Over the weekend, I finished up and posted the revised–and, barring typos–final versions of the 2014 Disney World Crowd Calendar and 2014 Weeks to Visit Ranked in Order.
Material like this is the most popular stuff on this site.
I publish initial forecasts about 15 months before the respective year begins, and then, with Disney’s final price seasons and my analysis of public school calendars in hand, revise it the summer before.
I’ll be publishing more on how specific parts of each were built over the coming weeks, but for now, the only big change was downgrading the week beginning March 29, 2014, which I formerly had as a “recommended week.”
This week will be more crowded than I had thought in the draft material–I had had it as 3/low, it’s now 5/moderate-minus–and in turn its week ranking has shifted from 14th best of the year to 17th best of the year. While it’ll still be an OK week, this change is enough to knock it out of the “recommended weeks.”
Besides the details promised above, still left to do this summer are the 2014 “Cheat Sheet” and “Week Picker.” (See this and this for the 2013 equivalents.) And after that I’ll start working on the 2015 forecasts!!
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14 Comments on "The Revised 2014 Crowd Calendar and Week Rankings are Out!"
Brandie, part of the issue is that every site defines “3” differently, and part is that crowd forecasters simply disagree on Veterans Day. I’m in the “it doesn’t matter” camp. Even many public schools don’t get Veterans Day off; most private-sectors parents don’t get it off, and it’s not a 3 day weekend. So I see it as having little effect and think that the parks will be just fine from the 9th on…
We are planning a trip for November 10-16 2014. We normally go in September but want to see the Christmas decorations. I have been comparing crowd calendars and they either read low (2-3) or moderate (5-6). What’s causing the difference? I hear jersey week and veterans day are pushing the numbers up. Any insight on this? Im considering moving my trip if the numbers will be 5-6. Thanks!
Michelle, before the recession the only free dining deal was September. During the recession and recovery Disney threw every discount it could think of out, and free dining was available multiple dates.
But the September release was always its own thing, as Disney knew that eventually it’d be cutting everything else back. For the last couple of years free dining has disappeared except for September and a few weeks in the fall. Separating the releases creates a lot of current and future flexibility for Disney.
Hi Dave – If they DO announce September free dining, does it typically include october too? or that has been offered separately AFTER the sept. FD in the past? I know none of it is guaranteed but i find it odd of they did a Sept Only Free dinging, and then a month or so later, announced an Oct free dining… why not just announce it all at once? thanks
Arshi, I’d wait a week or so. September free dining might be announced quite soon.