Last minute?

[lonegirl]

We leave this Saturday and Touring Plans just changed crowd levels and now some days seem better than others for parks. Would you make a last minute change? How likely am I to get FP? Do I even need them on a 1-4 crowd day?

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

My opinion is:

Disregard crowd calendars and enjoy your vacation.

My only tip is avoid MK on non-party days.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Rule #1: cRoWd cAleNdArS aRe always rIgHt.

With that in mind, I wouldn't adjust the good plans to already have in place. If crowds are lower than you originally anticipated, count it as a blessing and enjoy to the max.

 

[Etch]

I wouldn't change plans now based on Touring Plans predictions.

If you currently have FP+ for the popular attractions (FOP, SDMT etc.) you may/will have trouble getting them for the new days unless your lucky the day of.

Yes, you absolutely need them on a 1-4 day. FP+ used effectively is the best way to get on the attractions that you want to do.

 

[Klayfish]

No. Best advice I can give you is stop looking at crowd calendars. They're wild guesses with no accuracy value....you're better off shaking a magic 8 ball.

 

[Nanceliz319]

I agree with others to stick with your plans. Less stressful.

quick question, sorry to hijack but why avoid MK on non party days?

 

[stinkpickle]

I wouldn't fully trust any "decreases" predicted for October.

 

[JETSDAD]

I agree with others to stick with your plans. Less stressful.

quick question, sorry to hijack but why avoid MK on non party days?

Non-party days get very busy. People want to be able to use their tickets for a full day rather than a shortened party day. If you go on party days the crowds tend to be lower until you start getting close to party time.

 

[TaraWasHere]

Yep I agree with those above. Don't make plans based on crowd calendars...especially during school breaks/ holiday seasons.

 

[Delirium]

Even if the crowd calendar is right (a broken clock is twice a day), a good plan on a crowd level 8 day trumps a bad plan on a crowd level 3 day. A core plan that will succeed as is, but allows for flexibility due to the unexpected is what you want. But, when I say 'unexpected', I'm talking about things like ride breakdowns, weather events, etc. Tangible things. A crowd level prediction by Touring Plans, or anyone else, is a guess, and not something I would react to.

 

[ktlm]

I would not change plans at the last minute. Also, although we cancelled our trip this year, that is the week we have gone for several years as it is our fall break week, and I find it hard to believe that there is going to be a 1-4 crowd level day next week. Based on our experience, I would say most days are a 6 or maybe a 7 and I can't recall experiencing one that I would say is under a 5. --- it has always been more busy than when we used to go the week after Thanksgiving-- but also manageable. Have a great trip! We love fall at WDW!

 

[CastAStone]

I wouldn't change plans now based on Touring Plans predictions.

If you currently have FP+ for the popular attractions (FOP, SDMT etc.) you may/will have trouble getting them for the new days unless your lucky the day of.

Yes, you absolutely need them on a 1-4 day. FP+ used effectively is the best way to get on the attractions that you want to do.

This is exactly right. If the crowd levels are all 1-4 then honestly it's not worth moving things around for. If OTOH you have a 7 and a 2 and if you swapped them you'd get two 3s, that's worth considering, but not at the cost of a nearly impossible to get FP. If you follow a touring plan or use the Lines app, the crowd levels won't matter that much anyway.

FWIW I disagree with everyone else, the Touring Plans crowd calendar is great most of the time and is FAR better than not using a crowd calendar at all. The struggles they've had recently have been reacting to new things (SWGE opening; Disney fundamentally changing the way it calculated posted wait times this January), but most of the time its great.

 

[LSUmiss]

We leave this Saturday and Touring Plans just changed crowd levels and now some days seem better than others for parks. Would you make a last minute change? How likely am I to get FP? Do I even need them on a 1-4 crowd day?

I’m one that agrees about not trusting the crowd calendars also, but since we also leave Saturday I’m curious what kind of decrease you are seeing? I have friends there now that said it has been noticeably lighter this week.

 

[lonegirl]

I’m one that agrees about not trusting the crowd calendars also, but since we also leave Saturday I’m curious what kind of decrease you are seeing? I have friends there now that said it has been noticeably lighter this week.

MK is at a 1 for Sunday because of MNSSHP,
Everything else is sitting at 2-4 except HS due to Star Wars

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

We leave this Saturday and Touring Plans just changed crowd levels and now some days seem better than others for parks. Would you make a last minute change? How likely am I to get FP? Do I even need them on a 1-4 crowd day?

I think crowd calendars are a good guideline if you want to know the most efficient park for attractions that day. That said, if one is more of a "take in the sights" rather than "go go go", I would say crowd calendars diminish in value if you want time to just explore.

When it comes to a sudden change like this so close to your park date, I wouldn't rearrange things. Just know what kinds of crowds to expect. To quote Hitchiker's Guid to the Galaxy: Don't Panic.

Enjoy the vacation. Remember, "perfect" is what you make it. Not what you HAVE to make it.

 

[gharter]

I would never change plans based on a crowd calendar.
Yes, I get them and look at them, but they have no inside information as to how crowded the park will be.
If you have a plan that you are happy with, I would leave things alone.
I use it as an expectation of how busy the park may be that day.