Advice from current Spring Breakers(or just back)

[momimouse27]

We are going down for a couple of days this week for a short impromptu break, and will be relaxing and shopping for a couple of days and going into the park for one day.

I've been hearing about these awful crowds, and I pretty much know what to expect since I've been during spring break before. But, the accounts here sound much worse than what I've experienced in the past. I'm trying to piece together a strategy to make the best of things. I have an autistic son, and even though he doesn't like lines, being in WDW all on its own is heaven to him. He'll just want to ride the TTA and COP 30 times over and over.

Anyway, I was on the touring plans website looking at the graphs for wait times yesterday. It seems the low wait times are in the mornings, then get really awful from 12-4, and by 9 pm they are really low. I can handle this since I prefer MK at night anyhow.

My question is, does this sound accurate to those of you who have been in the last few days/weeks? Are the crowds tapering off in the evening or have the wait times been as awful at night as they are in the daytime? Just wondering if its worth it/realistic to leave in the middle of the day and then come back later. We don't usually do this, since Im not a morning person, but I'm willing to try because of the crowds. Thanks...any imput will be helpful!

Oh, also, anyone have a recommendation on whether it would be better to go into MK on Thursday or Friday? I have looked at the three crowds sites, just looking for other opinions. Thanks!

 

[appleorchard]

Just got back yesterday. Crowds definitely thinned out at night for the non-headliners such as the Peoplemover and CoP, not so much for the biggies like the mountains. Mornings were not bad at all until around 11 am, when the crowds came pouring in.

Because some rides that used to be easy to get on at any time -- such as Mickey's Philharmagic -- are FP+ choices (and for people who come in to the park late, possibly the only choices left), the standby lines for these are much longer. We actually left the line for Philharmagic -- which was out the door -- after 20 minutes on Wednesday, because it was apparent that very few SB people were getting in. PoC also went through periods where getting on SB was very difficult due to large numbers of FP+ people coming through.

However, Wednesday was an absolutely horrible day at MK for crowds; most days aren't that awful.

FP+ is good and bad; using it for your best advantage takes some experimentation with your own touring style.

 

[cvjw]

We were there the 1st week of April, and agree that the rope drop crowds were very manageable. We could ride all of the headliners at the MK early in the morning with little to no wait. Right after lunch was another story - the crowds were huge. We just went back the resort and relaxed for the afternoon. During the parades and fireworks at night, the lines were also very manageable.

Just FYI, we went to AK one afternoon around 4:00 and the wait for the Safari was non-existent - we just walked in the line until we boarded the vehicle. Also, the wait for EE was 5 minutes. We stayed until around 6:00 and rode multiple attractions with little to no wait.

 

[kjs1976]

Just got back from 4/6-4/11 stay. Arrived to all parks, except MK (long story, bussing issue) between 8:15 and 8:30. Were one of the fist 10-20 in a line each day. Got let in around 8:50 at each pk. This made a huge difference in getting on our headliners at least once, if not twice, enjoyed some non headliners until our FP, which I always started about 10-11 ish.

MK is another story. Went from 4-10 our arrival night, which was a EMH night we usually avoid. However, this was our only option to do MK twice. Had our 3 FP, which really helped. Wait times got shorter after 7:30. We walked right onto dumbo and LMM. Second MK day was supposed to be the lest day to go to MK all week! according to easy WDW and touring plans. We didn't get there early like I had planned due to a bus not showing up for over 40 min. We still got to PP flight (10 min wait), pooh, tea cups, and barnstormer. However, we had also planned astro orbitor in that time frame, but were unable to get there before our FP times started. Crowds were CRAZY all day. We shopped and did the Sorcerers if the Magic Kingdom and waited in a couple character lines in the afternoon. Ride wait times were ridiculous, but we didn't want to go back to our resort. Splash was down during our FP time but was up again before we left so we hit it about 4 when the stand by was 120 min and only had to wait about 10 min. We left about 6 and didn't do any other rides because the shortest times were around 45 min to 120 at the highest for splash and belle.

 

[momimouse27]

Thanks for the replies, it really helps. Honestly, I don't know how people plan their trips without these boards!

I am smh at myself for planning this. But I can't back out now the kids know, there would be mutiny! So, I'm going to make the best of the situation. Looks like rope drop is the best option for us. It might be better to take a mid day break anyway.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

We did MK yesterday. We were there from rope drop to about 2:00pm, then took a break. After break, we arrived around 6:00pm - we were able to do Buzz (20 minutes standby) and People Mover (walk on) before our 6:40 Space FP. After Space, we rode Speedway (posted 20 minutes - actual about 10), Philharmagic (theater about 3/4 full) and jungle cruise (posted 30 minutes - actual closer to 20-25) before 8:35pm.