Anyone There Between 4/16 and 24, 2005 ?

Zurgerific

Earning My Ears
Joined
Nov 11, 2003
Messages
62
If so, I would greatly appreciate your detailed input on the crowds and the weather during that time peiod as I am beginning the planning process for our 2006 trip.

thanks and happy disneying !
 
We left for Disney on the 16th of April for a week. The parks were pretty crowded (because many new england schools were on their spring break) but my family of 8 were able to troop through fine with minimal waits thanks to fastpasses and tourguide Mike. The longest line we waited in was for a sneak peak of soarin' (45 min- totally worth it- everyone loved it!!). Our average wait time was probably 10-20 min (but I admit I spend months working on our itinerary to minimize waits.) The lines for the rides were not very long but the parks were pretty crowded (my aunt felt "like she was being herded like cattle"- but she likes to complain alot).
The weather was nice. It was chilly the first day (mid 70's maybe) and I had to wear pants but after that it was in the 80's. It rained once for maybe an hour. Excellent weather but pack some pants just in case!!! we did a fireworks cruise at MK and it was FREEZING!!! we brough our own blankets plus they provided 6 more but it was still VERY cold (mostly because we were on the windy lake).
Hope you have a wonderful trip!!!
 
Hi Zurgerific!! My DH, DD 4 and myself will be going the week after you go!!
Isn't it fun to plan this far in advance?? Have fun and keep us updated with any great tips you find!!
 
In 2005, Easter was on March 27th. In 2006, Easter falls on April 16th. For your purposes a better crowds/year-to-year comparison might be to compare "weeks after Easter", regardless of dates. Historically the two weeks around Easter(the week before and the week after) are some of the most crowded, next to Christmas/New Years week. Also, in 2006 I think that Passover takes place during some of your timeframe(12th until 20th?).

agnes!
 

We were there from 4-17 to 4-25 and we thought the crowds were phenomenal. We waited 1 hour 40 minutes to ride Soarin' (all 8 minutes of it). Some of the fast passes for Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror were 3 hours past the current time. We would fast pass one, and wait in the line for the other one, so it all worked out for us.

As far as bussing from the hotel (ASMo), we thought it was great. No wait at all in the mornings--coming back at night it was always a full bus. Only had to wait a few times to get on one.

We noticed that Sundays seem to be the busiest day in Magic Kingdom.

The crowds didn't bother us--because we figure it's ALWAYS busy at Disney, no matter when you go. You can plan and plan and plan and try to make it around the time when you think it's dead, and then a high school band, cheerleaders and baseball team shows up x 5 Ya just never know...
 
Oh yeah...and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!! Around 80 everyday--clear/sunny. One day of rain (Saturday) for about 2 hours. It was definitely a nice week to go....especially since it snowed back here in PA. :earseek:
 
We had beautiful weather for most days, but the nighttime temperatures dropped into the 40s. In fact, there was a run on sweatshirts in the Main Street shops right after dinner--the CMs had to bring out racks and racks of Halloween-themed sweatshirts to accomodate people. It pays to bring a sweatshirt and jeans, even to sunny Florida! And I would not have wanted to be at the water parks, even during the day. We also had a rainstorm.

The lines on the rides weren't bad, but the Magic Kingdom felt very crowded--it was a little sardine-esque. At the same time, priority seatings were secured less than a month in advance with few problems, so it couldn't have been that bad.
 
agnes! said:
In 2005, Easter was on March 27th. In 2006, Easter falls on April 16th. For your purposes a better crowds/year-to-year comparison might be to compare "weeks after Easter", regardless of dates. Historically the two weeks around Easter(the week before and the week after) are some of the most crowded, next to Christmas/New Years week. Also, in 2006 I think that Passover takes place during some of your timeframe(12th until 20th?).

agnes!

ugh ! Easter is that late next year, huh ? Well thanks for calling that out. i may very well have to re-adjust my timing.
 
Zurgerific said:
ugh ! Easter is that late next year, huh ? Well thanks for calling that out. i may very well have to re-adjust my timing.


Yes, Easter is that late AND our upstate NY school ... which usually mirrors the New England school districts ... will be on break from April 14 - 24, 2006.

We visited the main parks April 18-21 and felt the crowds were bigger each day. I was hoping some of you people would go home. ;) The forecast for Friday 4/22 was sunny and mid-80s, which to us means swim time! We went to Typhoon Lagoon and had a wonderful day, though the main pool was also crowded there.

By getting to the parks at opening or shortly thereafter we took care of our must-do list easily, we also ate lunch prior to noon, had an ice cream snack around 4 and then left the parks for dinner or had something fast-foodish around 7. By doing this we didn't encounter any unbearable lines.

Sure, less crowded would have been better, but it sure was nice weather. :sunny:
 
We arrived on 4/16 and left on 4/27. We thought it was extremely crowded and had to rework some of our plans because of it. We ended up forfeiting our morning PS's to get on the big rides early. That also meant giving up Cinderella's (Boo Hoo), but we found the waits to be extreme if we had a big breakfast like planned. You really need to beat the crowds in the morning.

