Curious what the rationale is behind Good Friday and Easter this year as 5’s on the Crowd Calendar?
Welcome! Ask anything & often!
A reason for this could be Easter weekend draws fewer ppl because Florida is ranked #3 in the U.S. for the highest number of Christians per population. This could mean more FL residents going to churches and staying home with family than going WDW. I know WDW is a large International destination, but FL residents make up a significant number of visitors too. But this is my assumption…
Plus, since it is a holiday weekend WDW will have extra CMs in park…
FYI – A common misconception about Touring Plans Crowd Levels is that they are an indicator of the number of people in each park. However, they are an indicator of average queue waits at the rides in that park during 11am – 5pm.
A CL 1 can feel like a CL 4 in terms of park capacity, but the queues may be moving quickly. Conversely, you can be in a CL 9 park that feels like a CL 5 because the streets aren’t packed. However, all the queues are super long.
I disagree wholeheartedly.
Easter weekend is one of the highest crowd levels of the year I agree this seems bizarre
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I think it was explained on another thread that until about 60 days before, the CL level is based on the previous year’s data. Easter changes days every year, so while April 20-21 might look like high CLs this year, they won’t be. Those were the dates of Easter last year. April 11-12 will look low for another two weeks because Apr 11-12 2019 weren’t anything special.
It should be fixed within the next couple of weeks. There are predicted CLs at other websites that update earlier, which you might find more useful.
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Ahhh, ok- that makes much more sense. I assumed that would have been accounted for in the estimates by now. Thanks!
Yeah… I think that was my post on that topic.
@meets1 - Here’s what I wrote then
Be aware that these CLs are not definite until about 60 days out. (Really until about 45 - 30 days) Right now they are just using historical data for 2018 / 2019.
Also, sometimes that far in advance they are just using the historical data from that calendar date and not adjusted for the day of the week.
For example, if your trip starts on a Monday, that day was probably a Sat. or Sun. in 2019. So you might see a CL10 because this year that “date” was a weekend. When they update the calendar in 2020 they’ll adjust for that date being on Monday this time.
Basically, start making your plans and seeing what TP suggests is the best plan. However, know that you’ll “real” plan won’t be ready until after you get your FPP booked.
I love TP but any CL # that is more than 60 days out I no longer trust. Wait and see… it’ll fluctuate. TP only updates about 60 days in advance and copies & pastes the previous year’s historical info into the farther away future dates.
what is CM?
Cast Member… the term Disney uses for it’s staff
how does it help with wait time?
WDW actually cuts back on it’s staff throughout the year during what used to be “slower seasons” to save money. So, now there aren’t any more “slower seasons” because they keep “just enough” staff in the parks to keep the CLs, basically, the same throughout the year.
There are still some slow times, like February, September (after Labor Day) and the first couple weeks of December. However, you’ll see most of the TP calendar is pretty much the same the rest of the year.
@vishnupriya_sureshbabu_719285 - I know this is your first trip & you have a lot of concerns about wait times. Feel free to directly message me so we don’t take over a thread / conversation. 
At the same time @vishnupriya_sureshbabu_719285 you should feel more than welcome to post right here in the forum. Chances are that you are not the only newer member with lots of questions, and these threads are how people learn from one another. Certainly take it to a private message if you feel like you want to, but you most definitely don’t have to. Post away!
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CM’s (staff) help keep lines moving, help vehicles fill efficiently, prevent stoppages, and generally keep things moving in the queue. They also allow for the opening (or prevent the closing) of additional tracks and ride vehicles.
Absolutely agree!
For a bit of background though - I said to DM me because @vishnupriya_sureshbabu_719285 and I have been discussing their concerns about wait times in multiple separate threads they’ve opened. I didn’t want anyone else to feel spammed when they were directly asking me multiple questions.
I hope you didn’t think I was trying to “shut them down”.
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