UG's "crowd level calendar" - do you think it's fairly accurate?

[jenjersnap]

http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm
sorry wrong page before

Thank you so much for posting this! I had wondered if they were going to update it for the changes in early and - now - late MH. I especially like the assumptions part, don't remember seeing that in the book itself. It looks like they didn't make many changes to crowd levels ...

 

[mel64]

I have always read to avoid MK on Sat. because that is the day most locals will come. In this new updated chart it list MK to be the best day on a lot of Saturdays. ??????

 

[jenjersnap]

I have always read to avoid MK on Sat. because that is the day most locals will come. In this new updated chart it list MK to be the best day on a lot of Saturdays. ??????

I thought that was pretty strange too. If you look at the assumptions and constraints sections, it says in Rule 4, that Saturdays in summer are not particularly busy and the MK has longer hours. I am guessing he means that every day in summer at MK is a madhouse and that Sat. shouldn't be any WORSE, plus you get the longer hours as a bonus. Also, choosing MK as a good park on Sat. follows Rule 3, the Day After rule, since Friday is an EMH day for MK.

Clear as mud?

 

[Luv2Roam]

What I hear from the locals (and guests) is they avoid MK on Saturday because it is always the busiest day.
My thoughts are that MK is just many guest's favorite park. And a lot of people like their first day, or even half a day, in their favorite park.
I think MK gets the regular guests who plan Saturday for whatever reason (SpectroMagic as an example) and those spending their last or first vacation day.
And MK just seems more congested than the other parks on any day, to me.

 

[Luigi's Girl]

Hi, I was wondering if someone who has this Unofficial Guide could possibly tell me what the attendance level says for the week prior to Easter, 2005. Specifically, March 20-25 2005. Thank you~!

We've been ther a few times during Easter week and many times the CMs have commented to us that the week before Easter is usually busier than the week after. Some schools traditionally have their break the week after but many have theirs the week before.

 

[reeddi]

I was really suprised that the updates listed March 11-19 HIGHER than the week before and after Easter? Someone mentioned on another thread about some cheerleading thing on the weekend of the 12th but does that really affect park attendance that much? I would think they would be busy with competitions most of the time.
I wrote the webmaster of the touring plans for more of an explanation but this has got me seriously thinking about changing my plan for that week.

 

[DebbieB]

In my Unofficial Guide it says that the crowd levels are a 3 during October 28-31. I know that the MNSSHP is always sold out on October 31 but why would there be more crowds before the 31? I'm planning on taking my second trip to WDW in October '05 and I'm so confused now on what weeks to go. Also, I'm not sure about what parks to avoid for each day because the list for which parks to avoid in October seems very different from December.

Ok I think I just confused myself...

Alot of people go for the food and wine festival in October, especially weekends.

 

[MinnieM21]

Alot of people go for the food and wine festival in October, especially weekends.

Oh ok, that makes sense. It looks like I'll be avoiding Epcot on the weekend then.

 

[lentesta]

reeddi, the week of March 13 appears to be the most popular week for spring breaks, if you look at the number of students per school taking each week off. I believe it's something like 40% higher than the next-closest week.

As a rough guideline, the number of students enrolled in schools taking break that week is around 1.4 million. Next closest is the week of the 20th, with around a million or so, then the week of March 6th, with around 600,000. It drops off fairly quickly on either side of that range.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[bubba's mom]

don't forget about the hurricanes!!

 

[lllovell]

ah the hurricanes - I believe that is exactly what has been forgotten these last few months when the crowds seemed heavier than in years past.

Many people had to postpone trips to WDW because of bad weather this year and from my way of looking, most probably had to squeeze in a trip BEFORE year end to not loose their days.

January is wonderful, just take clothes for any kind of weather. May is great as well - but hot (don't be fooled by "spring" because it can be 100 degrees in the heat of the day as it was last year for me during SWW). Heck, I would recommend almost ANYTIME except July and Aug for heat reasons and crowds. BUT, always avoid major holidays that involve a Monday or Friday off during the school year (MLK day, Presidents day, etc) as the locals are out of school and especially for MLK day when the regular Florida resident pass is no longer blocked out for the holidays, the crowds can be horrific. I was there President's day last year and I would avoid that again if possible. It was nice, but very busy. Not the normal "off season" vacation I was expecting.

 

[Ladybugsy]

Hi, I was wondering if someone who has this Unofficial Guide could possibly tell me what the attendance level says for the week prior to Easter, 2005. Specifically, March 20-25 2005. Thank you~!

You can find that information at touringplans.com

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

We were at WDW the first week in Feb in 2004 and 2005 in '05 the crowds were much heavier than the previous year. Someone suggested checking with the convention bureau to see what was going on in Orlando that week. We did and found out Orlando was hosting one of the largested conventions I think it was home builders. I think A lot of conventioneers brought their families because the parks were way busier than a 3. I too am trying to schedule a mid Dec. trip and would like to make the most of our 8 days.