Using Touring Plans to Decide on Park Days

[Jess_S]

I subscribed to Touring Plans for the first time because the free sites I used to plan my last trip don't have their crowd calendars for next spring up yet. My plan was basically to pick the park with the lightest predicted crowds each day. What is throwing me is that Touring Plans is predicting level 1 crowds at MK on a day that has evening EMH. Normally I avoid the EMH park like the plague, but a crowd level of 1 is irresistible.

So my 2 main planning principles are now in conflict and I don't know what to do. Is it possible that Touring Plans is correct in their crowd predictions for MK that day? Or should I assume there's some error and avoid MK that day? Our trip is in early May, we likely will not have hoppers, and we are travelling with a small child, so we will be leaving the park before dinner.

 

[Jess_S]

If anyone has used touring plans to plan their trip, I'd really like to hear from you. Is using the site to pick parks for each day a good use? Or should I just make use of the in-park plans? Any thoughts on how to best make use of the site now that I've subscribed are appreciated.

 

[StraightToDumbo]

"Best Park" days is really a thing of the past. Consider that HS is a shell of its former self and many people are avoiding it and just giving an extra day to MK, AK, or EPCOT. Basically EVERY day is crowded at HS because there just isn't much crowd dispersal.

The other 3 parks are getting a lot of HS spillover. EMH does pull a lot of people to that particular park, but remember: A lot of people hop to and from EMH, so it could be busy for a morning EMH and then become light later in the day, or vice versa for evening EMH.

Also, with the express transportation it is now way easier for people to hop, messing up the "least crowded park" theory.

The opening of Pandora also complicates because of a lot of people will RD Pandora and then switch to a different park.

I would suggest if you're doing one park per day, and you don't want EMH, just avoid that EMH park for the whole day. Also, if you are planning non-park days, weekends in the parks are always going to be busier, especially Saturday.

 

[flortlebap]

I've previously found TP to generally be pretty accurate. MK was HEAVING on a level 1 day once, though, so now I take their MK predictions with a pinch of salt...

Of course, it also may now be inaccurate for AK, due to lack of data after pandora opening, and DHS due to crowd dispersal...

 

[Jess_S]

"Best Park" days is really a thing of the past. Consider that HS is a shell of its former self and many people are avoiding it and just giving an extra day to MK, AK, or EPCOT. Basically EVERY day is crowded at HS because there just isn't much crowd dispersal.

The other 3 parks are getting a lot of HS spillover. EMH does pull a lot of people to that particular park, but remember: A lot of people hop to and from EMH, so it could be busy for a morning EMH and then become light later in the day, or vice versa for evening EMH.

Also, with the express transportation it is now way easier for people to hop, messing up the "least crowded park" theory.

This is really helpful. On our last trip, we found the park recommendations on various websites pretty accurate. I actually really regretted changing plans to visit a park that was not recommended one of the days because the crowds were the worst we saw all week. I'm now leaning towards just getting hoppers so that I don't have to worry about picking the right park.

 

[StraightToDumbo]

I'm now leaning towards just getting hoppers so that I don't have to worry about picking the right park.

Only rule we follow now: Get to EMH on time or avoid that park for that half of the day.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I have always used TP as a guide to my planning. The only time I used it and it was ( IMO ) inaccurate was my EP days during F & W fest. The park was listed as a 3 and was easily a 6 or 7. Very crowded, long waits for rides and food. It wasn't a Saturday or Sunday either.

 

[acstumpf]

I use their crowd calendar and the reservation finder. I have not used their actual plans.

 

[Jess_S]

I ultimately decided to switch my MK and AK days. The day predicted to be a 1 at MK is also the day predicted to have the lowest crowds at AK (though not a 1). I'm happier with the overall order we will be visiting parks this way. Hopefully the lower crowds at AK will offset missing out on the predicted 1 level crowds at MK.

 

[LookOutBelow]

I've always used Touring Plans to choose our parks for the day, but have usually hybridized our daily Plan, using theirs as a guideline. I do agree with the above post about their predictions being wildly off on many days. Our last trip in May '16 and our trip for December '14, the estimates were way off. It does seem that with the "enhancements to our Disney experience", predictions are becoming more difficult and slow times have been evening out. That being said, I still love the information that the people at Touring Plans provide.

 

[dizmom2mwjk]

I have found TP to be accurate, however, I ALWAYS look to see what other events are at that park and weigh the options. Especially if you are using single park admissions...

For example, if you have young kids and there is a Fantasyland breakfast morning (currently Sundays and Tuesdays) I would avoid MK that morning because you know Fantasyland will be packed before you even get there, and that is where the kids rides are.

Another example: If it is MNSSHP night, I would avoid MK that day because the park hours will be shortened and the event people will be showing up starting at around 5, so you will lose a lot of time that day, no matter what TP says. You will also miss nighttime fireworks unless you are attending the event.

 

[Jess_S]

Thank you! I didn't even know Fantasyland breakfast morning was a thing. I'd better check on that because our plan is to rope drop and head right to Fantasyland on our MK day.

 

[CeruleanMoon]

I've been wondering about this exact same thing! I was studying the TP calendar today for April 2018 and it looks like most of the parks they have listed as "recommended" are the same parks that have EMH that day! I've always heard that the common wisdom is to do the exact opposite and AVOID those parks, so now I'm confused. (I should note that Disney doesn't have their EMH schedule for April 2018 out yet, so I was going by their March one. Will it change that much?)

