***Official April 2013 thread*** SEE POST # 4028

[pwdebbie]

I blink for two seconds and the thread explodes, lol! Nice to see so many NH people out there, my family is from Claremont.

I'll edit this post with plans later, off to bowling practise.

Oh, please don't edit the post. Make a new post or I will never see your plans. I don't look back, I only go forward from the last post I read. Don't want to miss your info to put on page 1!

 

[Lampoon2012]

Just booked our family for April 10-18 in Disney then a small break in Tampa with more family. We will be a group of 11 staying at POR. We found pretty decent flight down from providence, but need to find one back. We will fly back from Tampa. I'm waiting impatiently for SW to release the rest of their schedule. Ugh. Any tips for April? How are the parks? We were supposed to go for Christmas but needed to postpone it. I'm not looking forward to redoing all of our dining reservations, however.

I haven't been to Disney in almost 11 years! And my kids, along with their cousins have never been. DS is 10 and DD is 7. It will be a surprise trip with a puzzle piece scavenger hunt reveal. We pulled off a surprise cruise a couple years ago using a treasure map as a reveal. I think they'll love this one just as much.

 

[pwdebbie]

Just booked our family for April 10-18 in Disney then a small break in Tampa with more family. We will be a group of 11 staying at POR. We found pretty decent flight down from providence, but need to find one back. We will fly back from Tampa. I'm waiting impatiently for SW to release the rest of their schedule. Ugh. Any tips for April? How are the parks? We were supposed to go for Christmas but needed to postpone it. I'm not looking forward to redoing all of our dining reservations, however.

I haven't been to Disney in almost 11 years! And my kids, along with their cousins have never been. DS is 10 and DD is 7. It will be a surprise trip with a puzzle piece scavenger hunt reveal. We pulled off a surprise cruise a couple years ago using a treasure map as a reveal. I think they'll love this one just as much.

I hope you make a video of the scavenger hunt! That sounds like so much fun. I do them for my grandkids because they love them (if I don't do one for a while, they begin to nag, lol) but the prizes are things like a new coloring book or something crafty.

I don't think the parks will be too crowded and weather will be perfect. Sounds like you are going to have a great time.

 

[jad215]

easywdw said that the event will not impact the crowd level at DHS at all. The cheerleaders will be at that single venue and not filtering out into the park. Just going by what he said. Personally, I am surprised they would use the Indiana Jones set and not the American Idol stage.

Thank you VERY much!

 

[bigjrfan88]

easywdw said that the event will not impact the crowd level at DHS at all. The cheerleaders will be at that single venue and not filtering out into the park. Just going by what he said. Personally, I am surprised they would use the Indiana Jones set and not the American Idol stage.

I hope Josh is correct. I arrive on the 28th. We plan to go to MK that night. We hope to have most of the teams gone by then.

 

[Jays2013]

Hello! My first post!

We are planning to go April 24-May 1, 2013, and I am giddy, giddy, giddy! We have two boys, ages 8 and 4, and although the eldest visited DW at a year old, he doesn't really remember it. And it will be the first time for the younger. (Who is way into all things Disney!)

My husband and I honeymooned at AKL 10 years ago and just couldn't wait to take the boys. Of course, life got in the way and we thought we'd never make it back. Fortunately, things have turned around and I'm having SO much fun planning! (We're doing a weekly Disney movie night so I can introduce the kids to the classics, etc.)

Right now, we're gunning for AoA Lion King. I'm stunned at how many people are also planning ... I thought I was nuts! Do you think I am correct in thinking that this will be a calmer time to go, nearly a month after Easter?

So excited! So happy to be joining this board!

 

[pwdebbie]

Hello! My first post!

We are planning to go April 24-May 1, 2013, and I am giddy, giddy, giddy! We have two boys, ages 8 and 4, and although the eldest visited DW at a year old, he doesn't really remember it. And it will be the first time for the younger. (Who is way into all things Disney!)

My husband and I honeymooned at AKL 10 years ago and just couldn't wait to take the boys. Of course, life got in the way and we thought we'd never make it back. Fortunately, things have turned around and I'm having SO much fun planning! (We're doing a weekly Disney movie night so I can introduce the kids to the classics, etc.)

