Crowd Calendar...frustrated

[PrincessWithABlaster]

General rule I’ve heard a lot Morning ones are great avoid evening ones especially Epcot

TP often has the Ep pm as a lighter park day. I assume in large part because it’s currently on Tues and Tues and Wed are often the lightest days of the week. We went last year and had reasonable crowds all day, would have gotten to watch Illuminations without the crazy transportation lines after (long story, we didn’t get to see it) , got multiple FPs after the first 3 and had a deserted park to hang out in during EMH (TT and Soarin had lines but we had RDed and FPed then). We walked onto everything we did and the kids had a blast in the deserted play areas after the rides. Now maybe other parks were even lighter, I don’t know, but Ep EMH was very reasonable the day we went (anecdotal, I know). We’re doing it again this year. It’s supposed to be a crowd level 4. We’ll see.

 

[sarahothomas]

I will say - the one time I did Epcot PM EMH was a madhouse. The crowds seemed to increase the later it got. I wouldn't be upset if I missed that night. Magic Kingdom PM EMH were fairly crowded until 11:30pm (EMH until 12:00 am). We rode Space Mountain 3-4 times and Buzz 2 times during that last 30 minutes. It was great.

 

[anomamatt]

View attachment 297072
I don’t think he list individual parks. Just the crowd calendars.

Sorry, but this is HILARIOUS! First, there is NO period that is "no waiting". IMO, there are no days anymore that should be colored green or blue by their system.

1/20 was listed as light... haha. KtP had "heavy crowds" and TP had forecasted a 7/10 and later said it was actually a 9/10.

Here are some pics I took from that night: https://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-know-why-its-so-busy-right-now.3657493/page-9#post-58718244

It was very heavy crowds. Lines for every restroom, astro orbiter had a 120 min wait! Walking through carousel/IASW/PP corridor was near impossible... On that basis alone, I would not trust this calendar at all.

 

[mcd2745]

Actually, Josh has stated that his reason for not doing crowd calendars anymore is the fact that Disney is no longer releasing hours in a timely manner.

Not sure I buy that. I was always a big fan of his, however, I don't think it was a coincidence that he stopped doing the calendars on his site at the same time he started selling a planning book.

I don't know about other people who do crowd calendars but Josh (the guy who writes EasyWDW) typically advised against EMH days because he felt that Disney does such a good job marketing them that people think that Disney is telling them which park to do on which day, and that therefore, those parks are more crowded.

Josh typically recommended going to a park the day after they had EMH - particularly evening EMH. A strategy that generally works pretty well if you're not interested in EMH (or staying off-site).

 

[Donalyn]

Seems to me that crowds get worse throughout the day. The old advice about a break and then returning when the crowds are better. Well, in our last trip, that didn't work out very well. Wall to wall people at DL each night when we returned.

 

[AFwifelife]

How is that Dad’s calendar even remotely correct? It’s going to be busier the weekdays before Memorial Day weekend rather than the actual weekend?

 

[siskaren]

Not sure I buy that. I was always a big fan of his, however, I don't think it was a coincidence that he stopped doing the calendars on his site at the same time he started selling a planning book.

His last crowd calendar is from April 2017, and I believe the first year the planning book came out was 2016, or maybe 2015.

 

[mamamelody2]

As far as crowd calendars and avoiding EMH:
I remember once sitting at the bus stop at 8:15 heading to MK. Epcot had EMH starting at 8:00, and almost everyone at the bus stop was waiting for an Epcot bus. I thought how crazy it was, that the soonest they'd probably be entering the park would be 8:45, so they'd only get an extra 15 minutes, and the big rides probably already had lines of 30 to 60 minutes. They would have been better off going to MK like me, at that point. We were the only ones waiting for the MK bus.
The only way I'd do morning EMH is if I was SURE I'd be there before RD, and/or I had my FP at another park. Then if something happened and we were running late, we could just drop the EMH and head to RD the park with our FP.

I think lots of people plan to make it for RD on an EMH day. Then, things happen and they aren't able to get there on time, but instead of changing up their plans, they just get tunnel vision and go to that park even though they have now missed EMH.

 

[ChristineOH]

I think lots of people plan to make it for RD on an EMH day. Then, things happen and they aren't able to get there on time, but instead of changing up their plans, they just get tunnel vision and go to that park even though they have now missed EMH.

I absolutely agree! And now with FP+, they may have FPs made that they don't want to change.

It's no easy feat to get kids out the door early, so I completely understand when families get behind.

I love FP+, because generally we don't HAVE to do rope drop. We often make our FP for 9:00, 10:00, and 11:00. If we get there before RD or at RD and can get another top priority in, then great! But if we're running late or want to sleep in, we can roll in a little before 10:00, and use our first FP right away, do a lower priority ride, and then use our 2nd and 3rd FP right before and after 11:00. Then do lunch.

And that plan will work in high crowds or low crowds!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I am so disappointed to see EasyWDW not doing crowd calendars anymore. We followed those for our last 3 trips and never waited more than 15 min for anything. Now I pulled up Kenny's, Touring plans, and undercover tourist and they all contradict eachother! I know, I shouldn't go off of crowd calendars, but I do prefer using them - so which one's do you think are the most accurate of those three??

Any of them can be used to roughly pick what week(s) to travel to WDW. That's the only thing that I think they have every been really accurate for.

