Crowd Calendar- Going during non EMH

[MrsPrice96]

Hello,

This will be our 10th visit to Disney World and we are going to try something different. We are going April 25-29. We usually always go to the parks that have EMH. This time we are thinking of doing the non EMH parks. I was looking at crowd calendars for best parks to go to on which days but noticed each website is different on which parks are best. SOOOO- as long as I don't go to an EMH park am I good??? Also- I noticed the parks are all closing at 9pm, will they change the time to later as we get closer? Last question- my son is a DCL cast member and we plan on going on the Wild Africa Trek while there but he cannot book it farther than 2 weeks beforehand. Has anyone using a CM discount had an issue with being able to go on this tour?

Thanks for the help.

 

[SourcererMark79]

Hello,

This will be our 10th visit to Disney World and we are going to try something different. We are going April 25-29. We usually always go to the parks that have EMH. This time we are thinking of doing the non EMH parks. I was looking at crowd calendars for best parks to go to on which days but noticed each website is different on which parks are best. SOOOO- as long as I don't go to an EMH park am I good??? Also- I noticed the parks are all closing at 9pm, will they change the time to later as we get closer? Last question- my son is a DCL cast member and we plan on going on the Wild Africa Trek while there but he cannot book it farther than 2 weeks beforehand. Has anyone using a CM discount had an issue with being able to go on this tour?

Thanks for the help.

Hello,
I've found crowd calendars pretty useless the last couple years. It's always busy, but a little planning goes a long way. Go at rope drop for attractions you want to do for which you don't have a FP+. The hours could change between now and April, so keep checking.

 

[OneofThree]

I've found crowd calendars pretty useless the last couple years.

Yup.

 

[LeighM]

It's always busy at WDW but the crowds shouldn't be too horrible at the end of April as most of the spring break crowds will be back in school and it's before the summer break. I've gone to the park with EMH, as well as avoiding them and going to a non-EMH park and, honestly, the only difference I noticed was the waits for the buses at the resorts. I prefer going to the parks during EMH in the morning when the crowds are a little lower and when it starts to get busy, hop to another park. And nighttime EMH at MK is my favorite time to be in the park. Park hoppers are necessary for us because of how we do the parks. But I also prefer to be at the bus stops really early in order to miss most of the crowds at the resort bus stops so I can get through security/bag check and turnstiles without very long lines. I would rather be waiting at the park, and possibly being let in early, than waiting for a bus at the resort.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We've done it both ways, and each has its advantages. Either you get an extra hour in the morning to fit a couple of headliners in, or you get slightly less onorous waits for everything throughout the day, and still have the advantage of low lines at rope drop time.

I'd say it's "six of one, and half a dozen of the other." Choose the parks that fit best with your schedule, follow a smart touring plan, and don't sweat the crowd levels.

 

[doctornick]

If you have park hoppers, then morning EMH and hop to other part late morning/early afternoon works well.

 

[MrsPrice96]

Thanks for all the feedback!! We do have park hoppers and actively like to hop especially on days we go to Epcot and HS

 

[largemarge]

I agree, crowd calendars are useless now. We went in late January when it was supposed to be "low" and it was the same level of crowds that I remember seeing when I went in June one year. We did go to Epcot the night that they were having EMH (it was a Thursday) and it really wasn't bad at all. It was also in the high 30s that night which might have had something to do with it!

 

[disneyflush]

The efforts of Disney to even out the crowds by utilizing the different pricing structures throughout the year appear to be working well. Historically slow times are no longer slow. Crowd calendars telling you it will be crowded aren't of much value moving forward.

 

[dreamfinder]

Is a 5 day going to be that different than a 6 day? Probably not noticably to the average guest. Historically though you could look and see "This week is 4's & 5's, so it should be less crowded than this week showing 8's & 9's". So they will still have value around things like school holidays, runDisney events, and other things that may bump attendance that a random tourist may not be aware of, even if there is more deviation than expected.

Even if you don't buy into Touring Plans and their calendars, reading their blog is usually worth the time, particularly the ones about the crowd levels -> https://blog.touringplans.com/category/crowd-blog/ (never really read the rest of the posts) This particular post -> https://blog.touringplans.com/2018/02/12/crowd-calendar-4-1/ details some reasons why they think that calendars have been off more than they would expect them to. If true, the actual crowd on a given day (think turnstile clicks) may indeed be at an expected level, but through staffing, dispatch times, etc, WDW can affect your wait times so that if feels to be much more crowded. Just like a restaurant might get half the number of diners, but if they only staff half the number of waitstaff, your wait/meal takes just as long.