Crowds/Weather for 2nd/3rd weeks of April

[JonFozz]

Hi, it's been 5 years since we visited WDW with our last trip back at Christmas 2010. We are staying off site this time around and will be arriving April 6th for 2 weeks. This site was a great help last trip, especially as we were celebrating my wife's birthday, so I thought I would ask a quick question. What is the weather like in April & how are the park crowds around the Easter period? Like I said we visited at Christmas last time and it was manic with the crowds, but staying on site at Port Orleans helped. This time we were hoping for a more chilled our trip...fingers crossed.

Thanks

 

[kniquy]

I think crowds are expected to be pretty heavy leading up to and right after Easter. I am there for a convention (not that it should draw a ton of people). Marathon weekend starts drawing people in probably Thursday the 20th, but it seems that might be when you are leaving to head home. I would think your best week will be the first week, so take advantage of probably lower crowds then. I think Easter is busy, but not Christmas busy.

There are some predicted crowd calenders this is from wdw prep.

April 2017

• April 1-7 - lighter crowds to start off April, just before the busy Easter crowds begin
• April 8-16 - Easter week, one of the busiest weeks of the year at Disney World
• April 17-26 - Disney World is usually busy the week after Easter, but we looked at dozens and dozens of the largest school districts and almost none of them have this week off in 2017, likely due to Easter falling so late in April

APRIL 2017 WEATHER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
April weather completes the shift from the variable and cooler temperatures of winter to the warmer and more consistent temperatures of spring.

For example, at the beginning of April, 60% of the time the daily high will be between 72 and 87. By the beginning of May, 60% of the time the daily high will be between 80 and 90.

All in, April weather is as good as it gets at Walt Disney World.

 

[need2travel]

DH & I go for Easter Week almost every year & while it's crowded it's totally doable. For MK & HS we get there for rope drop to hit all our fav's then leave around lunch to go back to the resort for a swim & nap before getting ready to go to dinner. AK (if we go) & Epcot we do at our own pace at whatever time we get there. I usually lose 3 mornings of the trip because DH is a huge golfer & absolutely loves the courses at Disney. I can't complain though, if golf for him is what gets me to Disney World then he can play all he wants!

As for the weather it is usually close to perfect-very little rain, a lot of sun & nice warm temps.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Mj05burd]

I am going from April 17 - 23 and have seen so many different predictions for crowd level this week. It is the week after Easter so many sites are predicting it to be extremely busy since that week is, however Easter is so late this year a lot of other sites are saying not too many schools are off this week.

 

[MrsHammer]

We were there from April 9 - 15th in 2016 and the weather was great. Most days we had highs in the low 80's, with lows in the low 60's/upper 50's. It was a bit cool at night on the first couple of days, so we had light jackets and were fine. It was also a little cool each morning as we headed out around 7:15am. But, by the time we arrived at the parks and started touring, the temp was more comfortable.

Easter was much earlier in 2016, so the Easter/Spring Break crowds were ending. However, there were a large number of visitors from Great Britain during our visit. I'm not sure if that was a coincidence or if that occurs around early/mid April every year. Even with that though, crowds were very manageable.

 

[JennyDrake]

Weather is great--crowds will be THICK. Even if not Easter, it is (still) Spring Break for many school systems--and don't forget the growing number of school systems on year round school with frequent breaks. The Star Wars 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon also draw huge crowds (I was there in 2016): waits for headliners were 60-90 minutes at 11:00 am....

ROPE DROP IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.

 

[JonFozz]

Thanks guys for all your help...counting down the days to when we go. Can't wait!

 

[heidijanesmith]

I stayed at the Coronado for a conference last mid-April and loved the weather! Shorts and t-shirts, but evenings a light jacket was perfect.

I noticed huge crowds at MK on Saturday, midweek was much better.

I would go in April again, no problem

 

[housetomouse]

Hi, it's been 5 years since we visited WDW with our last trip back at Christmas 2010. We are staying off site this time around and will be arriving April 6th for 2 weeks. This site was a great help last trip, especially as we were celebrating my wife's birthday, so I thought I would ask a quick question. What is the weather like in April & how are the park crowds around the Easter period? Like I said we visited at Christmas last time and it was manic with the crowds, but staying on site at Port Orleans helped. This time we were hoping for a more chilled our trip...fingers crossed.

Thanks

The parks will be crazy crowded during your second week/the week leading up to Easter. Everything will be crowded that week. It will be like Christmas crowds or worse. There may be some temporary park closures (has been in the past), but they didn't really affect us and they were brief. If you get there when the parks open that week, you'll have a wonderful first two hours before it gets crowded. By around 1pm, in Magic Kingdom, you'll be moving with the tide of the crowd, it gets shoulder-to-shoulder crowded in some places. Epcot handles the crowds much better, with more room to spread out. We used to go this week before FP+ and always got to the parks early, had an ADR for lunch, then chilled at the hotel to swim during the most crowded part of the afternoon. Counter service can be pretty crazy in the parks (MK and HS in particular) this week. With two full weeks, though, you won't feel rushed to get a lot done each day. I think that will allow you to take a chilled approach to the trip. Have fun!

 

[housetomouse]

Also, the weather is usually good but one year we went it was quite cold (40s). Watch the weather forecast as you get closer to your trip dates.

 

[Westy239]

Because my daughter is a teacher, we go every year the week before Easter, her spring break. It is very, very crowded. Afternoons in the Magic Kingdom are to be avoided. Weather has varied every year. It can be very pleasant to very hot as you get into the month of April. We are used to the crowds and don't let it get us down. Usually there are later hours especially in the Magic Kingdom and we get to do a lot later at night when the crowds die down.

 

[Accident]

The very end of the month is the start of the college aged cheer championships so try to avoid the last week in my opinion. last year, the rest of april was amazing and I'm hoping for a repeat (but easter wasn't in april).

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

I was thinking about going to the Orlando Photoshop World conference April 20-22, but that's school vacation week, so prices are ridiculous for flights ($500-1,000 more than the usual price, for one person coach round-trip!) and I wouldn't attempt going to Disney the day before the conference or the last day and day after because of the crowds (go to Orlando without going in the parks?! Surely you jest!). Disney rooms cost more that week, too, as I priced it out.