Coping with Easter Crowds

soozeeQ

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 23, 2004
Messages
14
Hi!

This is our first trip to Disney (DH, DD7 and DS7mos). We will arrive at PC on April 4th and leave early Easter Sunday. I'm a little nervous about the Easter crowds that I've been hearing about. Just how bad can I expect it to get? We probably will have to go with the flow and won't be able to plan our days - DS will rule the schedule. Should I still try to get some PS's or is it too late for that? Will we still be able to enjoy our trip? Any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks

:crowded: :headache:
 
Here is a post I had copied for my own planning purposes. I'm sorry i dont know the OP to give credit to! But I used his/her advice in planning my upcoming trip.

Also, I was able to get all my PS for April 7 week just last week so you should call now! I would also at least work up a loose plan of where you want to go each day and then adjust as needed. Otherwise you may be overwhelmed and stressed!


1. If you have gone other times of year and it was not Christmas week or July 3-5, then you will not know what crowded really means until you get there during Easter time. Easter makes most summer weeks look like off season.

2. If you want to eat dinner at any time after 5 and before 9 at a sit down restaurant in a park, make your ressies now. I saw a walk-up family to Crystal Palace at 6 on Good Thursday ask for the "next available seating time for dinner" and the CM said, "Tuesday at 8:30." With resort reataurants, you can usually get a time somewhat close to what you want by calling the day before. But you should make a ressie if you intend to eat.

3. MK will be packed to the gills every day. On Easter Sunday it has its worst day and often goes to capacity; both the day before and day after Easter almost reach the same level. Good Friday (for no known reason) is often MK's lightest day of the holiday period -- but that is relative; it means the lines for popular rides without fast passes will be 90 minutes rather than 2 hours. The mountains, Pooh, Peter Pan, and Dumbo will have sustained, morning to closing lines 90 minutes to more than 2 hours. Even Swiss Family Treehouse can get to over an hour. Fast pass is a necessity. Also, the lines may reduce for a brief period to 30 minutes for those popular rides during a parade.

4. Fast Passes for the entire day at any park for a popular ride can run out before noon.

5. Most crowded time of day at any park is between 10:30 and 3. At MK, between 4 and 8, you can often hit some attractions -- Haunted Massion, Pirates, Tiki, Small World, Carousel -- with a short line (no more than 20 minutes and sometimes a walk-on) even though they can be 60 to 90 minutes in the morning to early afternoon. After 8, huge crowds start to return. The same holds true after 3 at Epcot for all but the new Mission Space and Test Track (those two will likely hover at the 3 hour regular line wait most of the day and evening); and at MGM after 4 for all but Tower and RnR. In other words if you see huge lines at a ride in the morning, skip it, and try later in the day if you intend not use fast pass for it.

6. Crowds on the streets at MK can get so packed between 10:30 and 3 that it can actually take 25 minutes just to walk from Space Mountain to the center stage area in front of the castle (without crowds it can be done in under 7 minutes).


7. Epcot and AK tend to have their lightest days of the holiday season on Easter and the day before (forget about any of those falacies you have heard about weekends being more crowded; weekdays are worse at that time of year for those parks); again that is relative it just means it will be very crowded and not completely overwhelming. MGM is also fairly good for those days.

8. Very late in the day it is sometimes easy to get on most rides at AK.

9. If they have two Fantasmics in the same evening, the second one will not fill and you can walk in right near starting time. If they have only one, then decide now to either get the dinner package or plan to get in line 60 minutes or more before show time if you intend to actually get in. If there are two Fantasmics, then Tower and RnR sometimes get to below 30 minute lines during the first one.

10. The water parks tend to reach capacity by 11:00 and then start to take in new customers again after 2:30.

11. People actually start setting up camp for curbside views of the 3 p.m. parade at MK starting as early as 1. Unless you want to do that, and then have to fight off interlopers, it is best to just find some elevated area, like the Town Hall steps, shortly before a parade.

12. Once there, check for actual opening times and don't just rely on those usual early entry times; they sometimes just open all the parks an hour early during that time of year (and don't decide to do so until you are there).

13. Avoid MK on Easter Sunday. Contrary to what most believe when they go there on Easter Sunday, absolutely nothing goes on there that you cannot see other days during the holiday period.
 
