Easter Crowds

[anita46]

Ok we just got back today...gone from Holy Saturday to Friday.

The weather was great...breezy and in the 80's...high 60's at night....VERY little humidity.

AND THE CROWDS...

well...there were.....NONE....either we just hit the parks on the right days or what...?...this visit was far less crowded than Food and Wine. The pools were wide open with plenty of chairs. Restaurants were never full...well Tutto Gusto was the most crowded but we ate there on Easter Sunday. The rest were very relaxed.

Busses were running on time and frequent...never waited more than 15 minutes even for Disney Springs.

What a great visit we did everything and more and really enjoyed the weather and parks.

We had fast passes for the rides we wanted so we never waited...not sure what the stand-by wait times were...

We were braced for INSANITY but what a pleasant surprise!

 

[ilovevacation]

We found nearly the same thing. I think thanksgiving was much worse

 

[Ambehnke]

I feel like most schools had spring break separate from Easter and I think that helped!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

You hit it just right! We were there from Monday 4/10 - Friday 4/14 and the crowds were INSANE - level 10 crowds across all the parks! I think everyone cleared out on Friday like we did.

 

[twoplustwins]

We were there for a short trip April 12-15. The crowds were awful! The weather was beautiful and the bus service was great.

 

[mc-hokie]

Just got home today from our trip. We arrived in Good Friday. I agree, crowds were not at all what we expected & weather was great.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I was in the parks on 4/10, 4/11, and 4/13.
It was close to NYE crowds (I've been on NYE before). The nice thing was there were no noise makers lol.
We were still able to do pretty much everything we usually do but found walls of people at every turn.
I wonder if more people had the week leading up to Easter off vs this week.

 

[Shanti]

We were there from April 13th - 17th & never had any issue with crowds. It was glorious, our best trip ever. Undoubtedly the late Easter helped. It was so perfect, I'm tentatively planning an Easter 2019 trip, as that is an even later Easter.

The dry weather helped, too, though I've read that's really a problem for Orlando as they're in a drought right now.

 

[housetomouse]

Aside from Easter Sunday, the week following Easter is never a particularly crowded week. I don't think any schools get spring break the week after Easter. Glad you had a good trip!

 

[caliope]

Aside from Easter Sunday, the week following Easter is never a particularly crowded week. I don't think any schools get spring break the week after Easter. Glad you had a good trip!

Almost all of Massachusetts and Rhode Island schools have been on break this past week (April 17-21). This break is not tied to Easter; it is typically the 3rd week of April every year (including next year). That said, if these are the only states with that time off, it shouldn't significantly affect crowds.

 

[caliope]

OP, glad you had such a great trip! Hearing how nice it was, I'm kicking myself for not having gone! We were off school this week.

 

[cmorris303]

We were there April 13-18 and found the same thing. Walking into MK on April 13 it was noticeably more crowded, but definitely manageable. Everyday after that the crowds were way lower than what I was prepping myself for. We never waited in a line for more that 25 min and were able to easily change fastpasses and use 4th and 5th pastpasses for good rides. We got FEA twice, Soarin, TSMM, and 7DMT all as 4th or 5th fastpasses.
The weather was perfect and Disney transportation was great. It was one of our best trips yet and seriously opened a can of worms because of course now I want to go over Easter break every year!!

 

[wilkeliza]

Similar experience. The only day we had any sort of "crowd" was thursday 4/13. We skipped our FP for the safari because the line was too long even with FP but every other day we had no issues.

 

[leebee]

Almost all of Massachusetts and Rhode Island schools have been on break this past week (April 17-21). This break is not tied to Easter; it is typically the 3rd week of April every year (including next year). That said, if these are the only states with that time off, it shouldn't significantly affect crowds.

You can add Maine to the list of schools that have the 3rd week of April off. It usually is tied into Patriot's Day (which I guess almost nobody recognizes anymore...)

 

[bluezy]

You can add Maine to the list of schools that have the 3rd week of April off. It usually is tied into Patriot's Day (which I guess almost nobody recognizes anymore...)

And New Hampshire. We have friends from NH who go to DW during the 3rd week of April because their kids always have off from school. They don't go every year -- in fact, it's been 5 years since their last visit, but they happen to be there right now (arrived Monday night) and are complaining about how packed it is compared to other years they've gone. They wanted no advice about how to avoid crowds (rope drop, no EMH parks, effectively scheduling FP, etc.) so I have no sympathy for them -- especially since reading that many people are experiencing lower than expected crowds right now. A little research and planning goes a long way.

 

[Tinknalli]

Vermont was off this week too, same every year. I think it's a New England thing. We arrived Good Friday and came home yesterday. Found Magic Kingdom extremely crowded for Wishes Saturday, but the rest of the week was fine with advanced planning. Did everything in 4 parks in 5 days. Used fast passes, single rider lines and EMH and never waited more than 30 minutes for anything. Frequently saw headliners with 2 hour waits, but just did other things.

 

[Accident]

Crowds are relative to what you are used to experiencing. Yes it was less than last fall but it was more crowded than 2 weeks before easter. However this week it was surprising how the crowds seems to pack 1 specific park and the others were a dream. I enjoyed it Also disney really stepped up with hours and extra EMHs kind of giving more time where it was really crowded making it even less crowded elsewhere in my opinion.

 

[KayW]

We were also in the parks the 15th-20th (came home on the 21st). Other than MK it wasn't super crowded. I feel like MK is going to be crowded no matter what especially when it is time for the parades. We spent time at the quiet pool since the Luna Park pool at BWV had nothing available in the shade. Still a great week and the weather was superb!

 

[Bmath]

We were in the parks April 10-17. Basically every day except the 17th and the morning of Easter were packed. It was very clear that the crowds after easter are WAY lower than the week before.

 

[danceteachermom]

My experience has been that when Easter is later...it is less crowded. When Easter is the last week of March or first of April...it is far worse. About 1/2 of the school systems in my state have break the first full week of April. When it aligns with Easter crowds are pretty bad but when it doesn't align with Easter it is better.

Unfortunately, in 2018 our break and Easter are simultaneous. Our strategy then is EMH early in the AM and then hotel and pool until dinner. We stay out of parks 12-6 and do not do Wishes as it is crazy crowded.

Glad you had a great trip during the holiday!