Anyone else ever went the week before Easter?

[Julie Morrison]

Am I crazy? I'm starting to have second thoughts. Our family can usually only travel in July or Easter Break. I've done Disney in July and it was hot, hot, hot! The lines were bad. I figure it will be cooler in April (3rd - 10th, 2004). Any comments? Should we just not go because it will be miserable with all the crowds, or do you feel it is doable? We will be staying off site at Orange Lake Country Club and renting a car. We own timeshare and needed to use a week before it expired!

BTW, how do you guys get the countdown calendar to appear on your posts?
Thanks,
Julie: confused:

 

[Cmould]

The week before Easter is Spring Break time for most of the schools in Southern NJ. I have been to Universal during Spring Break but have only stayed onsite. FOTL made for a very relaxing vacation. The temps are in the high 70's during the day and 60's in the evenings. It would be doable if they are still selling the express passes IMHO.
Carol

 

[Julie Morrison]

Originally posted by Cmould
The week before Easter is Spring Break time for most of the schools in Southern NJ

So what about everyone else, when is your Spring Break next year?
Julie

 

[Julie Morrison]

So, if they are not selling the express passes, do you think we should just skip it? As of right now, they are selling them at the parks, but I can't order one for our visit on-line.
Last year our Spring Break was 2 weeks before Easter, and now this next one is the week before. I don't know how in the world they decide! Would still love to hear when other's Spring break is for 2004.
Julie

 

[patrickpiteo]

Julie,

We went Spring Break 2003. Get there early before the parks open. Be the first in (then run). See the new stuff first.

Do the same thing in the next day in the other park. You can walk on most stuff if you are there right when the parks open.

We did buy the fast pass only for the IOA when we were there. We had paid $15.00 at the gate. It did help us get through IOA and finish everything at 1 PM.

We are DVC members so we stay off site. Otherwise I would stay on site for FOTL.

Pat

 

[Julie Morrison]

Originally posted by patrickpiteo
Julie,

We went Spring Break 2003. Get there early before the parks open. Be the first in (then run). See the new stuff first.

Do the same thing in the next day in the other park. You can walk on most stuff if you are there right when the parks open.

I will definetly get there first thing and have a strategy. I just wondered if it's worth it. Did you enjoy yourself, or did you say "man, I'm never doing that again." It's not like I can't save the tickets, as long as I don't activate them. Orange Lake Country Club is a vacation in itself, with tons to do, so it wouldn't break my heart to just hang out at the pools. I would prefer to go to the parks, but don't want to come away wishing I hadn't.

We did buy the fast pass only for the IOA when we were there. We had paid $15.00 at the gate. It did help us get through IOA and finish everything at 1 PM.

I will buy them if they are available. Maybe there will be some other offers ( like the kodak one) that will come along between now and then. It's too bad the kodak passes expire before I could use them.


We are DVC members so we stay off site. Otherwise I would stay on site for FOTL.

Same here. We are Fairfield owners. I exchanged through RCI for Orange Lake. One good thing is that when we go to Epcot, we will be able to go in the VIP lounge and ride Fast Track as many times as we want, FOTL. My husband is a GM employee and since GM sponsors that ride we have VIP privilages. That should be fun!

Julie

 

[patrickpiteo]

Fast track one is the best rides in WDW ! The only problem is that it brakes down all the time. When it rains it aslo gets shut down cause it goes outside. You should have a lot of fun with no wait. The VIP booth there is cool. They used to have free drinks.

The key to seeing what you want is to go before opening to any park. If you go to US hit Shreik then Jimmy Neutron. Then head over to MIB. We seen everthing there without fast pass plus. We were done aound 5 PM.

In IOA hit the Hulk and then Spiderman, TD, first if you do not have fast pass plus. We were done there with fast pass plus at around 1 PM.

I am betting that they will be selling these things for a long time and will not get rid of them. Lets face it anything to make more money...

We also use valet parking. It cost $8.00 more but it leaves you closer to the entrance. We figure we are on vaction so another $10.00 is no big deal...

 

[Julie Morrison]

We also use valet parking. It cost $8.00 more but it leaves you closer to the entrance. We figure we are on vaction so another $10.00 is no big deal... [/B][/QUOTE]

OK, thanks for the idea, I didn't realize they had the valet parking. I read somewhere that there is special parking for AAA members. Do you know anything about that? That may have been at Disney!? Not sure.
The overriding theme to having a good time seems to be arrive before parks open and hit the popular rides first. It seems that maybe with a strategy it may be, not only doable, but enjoyable.

