Should I change plans due to crowd levels?

[choirbird]

Hello friends -

I'm going "home" in 13 days - while it's the tail end of spring break season, I am expecting it to be more crowded (and hopefully less sweltering) than back in August.

However, Touring Plans recently updated their calendar and my first day in Epcot is predicted to be a "10". I've never seen the parks busier than what they call a "5". My boyfriend is joining me on Monday (4/22) and plans from Tuesday onward are probably not going to change much due to important ADRs and a tour, but my plans from Saturday through Monday are flexible.

My current itinerary is:
Saturday 4/20: Bon Voyage Breakfast, then rope drop Epcot (10), walk to Beach Club to see the eggs, then head to AK around 2. I have FPs for Kali, Safari, and Navi. (We will be hitting FOP together later in the trip). I have an ADR at Yak & Yeti and plans to walk around Pandora at night and maybe see Rivers of Light since I've only seen DAK in the daytime.

Sunday 4/21: Magic Kingdom (6). 8:05 PPO at Crystal Palace (there's EMM so park opens at 9). FP for BTMRR, 7DMT, Peter Pan, hoping to meet Minnie and Mickey together and do some Adventureland stuff. Head to GF at 1:00 to see Easter eggs and have Afternoon Tea. Then hang out in Disney Springs for the evening and eat at Morimoto Asia.

Monday 4/22: No specific plans until HEA dessert party with boyfriend.

Should I switch my plans? Epcot is [8] on Sunday and [9] on Monday. Magic Kingdom is [6] on all 3 days. If I switch days, I will likely lose my Navi and 7DMT FPs, but I have plans to rope drop Navi later in the trip with boyfriend and another FP for 7DMT later as well, so it isn't a big loss.

Also if I keep my plans as-is, should I cancel breakfast and just get to Epcot super early? I'm not super attached to Bon Voyage, it was just highly recommended and I thought it might be interesting. I'm also not attached to Crystal Palace - honestly a bit apprehensive about solo character meals - and I went there last time, but I love Tigger.

I have plans to return in August (coincidentally the week of the 29th, oof) so if I miss something it isn't a huge issue. Thoughts?

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would not change plans. Crowd level numbers are arbitrary.

 

[tbholc81]

We are going around the same time. We are arriving on the 20th and going to Epcot on Easter. We are expecting it to be crowded all week and we’ll just go with the flow. We plan our park days 180 days out around our dining. We try to follow our own little rules of avoiding MK on weekends, and avoiding parks with EMHs. Other than that we use crowd calendars as a loose “guide” knowing they are really just guesses and rarely really accurate.

 

[Selket]

I have been for spring break (the days before Easter for us) the last few years and it is exceptionally crowded. Compared to what you're used to in August it will be very different. However it sounds like you're staying the week after Easter Sunday so you'll have time to go back and do what you missed - and a return trip in August. I wouldn't change anything in your plans however. I can't believe the MK will be that much less crowded on that weekend.

 

[Peppeperoni]

It’ll be crowded. Don’t change plans.

 

[choirbird]

I guess even if Epcot is a 10, it's probably Flower & Garden related and there are enough B team attractions like American Adventure and the pavilion films, etc that hopefully it won't be terrible. Since I'm solo I guess I can always adjust on the fly.

 

[cassie58]

I would not change plans. It is going to be very busy everywhere with it being Easter weekend, and with some schools having breaks the week before and some the week after, or Good Friday and Easter Monday off(at least for us in the Northeast - I know South and other areas already had theirs in March), it leads to all of those converging, along with locals and their families. But it sounds like you are experienced at navigating the parks, planning on using rope drop, have FP set up - all the tips we give people for busy times so you should be fine. Have fun!

 

[Rach3975]

If your day was a 10 and the day you wanted to switch to was much lower, I'd probably do it. But since the days you're looking at are an 8 and a 9, I don't know how much it will matter. Touring Plans is good for a general idea of crowds and wait times, but they're only estimating. Being off by 1-2 crowd levels is common, so it's entirely possible that the 8 will really be a 10 day and the 10 day will turn out to be a 9. If that happened, would you regret giving up your existing FPs and ADRs? I think it will be more important to get there early and do as much as you can before crowd levels build.

 

[Klayfish]

Stop looking at the "crowd calendars". They're a complete joke and have zero accuracy value.

 

[gharter]

Crowd claendars are a guess at best. I would not change plans this late.
If you have FPs planned for the day, refresh and update FPs as you can, you should be fine.