Touringplans vs Easywdw - opposite recommendations?

[Colargol]

I just signed up for Touringplans.com, and sat down to plan our WDWtrip this summer. While doing so I came over the site Easywdw.com - and see that the two sites quite often do not even get close at giving the same advise. For instance; on the same day Touringplan can give MK a 4, indicating that this is a day with relatively few people at MK, whereas Easywdw states that MK is not recommended on this same day due to the crowds.

Is there some logic in this that I am missing out of, or is one site more reliable than the other?

 

[kmb584]

I've found EasyWDW to be much more reliable than TP.

 

[nkereina]

I agree that we prefer EasyWDW. It's my understanding that Josh at EasyWDW does his recommendations manually - in other words, he takes into consideration all factors like hours, EMH, groups, evening entertainment, day of the week, etc. He then makes individual recommendations based on this. Touring Plans makes recommendations through formulas and algorithms. It's a lot more complex, but I'm not sure what's taken into account there.

 

[MrInfinity]

There are several crowd calendars out there... google around, you'll find at least 4 that are regularly used. They have some good info to take in... I would read them, see if that makes sense for how you tour, and decide for yourself. Don't take any as gospel-- they are educated guesses. Plan around what's going on at the parks that you want to do.

You also have to consider cause and effect. Some of the sites say... (for example)... avoid the AK on Sunday. Why? Because it's EMH day and will therefore be busier. But, you could also read that as: go to the AK day on Sunday. Why? Because other parks are more popular, thus Disney puts EMH here on Sunday to try to bolster attendance given most guests do not do the AK on their arrival or departure day, plus all 3 other parks are more popular for day-visitors on Sunday, given daypassers will want to avoid the AK because they cannot get in with EMH.

So because anyone can read the same phenomenon two ways, you're naturally going to have multiple interpretations.

Read them, enjoy the read, and pick based on what fits what you want to do. But being that you're going in summer, I would not expect to see anything but completely packed crowds even if a site tells you to expect a '4'.

 

[JennyDrake]

There are several crowd calendars out there... google around, you'll find at least 4 that are regularly used. They have some good info to take in... I would read them, see if that makes sense for how you tour, and decide for yourself. Don't take any as gospel-- they are educated guesses. Plan around what's going on at the parks that you want to do.

Read them, enjoy the read, and pick based on what fits what you want to do. But being that you're going in summer, I would not expect to see anything but completely packed crowds even if a site tells you to expect a '4'.

DITTO!!!!

OR just go with whichever ones tells you the parks will be the most crowded......

 

[nkereina]

While it's true crowd calendars are essentially educated guesses, there are some that have much better success rates than others. It's not completely a crap shoot when there's factors to consider.

In the above AK example, Josh at EasyWDW would tell you to avoid AK with EMH because it's factual that EMH does draw more crowds, especially resort guests which are more impactful than the day visitor. Instead, Josh recommends to go on the day after an EMH day because all of the people who were there the day before for EMH will be at a different park the next day. His logic makes the most sense to me.

 

[supersnoop]

Recognize that touring plans gives you information, while Easter gives you recommendations. Just because crowds are low doesn't mean it's the best choice for that day when you consider the duration of your trip.

 

[ciera321]

We're also fans of easywdw! We've followed Josh's recommendations for 7 trips now, and we're sticking with him.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Look at the reasoning behind the recommendations and then go with what fits your plan for the day. For example, even when the crowd levels are low, EasyWDW will have a least-recommended park, and for MK that might be because there are no showings of MSEP on the previous or subsequent evenings, so more people will want to go to MK on that particular day. I think Touringplans would make it a recommended park because it DOES have the parade. Touringplans also forces each park to be most recommended over the course of a few days which results in some differences from other sites.