10 days surrounding Easter - with a crowd !! Should I wait a year?

[bdarling]

I am potentially planning a big vacation for 10 days, where Easter is the middle. We are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek near DTD, and driving from MA. My extended family wants to come because it is around Easter break for the people around the country. My daughter goes to a private school which always has the last 2 weeks of March off - this year that includes Easter. Public schools in MA usually have a week including Presidents Day in Feb, and a week including MA Holiday for Patriots Day (April 15ish), but her school does it on the college break schedule. Sometimes the April vacation includes Easter, like it did last year, but not usually.

I am on the fence about canceling, since my family is not booked yet. We only have the resort booked, and I can cancel until 15 days before.

My DD, age 14, and I are die hard rope-droppers. I also have a disabled son who is in a wheelchair, and we will get the updated disability pass for him (nice info on that on another thread). My DH has Parkinson's, so I am not sure if he will need a scooter, but most likely he will. Neither DS nor DH will do the coaster rides, so we are going to schedule some of their FP+ for rides for me and DD. We will also have a caregiver (good family friend) with us to help out with DS. She is not a coaster rider either, so we may use some of her FP+ too. Some will be used for the things he can do like TSMM, Peter Pan, and Small World. He can't get out of the wheelchair, so we will do lots of shows too.

My long winded question is this - how bad are the Easter week crowds? If we all leave when DS and DH are done shortly after early lunch, will we be able to get back in the park? I always liked the leave after lunch, and return later strategy, but we have never gone during high peak time. I have heard during the highest peak times, that you can't get back in later. Is that often true? Also, for the wheelchair and scooter, is it too unwieldy with the crowds?

My other issue is the rest of our extended family. I know they will not be at RD, but we are making it clear what our strategy is and how to book FP+, so they will need to deal with it on their own. I will not wait for 10 other people! My plan is to try to meet for lunches and for shows if we are all in the same parks. I know they will not do the FP+ scheduling online. I don't know if I should try to book it all for all of us either. I will try for a large group for Hoop-Di-Doo, which we always love, and MAYBE a character breakfast for the kids (DD and I will not do that, but I will book it)

DD and I are thinking of waiting until 2017, when her break will not be at Easter. She really wants to see Harry Potter over at Universal, but I can't imagine that will be easy with these crowds. At least FP+ gives us a shot at shorter lines for 3 rides a day at WDW.

Easter week advice?

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I've been Easter week the past two years and with a good planning strategy, the crowds are manageable. The weather is usually nice, which is a plus. You and your DD seem to have a pretty good grasp of your touring plan and it sounds like you'll be fine. It may be a little stressful, but try to schedule your FPs during the afternoon when the park is busiest, so you aren't waiting even longer for rides. It is busy, but we had minimal waits at Rope Drop and we didn't mind the crowds.

I wouldn't handle anyone else's Fastpasses, but I would book any other group events you want to do and make sure your family knows when and where, and has transportation there.