Crowds the week before Easter??

[tiggersthebest]

Planning next year's trip already and looking for some advice. Being a teacher I am at the mercy of my school schedule so I go during the summer. However, this upcoming year my spring break is the week before easter instead of the week of easter. This would be April 10-17. Can anyone tell me if it is really crowded at this time of year??? If the crowds are the same as August then $$ comes into play (because I am a teacher!!!) But I am willing to pay more for less crowds and less heat. Any advice would be appreciated.

Mom of two princesses

 

[KimR]

We've gone during Spring Break for the past 2 years; one of which was Easter week (the week prior to Easter). It was extremely crowded! I've never been in August but we have gone in June and Easter week was much, much worse. If I had to choose, I'd pick August in a heartbeat; in addition to being less crowded is also much cheaper (value season as opposed to peak season). Then again, I don't mind the heat and actually prefer the warmer summer months; April is still a little chilly for me.

Having said that, we are going in April again next year (DH hates the heat and refuses to go in the summer) and probably will for as long as the kids are in school, so obviously it's not that bad!

 

[dvcgirl]

Less heat, for sure, but less crowds, no I'm afriad not. The two weeks that straddle Easter Sunday are very busy.

Do you ever get any time off in November or February? That's a nice alternative for some teachers....

 

[Lizzybee]

We were there this Spring Break, part before Easter and part after. Maybe it's a matter of perspective and being used to waiting up to 2 hours for a roller coaster at the local theme park, but it didn't seem all that crowded to me. I did notice that MK got more and more crowded as the day went on but we were there for early EMH and had every ride / attraction we wanted to do plus had breakfast and saw some characters (not together) before 2pm and went to Epcot. MGM was not at all crowded when we were there. Epcot was a breeze the 4 times we went there. AK was crowded but it was Saturday and early EMH day (I wouldn't recommend using this early EMH almost EVERYONE goes straight to the safari anyway so it's not a big advantage to get there early). That was our only weekend park day. Sunday we stayed at the resort, went to DTD and then took a Wishes Cruise. IMHO, it was MUCH less crowded the one time we went in November, but Spring Break was very nice and crowds were manageable. I would go back at Spring Break before I'd take a summer trip, I don't like extreme heat (you can always put more clothes on but you can only take off so many before they arrest you ) Hope that helps!

 

[Mr.BsMom]

We went this year the week before Easter... it was our son's spring break. It was VERY crowded!! We knew going into it that it would be, so we planned accordingly. We did a few EMH mornings (especially at MK! They had EMH morning every day we were there!), and when we felt like it was getting too crowded for us, we left and did something else. We love to park hop, so we were all over the place. We also took a "down" day where DH played golf and my son and I swam at the resort and did some laundry.

We've also been there in August... Hot, hot, hot!! Personally, I would rather go at Spring Break and deal with the crowds than go when it's that hot outside. I guess it's just personal preference... Easter will be packed, and a bit more expensive - but not nearly as hot. August will be less crowded, probably a little less pricey, but hotter than you-know-what. Plus, in August, you have to consider bad weather such as hurricanes as a possibility.

Having said all that.... In the words of my husband, "A bad (crowded, hot) day at DisneyWorld is still better than a good day at home (at work)!"

 

[tinkerbell60]

We did Spring Break in 2004 and are going back July 15 this year. The weather in April was awesome! Not too hot at all, no rain, in the evenings it was actually a little cool. The crowds were bad though - we were there starting on the Friday 1 week before Good Friday. The first few days weren't too bad but the closer we got to Easter the worse it got in terms of crowds. We left the Thursday before Good Friday. We missed a lot in MGM and AK actually closed due to capacity crowds the day we were there.

Cost wise it was also much more expensive. We did 6 nights at the WL, this time we are going for 10 days - 4 nights at the CR and 6 at WL. This trip is actually costing me $5 less than the first one for 6 nights during Spring Break. The new park ticketing helped save some money and I was able to get a better deal on airfare.

I can't compare the crowds to summer since we haven't gone yet but I can let you know in a few weeks.

Good luck with your decision.