Pat, when you went in 2003, Spring Break, did you come away saying you would never do that again, or did you enjoy it. Be honest!
Julie

 

[patrickpiteo]

Originally posted by Julie Morrison
We also use valet parking. It cost $8.00 more but it leaves you closer to the entrance. We figure we are on vaction so another $10.00 is no big deal...

Originally posted by Julie Morrison
OK, thanks for the idea, I didn't realize they had the valet parking. I read somewhere that there is special parking for AAA members. Do you know anything about that? That may have been at Disney!? Not sure.
The overriding theme to having a good time seems to be arrive before parks open and hit the popular rides first. It seems that maybe with a strategy it may be, not only doable, but enjoyable.

Pat, when you went in 2003, Spring Break, did you come away saying you would never do that again, or did you enjoy it. Be honest!
Julie

Julie,

We did: EPCOT, MGM, MK, US, IOA, and time for the pool in the BCV, played miniture golf. We were there 7 days. We also had no rain and beautiful weather. We all had a great time and would do it again. We spent a day at each park. We even had time to go back to the hotel pool.

The key is planning... Get there early and take advatage of every little short cut. See the e-ticket rides first. Eat on off hours. We also used the 2-way radios. In WDW we would send one DS ahead with the tickets so that we could get fast pass's for another ride. The rest of us would hit the next ride line and then we would catch up to each other. The radios worked out great!

Never heard of AAA parking thing. Valet parking is free at WDW for DVC members.

 

[patrickpiteo]

By the way the Hard Rock Access Pass is a great deal and well worth it. You should see the people's faces as you zoom ahead....

 

[Julie Morrison]

Originally posted by patrickpiteo
Julie,

We did: EPCOT, MGM, MK, US, IOA, and time for the pool in the BCV, played miniture golf. We were there 7 days

What! No Animal Kingdom! Just kidding!


The key is planning... Get there early and take advatage of every little short cut. See the e-ticket rides first. Eat on off hours. We also used the 2-way radios. In WDW we would send one DS ahead with the tickets so that we could get fast pass's for another ride. The rest of us would hit the next ride line and then we would catch up to each other. The radios worked out great!


Great advice. We will have to remember to take our radios. I plan to do some careful planning. I've been soaking in everyone's advice and hopefully with all the tips I'm getting we will have a good time. I also joined "tourguidemike" to help with the Disney planning. Great sight by the way.
I don't know if you saw it or not, but I posted that I did join the Hard Rock Club. Seemed like a good deal to me! Anything to help!
Julie

 

[patrickpiteo]

How many days are you going for? Weve been to AK 3 times, just OK in my book... I saw TGM and took some tips from him last trip too. I used him to stay up to date on openings and closing times. WDW changes them soo many times... The parks should be open late when you are there.

If you stick to your plan you will be fine. Like I said we all had a great time. Who knows you might even wind up with some more free time on your hands....

 

[Julie Morrison]

Originally posted by patrickpiteo
How many days are you going for? Weve been to AK 3 times, just OK in my book...


We're going to be there from the 3rd of April, till the 10th of April, 2004. Of course we will be flying in and arriving, getting rental car, etc. Probably won't get to our resort until about 3 pm. That's a Saturday. We fly out on the morning of the 10th to go home. So won't be doing anything that date. Basically 6 full days. If we do anything at all that night we arrive it will be to just go check out IOA or US, since we will have 5 days on those passes and they will expire.
I have the 3 day park hopper passes for Disney, so don't want to waste them on a busy Saturday, for only half a day.
I've been to Animal Kingdom one time for just a few hours. My daughter's band played in the Disney parade, so we did a tiny bit of theme park visiting, but not much. I enjoyed the laid back atomosphere and was thinking we would do 1/2 day AK and 1/2 day Epcot.



I saw TGM and took some tips from him last trip too. I used him to stay up to date on openings and closing times. WDW changes them soo many times... The parks should be open late when you are there.
If you stick to your plan you will be fine. Like I said we all had a great time. Who knows you might even wind up with some more free time on your hands....

Thanks,
Julie