Touring Plans Crowd Tracker Updates

[peacefulmama]

We get there the day before thanksgiving and are there for a week; it's a mixed bag of higher and lower crowd levels depending on park/ day. The day before thanksgiving at MK went from a 7 to a 4! I hope it stays that way, but I'm sure it'll get adjusted back up before November.

 

[Cando86]

I went back and looked at dates that would be equivalent to ours this year on TP (ie the day F&W started last year since that's when we'll be arriving this year) and looked at what they predicted and what they actually saw (you can see this if you just "jump to" that 'equivalent' date in 2014) and most of the days were predicted to be higher than what they actually saw. I'm hoping it's the same this year!

 

[chefmb]

All the days in the first week of December went up except MK on December 4th. It went down from 2 to 1. I hope that turns out to be true. I chose my park days based on 4 different sites. They all seem to agree on the recommended parks.

Wow! I'm going Nov. 30-Dec 5 and haven't even started planning my days yet! I figured crowd calendars would change, and I just haven't been ready to figure it out. I know I need to look soon since I have to book any TS in about 2 weeks! I'm glad they've adjusted now, before my 180 mark

 

[chefmb]

All the days in the first week of December went up except MK on December 4th. It went down from 2 to 1. I hope that turns out to be true. I chose my park days based on 4 different sites. They all seem to agree on the recommended parks.

So, can you share the 4 sites that you use? I used 3 for my last trip and am curious which one I missed Thanks!

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I'm glad they've adjusted now, before my 180 mark

Don't count on them not changing again. Probably more than once.

 

[MagentaMulan]

So, can you share the 4 sites that you use? I used 3 for my last trip and am curious which one I missed Thanks!

I'm going the same week as you. Nov. 30 to Dec 5! I used Touring Plans, EasyWDW, Kenny the pirate and WDW Prep school.

http://www.easywdw.com/calendar/december-2015-walt-disney-world-crowd-calendar/
http://www.characterlocator.com/?p=cal_index&mo=12&yr=2015&cweek=1
http://wdwprepschool.com/december-at-disney-world/

 

[Tondee]

So glad I saw this thread. All of my days went up too-ugh!

 

[chefmb]

I'm going the same week as you. Nov. 30 to Dec 5! I used Touring Plans, EasyWDW, Kenny the pirate and WDW Prep school.

http://www.easywdw.com/calendar/december-2015-walt-disney-world-crowd-calendar/
http://www.characterlocator.com/?p=cal_index&mo=12&yr=2015&cweek=1
http://wdwprepschool.com/december-at-disney-world/

Thanks! I missed the prep school.

Don't count on them not changing again. Probably more than once.

Yes, I am sure! I've learned that I need to check crowds and park hours right before our trip, and even double check after any Saturday during a trip. Last year, AK changed their opening time after our vacation started. I only found out about it thru a quick check on a chat!

 

[mastermind307]

A lot of the days went up for my Oct. trip too. The biggest was Columbus Day that went from a 6 to a 9. I had planned to go to HS on that day, but now the CL for HS is also a 9. Thinking about switching our days around and going to the beach on Columbus Day and hitting HS on Tuesday when the CL is a 5.

I told my husband about the CL going up and he responded with how miserable he'll be if it's crowded and how he doesn't really want to go to Disney because it's not a relaxing vacation, but he won't stay at home because he doesn't want to miss another family vacation. I went to Disney with my DD and mom in June 2013, that is the only time we went on vacation without him. I wish he wasn't so negative, it almost makes me want to cancel our trip and not go. Sorry for the rant, but my DH just frustrates me sometimes.

 

[pktbMouse]

A lot of the days went up for my Oct. trip too. The biggest was Columbus Day that went from a 6 to a 9. I had planned to go to HS on that day, but now the CL for HS is also a 9. Thinking about switching our days around and going to the beach on Columbus Day and hitting HS on Tuesday when the CL is a 5.

I told my husband about the CL going up and he responded with how miserable he'll be if it's crowded and how he doesn't really want to go to Disney because it's not a relaxing vacation, but he won't stay at home because he doesn't want to miss another family vacation. I went to Disney with my DD and mom in June 2013, that is the only time we went on vacation without him. I wish he wasn't so negative, it almost makes me want to cancel our trip and not go. Sorry for the rant, but my DH just frustrates me sometimes.

I feel for your husband...Im feeling the exact same way..I hate crowds and August is the only time we can go but I dont want to be a party pooper. Im just even more miserable that they have gone up now...although I know I will have a good time Im dreading the crowds...ugh

 

[pajammies]

I'm so sad about this! We always plan our dates with low crowd levels, none of us like crowds. That is the most important thing for us!

