Which Crowd Calendar Do You Think Is Most Accurate?

[notrub98]

Just curious - I know they are just glorified crystal balls / best guesses based on historical data for predictions - -BUT....

Which one do you think is most accurate, in your experience? There seem to be a ton of them now....

 

[Dan Murphy]

Welcome to the dis, 98.

I like www.easywdw.com for best days sugestions.

 

[soniam]

I like Touring Plans. There's a lot of science behind their processes. Very geeky, cool stuff

 

[notrub98]

Welcome to the dis, 98.

I like www.easywdw.com for best days sugestions.

Thanks, Dan!

 

[notrub98]

I like Touring Plans. There's a lot of science behind their processes. Very geeky, cool stuff

I will confess that I paid the $10 (or whatever it was) for a subscription....

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I used easywdw last time and it was pretty spot on.

 

[jsf1975]

I used easywdw last time and it was pretty spot on.

Our trip is booked for Dec 12-20, according to many sites it's among the lowest crowd levels for the year. However, Easy WDW states that there are some parks that will be "too crowded" and should be avoided! Total worried and confused! At this point I have all my ADRs booked and will not be changing plans, but want to be prepared for the crowd levels. Can anyone confirm if those dates are usually quiet?

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

Actually, none of these sites are really needed to plan a good vacation. The biggest thing is to avoid parks that have EMH. That is (mostly) the strategy used by all of them.

 

[notrub98]

Our trip is booked for Dec 12-20, according to many sites it's among the lowest crowd levels for the year. However, Easy WDW states that there are some parks that will be "too crowded" and should be avoided! Total worried and confused! At this point I have all my ADRs booked and will not be changing plans, but want to be prepared for the crowd levels. Can anyone confirm if those dates are usually quiet?

I have been there those exact dates..... It was fairly crowded but certainly manageable. You will skip the pop warner / cheerleaders, which is a nice plus. I think you'll have a great time! The parks will be BEAUTIFUL for the holidays!

 

[notrub98]

Actually, none of these sites are really needed to plan a good vacation. The biggest thing is to avoid parks that have EMH. That is (mostly) the strategy used by all of them.

True - good point! And no crystal ball necessary as EMH are public informationn

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I have been during those dates when it was very crowded and I have been when i was a breeze. Best thing is to take an afternoon break. It seems the morning starts off running and it builds to a crowd swell by mid afternoon. A lot of people with exhausted children leave early evening, though most stay for the fireworks and other shows. Best time for hard to get rides is the last hour or so. When Test Track first opened, it was a mob. It rained, then fastpasses got backed up and it ended up being a 3 hour wait. We rode during Illuminations with no problem. Illuminations is great, though, but we've seen it often.

 

[jsf1975]

I have been there those exact dates..... It was fairly crowded but certainly manageable. You will skip the pop warner / cheerleaders, which is a nice plus. I think you'll have a great time! The parks will be BEAUTIFUL for the holidays!

This will be our third trip to WDW during the holiday season, first two times were during the first week of January. LOVE the decorations! I'm aware of the crowd levels during EMH, we are doing one EMH at EPCOT on the day of our arrival (we'll book some FP+ and roll with the punches that evening. We'll also do EMH at HS the next morning, but we plan to be up early and at the park for the morning EMH. We aren't doing the MVMCP, so had to schedule our days around when MK will be open late. I guess ultimately I shouldn't try to plan the perfect trip and just relax and enjoy our vacation!

 

[RealBlast3]

I use the one on Undercover Tourist because I like how it looks, visually!

They're all pretty similar. I just like the simplicity of knowing which parks in the green, that's it. I don't need to know the whys of it or what attraction I need to hit first or what have you. What with Fastpass+ threatening to leech any and all spontaneity from my Disney experience (not that I'm letting it), I don't need the incredibly detailed plan that easywdw offers, impressive as it is. There is such a thing as "over-planning".

I plan my dining reservations and what park I'm going to be in and where I'm park hopping due to the dining and that's it. As for fastpass+, I'm still on the fence on just how much I will actually be using it - I'm certainly not letting it dictate my entire park experience that's for sure. I go during recommended weeks and for close to 2 weeks so I have plenty of time to do what I want to do without rushing or being forced to to plan my day around fastpasses - if i"m enjoying something, I'm not going to cancel my enjoyment to rush to a fastpass. Which is why I go to the parks on green days for the most part - so it's no big deal for me (a solo traveler) to stand in line either.

 

[Deeds73]

We used easywdw.com and I've also been reading Undercover Tourist a lot.

 

[BJSforVols]

Touring Plans

 

[hsmamato2]

easywdw has always been pretty accurate- I tend to follow it and never had an issue

 

[minnie mum]

I switched allegiance from touring plans to easywdw a few years ago. As far as actual crowd level accuracy goes, I have no idea, since touring plans attempts to predict them for each park, while Josh only gives crowd levels for the entire park. But I do believe in Josh's park recommendations. What I particularly like are his explanations for each days recommendations. With these, even if I select a less or not recommended park, I still have his warnings of what I'm in for and some tips to mitigate the crowds.

 

[tinawv]

Another vote for easywdw.

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Our trip is booked for Dec 12-20, according to many sites it's among the lowest crowd levels for the year. However, Easy WDW states that there are some parks that will be "too crowded" and should be avoided! Total worried and confused! At this point I have all my ADRs booked and will not be changing plans, but want to be prepared for the crowd levels. Can anyone confirm if those dates are usually quiet?

The first part of your trip should be lower crowds, but the crowds will build by the end of it, mostly likely.

 

[LaurenT]

Our trip is booked for Dec 12-20, according to many sites it's among the lowest crowd levels for the year. However, Easy WDW states that there are some parks that will be "too crowded" and should be avoided! Total worried and confused! At this point I have all my ADRs booked and will not be changing plans, but want to be prepared for the crowd levels. Can anyone confirm if those dates are usually quiet?

Josh (EasyWDW) has a thorough explanation of why it's even more important to follow recommended days during slow times than during busy times.
When it's slow, Disney cuts back on shows and hours. That has a greater impact on driving guests to one park over another - making one park busier than the crowd level would seem to suggest and another park slower...
If, for instance, you go to MK on a MVMCP night, you'll see much lower crowds than on a night when they're open late and are offering the MSEP. People want to see the parade and feel they're not getting their money's worth to go to a park that closes at 7 pm. But, if you don't care about the parade, go to MK on a party day and hop to another park at 5 pm... you'll be much better off.