How bad is Easter at WDW? vs Thanksgiving?

[chocolateavocado]

Trying to plan our next (3rd) WDW trip while somewhat under the constraints on a school calendar.
We are considering Easter 2017 - maybe 4/8 - 4/13 or 4/14. The only other times we have been were mid Nov 2013 & we were there this past Thanksgiving week 2015. We LOVED both trips- thanksgiving was fabulous! For anyone who's been during Easter time, how was the weather and how were the crowds. I'm expecting it to be crowded beyond belief, but is it possible to still have an enjoyable vacation? Summer is out because neither myself nor my son would be able to handle the high heat & humidity. We won't be ready to go back this Thanksgiving 2016 and really don't want to wait until Thanksgiving 2017. So....trying to make something work with a school calendar (he can miss a few days) from say Feb 2017 and April 2017; according to weather sites looks like May is pretty hot.
Thanks for any help or suggestions and experiences you can provide!! We can not wait to go back!

 

[MinnieMSue]

We were there last thanksgiving and this Easter (in parks from Good Friday to Thurs after Easter). We preferred Thanksgiving but had no problems dealing with the much bigger crowd for Easter. We had more rain with Easter and the weather was hotter. We loved the flower and garden festival. This year Easter was in March. I wonder if the later Easter will decrease crowds? They said this year Eastee was ridiculously crowded and I would agree (hit parks as early as possible!). I say go for it.

 

[GPC0321]

I was there this past Easter, and it was great! It's crowded, but not so much that it will ruin your vacation. If you have FP+ and a decent touring plan in place, and you understand that you might have to stand on a bus or the monorail, and that if you want a spot at the pool you might need to go early or wait until later, then you should be fine. I was expecting a madhouse, but it wasn't at all. I don't mind crowds that much though. Compared to our state fair here in the fall, it was a breeze. Talk about crowded! Try inching along in traffic for an hour to pay $15 to park in a cow pasture that's a quarter of a mile walk from the fair and then get in there and hardly be able to move for the masses of people. I stood in line for 15 minutes to look at some cakes. LOL.

The weather was beautiful!

 

[chocolateavocado]

We were there last thanksgiving and this Easter (in parks from Good Friday to Thurs after Easter). We preferred Thanksgiving but had no problems dealing with the much bigger crowd for Easter. We had more rain with Easter and the weather was hotter. We loved the flower and garden festival. This year Easter was in March. I wonder if the later Easter will decrease crowds? They said this year Eastee was ridiculously crowded and I would agree (hit parks as early as possible!). I say go for it.

Thanks for this! We loved Thanksgiving, too. Weather was gorgeous and loved the decorations and we did MVMCP and loved it! We just won't be ready to go back by this Thanksgiving again yet- need a little more time to save more money up - we have a summer vacation booked in VA for a few days and a few day trips and 1 long weekend, so it'll take a little bit longer to save up.

Good to hear you had a good vacation!!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Crowds are about the same. We would choose Thanksgiving because of the Christmas decorations. That trumps the Flower & Garden Festival.

 

[chocolateavocado]

I was there this past Easter, and it was great! It's crowded, but not so much that it will ruin your vacation. If you have FP+ and a decent touring plan in place, and you understand that you might have to stand on a bus or the monorail, and that if you want a spot at the pool you might need to go early or wait until later, then you should be fine. I was expecting a madhouse, but it wasn't at all. I don't mind crowds that much though. Compared to our state fair here in the fall, it was a breeze. Talk about crowded! Try inching along in traffic for an hour to pay $15 to park in a cow pasture that's a quarter of a mile walk from the fair and then get in there and hardly be able to move for the masses of people. I stood in line for 15 minutes to look at some cakes. LOL.

The weather was beautiful!

Thanks for responding with this!!
We aren't park commandos at all and we don't plan on doing or seeing it all.....there's always next time for what we miss...lol
We usually get to the parks pretty early and go back to the resort around 12 or 1, when crowds start getting heavier, swim and take a break- get changed, go for dinner & head back to the parks for a bit in the evening.
Happy to hear you had a nice vacation!!

Your state fair sounds crazy! We live in northeast PA; the last time we went to a fair (the Harford Fair) was about 12 or 13 years ago- and it was pretty insane; almost but not quite like you described. But, crowded enough (and very, very hot )that we never went back...lol...

Your response makes me feel alot better thinking about a spring trip!

 

[chocolateavocado]

Crowds are about the same. We would choose Thanksgiving because of the Christmas decorations. That trumps the Flower & Garden Festival.

Good to hear about the crowds! We didn't have any problems at Thanksgiving. And if I were able to go again this Thanksgiving, I definitely would- we LOVED the Christmas decorations and loved MVMCP.

 

[eyehartdisney]

I got same day reservations for 6 at tusker house last thanksgiving. Lines were all but non-existant in AK.

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

I've been to both - Thanksgiving is significantly less crowed IMO. Plus you get to see all the Christmas decor.

