Easter crowds?

[mouse]

We stayed at the BCV from April 8 throught April 13. At no time did we come across unbearable crowds. Walked on many rides (Space Mountain, Toy Story Mania, Test Track, Soarin', Rockin Roller Coaster) several times with less than a 10 minute wait. We did not arrive at park opening any day. Just curious about others experience with this week. I actually dreaded this week because of expected crowds, but had no choice. Grandkids had spring break. We followed Tour Guide Mike's least crowded parks recommendations. Were the crowds really that low, or is TGM really that good?

 

[arthur06]

I guess I don't have an exact answer for either of your questions, but wanted to say glad you had a great time and manageable crowds.

 

[bigtony777]

We were down the week before Easter and the crowds were busy large. We did have one nice morning at MK with very few people in the park. Maybe many more spring breaks fell the week before Easter this year?

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

We were there from the 8th - 15th (just came in the door from the airport about an hour ago). All week, we kept saying to each other, "so where are all these people we were warned about?" I said something to a cast member as we were checking out in one of the Main Street shops about expecting there to be many more people. She replied that they were expecting the same thing.

We went to Epcot for the F&G Festival on our first two days. I wasn't expecting to ride anything, but wait times weren't any worse than they usually are during our summer trips. In fact, there were quite a few 10 and 15 minute times displayed.

 

[noname70]

. Walked on many rides (Space Mountain, Toy Story Mania, Test Track, Soarin', Rockin Roller Coaster) QUOTE]

This seems difficult to believe. I have read good things about TGM though.

 

[mouse]

We couldn't believe it, either. Arrived at HS around 9:30 AM on Easter Sunday. For starters, we were surprised that there was no one waiting for the boat from YC/BC to HS. We rode TSM & Rockin Roller Coaster twice each before 11 AM. Walked right on RRC the first time. Waited 30 min the second time. Got FPs for TSM with a time slot of 10:40 to 11:40 AM. When we went to use our FPs, there was only a 10 minute wait for standby, so we went standby & then used our FPs, so we rode TSM twice within a half hour.

The two days we went to MK, that park had opened at 7AM. We arrived at around 8AM and rode on SM & Spash Mountain 2 or 3 times each with less than a 10 minute wait without FPs. Also no wait for Jungle Cruise, P of C, and HM. This was both days.

On our EPCOT day we road Soarin' twice, once standby (5 min wait at 9AM) and once with FPs later in the morning. We walked right on TT and then got FPs for later. We did Universe of Energy show & Captain EO & were lucky enough to arrive just before showtimes. Theaters were not nearly filled. Went on Spaceship Earth, about 5 times(9 year old loves this ride) with little or no wait each time. Walked right on Living with the Land. Our boat wasn't even full.

At AK, after bkfst at Rainforest Cafe,which was virtually empty at 8:30 AM, we walked onto Kali River Rapids twice in a row. We could have walked on again, but we were already soaked. We then walked over to Safari & also walked right on. Walked right into Bug's Life & rode Tricerotops(?) Spin twice with no wait. We had FPs, but didn't need them.

We had ADRs for dinner every evening, & in every instance, we were seated right on time or as soon as we arrived. Lots of empty tables at Captain's Galley. A few empty table at La Hacienda, Cape May Cafe, & Sanaa.

This trip that I was dreading turned out to be the best trip we have ever had as far as wait times for attractions, and we have been to Disney about 50 times in the last 20 years.

 

[noname70]

Well done!

 

[disneyobessed]

Im wondering if people are waiting to go next year with the opening of the new Fantasy Land expansion. We will be there "this" week next year and Im a but worried.. lol

 

[twinklebug]

Easter week did not coincide with school breaks for many areas this year (my kids are on break this week instead) which probably accounts for the lower attendance when you went. I have heard horror stories about going over March's Spring Break and April Vacation.

 

[PrincessSarah314]

We were there April 7-April 12th and had the same experience! We also used TGM though along with TouringPlans.com app. Had to be one of the best trips I've ever been on and I've been going every year since I was a teen back in '95.

 

[Anal Annie]

We were there from March 29-April 4 and DID have the crowds (mostly from Sun-Wed) but they didn't seem to be QUITE as bad as they were for the same week (week before Easter) in 2010. THAT year the MK was full to capacity by around 10:30 AM some days and they closed it to further admission. I didn't hear of that happening this year tho. THIS year we did find wait times for many things were around 90 min. - 2 hours BUT we also followed TGM's advice and tried to avoid certain parks on the days he said to avoid them. We tried to go to the parks he called "green". Our last afternoon / evening before check out I stayed behind at at the resort to go to the pool for a couple of hours then I went to the room to start packing up while DH & DS went over to MK (we were staying at BLT so it was convenient). The plan was for me to go over & meet them at some point for dinner after I had the packing under control. DS kept texting me that he was bored 'cuz he was in line for Splash & the wait time was 2 hours. I was frustrated because he wouldn't leave me alone while I was packing. DH DID manage to get them FP's for Space Mtn. for 11:10 while DS was waiting for Splash. I would guess they went over there around 3:00.

The morning we went to HS we got to TSM by 9:10 or 9:15 and the FP return was already like 11:15 (this was a normal opening day, not EMH's). The standby time was already well over an hour so we got our FP's and moved on. By the time we came back for our FP return time the FP's were gone for the day already!!

