Touring Plans - Right or Wrong

[Luv2CtheMouse]

How spot on is UG or Touring Plans? When they give crowd levels, do you tend to agree with them or do you think they were over-doing the high numbers? Just curious.

I am most curious about early - mid March. I have been in May and June and thought their numbers were awfully high. I am just curious what my fellow Dissers think.

 

[DavidHobart]

How spot on is UG or Touring Plans? When they give crowd levels, do you tend to agree with them or do you think they were over-doing the high numbers? Just curious.

I am most curious about early - mid March. I have been in May and June and thought their numbers were awfully high. I am just curious what my fellow Dissers think.

My experience with these guys is that they have been mostly dead on, with one spectacular exception--a day they rated a 5 should have been a 9. They are always learning and enhancing, and aren't perfect, but I don't know of a better source.

 

[Luv2CtheMouse]

My experience with these guys is that they have been mostly dead on, with one spectacular exception--a day they rated a 5 should have been a 9. They are always learning and enhancing, and aren't perfect, but I don't know of a better source.

DavidHobart!


Our close friends went in March and said the longest wait they had was maybe 20 minutes and they did not know what Fastpasses were. They were first timers with 2 kids.

If they found 20 minutes to be their longest wait in 6 days in mid-March, a 9 does seem very high!

 

[susykt4]

I scheduled our first family trip in April 2005 around the UG crowd levels and was VERY disappointed! They had predicted 3s for the week but it turned out to be the week of Passover and many Eastern schools including NYC were on spring break. The week turned out to be REALLY busy, actual 8s or 9s most days. Fortunately, we subscribed to TGM and had a great trip anyway. Just my experience...

 

[snyderla]

They were right on with our August/September trip. We went to the parks they suggested on the days they suggested and had minimum waits at every ride except Soarin'.

 

[nhdisnut]

We have used recommended parks/days from UG several times. Maximum wait times for the main attractions were very accurate and we have found (both in late April and early August) the recommended parks to work very well for us!

Beyond the crowd predictions and the website, I find the UG itself (the book) to be one of the best WDW resources I have ever read!

 

[Luv2CtheMouse]

Thank you for the responses. I might do what I have said I would never do and allow my princess to miss 4 days of school and go early December. Well, luckily I still have a few months to decide what I really want to do.

 

[dixiedizfan]

I found UG to greatly underestimate the crowd levels. The week we went, UG predicted crowd levels of 5 and 6, but were actually around a 9 ... easily the most crowded week we've ever been. This was a holiday period, so shame on UG for misleading people!

 

[jcemom]

I *think* what they are actually predicting is wait times (average) rather than crowd levels. What I mean is that a peak time could be a 6 on their chart, while a very much non-peak time could also be a 6. Why? Because during the more crowded peak times the rides may operate with more ride vehicles running to handle more people per hour. Although one of those times will have far more people in the park with you than the other, they could both have the same average wait for Splash Mountain, for example, over the course of the day.

I use touring plans and fastpass and don't wait in those lines anyway, so the numbers are not very important to me.

 

[mousermerf]

The Crowd Level column is based on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded. The scale measures the peak wait time at the Magic Kingdom's three headliner attractions (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad). Thus, the Crowd Level is a "worst case" scenario, predicting the longest wait at any of these three attractions on a particular day.

That's from the crowd calendar's own website..

For a day to be a 9 on the chart, the waits would need to be:

"9 = Peak waits of 85 - 94 minutes"

So, what days do you feel were 9's and what were the wait times at these 3 attractions?