Given that a lot of trips were postponed over a nearly 2 year period…I don’t think pent up demand is going to be done within the next couple months.
I’d guess at least a year of higher than “normal” (maybe tempered by increased pricing / decreased perks - but that certainly hasn’t been seen yet). Even pre-COVID a lot of low-crowd times we’re seeing higher crowd levels.
I just got the email advising it went up… from 5/10.
That was (and remains) our hope for early May
Although working around the American 11-month Spring Break is like eating soup with chopsticks
No I don’t think this will be the case. More trips were delayed during the spike of Omicron and those will linger on the crowd calendars for a bit. I’m expecting high travel through this entire year, honestly
Nicely done. Tricky. But effective-ish for one with a steady hand
It is like Mr. Miyagi said: “Man who catch soup with chopsticks…accomplish anything!”
(That IS how the quote went, wasn’t it???)
Something like that
I try to look at crowd calendars as a guide to how to plan my day, but not as something I worry about if it changes or doesn’t turn out as predicted.
I’ve had tons of fun on both CL2 days and CL10 days. The difference is for CL10 days you need to adjust your day unless you don’t mind long lines, specifically in that 11-4 timeframe. Schedule a nice lunch. Go back to the hotel for a swim and nap. Schedule a nice lunch. Go to a quiet spot / sacred space. See the parade at MK (when it returns). Do some shopping or just enjoy the themeing. Schedule your riding times for rope drop/ETPE and morning, and then evening. Make use of ILL/LL for those few headliners if that is something that works for you. Make a touring plan and reoptimize, and plan some downtime activities in each park for when the lines are insane.
Basically CL < 5 allows for more flexibility, and CL > 5 requires more flexibility on your part. It’s still Disney, and high CLs may require more planning and flexibility on your part, but can be just as magical and a ton of fun.
First lunch and second lunch? Are we hobbits? 
Ready for the big stawm??
As of right now, most of our park day choices for our early December trip are ranging from 2 to 4. I would love it if that sticks. I have my doubts, based on some of the recent unpredictability.
I still “technically” have a Disney trip on the books for the first week of December Everything went up 1 point / level everyday. I won’t be surprised if it continues to climb though. Gonna be a busy year for theme parks! Just gonna try to do all my travel when school is in session / non-holiday time.
Isn’t that like one week in the American school year?
DD6: I’m too old to nap!!!
ME: Good point. Here. Try this Benadryl Dole Whip. It’s delicious
Just have them walk around World Showcase a few times. They will nap.
Not if I nap first! HAHAHA
Thanks y’all! I went back through and looked at the levels for a friend’s trip that was the week after Thanksgiving. TP has one of their days as being a 1 at AK … they said the park was packed that day. Also, their HS day TP says it was a 2 - “shoulder to shoulder” was the way they described it . They typically travel the week after Thanksgiving, so wasn’t their first rodeo. This might scare me even more… that TP classified it as a 1 in the historical calendar, yet it felt completely packed.
Good ideas… I guess I feel like it’s such a waste to go back from 11-4. LOL… I like to go, go, go but hate to wait in line. Especially since we’re just taking a super quick trip and have only 1 day in each park. Oh well, guess I have the decision to either suck it up and make the best of it or wait til next year and hope it’s better.
Crowd levels are based on ride wait times, and I think you can see what was reported for waits on that day in the historical view.
When a lot of restaurants and shows are closed, it puts a lot more people in the walkways. I wonder if that explains some of the disconnect between the “feel” and the recorded crowd level?
The changes discussed in this thread
suggest that Disney is expecting the parks to be busy through that end date (and least). When they last pulled one ILL$ from the parks and moved them to G+ was during the busy Christmas holiday season.
Just thought this might also help to answer your question