Don't be a Pinocchio - so tell me how crazy Spring Break is

[FantasiaMagic]

I know it is very expensive at this time (resort wise)

but how crazy are the parks? Is everything insane at this time?

I usually travel to WDW in the summer or during Jan/Feb, but am in the beginning thoughts of going during Spring Break 2015.

Is it very crowded?

 

[Carable]

We just went the week before Easter and had a great time. It was crowded, won't lie to you, but we rarely noticed it the way we toured. We almost always did the most recommended park, went at Rope Drop if we went in the morning (EMH at MK), relaxed in the afternoon at the pool and then went to another park and used our FP+. We saw a ton of new things, went on our favorite rides (usually multiple times) and had a great time. The weather was perfect and that made a huge positive impact on the experience too. I was afraid to, but with some planning it was super successful!

 

[luvsTink]

It really depends on when your spring break is. The time surrounding Easter is hectic, but our Spring break falls in mid March and rarely coincides with Easter. We went two years ago and thought it was not bad at all.
Anne

 

[ktlm]

Totally depends on when your spring break is. Ours this year was apparently before most, so our week according to the reports on the dis, and the wait times on apps which I kept an eye on, was not that crowded and the parks were fine. A week later it was packed. One of my friends from a different state went in 2013 and hit peak spring break week, and MK was closed to capacity almost every day of their trip. She said it was ridiculously crowded and she would never go at spring break again.

 

[JennyDrake]

I don't think "low" crowds exist as they did even 5 years ago...with that said, _I_ would not use the word "insane," but it is going to be very crowded. This year I was there the first week in March, which should be "before" most spring breaks and MK and AK were flat out miserably crowded.

Two years ago I was there the end of March and MK was jam packed every single day we tried.

Rope drop is your new best friend, then take a midday break and come back later.

 

[mcd2745]

Depends a lot on when Easter falls. This year, with a very late Easter (April 20), the breaks (and therfore the crowds) were a little more spread out.

Years like last year, with Easter falling on March 31, it put all the schools whose break is tied to Easter, on break at the same time as the largest number of schools whose breaks are not tied to Easter - last week of March/first week of April. Crowds were pretty insane the week before and after Easter last year.

Next year, Easter is April 5. So, again, you can excpect the 2 weeks leading into and the week after Easter to be pretty crazy (with capacity closures at MK likely the week before Easter). It won't be as bad for the first half of March, and then it will get much better by the middle of April.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

Went the week of March 23 totally crowded until Friday.

They closed MK on Wednesday. You have all the locals on spring break and they always have deals on tix's. I have gone pres week a few times and thanksgiving and this was the worse I've seen.

I think the best time is jan/ feb but the weather is iffy.

Last week in April and most of may is good. The weather is hot but dry so you don't have the humidity like the summer.

Next year our spring break is the week before Easter........so stay away from Disney that week, because it will be super crowded......all the locals with the Easter crowd...I'm skipping Disney next year...........well at least during spring break.

 

[Sparkly]

We're going the first two weeks of March next year!

Hope it's not going to be jam packed.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Depends a lot on when Easter falls. This year, with a very late Easter (April 20), the breaks (and therfore the crowds) were a little more spread out.

Years like last year, with Easter falling on March 31, it put all the schools whose break is tied to Easter, on break at the same time as the largest number of schools whose breaks are not tied to Easter - last week of March/first week of April. Crowds were pretty insane the week before and after Easter last year.

Next year, Easter is April 5. So, again, you can excpect the 2 weeks leading into and the week after Easter to be pretty crazy (with capacity closures at MK likely the week before Easter). It won't be as bad for the first half of March, and then it will get much better by the middle of April.

Yes, it totally depends on how many school districts have the same spring break week as you that year. Some schools have their break the same time each year, while others are tied to Easter. Our spring break is the first week in April. This year we went to MK and thought the crowds were not bad at all -- I read later that they were a 6. Next year, our spring break is Easter week and I wouldn't go to Disney during that time. Early March or late April should be fine.

 

[wendybeth75]

We arrived 2 weeks before Easter and found it very manageable. It was definitely more crowded than our October trips, but with planning it was fine. I wouldn't hesitate to go during this time again, unfortunately our next spring break is Easter week so we will be doing the first week in June instead I think.

 

[disneybliss2]

We've never been on spring break, so I can't add any input on that. I just wanted to say the title of your thread cracked me up."Don't be a Pinocchio" Too cute!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

These responses answer my questions pretty clearly, so thanks a bunch.

Like some of you said, with planning, it can be manageable. It will be crazy though. My Spring Break is always the week before leading into Easter. So that will bring in all of the crowds. Between rope drop, fast passes, and patience, everything should be ok.

