Question for planning experts

[luvsdiznee]

Do you follow the recommendations of best days and worst days for parks on touringplans.com? If not what site or method do you use to plan your days?

I am thinking of following touringplans.com for our upcoming trip (12/16-12/21). It says Sat at MK is a best day (crowd level 4). Out of our last 7 trips I avoided MK on a Sat because it used to be said that was the busiest day (Sunday am's used to be quiet). TImes have changed I guess!!

 

[dcmbshafe]

We used TourGuideMike last Easter and followed his best/worst days/times advice to the letter (and were very pleased with the results). I think a lot of the "conventional" wisdom that probably worked for years changed a lot when WDW went to their morning and evening EMH schedule. It also depends a lot on the expected crowd level when you're visiting - we've never been there when you're planning on going, so I don't really know what you should expect, but the more crowded the parks are in general I think the more important it is to follow the advice of the experts.

 

[mhingher]

What we usually do is plan around EMH. We don't do the morning hours... so for instance if MK has evening EMH, we plan on visiting another park in the morning, and then head over to the MK later in the afternoon or for dinner. This worked out perfect for our trip in March, and I'm in the process of working out the same plan for our trip in May 2006.

I also try to make a few meal reservations, which also help me plan. One meal we never miss is breakfast at Chef Mickey's-- so that day we'll just hop on the monorail after breakfast to either EPCOT or MK. And since Chef Mickey's is a buffet, we'll plan on having either a later or light lunch, and maybe a nice dinner in the evening.

This has worked for us in the past, I know there are many different ways to go about planning!!! have fun

 

[Got Quattro?]

DO NOT FOLLOW THE CROWD GUIDES.

You can't escape the crowds, only deal with them. There is very little way tp predict the crowds and even if you do get it right, what's the difference between a 10 min wait or a 15 min wait for a ride.

Just know that each park will be crowded and deal with it. You will have much more fun. Don't get into a deal where you are running to meet a plan so you can beat crowds. that just makes the trip no fun.



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[Goofy4]

(Sunday am's used to be quiet). TImes have changed I guess!!

..and it still may be. The first couple hours are typically much different than the rest of the day. Perhaps I missed it, but I've read that Sunday morning is still relatively quiet.

About the "BestDays"... I started there. Wilma changed everything once we got there, but generally I'm willing to play the numbers game and believe that the past can be used to predict the future (somewhat anyways). I try to go with the "Best" day to start out with, but if it doesn't fit our plans I generally don't worry about it unless it's the busy season. If it's not busy, I just look at the "Parks to Avoid" and avoid those parks.

Now, that being said, there are sometimes numbers that make you wonder .. You can ask about it here on the boards -- the author (Len?) may even answer.

 

[luvsdiznee]

I am going to plan our days using the best day/ worst day recommendations and see how it works!

We have been to WDW numerous times and do not go thinking we have to get every thing done. We take a much more relaxed approach than our early trips!

Thanks for the replys!