 

[chocolateavocado]

I got same day reservations for 6 at tusker house last thanksgiving. Lines were all but non-existant in AK.

We were at MK this Thanksgiving , had late lunch / early dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. MK was busy but we didn't think it was too bad. We had a fun day! Wish we could go this year again at Thanksgiving, but since we can't- our next best option (school calendar wise) is Easter....

 

[chocolateavocado]

I've been to both - Thanksgiving is significantly less crowed IMO. Plus you get to see all the Christmas decor.

Was Easter still an enjoyable time there or did you find the crowds to really impact your vacation? We were there this Thanksgiving & had a blast; loved the Xmas stuff & MVMCP, but unfortunately we can't get back there this year at the same time....our next best option with my son's school schedule would be Easter. Trying to decide if we should go then or wait until the following year for Thanksgiving ( Easter 2017 vs Thanksgiving 2017).
Nov 2013 was our 1st trip to WDW, dh and myself never went as children, and we all fell in love with WDW and can't wait to go back. DS loves it!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Was Easter still an enjoyable time there or did you find the crowds to really impact your vacation? We were there this Thanksgiving & had a blast; loved the Xmas stuff & MVMCP, but unfortunately we can't get back there this year at the same time....our next best option with my son's school schedule would be Easter. Trying to decide if we should go then or wait until the following year for Thanksgiving ( Easter 2017 vs Thanksgiving 2017).
Nov 2013 was our 1st trip to WDW, dh and myself never went as children, and we all fell in love with WDW and can't wait to go back. DS loves it!

We have also been during both periods - Easter crowds vary from OMG! to Heavy . In 2017, Easter falls in the middle of April, so crowds will only be heavy.

 

[alliecat523]

We were there this Easter. It was crowded but not unbearable. It definitely did not ruin our vacation. If you use your touring plan stated above, you'll be fine. We had a PPO breakfast one day and hit everything and we're headed back to the hotel by 11.

I think earlier Easter is more crowded due to spring break overlap. A lot of schools don't match up breaks with Easter so when it does fall early, it's worse. We've gone during late Easter and it was a lot less crowded.

ETA: we had great weather this year too. Mornings and evenings were cool. Light jacket is all you need.

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

Was Easter still an enjoyable time there or did you find the crowds to really impact your vacation? We were there this Thanksgiving & had a blast; loved the Xmas stuff & MVMCP, but unfortunately we can't get back there this year at the same time....our next best option with my son's school schedule would be Easter. Trying to decide if we should go then or wait until the following year for Thanksgiving ( Easter 2017 vs Thanksgiving 2017).
Nov 2013 was our 1st trip to WDW, dh and myself never went as children, and we all fell in love with WDW and can't wait to go back. DS loves it!

Oh definitely - we've gone for spring break the past 6 years or so, my kids still love it! I love going for spring break - the weather is always nice and it's great to get away. The crowds are heavier but it's still enjoyable. When your kids get older is it is much harder to work around their school schedule. I refuse to go during the summer heat so spring break is the best option for us now.

We went this year and had a great time. We're going next year, our spring break is 2 weeks before Easter so I'm hoping it won't be as crowded.

 

[chocolateavocado]

We have also been during both periods - Easter crowds vary from OMG! to Heavy . In 2017, Easter falls in the middle of April, so crowds will only be heavy.

Good to know! I'm starting to feel alot better after hearing from you guys that have been before

 

[chocolateavocado]

We were there this Easter. It was crowded but not unbearable. It definitely did not ruin our vacation. If you use your touring plan stated above, you'll be fine. We had a PPO breakfast one day and hit everything and we're headed back to the hotel by 11.

I think earlier Easter is more crowded due to spring break overlap. A lot of schools don't match up breaks with Easter so when it does fall early, it's worse. We've gone during late Easter and it was a lot less crowded.

ETA: we had great weather this year too. Mornings and evenings were cool. Light jacket is all you need.

Hi! Thanks for sharing this & so happy to hear that you had a great vacation even though it was crowded. We usually do the early breakfast too, then parks and ds LOVES swimming at the resort pool, so hopes of great weather Plus, ds doesn't like any of the "big" rides, so things like the mountains and such aren't a concern. Plus, it's great hearing that with Easter late this coming year that maybe it won't be as crowded. Thanks again!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

I agree with BuckeyeBama (Go Bucks!) the later Easter is the more the crowds are spread out March/April. I think next year will be pretty good.

 

[richmo]

Easter is busy, but if you're smart about when you go and using your FP+'s, its manageable.

One plus for 2017: Easter is in April, so it won't coincide with the college spring breaks.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We were there right after Thanksgiving 2015 (our first day was Black Friday), and the crowds really thinned out by Sunday.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Go for Easter - we had a great time. Weather was really good and I would think crowds would be less than this year. We managed quite well with the huge crowds. You won't regret going then