Right now, we're gunning for AoA Lion King. I'm stunned at how many people are also planning ... I thought I was nuts! Do you think I am correct in thinking that this will be a calmer time to go, nearly a month after Easter?

So excited! So happy to be joining this board!

If you go by past crowds, it is a very good time to go. Our second trip was the last two weeks of April 2009. I measure comfort level of the crowd by whether I have to wait for a stall in the bathroom. Good news -- no waiting on that trip! And yet someone posted a crowd pic in which they were attempting to demonstrate how awful the crowds were, and there I was in their pic, sitting outside a bathroom waiting for dh. So I guess it is all in how you perceive crowds.

 

[Jays2013]

Oh, thank you.

We're pretty laid back; we'll probably be OK. My kneejerk reaction to April was "Yikes! Spring break and Easter!" but I have to believe those crowds still have faded.

I'm so glad to find this board. I love to plan Disney stuff and I love to talk about it ... and my husband looks at me like I'm nuts when I tell him the intinerary for a trip that's still seven months away. (But he smiles when he does it, so that's OK. )

We're splurging on an AoA suite because older son is a very restless sleeper and it will be great to give him his own bed ... and my husband is really tall and just does not fit well in anything other than a queen bed. We love the look of AoA ... don't get me wrong, we adored AKL, but I think AoA will be good with young kids.

By my calculations, I can make ADR on Oct. 26. Can't wait! I've revised my plans several times. I'm trying to decide what sort of an effect EMH will have on park crowds, and if it's worth it to try and avoid them. Sigh. I really want to take the boys to the MK on our first full day ...

 

[Jen12573]

We went in 2011 at Christmas, arrived on 12/25 and departed on 12/31. Even with a couple park closures on 12/27 & 12/28 (which never affected us) we had an amazing time taking advantage of morning EMH, including an empty Magic Kingdom photo on 12/30 at 10:30AM. We can manage Easter just fine, right? We arrive on Easter Sunday, it's less expensive to fly on the holiday.

 

[wdwgirl03]

We went in 2011 at Christmas, arrived on 12/25 and departed on 12/31. Even with a couple park closures on 12/27 & 12/28 (which never affected us) we had an amazing time taking advantage of morning EMH, including an empty Magic Kingdom photo on 12/30 at 10:30AM. We can manage Easter just fine, right? We arrive on Easter Sunday, it's less expensive to fly on the holiday.

Definitely. If you can handle the Christmas crowds, you can handle Easter crowds. It really isn't that bad. My dad and I were there this past Easter (our first park day was Easter Sunday). We enjoyed taking advantage of the 7 am EMH!

Oh, and my sister just got accepted into the Disney College Program again today so when I go next April it will also be to visit her now.

 

[pwdebbie]

Oh, thank you.

We're pretty laid back; we'll probably be OK. My kneejerk reaction to April was "Yikes! Spring break and Easter!" but I have to believe those crowds still have faded.

I'm so glad to find this board. I love to plan Disney stuff and I love to talk about it ... and my husband looks at me like I'm nuts when I tell him the intinerary for a trip that's still seven months away. (But he smiles when he does it, so that's OK. )

We're splurging on an AoA suite because older son is a very restless sleeper and it will be great to give him his own bed ... and my husband is really tall and just does not fit well in anything other than a queen bed. We love the look of AoA ... don't get me wrong, we adored AKL, but I think AoA will be good with young kids.

By my calculations, I can make ADR on Oct. 26. Can't wait! I've revised my plans several times. I'm trying to decide what sort of an effect EMH will have on park crowds, and if it's worth it to try and avoid them. Sigh. I really want to take the boys to the MK on our first full day ...

Imo, you WANT to do morning EMH if at all possible. If your first full day is Thursday, April 25 (which is our last day, ), it is morning EMH at MK. I say go! That's where we will be.

My husband's eyes glaze over when I talk to him about the trip. Yesterday I was talking about the ADRs I plan to make and he said, "I sure hope you aren't doing all this for nothing." Our 35th anniversary trip last April was cancelled two weeks before we were supposed to get there "because our old dog hadn't died yet" (reality was that my disabled dh was not well enough for the trip, but I didn't want him to feel responsible for the cancellation). Here we are about six months later and the dog still isn't dead and the dh is probably a bit weaker than he was last April. But I am going to move forward as though we are going and make my plans accordingly.

