Crowd Calendars Worth It?

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Is it worth it to plan my park days around the crowd calendars? Traveling first two weeks in May, family of four, two kids 4 and 11. I have planned around ADR’s and fastpasses AND crowd calendars. But, I’m just wondering how much the crowd calendars should really play into my planning? Am I giving this too much weight?

 

[JennyDrake]

IMHO, yes you are. First two weeks of May are a GREAT time to go! Avoid MK on weekends and Epcot on Saturdays (school field trips this time of year), get hoppers so you can ALWAYS bail on the MK no later than 1 pm when crowds get insane. Rope drop remains your best friend! Midday breaks keep everyone on speaking terms.

 

[Farro]

IMHO, yes you are. First two weeks of May are a GREAT time to go! Avoid MK on weekends and Epcot on Saturdays (school field trips this time of year), get hoppers so you can ALWAYS bail on the MK no later than 1 pm when crowds get insane. Rope drop remains your best friend! Midday breaks keep everyone on speaking terms.

That's nice to read as we are going May 6 -15 next year! Good to read about school field trips at Epcot on Saturdays, I wouldn't have thought of that.

I know, I know, Galaxy's Edge will be a game changer, but I just don't think it's going to bring in these massive, sustained crowds all year long. Yes, the actual area will likely be packed for a long time and the lines for the rides will be crazy, but I'm hoping that it will calm down after a few months in the other parks. It will be open for 8 months by the time we go.

 

[OB1]

I found them useful when I was not as seasoned of a Disney traveler. YES - you can find a lot of the info here, but in many different posts. The easy way out is to use a touring guide. Once I learned the basic steps, I feel comfortable choosing my own path. It may not be totally optimized for maximum time savings, but I am in the ball park.

 

[gharter]

No. The crowd calendars don't have access to any special information as Disney doesn't release that.
Especially once SWGE opens, all previous information becomes totally obsolete as nobody knows how big of an impact it will have, but everyone expects it to be huge.

 

[holden]

Go with your plans and don't worry about crowd calendars.

 

[sparkle78]

I’m new to the boards, but have been taking my boys yearly since 2010.
I used crowd calendars in the beginning , but now follow the rule of magic kingdom on tue, wed , and thurs. sometimes a Saturday - but always more crowded . So plan shows and rides like small world and save mountains for a week day. Animal kingdom is a great one on a Saturday or Sunday if they don’t have early am hours. Have a great trip

 

[Lothlórien]

Crowd Calendars were helpful at one time. I would not longer put too much stock in them as there are many variables to consider that were not in place in years past.
The most important thing is to have a general plan, book your FPs for the times you want, take breaks from the crowds and be flexible. Just know that things have changed a lot over the past few years and they will continue to evolve with all that is coming to WDW. I believe setting your mind to having a great time and knowing WDW will be there so you can come back and do what you missed is the key.

 

[Upatnoon]

Is it worth it to plan my park days around the crowd calendars? Traveling first two weeks in May, family of four, two kids 4 and 11. I have planned around ADR’s and fastpasses AND crowd calendars. But, I’m just wondering how much the crowd calendars should really play into my planning? Am I giving this too much weight?

My 2 cents is the parks are always crowded, but how you plan your visit and use FP are critical to getting more done at the parks.

 

[Nancyg56]

I like to plan my trip using a crowd calendar, but once I have my park days in mind, I let that go and stop looking at them. I know they were fairly accurate at one time, and I feel they still provide a basic outline for the outline of a trip, but they are really not accurate any longer.

I think it is nearly impossible for any calendar to be accurate at 180 days out, and if you watch your days they numbers will continue to change as you draw closer to your trip. IMO, Nothing beats rope dropping your park and using FP well.

 

[Timothy02359]

Crowd calendars are relics of days long gone by.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I don't let them dictate my day to day decisions. What works for your family and your vacation is more important than a prediction. That said, they can give you useful information if you look at the historical data (or read the bloggers who do that analysis for you like Josh at EasyWDW). For example, Sun is now the lowest crowd day of the week (on average) for visiting MK. And AK has been more busy Fri-Sun (my guess on why is that people are putting it late in their vacation for easier FPs and locals are visiting for FOP - but that's only my guess).

Another thing to know is that in any given week, the average increase between the MK waits on a busy day versus a slow one is about 5 mins per ride. So once you've picked a week (and you've got two pretty good ones) don't get too worried about the days.

 

[Brett Wyman]

More imporatant that crowd calendars are paying attention to which parks have extra morning or evening hours, as those parks tend to be more crowded on those days. Also when there are hard ticketed events likes Mickeys not so scary Halloween party, MK will tend to be less crowded on those days.

 

[yorkieteacher]

What PrincessWithaBlaster said. They are helpful in forming a guide for a touring plan so I don't expect to be able to do more than I planned, but when making my own touring plans there is minimal wait difference between crowds rated 1 and crowds rated 6, except on big draw rides like Flight of Passage and such. Every park is busiest from noon until about 4, which is when we leave for a break, and parks with Extra Magic Hours get the busiest the earliest. But I still go to the park on the days of the week that suit my vacation plans best.

 

[monkyby87]

Crowd Calendars were helpful at one time. I would not longer put too much stock in them as there are many variables to consider that were not in place in years past.
The most important thing is to have a general plan, book your FPs for the times you want, take breaks from the crowds and be flexible. Just know that things have changed a lot over the past few years and they will continue to evolve with all that is coming to WDW. I believe setting your mind to having a great time and knowing WDW will be there so you can come back and do what you missed is the key.

I agree with this. Crowd Calendars used to be fairly accurate before Disney was changing things and offering a lot of additional services. Now, with all the new rides and experiences like DAH, it's getting harder and harder to make an accurate prediction. They're good for historical data, but that's about it nowadays.

 

[SaintsManiac]

The last time I found one helpful was when I used EasyWDW back in 2015 for our first trip in 6 years.

They haven't made a bit of difference since for us.

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

I've always found crowd calendars to be very iffy. Sometimes they are pretty accurate and sometimes they are just way off. Proceed with caution would be my advice if you're planning on using a crowd calendar to plan your entire trip.

 

[Klayfish]

They're snake oil...at best.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

IMHO, yes you are. First two weeks of May are a GREAT time to go! Avoid MK on weekends and Epcot on Saturdays (school field trips this time of year), get hoppers so you can ALWAYS bail on the MK no later than 1 pm when crowds get insane. Rope drop remains your best friend! Midday breaks keep everyone on speaking terms.

I love your advice! And I’m so excited to hear we picked a great time to go! We will be going to MK on a Sunday, but I have EMM booked and we will be out of the park by noon for a four to five hour break. Then back for fireworks in the evening. Hoping the weekend crowds are manageable, even though it is a weekend.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

I found them useful when I was not as seasoned of a Disney traveler. YES - you can find a lot of the info here, but in many different posts. The easy way out is to use a touring guide. Once I learned the basic steps, I feel comfortable choosing my own path. It may not be totally optimized for maximum time savings, but I am in the ball park.

I am utilizing touring plans to help me navigate. This is our first trip, so I am unfamiliar with crowd levels and walking distances. So, it is nice to have a general outline for our day that will maybe keep us from getting overwhelmed or walking more than necessary to our desired locations.