The ONLY morning EMH's at AK the entire 6 days we were there were on our last morning (check out day). I can't remember now tho if it opened at 7:00 or at 8:00 & of course TGM said to avoid it but EE is DS's fav ride. So anyway, we went. We must've just missed the bus we REALLY wanted to catch so we had to wait close to 20 min. for the next bus. By the time we got there it was about 10 min. after EMH's started. We headed straight for EE and by the time we got there the FP return time was already up to 10:10 (too late for us since we needed to go back to the resort to finish packing up & check out by 11:00). This was probably between 15 and 20 min. after EMHs so we rode it standby with about a 20-30 min. wait.

I would say if you had no waits for the week after Easter you got VERY lucky.

 

[sleepydog25]

We did all four parks in one day on 6 April, starting with MK. We hit MK at 8:10 (EMH that day was 7 and then midnight to 3 a.m.), and had no issues at all until we left 9:40. We monorailed to EPCOT and ran into huge crowds--we literally crawled over planters and benches to get to the non-bag check entrance as the bag-check tables were backed up nearly 100 feet with throngs of people. At 10 a.m., the standby times at Test Track, Mission Space, and Soarin' were already well over an hour long. We FP'd Soarin' at 10:15, and the time we had to return was already 3:15 to 4:15.

We walked through EPCOT and headed to DHS where the crowds were also fairly large--90-minute waits for both RnR and ToT. Insteady, we FP'd Star Tours for 12:30 (45 minutes from that moment), so we did lunch at Backlot Express. The standby time at ST was an hour. After we rode ST, we bused to AK to ride EE, which had a standby wait time of 40 minutes. We were maybe five people from the door to get outside into the queue when the ride broke down. So, we bused back to EPCOT to wait for our Soarin' FP. In the interim, we rode Living with the Land (which had no wait) and enjoyed it. After that, we did Soarin' which by that time was a 2-hour standby wait. We got in under 10 minutes with the FP. Whew!

Thus, our experience with the parks on that particular day would have to be ranked as "very crowded." Other than the first hour and a half at MK, the crowds were large and wait times were long. However, as we ended the day on a high note (dinner at CG), it was still a great day!

 

[mjc2003]

We did all four parks in one day on 6 April, starting with MK. We hit MK at 8:10 (EMH that day was 7 and then midnight to 3 a.m.), and had no issues at all until we left 9:40. We monorailed to EPCOT and ran into huge crowds--we literally crawled over planters and benches to get to the non-bag check entrance as the bag-check tables were backed up nearly 100 feet with throngs of people. At 10 a.m., the standby times at Test Track, Mission Space, and Soarin' were already well over an hour long. We FP'd Soarin' at 10:15, and the time we had to return was already 3:15 to 4:15.

We walked through EPCOT and headed to DHS where the crowds were also fairly large--90-minute waits for both RnR and ToT. Insteady, we FP'd Star Tours for 12:30 (45 minutes from that moment), so we did lunch at Backlot Express. The standby time at ST was an hour. After we rode ST, we bused to AK to ride EE, which had a standby wait time of 40 minutes. We were maybe five people from the door to get outside into the queue when the ride broke down. So, we bused back to EPCOT to wait for our Soarin' FP. In the interim, we rode Living with the Land (which had no wait) and enjoyed it. After that, we did Soarin' which by that time was a 2-hour standby wait. We got in under 10 minutes with the FP. Whew!

Thus, our experience with the parks on that particular day would have to be ranked as "very crowded." Other than the first hour and a half at MK, the crowds were large and wait times were long. However, as we ended the day on a high note (dinner at CG), it was still a great day!

Holy cow, I am exhausted just from reading this!

 

[mcphotography]

We'll be there next year over Easter. Couldn't go this year because we bought a new car. So I'm hoping we luck out the way some did this year!

 

[jade1]

We went the first week of April and it wasn't too bad IMO either. We opened AK one day and breezed through, we actually went back another AM to AK because DD was sick, and arrived about 9:30 (8AM opening) and still not much of problem-plenty of EE FP's and only a couple hours out. We did not get up much otherwise, but we did the super late hours (kids are older)-and I am convinced the super long hours of XMAS and Easter can real string out the crowds. The 2 or more Fantasmics per night is awesome (hit that 3 times). The second show that week was really slim actually-I would say 1/4 of the far left side (and right actually) was just roped off empty. Maybe its partly Fantasyland as mentioned.

 

[tinkermama117]

Wow! You were really lucky! We were there Easter week/ Spring break 2 years ago and the crowds were pretty big, especially on one particular day at AK. I will have to check out tour guide Mike if we ever go that week again.

 

[starbox]

Easter is a movable feast - so it really all depends on when Easter falls in relation to school holidays. If Easter is very early or late, you'll see less of an impact. We the week BEFORE Easter was very crowded this year - but it was also at the tail end of Spring Break season (mid-March through the first week of April) I'm not surprised that the week after Easter was not as crowded. Had Easter been a week earlier - it would have been much worse.

 

[dsnymomof4]

We were also there over Easter break this year and the crowds were definitely lower compared to previous years. We were making ADRs while we were there with no problems. We did find afternoons to be quite crowded - especially at the bigger rides at Epcot and MK. Overall, especially with the perfect weather - was a great week!