Easter park advice pls...

[alibeau]

Happy New Year

Now that 2011 is here I am starting to think about our plans for Easter. We are in Florida from the 13th to the 29th. We have never been at this time of year before. I am thinking of buying us AP's for WDW as we are going back for nearly 4 weeks in August and then if we were to book again for Easter 2012 we would also be able to use them then....

Anyway my question is this, given that we may well have AP's at Easter, this gives us plenty of freedom to pop in and out of the parks but our last three recent visits have been in Jan and Feb and we are not used to the crowds. I would rather avoid the parks if they are going to be manic. We do not do early mornings on holiday so the 'rope drop'/fast pass plan will not be happening for us!!!! I have used the 'busy day' guide before and am happy to stick with that if it helps...

Do the parks quieten off in the evening at all? or are they so busy that they are closed to further admissions? Are US or IOA any quieter or are all the 'parks' manic? I'm just trying to get a feel for how it is going to be? and whether we would just be better off considering this holiday a 'pool holiday'?

Thanks guys

Ali

 

[janiebubble]

i've been at Easter a couple of times ... most recently last year. Yes things can get crowded, I did notice on one day last year that as we came out of Epcot they'd stopped the monorail to the magic kingdom and it said that they were not accepting any more visitors at that point.

We went to Universal - now bear in mind that Harry Potter hadn't opened at that point, but it was EMPTY. We arrived about 10am ish, walked straight on to ET, waited no more than 10 mins for Simpsons, Men in Black and Jaws. We went back to Islands of Aventure later in the week and that was quiet too. Toy Story Mania, Soarin and Test Track all had big queues ... we did do rope drop once (first morning there, woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep!) and so managed Soarin with a 5 min wait, but fastpasses were at 60 mins by the time we came out. TSM always seemed too busy, but the rest of Hollywood Studios was empty when we visited (always in the evening - literally walked on to everything) and on the last night we braved the 40mins queue for TSM at about 8.30pm, it only took 20 mins.

I think if you were on a holiday of a lifetime, trying to do everything Easter could seem frantic. As a returning visiter, who won't stress too much it is a nice time of year to visit, Magic Kingdom was the one park that always seemed crowded, but we managed. And it was great to see the Easter bunny parade on Easter Sunday

We liked it so much we're going back this year at Easter, although because our local authority has gone for the first two weeks in April as the holiday, we won't be there Easter weekend (I am hoping it will be a little quieter!) I've been February twice (both Presidents week mind you) and didn't notice it to be that much busier at Easter.

 

[2Tiggies]

From my experience, MK has usually closed to capacity on Easter weekend (Saturday and Sunday). They (MK) also normally have morning EMH from 7 am every day for the week running up to and the week following Easter.

Are you staying onsite? I have never stayed offsite and found using EMH, leaving the park by noon, swimming, sleeping in the late afternoon and returning to the parks in the evening for EMH works a treat.

For the days you want to do a full day, get a touring plan, arrive before park opening and you will avoid the worst of the crowds.

As someone who has only done crowded times of the year I found our last October trip harder to manage and we achieved less in a day than over the Easter period. It can be done. Be there early.

Also, if you want a prk for Easter Sunday Epcot is a good bet as the sheer size lends itself to handling bigger crowds without it feeling as intense as the others.

 

[alibeau]

Thanks for your advice

Just really struggling to picture how busy the parks will be. We are happy to avoid Easter weekend itself......

Having talked to DH about it last night it makes sense for us to buy AP's for Easter which we will use again in Aug and should we book again for either Feb 2012 or Easter 2012 they will still be valid for that trip..... or do you think after two trips this year we will be fed up of the whole Disney thing Only kidding

Ali

 

[torsie24]

I've done a lot of research and I think this Easter is going to break the mold somewhat.

As it SO late in the year, a lot of schools are pretty much ignoring it and having their "Easter Break" weeks before, so the influx from schools is being spread out from Early March right through to teh end of April.

It's probably safe to say the actual Easter weekend will be super busy, but you may find the days around it are quieter than usual that time of year.

 

[alibeau]

I've done a lot of research and I think this Easter is going to break the mold somewhat.

As it SO late in the year, a lot of schools are pretty much ignoring it and having their "Easter Break" weeks before, so the influx from schools is being spread out from Early March right through to teh end of April.

It's probably safe to say the actual Easter weekend will be super busy, but you may find the days around it are quieter than usual that time of year.

That would make sense, I hope you are right

I think like yourself I will do some research (been thinking about TGM?) even if I only consult the busy day guide type of thing and see how we get on. I think part of the problem is that we already have a tendancy to get around the parks pretty quick, giving rides with long wait times a miss and I am a bit worried that at Easter we will be in and out of the park in under an hour

We have previously visited MK on or around President's Day (we didn't know at the time!) and we couldn't understand why it was so busy

Thanks for your reply

Ali