This may not be fair timing given the level 10 crowds at WDW right now, but since I can’t be there, I’m trip planning. We have to choose a MK day of either a CL=2 (9a-6p) or a CL=4 (8a EMH - 6p). We are an hour before RD family and will be staying close by at WL. With the early close we’d stay at the park for the full day. Which would you choose and why?
I would probably opt for the CL2 no EMH. An hour before is 0800 and that’s still early on vacation. I think the slightly lower crowd will account for that extra hour when really the attractions available is pretty limited.
If you’re staying all day then I would go with CL2
The lower crowd level will not only make up for the missed EMH, but it will make the park that much more enjoyable. We were floored by how different Epcot, DHS, and AK felt on CL6 (predicted 5), CL8 (predicted 6), CL9 (predicted 5) respectively vs. MK on CL5 (predicted 3) Just being able to walk the midways and consider riding anything standby was such a breath of fresh air after needing to fight through hordes of people just to move from point A to point B.
CL4 + mEMH, if the objective is to hit as many attractions as possible with low wait times. The oddity about the very low CLs (1 & 2), is that you can actually experience higher wait times than CL 3 & 4. This is because WDW lowers ride capacity and staffing levels on the days with the lowest expected attendance. This is not a new thing, but it was spectacularly demonstrated in the “slow” months early this year when WDW really amped up the practice and made days that should have been CL4 seem like CL8. (They claim that they learned their lesson and aren’t going to be as aggressive with this again.)
That being said, if the objective is to experience the parks with the least number of people crowding the streets, then go for the CL2 day.
Bearing in mind what I said above, my go-to solution for these sorts of questions is to make a Personalized Touring Plan with all the stuff I want to do and then Optimize it for the days in question. I can then decide which one I like better.
Thanks for the opinions. I’m going to play with the touring plan for each day and see what looks best. Great suggestion.