I am wondering how relevant the actual day of the week is regarding CLs. For my upcoming trip (Nov 3-9), the TP CLs are relatively consistent throughout the week, but I am finding some articles on the internet (DTB in particular) that strongly suggest certain days of the week for the parks. For example, they say to never go to MK on a monday and go wednesday or thursday instead. Since TP CLs do not reflect that (for my dates at least), I was wondering what you guys think.
Thanks ! 
I personally never pay any attention to that sort of thing. I even go to Epcot on Saturday nights during festivals.
I think recommendations of specific days is based on out-dated information. It USED to be true a long time ago, and the advice persists even though times have changed. Disney itself does a fairly decide job of controlling crowds to even them out moreso now than they used to.
There are still some exceptions. For example, hitting MK during party days will generally result in lower crowds due to shortened hours.
Also keep in mind, if I’m not mistaken, Tour Plans CL’s are based on wait times in line not actual number of people in the park. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
Yes, it is a relevant factor when picking days, but not super important. There are of course many other factors too, when targeting lower wait times. For example, a good touring plan is usually more important than choosing a specific day at a specific park.
Some bloggers may get some of their examples from sites like thrilldata.com. This is for MK over a set amount of time, differences aren’t that big:
Nope, you’re right. Here’s what TP says:
“We at Touring Plans define a ‘crowd’ as the average posted wait time for the key attractions between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm.”
So it’s wait times, not people in the park. For a select group of popular rides, not all rides. During the main daytime hours - not real early nor late. (my words, not TP’s)
I find Sundays at MK nice, because most people leave or arrive on sundays. The mornings there are pretty relaxed.
If I arrived on my vacation on a Sunday, I’d for sure hit MK on monday with fresh legs!
This is correct. Best example was Oct 1, 2021. MK was totally packed, but no one was riding anything, so wait times were still very low. TP predicted a 10, and got a 1.
I wouldn’t trust any source that doesn’t use data. DTB will rely on anecdotal evidence of the writers as will most of the other sites with crowd calendars.
In the past, I used to find Undercover Tourist’s crowd calendar to be actually more accurate than TP’s in terms of feet-on-the-ground experience. I think this is because UT, being a ticket reseller, had unique insight into how many people were buying tickets for what dates. (They could probably extrapolate their own sales to the general public.) However, even then, they really couldn’t provide good information on WHICH PARK is better using that data.
TP makes crowd predictions based on a myriad of data, including historical…but we’ve been seeing a lot of changes in the habits of Disney-goers in the last couple years that has made historical data less informational. Still, TP tends to know about when common dates for spring breaks, etc., play a factor.
Interesting, thank you.
So, UT in their crowd calendars suggest a best and worse park for each day. Would you rely on that ?
If you’re going to take it into account, I’d use it in combination with the TP crowd calendar and general liner wisdom.
No. I just use them if so want to decide which days are ideal for a trip in general…but I am not convinced their choosing of one park over another is accurate.
I just use Touring Plans to get a general idea. There is no substitute for a customized touring plan to get the most out of your day, regardless of crowds. My family and I have gone to WDW the week of Christmas and did everything we wanted to do and we were able to take breaks in the middle of the day. All because we went in with a customized touring plan.
Where can I buy a 10-gallon of that though ??? 
Just hang around long enough and you’ll find you have it!
I guess it depends on your Disney goals. My family’s goal is to see and ride as much as possible, and that is why TP’s CL is useful. But if you want to avoid an actual crowd of people, then other data-driven calendars may be useful.
As already pointed out, the 50th anniversary was shoulder-to-shoulder people, but with very few people riding anything and just there for merch, food, and ambience, the touring plans CL was a 1. Basically you could walk on to almost any ride, but you had to get there first!
I have also the same goal ! That is why one of the most useful tip I had found many years ago before our first trip was exactly that regarding TP’s CLs with regards with ‘‘low’’ season that could turn out to be bad because of low staff / numbers of trains on rides that could make a small crowd still have long waits.
