Crowds Week After Easter

[BeenToDisney5Times]

Hello, I was wondering on average how busy Walt Disney World is for the week-weekend after Easter, and what would be a recommended arrival date for best prices, and possibly reduced crowds during that week?
Also, how would the crowds be the very end of March-very beginning of April (centered around March 31st-April 1st), particularly if Easter is before March 31st or after March 31st?
Any responses would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[champagne&disney]

End of March and first two weeks of April are some of the busiest weeks of the whole year at Disney World due to spring breaks for everyone. Going the last week of April is better for crowds.

 

[BeenToDisney5Times]

I do understand end of April-first three weeks of May-first two weeks of June is best for reduced crowds, however I was asking for end of March-beginning of April since I was thinking of possibly doing a future Disney Vacation for a special birthday during the end March-beginning April timeframe? Particularly if March 31st is before Easter/after Easter.
I want to absolutely avoid New Years, and probably Christmas/Thanksgiving/Autumn/peak Winter/peak Summer seasons if possible as well.

 

[CarolynFH]

The weeks before and after Easter rival Christmas to New Year's week in terms of attendance. If March 31-beginning of April falls outside of those two weeks, crowds are significantly less.

 

[BeenToDisney5Times]

So it would be better crowd wise for March 31st-April 1st to either have Easter fall on March 28th or earlier, or Easter to fall on April 11th or later to avoid significantly high crowds around March 31st-April 1st?

 

[champagne&disney]

I do understand end of April-first three weeks of May-first two weeks of June is best for reduced crowds, however I was asking for end of March-beginning of April since I was thinking of possibly doing a future Disney Vacation for a special birthday during the end March-beginning April timeframe? Particularly if March 31st is before Easter/after Easter.
I want to absolutely avoid New Years, and probably Christmas/Thanksgiving/Autumn/peak Winter/peak Summer seasons if possible as well.

The timing is going to as busy as the other peaks you mentioned - Easter is March 31 and that week following is going to be the busiest week of the spring.

 

[champagne&disney]

So it would be better crowd wise for March 31st-April 1st to either have Easter fall on March 28th or earlier, or Easter to fall on April 11th or later to avoid significantly high crowds around March 31st-April 1st?

It honestly depends on when schools schedule spring break. Most of the time it is the first week of April for a good part of the southeast. I would expect it to be crushed no matter when Easter falls.

 

[CarolynFH]

So it would be better crowd wise for March 31st-April 1st to either have Easter fall on March 28th or earlier, or Easter to fall on April 11th or later to avoid significantly high crowds around March 31st-April 1st?

If Easter is March 28, the week afterwards, through April 4, will be very crowded due to schools that schedule their Spring Break based on Easter and those that schedule based on the calendar ("always first week of April," etc.). If Easter is March 28, there may still be crowds after April 4, but they're likely to be lighter than the March 28-April 4 week.

 

[pinkxray]

We will be there Easter week. I did notice that many people in my state don’t have their school break that week. Most of CT seems to still have the third week of April as their spring break. I’m hoping that spreads the crowds out a little throughout April vs everyone going Easter week. For some reason my kids school has the week off following Easter off while most of my coworkers in different towns have the 14-19 off instead.

I still expect it to be jammed packed Easter week but like I said, I’m hoping the fact the many people seem to have varying weeks for spring breaks the crowds are spread out.

 

[loves to dive]

I usually go somewhere around the first few weeks in April since my birthday is April 5. I was there the week after that this year since my grand daughter's birthday is April 8 and I wanted to here for that. It was pretty slow. I have been the week that started the day after Easter and had some pretty low crowds then as well. It really depends on when Easter/Spring Break/Spring Fling race falls. Last year the race weekend ended the day after I arrived but it still seemed pretty low crowds for me. It also might depend on what you consider crowded. There are too many variables to factor in to really know. Maybe it is a slow year that year or people are going elsewhere or there is a pandemic or it's too hot or too cold or the moon is in retrograde with Venus rising.

