[pjfnme]

I know what most of the guidebooks say about the historical attendance in each park...but, can anyone tell me if this has been true in their own experiences?? I am in the process of trying to put together a "schedule" for our trip so that I can make all of my PS coming up soon..!

So...is this usually the case for busiest days??? :

Magic Kingdom: Monday, Saturday & Sunday
Epcot: Wednesday & Friday
Disney-MGM Studios: Tuesday, Wednesday & Saturday
Animal Kingdom: Monday, Tuesday & Friday


Also...I have been warned to avoid early entry days and go on the day after instead. One early entry day for the MK is Sunday..so, that would mean that Monday would be good..but, it's "supposed" to be busier on Mondays. I just know that I'm going to drive myself crazy before I settle on something...
it's that obsessive compulsive planner in me coming out! lol


Thanks AGAIN!!!

[mickey]

Well, good question. I don't know if anyone is going to have a great answer to this. Park attendance varies weekly by tour groups, youth groups, sports camp attendance, special Disney activities, weather and many other things. I have personally been in the Magic Kingdom one day where there were no lines anywhere, and the next day, when lines were an hour or more. It all comes down to luck.

Personally, I avoid early entry day parks, or if I go to early entry, I leave the park a couple of hours after opening, and head somewhere else. I also avoid the Magic Kingdom on weekends if at all possible. That park, more than any other, seems to get a lot of local traffic.

My best suggestion would be to be as flexible as possible. If you plan out your trip, and you arrive at one park, and it is packed, consider going somewhere else. You can always change most of your PS. Oh, and pray for rain. It clears the parks out like nothing else.

[tinkerbell]

during busy times yes the guide books pretty much have it right, in my experience.
as to avoiding early entry .. sometimes its great to go for early entry but change parks around noon when the crowds are starting to build up. We have done both .. gone to a different park on EE day or gone for EE and rode most of the EE rides and then moved to another park for the reminder of the day

[MickeyRon]

I planed our most recent trip in October around those same guidelines and "lucked out" I have to agree with Mickey... I think it really comes down to luck, but if you remain flexiable it seems that the cm's know what is going on and if you hit a busy park ask they may be able to tell you which park is the least busy!

[disneydana]

When making my plans for WDW, I usually go by the books to decide which days to do which parks. The best advice I would give to avoid crowds is to arrive at the parks early (before they open). It is amazing what you can accomplish before 10am. I have young children (who are also early risers) so this works well for us. We are at the parks early, get alot done, and leave around 2pm for a rest period at the hotel. If it fits into our schedule we utilize early entry (again, getting there at opening), especially for MK. If you want to get really anal about your planning www.tourguidemike.com is a great site. He actually tells you which order to do the attractions in to get the most done.

Sorry, I sort of strayed a little from your original question. Yes, I am a type A planner, but I feel like we get a lot accomplished without a lot of stress.

[LRTJS]

When I was planning our first several trips I tried going by the days given in the Unofficial Guide Book and found that it worked pretty well. I would difinitely avoid the MK on a Sunday. I followed the tour plans and found that we could cover everything we wanted to in a day. Now that we have been so many times we just kind of go with the flow!!:D Mickey is right about the rain, a quick shower can be the best thing to clear things out!!

[Amneris]

You don't need to worry if you go off season. We go in early December, and have never stuck to that schedule and have never had a problem with wait times. We've even gone to early entry parks on the day of early entry and not noticed any hindering difference in crowds. We do avoid the parks on weekends though. You didn't mention what time your trip was, so I just thought I'd comment on the off season for you. :) At least, this has been my experience -- maybe I've just been lucky and not known it, lol!

[pjfnme]

Thanks! We are going May 2 - 9. We will probably do Downtown Disney/Boardwalk on Sunday the 2nd since we will be getting into Orlando around 1:30pm. I still don't know which park we will go to on Saturday the 8th though. I don't want to waste a day since this is our first w/our DD and I don't know when we will get to go back. (My hubby tends to be a stick in the mud! lol I'm hoping he will lighten up a bit when he sees how our daughter reacts to being at Disneyworld!! Throw some pixie dust my way! )

As of now we are going to "tentatively" plan on the following...let me know if anyone has any better suggestions. I am definately a rookie at this!!

Sun: downtown dis/boardwalk
Mon: Epcot (Illuminations)
Tues: MK (ps for CRT hopefully!!!)
Wed: AK
Thurs: MGM (ps for Fantasmic dinner pkg at H&V..hopefully!)
Fri: MK again
Sat: ????????????

Thanks everybody for your suggestions & help! I sincerely do appreciate it. I dont know what I would have done w/out this site!!!!!

[Amneris]

What about moving AK to Sat and putting MK or Epcot (this are the two I find take the most time and are the ones you'd most rather have extra days at) in its place? I agree with your thinking on not using a park ticket the day you arrive. That's what we do as well. Downtown Disney should be MORE than enough to fill up your day! You could even go back on Sat since you want to do the Boardwalk are (not too time consuming - but go for either an ice cream or a meal at Flying Fish or Spoodles :) ). But if you want to do a park, AK is so sprawling, and other than the Safari, Dinosaur and the Kali River Rapids - which all have fast pass - everything else that's popular are theater seating, so that's probably your best bet on a day when the parks are crowded. Most people zip by all the animals -- especailly the birds on the Oasis (or whatever that island you go through to "get" to the park is called) -- so if you want to spend time looking at them, crowds shouldn't be a problem either. Just a suggestion though. I'm sure someone on here knows a good way to spend a Saturday!! :)

[pjfnme]

Thanks so much for that great suggestion!!! I think that is what we will do...I really hadn't even looked at it that way. We could even use that day to split up between more MK time and Epcot too!

It's a plan!!

Thanks a lot!!