What Does a '10' Day on TP Look Like?

[Brett Wyman]

I got that same email today. We’ve gone the same week (end of Feb/First of March) every year for 20 years. It’s never been anywhere near a 10. I’ve also been at Christmas, and that is a 10. So I don’t put much stock into the Touring Plans increase...yes, Mardis Gras is that week this year so it may be busier than usual but there’s no way AK is a “10” for a full week straight.

The first week of May seems to be the most disproportionate and unexplained increase of them all. TP says that week is now a "Big Week for Spring Break". But I'm not sure for who? A handful of colleges maybe?

 

[angierae]

I've been to Disney the week leading up to Easter, and it never looked like that. (2012)

 

[DrFacilier]

I have friends who are at the beginning stages of planning a Disney trip in March of this year. Their dates are some of those that were drastically increased by TP overnight and are now 9's and 10's.

My question is, does a '10' on TP look like the crazy crowd pictures I saw from MK on Christmas and New Year's Day or, are those days exceptions and a 10 is super busy but you're still able to move and enjoy yourself?

I love Disney and go often but pics like these freak me out!! (These are not my pictures but found online. Sorry, cannot remember where.)

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In the second pic CMs are holding signs asking guests to 'Keep Right' to aid with traffic flow.

Is this what they should expect on a '10' day or are these exceptional crowds because they were taken on Christmas Day?

Have you ever visited a park on a '10' day? Would you again??

We were there just last week from 12/23-1/1 and didn’t bother to look at the TP crowd levels. Of course it was super crowded but we know what we were doing so still had a blast. I think the pictures are often a little sensationalized. For example, I took some of my own crowd pics but only in the most congested of places and for attractions that had the longest lines. I took them to show friends and to remember the madness. It would be misleading to say that everywhere in every park will be like that though. With all that said I don’t thing we will be back during that week until our kids (DD7 and DD9) are older.

 

[angierae]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150774585686703&l=0d54f72f6c

(Main Street in the morning. There's people, but not like the pic above.)

 

[mkla2015]

Yep, I got the email this morning for our February 24- March 2 trip... most days jumped up to 6 and 8 from 2 and 4. I wouldn't worry about it- we've been during level 10 spring break crowds and still had a fantastic time. It's all about planning- we hit the parks early, take a break from 2-5, then head back to the parks at night.

 

[drdrowsy]

something happened weird with TP today. on thursday 1/24 DHS went from 4 to a 10? to a 9 on friday 1/25? i don't think anything is going on on either of those days.

 

[scrappinginontario]

something happened weird with TP today. on thursday 1/24 DHS went from 4 to a 10? to a 9 on friday 1/25? i don't think anything is going on on either of those days.

This is the hot topic on the boards today!

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

The first week of May seems to be the most disproportionate and unexplained increase of them all. TP says that week is now a "Big Week for Spring Break". But I'm not sure for who? A handful of colleges maybe?

By the first week in May colleges are preparing for finals so definitely not spring break for colleges.
They are probably basing it on how late Easter is this year but when its that late I'd be willing to bet that most if not all will have the week leading upto Easter off not the week after Easter since honestly that's when most schools start reviewing for end of the year tests.

 

[MaC410]

To me, if this were true that would make crowd calendars even more useless. Two different days labeled a "10" are different? Then what the heck is a "10", and what's the point if the rating scale is different for the same number?

It is true and to be honest crowd calendars are pretty useless now that there really isn't any "slow" season. The last couple of days touringplans has had magic kingdom at a 10. That 10 crowd will not be the same as a 10 crowd that makes Magic Kingdom reach capacity on major holidays.

 

[BridgetR3]

It's Mardi Gras and LOTS of Louisiana people are going to be running away for the week. It will be busy but it's also a gorgeous time of year so maybe just go in with limited expectations and do what you can!

 

[Searc]

Personally I think crowd calendars are crap.
10 years ago maybe the predicted well but anyone could have told you when it would be crolwded or not crowded 10 years ago.
Now they are just completely guessing.
Its ridiculous that they would even have any days other than a few around Easter and then from Xmas to NYE be a 10.
10 SHOULD mean phased closings.
No way there will be phased closings in March especially with nothing really going on in March other than COLLEGE spring breaks and F&G.
Tell you're friend its going to be crowded but not NYE crowded. Because that's just how Disney is anymore.

Plenty of school districts have Spring Breaks in March, too, not just colleges.

 

[MaC410]

Easter is also really late this year (April 21st) so the spring break season crowds may end up being spread out a bit more.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

The first week of May seems to be the most disproportionate and unexplained increase of them all. TP says that week is now a "Big Week for Spring Break". But I'm not sure for who? A handful of colleges maybe?

Do you mean March? The last few days of April went down significantly and the first few days of May went up a little bit (but not a huge increase). My first thought was that Summit (the cheer competition) must have moved dates from the end of April to first weekend of May. Their website doesn't have dates yet but maybe someone's in the know. The other thing is that last year the week starting 1 week after Easter was super slow and then it increased somewhat the following weeks last year. Since Easter is so late, maybe that's what's doing it.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Do you mean March? The last few days of April went down significantly and the first few days of May went up a little bit (but not a huge increase). My first thought was that Summit (the cheer competition) must have moved dates from the end of April to first weekend of May. Their website doesn't have dates yet but maybe someone's in the know. The other thing is that last year the week starting 1 week after Easter was super slow and then it increased somewhat the following weeks last year. Since Easter is so late, maybe that's what's doing it.

