I just got a message that TP upgraded the Epcot crowd level from 8 to 10 one day of our trip (around Thanksgiving). This has me wondering - how bad is a 10 in terms of the TP scale?
The TP site says to take the numbers with a grain of salt, but it seems like the sky is the limit on days with an estimated crowd level of 10 - The average wait times seem to jump significantly for 10 compared to 9.
What do you think - is it worth rearranging our plans to visit a park that’s an 8-9 that day instead of a 10?
A “10” on a day like Christmas, NYE, or July 4th is a 12 and would be frightening. On other days, I think it’s incrementally larger than a 9. If I had “solid” plans like ADRs and FPPs I would be inclined to stick with what I had. If this was still early planning I would look at other possibilities. If this was EMH at EP, and I had a hopper, I’d consider starting the day there and then plan to hop mid-day.
If I recall correctly, there was a TP Blog post that compared TPs from CLs 1 through 10, and there was a significant difference between 9 and 10, as that is the point where WDW’s ability to absorb additional people maxes out. That being said, these are just predictions, and with a good plan you can deal with whatever the crowd level is.
We go thanksgiving week every year and it’s always 10’s. You have to rope drop every park, get your stuff done and get out after lunch. MK becomes so crowded by then it’s annoying. Come back later.
Yes that’s the post I was thinking of. The date in question is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We were going to to do Epcot (now 10) but thinking of AK or MK (8,9) that day. I wouldn’t change things for an incremental difference but the ‘10’ makes me want to rethink my strategy 
I always go at “off” times and rarely have to deal with CLs above a 6 or 7, but if I was going to be there when there were CL10s, EP is probably the park I would want to be in; it’s so big, it can handle crowds much better than the others. Between RD and FPPs I could get most of the rides done that I would really want to do in the AM, then the rest of the time would be exploring WS (remembering that Mexico, China, America, France, and Canada all have “attractions” that would probably not have huge lines). And if you scheduled your FPPs for early in the day, there is a chance you could get extras for the attractions that you don’t normally need one for, but would be nice to have if it’s crowded (e.g. LwtL, Seas, Imagination).
1 Like
I wouldn’t change your plans. I’ve been that week and it will be very busy the entire week in every park. I would plan on full on 10’s every day in every park and if it’s a tad slower then that’s a bonus.
I was at MK and AK this January at CL 9 with overall crowds being a 10. Having touring plans made ahead of time helped tremendously.
The worst part for us at MK was trying to get through the crowd after Wishes because we were in the middle of the hub.
My touring plans for AK were not in order before my trip (I forgot to fix but did have our FP’s booked) and the AK day was a little more chaotic. That park was predicted to be a crowd level 4 so I thought we’d be “ok” and crowd level ended up being a 9. We didn’t get to do everything but survived and still made the top attractions.
AK felt more crowded to me over MK at a level 9 – it was apparent as soon as I walked in bc my patience was highly tested and I could feel it all day! We didn’t rope drop on any day because we had marathon early mornings for half our trip.
I will add that I see crowd level as the amount of people around me (I know that’s not what the CL goes by on TP), but that is because my own stress level depends on how many people I have to shuffle through/around, not the standing in a line part.
2 Likes
Well 10 is no picnic.
That said Epcot handles the big crowds better than the other parks. So if it has to be a 10 it may as well be EP
AK on an 8 would be like EP on a 13. Lol.
Last year I went at Christmas. There were 4 or us and we did all of the parks, MK on Christmas day. I thought we were crazy but that’s what the family wanted. I had our TP’s made and ready to go. We got to each park at RD. To my surprise we were able to complete ever park no problem. On a few days we were done really early and we were walking around wondering what we wanted to do next. And every day we went back to the room for a mid-day nap. The key is the TP. We have used the TP’s for years, even back when there was only a book that you had to buy. The on line personal plans didn’t exist. But last year really proved to me how well they work. Make a TP and execute it. They work!
2 Likes
In October 2016 using the old calculations, I was at MK on a 10 day. I parked hopped from AK to MK around 2:00. Used my initial FPs and then went day of FP to FP. Didn’t wait in line for anything. It was crowded with people but using day of FPs we had no waits for rides. Did have some delay being seated at CP.
Our last 2 trips were during Thanksgiving. The hours were extended until 2am that Wednesday before for MK. I felt that MK was pretty crowded because of it. I have a feeling that with the opening of Pandora, AK
will be busier than normal this year. Hopefully attendance will be lower at the other parks. Thanksgiving 2015 was wonderful, last year not so much (busier) we’ll see how it goes this year!
Anything over a 7 wears me out.