Because of the crowds, it wasn't the best vacation for us, but that's just us. My mom was with us and thought it was extremely "hot", while I don't even feel warm unless its 85. She doesn't do mornings, but doesn't like to be left behind. Sigh...What to do. My son is ADHD and got upset at any wait over 20 minutes. I don't know what we're going to do in the future. I just got a teaching credential and my son is now in middle school. I'm not sure when we would go that would make everyone happy.
 
We were there from 4/16 - 4/23. Crowds were larger than I was anticipating, but they were manageable with FP's and EMH (particularly the a.m. ones). Plus, it helped that we were there for a good amount of time, so we didn't have to go "commando."

The weather was some of the best I have ever experienced in all my years of visiting Florida. Beautiful days with (drum roll, please...) almost no rain!! Literally, DH and I stuck around the MK for a couple of our final hours, just walking Main Street, browsing the shops, etc., and it was our last 30 minutes of an 8 day vacation before we had to pull out our ponchos (and then it was just a few sprinkles). Of course, it did start POURING rain on our way to the airport, but at that point, we didn't care! The temps were a bit cool the 1st couple of days (really glad I packed a couple of sweatshirts and jeans), but it was then near perfect in the high '70s/low '80s the rest of the week.

I agree - you should check Easter-level crowds for next year, or consider moving your dates. My DH turned 30 on 4/16 - and as I told him - "man, you better be glad you turned 30 this year - there would be NO WAY we would do these dates next year!!!"
 
I was in FL from the 16th to the 23rd, and while MK was crowded, I do not feel the other parks were that busy. I do have two Christmas and one Easter visit in my trip histories so that's what I judge "crowded" by. I always think it's worth it to be at the parks at opening and take an afternoon break.

One evening we were able to get great views for Illuminations just 20 to 25 minutes before the show. We scored wonderful seats for Fantasmic, and were seated very quickly for all our PS. The boys (24 and 16) wanted to eat at Sci-Fi Dine in (without a PS) and we had a choice of 11:45 or after 2, so walking into sit-down restaurants might have been tough for folks who don't call ahead of time. We had excellent seats for Spectro, and even watched Wishes from one of the hub walkways on Wed that week.

Weather was GREAT and we spent a long time at TL on Thursday. Loved Crush n Gusher, suggest doing that early in day to avoid lines in the afternoon.

HTH
 
Hi, we were at WDW 4/15-4/23. We went during our Massachusetts April vacation week and saw many folks with Red Sox clothing; lots of NE people! As noted by the earlier posters, much of NE and some of NY usually has the 3rd week of April off each year. However, there is often some variation in different areas. Next year will be interesting with Easter so late; not even sure yet what week we will have off for school.

The parks were crowded, but ok if you went early and used fastpasses. By lunchtime MK was pretty unbearable and we tended to leave for breaks. I found Tomorrowland particularly crowded. MK was also pretty good in the evenings; we walked on rides such as Pirates and HM by 8:30 pm or so. Epcot never seems as crowded, but were were not able to get on TT; too late for fastpasses and we did not want to wait 70 minutes! AK was fine in the morning, but VERY crowded by noon. It is also a very hot park when crowded. Fastpasses are the only way to do the safari without a long wait, unless you get there early!

We had PS for all sit-down meals and heard many folks without PS being turned away. However, friends who were down the same week were able to make PS the morning of each meal....not always the exact places and times they wanted, but they were flexable. As for the weather, perfect!! As the other posters said, a bit cool the first couple of days, but still better than home (ha ha...it is only 50 degrees here now). Otherwise, low 80s, no humidity, and no rain. We were actually in the airplane waiting to take off when the rain on the 23rd hit...so lucky. We have gone this same week in the past and had equally good weather.

Overall, I think the 3rd week in April is a good time to go, but I would be wary about next year with Easter so late. Have fun planning!!
 
We felt the parks were NOT very crowded. We purposely went to a park on a day with no early entry or late night. We got to the gate as the park opened and were able to do fine using stand by and fast pass. In MK my daughter did the 3 mountains within the first hour. She did Space first while we got fast passes for Splash, By the time she got over there we didn't even need the fast passes, we still got on within 5 minutes.We then did Thunder with no wait.

We saw Wishes twice, Illuminations twice. We were at BWV, so it was easy to walk over to Epcot shortly before 9:00.

Our longest wait was at AK because we went straight to the Safari, and had about a 20 minute wait. All the trucks had loaded up and we had to wait for them to complete the Safari before we could get on. We saw some long stand by lines at all the parks, so we just skipped the ride and came back at another time.

At MGM we were able to do Tower and RNR multiple times by doing standby first thing and getting fast passes.

The weather was perfect with no rain, and a little cool at night. The last 2 years we have been down the 3rd week in June with hotter weather and worse crowds, so this was a nice surprise. Definitely do not do this week when it is near Easter.

Denise
 
We were there from April 18th-26th. We did not think the crowds were bad at all. We never waited more than 15 minutes in line. We ate at Peco Bills at lunchtime with no problem finding a table. We tried to get to the parks early, and we left at around 3pm most days, returning around 7pm.I really think this is a great time to go to DW. The weather was just great, we had rain on Saturday afternoon, but only for a short while and it did not stop us from doing anything.The rest of the week it was warm and sunny! We also went to Universal for 3 days, I actually thought that was a little more crowded, maybe because we were there on the weekend, and it was senior grad weekend for Florida kids. We were able to go on most rides in IOA with little or no wait. :wizard:
 












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