We booked for November 11th-17th and almost every single one went up by 2. Some went up by 3. That's a lot of large jumps. I completely expected a few park days going up one or two levels, but all of them?!

I emailed Touringplans.com in regards to this, but haven't heard back yet.

 

[Ava]

I hadn't made up any actual plans yet, did anyone here have TPs made up and are they reflecting the changes now?

I just reevaluated my MK plan for 8/21 to see if the wait times changed. Crowd level was a 5 when I made the plan, now its up to a 7. Some of the wait times went up by a few minutes and others didn't change. For example, my first attraction is Peter Pan; at CL 5 the wait time was 12 minutes, after reevaluating at CL 7 it's showing 18 minutes. I'll probably remove the recommended FP+ reservations I had (I didn't actually make mine yet) and reoptimize my plans just to see if there are any major changes.

 

[maryj11]

I wonder if free dining starting on 8/28 will make the week of 8/24-8/27 a slightly lower crowd level. Not only will a lot of students be heading back to school, but people may try and shift their travel plans to a few days later to get that free dining. I mean there is still that X% room discount going on during that time .. so it is probably a wash.

I dont know. We are going the week before that and the crowd levels have raised today. They went from 6's and 7's to 8 and 9's.

 

[Nancyg56]

My August trip has higher crowd levels than when I booked. THat happened last October too, so I guess that all of those discounts come with a penalty. Oh well....

 

[notrub98]

A lot of the days went up for my Oct. trip too. The biggest was Columbus Day that went from a 6 to a 9. I had planned to go to HS on that day, but now the CL for HS is also a 9. Thinking about switching our days around and going to the beach on Columbus Day and hitting HS on Tuesday when the CL is a 5.

I told my husband about the CL going up and he responded with how miserable he'll be if it's crowded and how he doesn't really want to go to Disney because it's not a relaxing vacation, but he won't stay at home because he doesn't want to miss another family vacation. I went to Disney with my DD and mom in June 2013, that is the only time we went on vacation without him. I wish he wasn't so negative, it almost makes me want to cancel our trip and not go. Sorry for the rant, but my DH just frustrates me sometimes.

I went last year over Columbus Day and it was incredibly crowded, in my opinion. It was much worse than I expected. BUT I went with someone who wanted to ignore crowd calendars and just go with the flow which I am sure had an impact. I just wanted to warn you for your husband's sake.... I know mine would want the heads-up.

 

[Daisybell911]

Ugh! Add me to the increased numbers too. I'll be there 9/23-9/29. I thought I had a slower week but I guess that's changed. Oh well, I'll just have to role with it!

 

[Astridia]

What I find interesting is the weekly report on Touring Plans: What we saw vs. what we predicted. Last year the predictions were almost always lower than actual and for this year it's the opposite. The only park that's fairly accurate is the MK, and that's always crowded IMO.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

I know past performance is no guarantee of future results but.....wow, the predictions for our dates this year vs actual last year are really different:

2015
Mon Aug 17 - Epcot - Predicted: 8
Tue Aug 18 - MK - Predicted: 9
Wed Aug 19 - Epcot - Predicted: 8
Thu Aug 20 - HS - Predicted: 7

2014
Mon Aug 18 - Epcot - Actual: 4
Tue Aug 19 - MK - Actual: 4
Wed Aug 20 - Epcot - Actual: 3
Thu Aug 21 - HS - Actual: 4

 

[Disfan1968]

I know past performance is no guarantee of future results but.....wow, the predictions for our dates this year vs actual last year are really different:

2015
Mon Aug 17 - Epcot - Predicted: 8
Tue Aug 18 - MK - Predicted: 9
Wed Aug 19 - Epcot - Predicted: 8
Thu Aug 20 - HS - Predicted: 7

2014
Mon Aug 18 - Epcot - Actual: 4
Tue Aug 19 - MK - Actual: 4
Wed Aug 20 - Epcot - Actual: 3
Thu Aug 21 - HS - Actual: 4

I hope this pans out. However, what I have heard on this thread is that the placement of Labor day (Sept 1 last year vs Sept 7 this year) may cause a swell in crowds in late August this year. How much so, remains to be seen. Maybe it will be negligible.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I know past performance is no guarantee of future results but.....wow, the predictions for our dates this year vs actual last year are really different:

2015
Mon Aug 17 - Epcot - Predicted: 8
Tue Aug 18 - MK - Predicted: 9
Wed Aug 19 - Epcot - Predicted: 8
Thu Aug 20 - HS - Predicted: 7

2014
Mon Aug 18 - Epcot - Actual: 4
Tue Aug 19 - MK - Actual: 4
Wed Aug 20 - Epcot - Actual: 3
Thu Aug 21 - HS - Actual: 4

Wow. We'll be there right after that. Does it go down do you know? (24-29th)