Once I pick when we're going, I throw several crowd calendars into Excel and average, just to get a general sense of what to expect. I wouldn't hang my hat on just one, personally. Things like difference between 6 and 7 are meaningless IMO. But getting a sense as to whether you're roughly dealing with 5's vs. 9's can be useful.

But to plan each day?? Nope -- I've never found those calendars truly reliable for that purpose.

What works for us at ANY time of year wrt crowds:

1. Rope drop/ early EMH in one park
2. Midday break at hotel (when it's most crowded)
3. Hop to another park

 

[Eswift]

I am so disappointed to see EasyWDW not doing crowd calendars anymore. We followed those for our last 3 trips and never waited more than 15 min for anything. Now I pulled up Kenny's, Touring plans, and undercover tourist and they all contradict eachother! I know, I shouldn't go off of crowd calendars, but I do prefer using them - so which one's do you think are the most accurate of those three??

I just paid for a sub to one of the more popular sites. I know they do their best but last week they forecast a 3 and got an 8 for crowd levels!! In other words, they're junk now. Don't use them. Don't expect slow or moderate because no one has any idea. This past weekend was insanely busy. 110 mins at one point for astro orbiters. Constant 2 hours on space, 3 on 7dmt, plus 60 for buzz constantly, same with pirates... You get the point.

The weekend before, the holiday weekend, was way better! I was there for both. I still had a great time but I would not have planned my trip for this time of year except everything predicted the crowds to be more moderate. If it's going to be busy I'm going to go when parks are open past 8.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Sorry, but this is HILARIOUS! First, there is NO period that is "no waiting". IMO, there are no days anymore that should be colored green or blue by their system.

1/20 was listed as light... haha. KtP had "heavy crowds" and TP had forecasted a 7/10 and later said it was actually a 9/10.

Here are some pics I took from that night: https://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-know-why-its-so-busy-right-now.3657493/page-9#post-58718244

It was very heavy crowds. Lines for every restroom, astro orbiter had a 120 min wait! Walking through carousel/IASW/PP corridor was near impossible... On that basis alone, I would not trust this calendar at all.

it seems like now days its all a toss up. Maybe too many people are going by the crowd calendars and making the less crowded time more crowded. Either way it's all just a guess. I do have an account on TP and it "Seems" to be pretty close and they go by data but again, no one can predict the future.

 

[anomamatt]

it seems like now days its all a toss up. Maybe too many people are going by the crowd calendars and making the less crowded time more crowded. Either way it's all just a guess.

I agree with you.

I went several times in 2017, very crowded or less crowded, and one thing is certain... there is no long such a thing as times with “no waits” as dad’s thinks there is... or the mythical “short wait on most rides, 30 mins on big rides”. The “big” rides are always over an hour, no matter when you go. FOP has been over 2 hours since pandora opened.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I agree with you.

I went several times in 2017, very crowded or less crowded, and one thing is certain... there is no long such a thing as times with “no waits” as dad’s thinks there is... or the mythical “short wait on most rides, 30 mins on big rides”. The “big” rides are always over an hour, no matter when you go. FOP has been over 2 hours since pandora opened.

It's crazy times at WDW! That is for sure! But there was a time with no waits and we were just lucky enough to go during that time. The bad part is when we got back to GA my yard had so many branches and debris it took 2 days to clean up. Click my TR in my signature. It's very creepy.

 

[anomamatt]

It's crazy times at WDW! That is for sure! But there was a time with no waits and we were just lucky enough to go during that time. The bad part is when we got back to GA my yard had so many branches and debris it took 2 days to clean up. Click my TR in my signature. It's very creepy.

Ahhh, So we just have to go during a hurricane. ;-).

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Not sure I buy that. I was always a big fan of his, however, I don't think it was a coincidence that he stopped doing the calendars on his site at the same time he started selling a planning book.

Josh typically recommended going to a park the day after they had EMH - particularly evening EMH. A strategy that generally works pretty well if you're not interested in EMH (or staying off-site).

I heard him say on a podcast that he stopped doing them because he felt they were no longer as accurate. I’m not sure if there is a crowd calendar in his book?

 

[oceanmarina]

Sorry, but this is HILARIOUS! First, there is NO period that is "no waiting". IMO, there are no days anymore that should be colored green or blue by their system.

1/20 was listed as light... haha. KtP had "heavy crowds" and TP had forecasted a 7/10 and later said it was actually a 9/10.

Here are some pics I took from that night: https://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-know-why-its-so-busy-right-now.3657493/page-9#post-58718244

It was very heavy crowds. Lines for every restroom, astro orbiter had a 120 min wait! Walking through carousel/IASW/PP corridor was near impossible... On that basis alone, I would not trust this calendar at all.

Wow, those pictures were incredible - and not in a good way! I mean I would never want to be there with crowds that crazy, yikes!!

 

[UpstateMick]

Not sure I buy that. I was always a big fan of his, however, I don't think it was a coincidence that he stopped doing the calendars on his site at the same time he started selling a planning book.

Ironic

 

[goofygal531]

I used to always use Josh's crowd calendar too. I thought the reason he stopped doing it was due to time constraints.

This year I'm trying Touring Plans. Although, I don't blame any site. I really believe Disney is just getting more and more crowded as the years go by. Come 2019 with the additional of Star Wars, it's only going to get worse.

For curiosity, I checked the crowd calendar for Epcot on 2/3 vs. 10/6. I can't believe both days are rated a 7. I attended the F&WF the first Saturday of October and it felt like a 9. Either the crowd calendar is wrong about 2/3 or I'm going to be in for a crowded art festival!