Just back - crazy busy & I think the GP have lost their minds....

[robin19871]

We have lucked out the past 2 years at Spring Break. Last year it was 2 weeks after Easter and this year it is 2 weeks before. According to the Easter poll here it seems to be the slowest week..We plan accordingly with a touring plan and also get there at rope drop.We did all the major rides in the first 2 hours and honestly the only line we waited in the whole trip was TSM at DHS and then it was only because we arrived there later for Fantasmic.(Dinner package so no wait) (The wait said 60 minutes in reality it was only 30) Plan Plan Plan and any day is do able as long as you stick with your touring plan.

 

[lamb616]

Wow, that sounds awful. I looked up the crowd level for MK for that day (tuesday) and it says it ended up a 9.8. Man, what a difference from when we were there 2 weeks ago - we walked on just about everything all week, with just a few exceptions.

 

[LaurenT]

For those that were experiencing the huge crowds this past week - even at Rope Drop..can I ask if you've gone to the TP recommended parks each day? Or did you just go with what was convenient for your schedule, figuring you'd get there early and it would be ok?.....
Just trying to see if there's been a different experience for those who did and those who didn't...

 

[jnfr2424]

Ooh Tara!
Thanks for sharing the pictures! That does look like 4th of July or Christmas and New Years! I was thinking about taking a quick weekend trip but I will hold off and wait until early May!

 

[tmarquez]

Wow those crwods look more like Christmas to me!

We always go over Spring Break (we'll be there next week) and its always been crowded, but doable. We get there at opening and leave after lunch or whenever it just gets to be uncomfortably crowded.

We skip the fireworks and stuff at this time of year. And spend lots of time at the pool.

 

[NaLisa]

I'd love to know this, too. Also wondering, what (if anything) would/could you do differently to avoid the madness?

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the rest of us!

For those that were experiencing the huge crowds this past week - even at Rope Drop..can I ask if you've gone to the TP recommended parks each day? Or did you just go with what was convenient for your schedule, figuring you'd get there early and it would be ok?.....
Just trying to see if there's been a different experience for those who did and those who didn't...

 

[tinkerbell60]

We went during Spring Break in 2009 Never again, while the weather was perfect warm and sunny but not hot no rain only once during the overnight hours but those crowds are horrible.

I feel bad for anyone who has to travel during that time because of school age children or their jobs.

Funny thing is we use to go down for Easter week every year when they had the live televised parade at MK and honestly I do not remember it being as bad, crowded yes but people as a whole were less rowdy

We have gone during Spring Break several times, although when we go - it is always the week before Easter. Sometimes it is reasonable and sometimes it is absolutely nuts. We were there in 2009 - and it was insanely busy. DD had been there with her high school band. That year, they also offered the buy 4 get 3 free deal on resorts.....I know MK closed to capacity several times that week. Now last year, it was not bad at all - we were staying off site and never had a problem.

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our trip report board.

 

[sharona]

I don't think this is a trip report at all. This is a discussion of how busy the parks are during Spring Break and questions about what touring strategy is being used by the OP.

What's with all the moved posts lately? It's annoying.

 

[teresa kay]

Thank goodness I did the Fantasmic dinner package for next week. We have never been during spring break so this will be an adjustment. I always try to remember that any day at Disney is better than a day at work!

 

[Court475]

We were there last week. Mornings weren't bad, but crowds got pretty huge by lunch. If you have even a bit of a TP like I did though, it's really okay, as long as you can maneuver through the people. And I guess I'm lucky, beucase I really didn't encounter any really rude people.

 

[ambertides]

I'm not sure about TP, but Monday Epcot was the one that made the most sense to be lower crowds - EMH at DHS and AK, and well, Monday at MK (with long hours there to boot) and EMH at Epcot the following day.

Yet this was UK in Epcot at 4pmish:

I swear it seemed as bad as, if not worse, than Christmas Day.

Unless we go on Easter Day, we're probably skipping going back until May.

 

[Jazzabelle508]

The last time I went to Disney for spring break it actually wasn't 2 bad. Granted it was a couple of years ago. I can only imagine that the gp are probably worse since I was there for spring break. Last time I was there was in early january. The Disney crowds were still the same as it seemed like they would be for winter break and we couldn't figure out why untill I realized that it was the marathon weekend. That is the time of year I would avoid from christmas untill mid january. If you thought the disney crowds and GP were bad you haven't seen anything yet. The crowds at WWOHP were some of the worst i've seen. They were rude, abnoxious and plentiful.

 

[Ackermom]

DD and I were there 2/28 thru 3/6--it was starting to get a little crowded around Thursday--ESPN The Weekend was about to start. We tried to go to DHS Friday morning and turned around and got back on the boat and went to EPCOT. It was crazy! Weather and crowds early in the week were great!!! Linejumpers are annoying!

 

[TaraPA]

I'm not sure about TP, but Monday Epcot was the one that made the most sense to be lower crowds - EMH at DHS and AK, and well, Monday at MK (with long hours there to boot) and EMH at Epcot the following day.

Yet this was UK in Epcot at 4pmish:

I swear it seemed as bad as, if not worse, than Christmas Day.

Unless we go on Easter Day, we're probably skipping going back until May.

I have almost the same pic from the UK, on that same Monday, but at 6pm:

 

[TaraPA]

I'm going to start my actual trip report here on the Trip Reports board if anyone wants to follow. We'll keep this thread just for general crowd comments & concerns for the people leaving soon (which includes me as well!)

 

[ambertides]

I have almost the same pic from the UK, on that same Monday, but at 6pm:

Awesome!! I think 6 was when we took a nap on the grass in Germany.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Interesting thoughts on the crowds. We were there from 3/10-3/20 and really didn't think the crowds were too bad. If they were Christmas-like, than I guess we shouldn't shy away from a Christmas trip.

Anyway, we were able to hit everything on our must-do list for every park. The Magic Kingdom we didn't have any problem touring, we even hit a lot of the headliners multiple times by using fastpass, and touring efficiently.

We didn't purchase any type of plan, but by looking at the hours to see when parks were closing, when EMH's were, and when Fantasmic! shows were, it was very easy to figure out where the people would be.

Maybe we have a different tolerance level for crowds, but we didn't think things were too terrible.

 

[sjs314]

Interesting thoughts on the crowds. We were there from 3/10-3/20 and really didn't think the crowds were too bad. If they were Christmas-like, than I guess we shouldn't shy away from a Christmas trip.

Anyway, we were able to hit everything on our must-do list for every park. The Magic Kingdom we didn't have any problem touring, we even hit a lot of the headliners multiple times by using fastpass, and touring efficiently.

We didn't purchase any type of plan, but by looking at the hours to see when parks were closing, when EMH's were, and when Fantasmic! shows were, it was very easy to figure out where the people would be.

Maybe we have a different tolerance level for crowds, but we didn't think things were too terrible.

I think your last statement is very true. We use to go to Disney Easter week every year , it was packed especially MK on the day of the televised Easter Parade, which was live not like how they film the MVMCP weeks ahead of time and it was busy busy busy and we loved it.

In 2009 we went during Spring Break March 24 -31 and hated it, the crowds were horrible only plus was the weather was ideal, we are now 20 years older, mid-50's and your tolerance for the crowds does go down with age.