Based on Disney's ESPN Website (https://www.espnwwos.com/events/#date=2019,April,May|view=list) it appears there are 4 different cheer events taking place between April 24th and May 12th.

 

[Mrs. Pirate]

I have gone the last 5 years arriving the Tuesday right after the Feb marathon for 10 days. The first few years the crowds were 2 to 4. Last year crowds on TP were 6 or 7 as it got into March but everyone blamed it on hurricane rescheduling. I got the email today and was shocked to see days jump from crowd levels of 4 to 8. I sure hope they are very wrong.

 

[rteetz]

I went mid-March in 2018 and crowds were very manageable until my last day where you could tell things were going to get much more crowded.

I always go by if you plan and manage you expectations you'll be fine.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I think bottom line is that the economy is good, people are willing to pay Disney prices and basically there isn't a low season any longer. I just plan on it being busy whenever I go and make adjustments as necessary.

That being said, our late April date crowds decreased a bit so I'm hoping it's true. We're going with my parents who are both in their mid to late 70's and will both be in scooters. The less crowded it is the easier it will be to maneuver the scooters in some pf the more congested places like the hub and small world path.

 

[dakotix]

Yep, I got the email this morning for our February 24- March 2 trip... most days jumped up to 6 and 8 from 2 and 4. I wouldn't worry about it- we've been during level 10 spring break crowds and still had a fantastic time. It's all about planning- we hit the parks early, take a break from 2-5, then head back to the parks at night.

I second this. We're going to be there similar dates (Feb 26-Mar 7) and while we hope crowds won't be too bad we plan to be at the parks at rope drop and then run for our lives around lunch time before returning in the late afternoon/ early evening. I depended on a crowd calendar once and got burned. I don't trust them at all. I use them to plan which park(s) to hit on a particular day but that's it.

 

[WaterLinds]

We were thre last February when days ended up being mostly 8s, but our AK day ended up being a 10(forecast was a 7, I think?). It was very very busy, but still not as crazy as some of those Christmas pictures. There were bottlenecks wee it was hard to move, though, so not too far off.

We had a solid plan, arrived early, hit our FPs, and got OUT midday when it got hot and crazy. We came back in the evening, and crowds were still high (closing time was extended the day before and again during the day),but we had (old school anytime) rider swap to use at FOP, did a mobile order at Satuli, and used dining plan tickets for ROL. So we got done what we wanted and just were patient moving through the masses.

I think our upcoming March trip likely overlaps with your friends—we’re coming from Ontario, heading down before March break starts but staying through part of that week. Several of our earlier days have also been bumped to very high predictions. I’m going to go over our plans with a fine tooth comb to nail down the smoothest plan we can have, but I’m confident we can still have a good time. I think with your planning your friends will still enjoy it, too—especially if they are willing to do things like get an early start.

 

[LJisthewalrus]

I have friends who are at the beginning stages of planning a Disney trip in March of this year. Their dates are some of those that were drastically increased by TP overnight and are now 9's and 10's.

My question is, does a '10' on TP look like the crazy crowd pictures I saw from MK on Christmas and New Year's Day or, are those days exceptions and a 10 is super busy but you're still able to move and enjoy yourself?

I love Disney and go often but pics like these freak me out!! (These are not my pictures but found online. Sorry, cannot remember where.)

View attachment 373318

View attachment 373319

In the second pic CMs are holding signs asking guests to 'Keep Right' to aid with traffic flow.

Is this what they should expect on a '10' day or are these exceptional crowds because they were taken on Christmas Day?

Have you ever visited a park on a '10' day? Would you again??

I was there last week, and MK on 12/30 was VERY busy, but I don't subscribe to TP so I don't know what the "crowd level" was. But I will say the first picture kinda sorta looks like it's right after the end of a parade (sort of looks like a float in the middle), so that is the "release" of all the people waiting to cross the parade route/dispersing from the parade. We had to suffer through that, and it was not very fun. I thought the parade starting at 3:30 means it starts in Frontier/Adventure Land at 3:30, so we could scoot across Liberty Square area to get from Skipper Canteen to Haunted Mansion at like 3:15. Maybe this was a misunderstanding on my part, but we ended up going all the way to Frontier Land and waiting to cross between floats, then snaking along the back of the crowd. However, if you bring your patience and leave extra time, I think you can still enjoy yourself! As others have said, mornings and evenings will be best. By 10:00 that night, it was still crowded but not nearly as bad as it had been in the middle of the afternoon. There were lots of extra CMs with "Keep Right" signs in every land, and they opened up a back way from Main Street to Tomorrowland for a few hours. My (adult) brother was miserable with the crowds (plus he was a little sick), so we sent him back to the hotel for the worst of it and he came back for our Space Mountain FP, but my mom and I just walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere, used Mobile Ordering to grab a snack, got Starbucks during the 6:30 fireworks with no line! So as others have mentioned, it really depends on how you plan your day and your personality!