I have been to WDW at Easter the last 3 years and although the parks were crowded, they were not what I had envisioned them to be. I thought they would be more crowded than they really were.

Yes, FP for the most popular rides ran out early, so just plan accordingly and try to get them in the morning. Your son is still young, so you are right in thinking he will set the tone for the day. Have your daughter pick out the rides and or shows she really wants to see, and make sure you see those first. Then you can do and see whatever else.

Just remember, relax and have fun. You are in the happiest place on earth!!
 
Thanks for the info and words of encouragement! I'm feeling a bit better now. We still haven't told DD that we're going to Disney World in less than 11 days!!! We'll tell her after her birthday party this weekend - can't wait to see her reaction!!!! She's been asking to go but we told her we had to wait until DS is a little older...

I thought of a couple more questions:

Which parks should we tackle on which days? We're ok with visiting different parks in one day and plan to spend afternoons back at the hotel pool and/or water parks.

What are your favourite counter-service restaurants in each park?

Thanks again!


:happy1: princess: :angel:
 

I don't know if that great post with all the info stressed this enough, so I will say it-
Go to parks when they open, get there 30 minutes before they open. Check real vs. official open times, sometimes they open a park early.

I would make some PS right now. Lunch or early dinner.

Which parks on which day depends a lot on my first point, get there early- IF you can be in a park for extra magic hour, or early entry, go to that park for the morning, otherwise do not go to that park!

EE days are, Sunday to Saturday-MADE MAD

M- Magic Kingdom (Sun)
A- Animal Kingdom (Mon)
D- Disney Studios (Tue)
E- Epcot (Wed)

M-Magic Kingdom (TH)
A- Animal Kingdom (Fri)
D- Disney MGM (Sat)

I highly recommend that you get The Unofficial Guide to WDW book. It has tons of very good information in it.
 
Surprise!! I called this morning and got all the PS's I requested for Easter week (with the exception of Cinderella's Breakfast at the Castle -but I'll keep trying for a cancellation - wish me luck!). I was surprised that it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Looks like we'll be able to sit down and eat with the characters after all.

Here's another question for the pro's:

How many of you overbook your PS's to ensure you're in the right place at the right time? I only booked one per day and am wondering if I should book a few more just in case we can't make it to one or two and have to cancel because of DS7mos.

Where can we expect it to be the quietest when the parks are crowded. In other words, what's your favourite spot to go to get away from it all?

Thanks again!

:happy1: princess: :angel:
 
Columbia Harbour House at MK tends to be quiet. I haven't seen Yakitori House get crowded, probably because of the food and the location--a bit hidden away. Hit the parks early, and have early lunch, as soon as the restaurants open. It worked for us with our two boys.
 
HI, We went during Easter week two years in a row. The first year we went the week before Easter and the 2nd year we went the week after Easter. The week after Easter we felt was much worse, but it could have just been that year and not the same every year. My advice is the same as a few others have said, GO TO THE PARKS EARLY. Try to arrive at least 1/2 hour before the park opens. We went to the M.K. both Easter Sundays. The first year we went to church at the Contemporary (very early) and arrived at the M.K. by 8:15. We were at fantasyland for the rope drop and did an amazing amount of rides by 10:30 AM. What we have found really works is to make a late breakfast PS or early lunch. Then, everyone can sit down and relax in the AC. (I have three kids) Then, we usually go back to the hotel for a swim and nap for the youngest child. After the break we usually go to another park, but only with the expectation of doing very few things at that park.

To answer your questions on the PS's. I think the first year we went to Disney (not during Easter week) I had a few days with multiple PS's so we could decide right before that day what we wanted to do. It was a little hard, because I also had to remember to cancel them as soon as our plans were confirmed. The 1st time we went during Easter week I had one day with two PS's for a breakfast and got a call from a CM a few days before leaving, asking me to chose which PS I wanted to keep. They said it was tooo busy at Disney during that time to have two PS for the same person at the same time. Which really makes sense, but I just wasn't sure what we would do that day. Anyway, I did decide and we just went with the plans. Hope that helps.
 
I would try to make PS for most meals. You will find counter service lines to be extremely long and seating hard to come by at peak meal times. A nice sit down meal provides a break from the crowds and doesn't really add that much time.
 

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