Also, it will help that I would be going with a group of my girlfriends (young adults) so they wouldn't be too cranky about the crowds! lol

We are only in the beginnings of talking about a trip, hopefully it does.

Guess who's going to be the designated planner! Yup, me. And very happy about that

 

[scottmel]

These responses answer my questions pretty clearly, so thanks a bunch.

Like some of you said, with planning, it can be manageable. It will be crazy though. My Spring Break is always the week before leading into Easter. So that will bring in all of the crowds. Between rope drop, fast passes, and patience, everything should be ok.

Also, it will help that I would be going with a group of my girlfriends (young adults) so they wouldn't be too cranky about the crowds! lol

We are only in the beginnings of talking about a trip, hopefully it does.

Guess who's going to be the designated planner! Yup, me. And very happy about that

THanks for starting this thread. I was wondering the same thing. I have been a June go'er the last 6 Junes in a row. THIS spring break in 2015 we were thinking of going with DD friends and moms the day AFTER EAster for the entire week....Are you willing to try it as well that week? I see the points others are making about Easter being earlier now and coinciding with more spring breaks....I am a huge planner/ et. but I have never been to Disney when a park had to be closed due to crowds....

 

[FantasiaMagic]

THanks for starting this thread. I was wondering the same thing. I have been a June go'er the last 6 Junes in a row. THIS spring break in 2015 we were thinking of going with DD friends and moms the day AFTER EAster for the entire week....Are you willing to try it as well that week? I see the points others are making about Easter being earlier now and coinciding with more spring breaks....I am a huge planner/ et. but I have never been to Disney when a park had to be closed due to crowds....

I would be going with my friends probably the week leading into easter, because that's when we are all off.
Yeah, the parks closing because of crowds scares me too, but with some good planning, and Rope drops for the parks, it should be manageable. Just make sure everyone in your group is on the same page throughout the trip.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

"Don't be a Pinocchio" - I am so using that!

 

[puffkin]

Ours is also always the week leading up to Easter. We went last year during Spring Break and it was very crowded. I think even more so since Easter was so early so it coincided with the areas that do a March spring break. Pretty much the entire week they had CM's standing in the streets just directing traffic.

We stayed offsite (Bonnet Creek) and it was pretty cool that week which also added to crowds as I don't think the resort pools and water parks funneled off as many people. Even still we had no problems getting into the parks and doing what we wanted to do with some careful planning. It really wasn't as bad as we thought it would be.....but we are veteran travelers. I think it would be awful for a newbie. I liked the long park hours, everything was open, extra shows/parades, and some of the special things they had like the Fantasmic Picnic option at DHS (great deal!).

While not our favorite time to go, we wouldn't hesitate to go again during that time period.

 

[str86diesel]

lets see if I can sum up what I saw when I was there.

So I travel for business and I was in orlando the week of March 16th for a tradeshow. Although I didn't go to Disney, I still had to use the Mears shuttle to my hotel, in which is right next to Magical Express boarding area. So as I was walking from the United Airlines terminal to the Mears desk, I was pretty much walking through crowds of people that were just shoulder to shoulder. I managed to get through them and when I got to the mears counter, I noticed that all of those people were in line for Magical Express. The line when back to the escalator area that was going back upstairs. I would say probably 300+ people in line. It was just amazing to me. Made me sort of glad that I wasn't going to disney at that moment.

 

[TJA]

We go to WDW the week leading up to Easter every year, or at least for the last several years. This year, 2014, crowds were minimal! If you make a search on here, you should find several threads about "where are all the crowds," etc. We were shocked -- it was actually the slowest time we've ever been in Disney, and we've been 20+ times in the last 10 years! Before you get excited, I think it was slow for a couple reasons: (1) Easter was late this year, and (2) Disney blacked out any type of deal during Easter week, but there were deals all around that week, so I think many people altered their dates.

With that being said, in 2015, Easter week begins at the end of March. I think it will be much busier than this year. In 2013, Easter was at the end of March and it was CRAZY busy at MK each afternoon, not so much at the resorts or the other 3 parks. I definitely think March is a busier month for spring breaks. So my advice, and we'll be doing this too, is to book FP's way ahead of time for your must-do rides, especially at MK, and you'll be just fine.

 

[puffkin]

I also think this year may have been an anomaly for the week of Easter because a lot of the schools in the North East use Spring Break as Snow Make Up days. I know our school district and most of the others in the Philadelphia area only had Good Friday off because of all the snow days we had to make up. I am sure it altered a lot of peoples plans that normally travel that week.

 

[kaylasmom07]

It's good to hear that easter week can be manageable. It looks like this may be the only time we can go next year with the kids, unless we go in the summer.