to the calendars if possible, but I won't stress it if it doesn't fit in to our schedule.

Hi OP - you might want to post your question (with MAW in the title too) on the disAbilities part of Disboards - there are tons of very helpful people there who have been on MAW trips and/or work with MAW guests, so the info is terrific. They'd absolutely be able to answer whether MAW families go through the usual FP+ line or if they go to the front (I believe the true Make a Wish children still do that, but don't quote me - the disAbility peeps would know for sure!). HTH!

I've been following that thread, and I know that it's FP+ or front of line, I wanted to know about the crowds in particular. Thanks!