 

[Jays2013]

I'd always been under the impression that we should avoid AMH because of crowds, but maybe that's a false impression. I will admit, I have qualms about dragging my boys out of bed in time to be at MK that early, but ... maybe, just maybe, I can sell it. We're hoping to keep a quieter night on arrival day, so maybe that will work. (DH is a night owl. He hates mornings on principle!)

My DH loves Disney just as much as I do, I think (we honeymooned there!), but he's not the planner. The fact that I'm coming up with day-by-day plans already amuses him!

I just can't wait to see the looks on the boys' faces ...

 

[loganpaulsmom]

Hi all, add me to the April 2013 list.. Staying at the Coronado.. ( first try at this resort) and hoping to get a room discount and upgrade to the dxp.. April 9th thru April 16th.. Word of advice for all you spring break novices.. Avoid the parades.. I have gone 2 Spring breaks in a row.. Both times avoided the parades and walked on most rides.. I rode 6 rides at MK in 1.5 hours last years, sometimes those same rides take hours.. Of course, this is great advice for people that don't mind missing the parade, and my 6 year old wanted the rides more...

 

[TJDisneymama]

there ARE no crowds during morning EMH....... it is practically empty! (well, not empty-empty...... but empty compared to regular Disney crowds. )

 

[gtpoohbear]

Imo, you WANT to do morning EMH if at all possible. If your first full day is Thursday, April 25 (which is our last day, ), it is morning EMH at MK. I say go! That's where we will be.

We'll be there that day too! And it's also our last day I'm starting to wonder if that will be a crazy-busy day there, but I guess if it is it might make it a little easier to leave.

My strategy towards EMH is to avoid them unless we are planning to make use of them. Especially amEMH. That first hour is great, but the park is a little busier later as other non-EMH people start arriving. So what we don't want to do is not be getting there until 9-10am if it was an amEMH morning. We rarely can stay out late enough to use pmEMH so we just avoid those parks. (Although we did manage to stay at MK on our last night in 2010 until 2am, and I was 6 months pregnant at the time. Other than it still being 100 degrees at midnight, it was great!)

 

[TJDisneymama]

We're early birds so my strategy is make use of the morning EMH when possible (we always get there a few minutes before rope drop) and in all other instances ALWAYS avoid the park with evening EMH b/c people tend to head there late morning/early afternoon with the intention of staying for the evening EMH, which we will never, ever do b/c we're in bed by 8-9:00.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Welcome! I added you to the first post. Do you know where you will be staying?

We're actually staying the whole trip on the "Dark" side this time. That would be Universal. My DH and oldest son told me they didn't want to go to Disney next year. Can you believe it!!??? I couldn't handle it! We are taking this trip b/c I finally got a job!!! So we are celebrating ME!!!! DH said we could go to FL if we stayed at Uni. instead of WDW. I said well all right if we can go for 1 day for me? It's hard for me (and other DISfriends) to understand how you get sick of Disney. But at least I'm going. That's all that matters. Right??
Just hoping for good flights b/c it could get changed to July.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I see you are another New Englander....(there's a lot of us on this thread)...

There's always a LOT of New Englanders on the April thread b/c we're like the only ones who have an April vacation. Every year we go in April, I meet or overhear that almost every person is from the northeast.
Now I know that NH and MA have different weeks so that's good.

 

[loganpaulsmom]

There's always a LOT of New Englanders on the April thread b/c we're like the only ones who have an April vacation. Every year we go in April, I meet or overhear that almost every person is from the northeast.
Now I know that NH and MA have different weeks so that's good.

Another new englander here!! We are going the week before our actual vacation ( airfare so much cheaper). Second year in a row going.. I love it!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

there ARE no crowds during morning EMH....... it is practically empty! (well, not empty-empty...... but empty compared to regular Disney crowds. )

Agreed! I am still writing my trip report for last April but here's a couple pictures of what the MK looked like on Easter Sunday (don't know exactly what time it was, maybe around 9:00 or 9:30?). The park opened at 7:00.

And if anyone is curious to see how much we did that morning, here are those updates:
Easter Sunday 7 AM EMH part 1
Easter Sunday 7 AM EMH part 2

We have always had great experiences with the early EMH-can't wait to do them again next year!