I'm nervous about picking the "wrong" park because we are going with non-park hopper tickets, so if we make a mistake we can't correct it by just leaving for another park. We're stuck there.

I know all these calendars are just estimates, but it's frustrating when they contradict each other. I have one site that told me to avoid MK on Sundays and another that actually recommended it, for example.

Edit: Oops, just checked and I was actually looking at Undercover Tourist's calendar, not Touring Plans. I'll have to check TP's when I get home (at work now) and see how it compares. The basic question still stands though...how do you deal with advice discrepancies?

 

[Jack & Monica]

I have used Touring Plans as one of my main go-to sites in my planning; however, I have never used the premium service. I have been to Disney during all times of the year (to include Christmas week and day). I have always followed the same practices (because they have always worked). I go to the park that has the morning EMH. What I do is go to the TP site and use the info there to list out the attractions for the park. I then look at what attractions are open during the EMH. I then look at what fast passes I will try to get. Depending on my fast pass success, I adjust my plan for the rides to target during EMH. This plan has always worked beautifully. Our next trip is for January-February. I am interested to see the crowd levels, especially during the week. I used to go to WDW religiously in January (our anniversary month).* We haven't gone during this time frame in quite a while. We have been forced to go during the summer because of children/school.
My job in planning has gotten infinitely easier once my youngest no longer desired to get autographs (AMEN!) LOL.

For our fast passes, I always strive to get the highest ranked (family ranking) attractions. I then order our EMH targets based upon what we did not get to in fast passes. I pay attention to geography (distance between attractions). Although we do not run, we move out in a very brisk military manner during EMH. Following the EMH rides, we then go to rides that are not the main draws but that we still love. I use these to time our intervals between our fast passes. we always go to lunch as soon as a restaurant (usually quick service) opens. This will usually be at 11:00. Because we got to the parks at around 7:30, we will be hungry by 11:00. We have found that this is an ideal time to eat lunch (crowd wise).

Here is my plan for AK on a Monday next January (which is of course an EMH morning day).
I will target the Avatar FOP ride for my first fast pass. If I get that one FP, I think I will be golden. This plan is based on us getting that fast pass.
We are going on a Disney Cruise and will stay at WL the night before the cruise. Upon returning we will do our week in WDW. Because we booked a night at the WL before our cruise, we can book our fast passes 70 days ahead of schedule for that AK day at the park. I am very hopeful we will be able to get FOP fast passes.
EMH: 07:50 ish rope drop. We will go to the Na' Vi River Journey first and then go to the Safari. (relatively close). (In years past, I would have also targeted the Expedition Everest ride -- but this no longer is on our to do list). If we do those two rides during our EMH time, I will be satisfied. I do not know how long we will have to wait for the Na'Vi ride. If we have time left over after the safari, we will squeeze more rides in.
0930 I will schedule our first fast pass -- Kali River Rapids. This is one of our favorite rides at AK. We will go to this after the safari and get in line if it is still EMH. We will then ride it again for our first Fast Pass.
10:30 will be our Avatar Flight of Passage fast pass.
After that we will head to Yak and Yeti for lunch.
Following that, we will do the Primevil Whirl (one of my DD12's favorite rides) and then do dinosaur. I am hopeful that we will not have to wait too long for this ride. Finally, we will go to our 2:00 FP The Festival of the Lion King (awesome show and not to be missed). We then will head back to the BRV and relax in anticipation for a great meal at the Whispering Canyon Cafe 5:30.
Rides we will do if we have room to spare -- Nemo musical and It's tough to be a bug.

This could easily be enhanced by scheduling dinner at the AK and wait for the nighttime entertainment. We choose to skip the night activities (Rivers of Light/Tree of Life Awakening, etc.)

We do not try to do too much, but we do try to hit our must-do attractions.


* My DW & I got married on January 10th because (at the time) it was one of the slowest periods in the travel industry and also WDW (where we went on our honeymoon).

 

[CeruleanMoon]

So you go to EMH and then stay at that park for the rest of the day? It seems like lots of the people I hear about who use EMH also combine them with park-hopping, like the two go hand-in-hand. Go to EMH mornings, park hop away in the afternoon. Since we aren't using park hopper tickets, I figured we'd just avoid those parks altogether!

I know the rope drop strategy is highly touted here. I want to try it, but we are sooo not morning people (and not really night owls either, ha ha!) so I don't know if we could realistically manage it. I'm going to try and get us to the parks as early as possible, but arriving at 6 am or 7am is probably out. I figure if we can get there at normal opening hours we'll be doing good for us!

Edited to add: I actually made a spreadsheet yesterday (it was fun, really!) so I could get a feel for things like when EMH hours are and what the different sites are saying for crowds. I was curious to see how much they agreed. What I found was a LOT of discrepancies, and sometimes even flat out contradicting advice. One site sometimes recommended going to very park that the other listed as being most busy that day. I guess there's only so much predictions can accomplish, but it sure makes it hard to plan!

 

[Jack & Monica]

If you are not into doing rope drop, I would definitely avoid the EMH park then. I would use the touring plans calender to decide which park to go to. Here is another calendar that I have used: https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/January-2018/ I didn't catch the month you are planning to go.

I don't know. It is vacation so a key component is usually relaxation; however, this is Disney World, and you are spending a lot of money to just sleep in. I would consider one or two mornings of breaking that practice and do the EMH thing.

If you are set on sleeping in, then I would definitely avoid AK/MK/& EPCOT on SAT and SUN. At least you can avoid the annual pass holders by going during the week (if school is still in session).