 

[BeenToDisney5Times]

How would the crowds be at Disney World around March 31st-April 1st if Easter falls between April 5th-12th

Also, how would the crowds be at Disney World around March 31st-April 1st if Easter falls on April 13th or later?

I was just thinking about what year would be the best year to try for about a week at Disney centered around March 31st-April 1st. Reading up, it seems to avoid those days if Easter falls between March 29th-April 4th, but Easter can be before March 29th and after April 13th, would the years that Easter falls before March 29th or after April 13th be better for crowds around March 31st-April 1st?

 

[CarolynFH]

The week before and the week after Easter are almost as busy as Christmas to NYE. Look at your dates in regards to where they fall in that two week period.

 

[BeenToDisney5Times]

So if say, Easter falls on April 13th or later, it would be more crowded centered around April 7th-April 21st rather than say March 28th-April 3rd?

Or otherwise, if Easter falls on March 23rd-26th, it won't be as crowded for say March 29th-April 5th?

 

[sponica]

So if say, Easter falls on April 13th or later, it would be more crowded centered around April 7th-April 21st rather than say March 28th-April 3rd?

Or otherwise, if Easter falls on March 23rd-26th, it won't be as crowded for say March 29th-April 5th?

It's hard to tell because spring breaks occur on a distribution curve in the United States. Someone somewhere is on a school break from the 3rd week in February (President's Day week) through the 4th week in April, with peaks in mid March and the week before and after Easter.

The weeks to avoid are when the weeks before/after Easter coincide with school vacations that are standardized.

ETA: Standard vacation weeks in April are the 3rd week in April (Massachusetts), 4th week in April (NH). I'm sure there are other states but I only know those 2.

 

[Mouseturtle]

I have a work trip the week after Easter (April 2-5) and want to sneak in a full Disney day - would it be better to choose Monday (April 1, day after Easter) or April 5, the Friday after?

 

[BeenToDisney5Times]

I got my answer to my question reading various threads in the past few days.
I am avoiding going to Disney World for the time being, unless I get a offer of my life for me to go, which I doubt will happen.
The crowds are absolutely beyond crazy, and wait a minute, Park Hopping was closed to Magic Kingdom today for the first time since October 1 2021?
Not to mention Genie+ has sold out on numerous days.
For the folks who have been in the parks today, April 4 2024, would you say today is as crowded as Christmas/New Years, less crowded than Christmas/New Years, or even more crowded than Chrismas/New Years
Also, does anybody else seem to think the new less crowded season seems to be happening around July-August (I would hate going to Disney then, the heat would be absolutely unbearable unless I was inside 90% of the time)
One of these years, I would hope to be able to go last week or March-first week of April with lesser crowds, but that will be quite a while away

 

[elvispursley]

We've been to the parks over the years during any one of the summer months and crowds have definitely been lower than months like late March/April. We used to love going in Oct. but that month isn't so "quiet" anymore. Our trip last year was right after Labor Day and I haven't seen the parks with that much empty space for walking in a long time. There were actually more crowds during our MNSSHP than during regular park hours during our 10=day stay. I will never make the mistake of going to the parks around Easter/prime spring break time. Worst crowds I've ever encountered, IMO.

 

[kylenne]

Also, does anybody else seem to think the new less crowded season seems to be happening around July-August (I would hate going to Disney then, the heat would be absolutely unbearable unless I was inside 90% of the time)

July has not been peak crowds for years at this point. Even before the pandemic closures summer had been trending downward crowd wise. They even started offering free dining in July, which was unheard of.

Late August otoh has always been slower. Labor Day weekend also.

 

[mindreader]

Looking ahead to these dates next year. Easter comes much later in mid April. So how do we think the end of March / early April 2025 will be?

 

[elvispursley]

Looking ahead to these dates next year. Easter comes much later in mid April. So how do we think the end of March / early April 2025 will be?

My guess is there will still be "spring break" crowds (I know my kids' spring break, even now that they're in college, still happens late march). The crowds likely won't be quite as bad, but when my DH and I went one year, not realizing it was Easter (it was late April that year), that was when we were like, "oh heck no! We will never make this mistake again").