Trying to organize our calendar now. For March 2, touringplans shows Universal with a crowd level of 3, but both undercover tourist and thedibb have it as not recommended. Makes me a bit nervous since it’s not a small discrepancy. Should I just ignore the other two sites?
Is it not recommended since it has the higher crowd? If one is a three and the other a 2 then the 3 would be “not recommended” but you would be fine with either.
The other two sites I mentioned do not use numerical crowd values. They simply group the parks into days that are recommended or not recommended based on crowd levels. The point is that TouringPlans shows Universal as a very low crowd level day (3), while the other two sites suggest the park should be avoided on that day. It’s not like a 3 versus a 2, in which case I wouldn’t have even posted. The difference is at opposite ends of the scale.
I think I am not being clear! There is: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. In the old days when TP would pick a park to recommend or avoid it would recommend the lowest number and say to avoid the higher. So is Universal Studios a 3 and IoA a 2? My sister was planning a trip to Universal since one park was recommended on another site- but when you looked one was projected to be a10 and the other was a 9.
I think I understood you. All three sites show Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure separately. But I don’t have any questions about IoA – only US. For March 2, here’s how they break down:
Universal Studios
TouringPlans.com 3
UndercoverTourist.com Not Recommended
theDibb.co.uk Least Recommended
Islands of Adventure
TouringPlans.com 4
UndercoverTourist.com Average
theDibb.co.uk Most Recommended
So, TouringPlans rates US as very low crowd levels, while the other two sites suggest the crowds will be heavy. All three are pretty much in agreement for IoA, but that’s not important, since I have that scheduled for a different day. I’m just wondering why the huge discrepancy for US on that day?
Have you tracked the three sites over a few days to see which have been closer? I started with UT in 2005. I will still buy tickets but I stopped using them when they repeatedly gave me wait times for attractions that were closed for refurbishment- weeks into the closures. Are they more accurate these days?
No, I haven’t tried to track them. Not even sure how I would do that. I was just concerned about such a large disparity. Since you suggest that UT has provided inaccurate data in the past, I’ll just ignore them and rely on TouringPlans. Hope it works out, but I bought the park to park option just in case. 
Thanks for your help!
I just looked at the other two. UT has the day labeled as a green day : crowd levels of 1-3. They are saying Universal will be the most crowed on a day the crowds will be between a 1-3?
Looking at UT’s predictions I hope they are right! That would be wonderful!
I also hope they’re right! I didn’t quite understand their coding. I thought the icon and Not Recommended next to US meant that it was to be avoided on that day. Your explanation makes sense, though – so it’s just the busiest on a good day. I can deal with that!!
1 Like