Why is March 9-16 having larger crowd levels?

[blessedby3]

I have friends at church going to WDW March 9-16. Out of cuiosity I went to easywdw to check the crowd numbers.
I thought it was odd that the week before, the numbers were mainly 5's and the week after that the numbers were mainly 6's and 7's. The week after that leads up to Easter, so I knew they would be 10's. Just curious as to why that one week (9-16) has higher numbers inbetween 2 weeks with lower numbers.
Is there something special (besides Spring breakers in March) that makes that week higher than the one before it and after it?
Thanks

 

[Luvin*Livvy]

We were there last year from the 7th-13th and the calendars were calling for 5,6 and 7s......when we got there they were like 5s and 6s for 2 days then all of a sudden it was 10's I never saw anything like it....you could hardly move n Fantasyland (granted they had all the construction walls up) And there really wasn't anything going on that week. I do know there were a lot of southern spring breaks that week.....our spring break in NJ wasn't until the 1st week in April.

 

[bwang123]

Most of Texas has off for Spring break and I am sure others states do as well. We have gone the past 2 years during this week and it was always 9's on the crowd calendar. It gets busy in the afternoon but the weather is great and the crowds are manageable. We never waited more than 20min for a ride using faspass and arriving at park opening. Around mid afternoon the park looks really crowded as you walk around but we found ourselves leaving back to the hotel around that time anyway. I would go back this week anytime and we have gone to disney in lower crowds too.

 

[Lisa Anne Colling]

Spring Break for many places. We are in Ontario Canada and most of the province packs up and heads to Florida for some warm temps and fun that week!

 

[Luvin*Livvy]

We also left around 1 every day...and then went back after dinner. But right around 11:30 it got crowded...and we did have longer waits than 20 minutes...some of the headliners were over an hour...but we used FP or waited until night time to ride them!

 

[TXPyroMom]

Most of Texas has off for Spring break and I am sure others states do as well. We have gone the past 2 years during this week and it was always 9's on the crowd calendar. It gets busy in the afternoon but the weather is great and the crowds are manageable. We never waited more than 20min for a ride using faspass and arriving at park opening. Around mid afternoon the park looks really crowded as you walk around but we found ourselves leaving back to the hotel around that time anyway. I would go back this week anytime and we have gone to disney in lower crowds too.

This is true. Here in Texas we have a very early spring break, and it's not just primary grades, but also colleges. We will not be visiting during our spring break, but I would imagine that a good touring plan would work just fine.

 

[mom2rtk]

Not every district lines spring break up with Easter. It's all over the board. But by mid-March, lots of districts are. Chances are if your (or your friend's) kids are out ........ so are a lot of others. And many of those are heading for Disney.

 

[blessedby3]

Thanks for the replies.
I figured it was mainly Spring Break, but you would think that most all of the weeks in March would have lots of schools on Spring Break and that the weeks would be more of an even crowd calendar number throughout the month, until the week before Easter Sunday. That one week bumps up, then goes back down. I thought maybe there was an extra event going on to bump it up, but guess not.
I will give my friends a heads up
Thanks again!

 

[lucas]

We'll be there March 16-20 and I am hoping for the best. It is right in the middle of Florida spring breaks.

 

[4kids4karen]

There is a cheer competition at the weekend of March 16th. It's not one of the huge competitions though.

 

[lucas]

There is a cheer competition at the weekend of March 16th. It's not one of the huge competitions though.

Oh great. It seems like whenever we go the cheeerleaders are there.

Yep. Just did a search.
March 16 & 17: Thousands of the most elite cheerleaders and dancers hit the mat for the AmeriCheer & AmeriDance InterNational Championships at the Walt Disney World® Resort.

 

[luvdumbo]

That is Spring Break for us! I was supposed to go that week but after they announced The Dumbo Double Dare Challenge, I cancelled this vacation and planned one for DL instead.

 

[blessedby3]

That is Spring Break for us! I was supposed to go that week but after they announced The Dumbo Double Dare Challenge, I cancelled this vacation and planned one for DL instead.

What is the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge???

 

[eliza61]

We're heading there the week after 3/17-3/22. the thing that is weird is that easywdw says one thing and touring plans says some thing different.

Usually we are wingers and I don't even check the crowd calendars but I'm taking 2 people who have never been to the world so I decided to go witha small plan.

That's what I get now I'm stressing about crowds where before it wouldn't even bother me.

 

[bwang123]

here is a list of when colleges around the US have off for spring break. If you notice the week of March 9th week has significantlly more schools. I would bet this lines up similar to high school, middle school, etc.
http://inertiatours.com/spring_break_dates.php

 

[g-dad66]

here is a list of when colleges around the US have off for spring break. If you notice the week of March 9th week has significantlly more schools. I would bet this lines up similar to high school, middle school, etc.
http://inertiatours.com/spring_break_dates.php

Yes, similar to high school, middle school, etc. for DISBoarders, according to this poll:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2886346

 

[cookingqueen]

We are heading down from Boston with my husband's college baseball team for their spring baseball tournament.... it's a big one. Lots and lots of colleges from all over the country will be in the area for this tournament (9-17th.)

 

[Brave teacher]

That week lines up with the end of the 9 weeks for schools based on the return to school after Christmas holidays. It's not unusual for schools to take their Spring Break between 9 weeks /quarters.

 

[cheesemouse]

Spring break. We'll be there the 10th-16th and are bracing for the crowds! It is weird that the weeks on either end of this week are so much lower crowds. Oh well, it is what it is.

 

[grimley1968]

here is a list of when colleges around the US have off for spring break. If you notice the week of March 9th week has significantlly more schools. I would bet this lines up similar to high school, middle school, etc.
http://inertiatours.com/spring_break_dates.php

I think most high school/elementary school spring breaks are usually a week or two later, especially around Easter.

However, looking at that list in your link, I noticed (in addition to the higher number overall of spring breaks) that a lot of the SEC/ACC schools in the deep and upper south (and other schools in the region) have their spring breaks from 3/9-3/16. Those are students who can very easily drive to WDW in 10-12 hours or less. I normally tried to go to a beach if I could afford it in those days , but I could easily see thousands of college students descending on WDW that week.