How bad is spring break?

[Minnie368]

We may be going to wdw with the high school softball team March 17-22. Crowd calendars look insane. Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of flexibility with our dates because of the athletic calendar. Our family has been to wdw many many times but we’re always very careful of the time of year we go. A lot of these girls will going for their first and possibly only time. Are we just asking for trouble by going that week?

 

[Robo]

Crowd calendars look insane.

Those dates will be busy.
But, it will be even busier for Easter week and weekend. (Second week of April, give or take.)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I’ll take this moment for a shameless plug of the 2020 Spring Break Poll: https://www.disboards.com/threads/official-spring-break-2020-poll.3740812/

But like with any time OP, a good plan and expectations tend to trump whatever conditions you encounter on the ground.

It’s not my personal favorite time of year crowd wise relative to other times for various reasons, but we adapt and make the most of it.

And remember, it’s never as bad as the worst review you read and never as good as the best review - reality is probably somewhere in the middle.
Happy planning

 

[soniam]

We have done that time a few times now. Love Spring Break. Good weather. It is crowded though. Have a good plan; hit rope drop. Have fun!

 

[petrola]

We've done spring break (April) the last three years in a row. We may be crazy though... (and it's the only week we can go because kids are out of school). It's been extremely busy/crowded. So we rope drop and leave by 1 or 2 pm. Anything after that would just be too much for us. As GADisneyDad indicates - a good plan and setting expectations will help you make the most out of your trip. I will say that the weather is so nice in April and makes for a great afternoon by the pool! you mention a girls softball team all heading down the same week - I'm sure as long as they are together, they will have a blast!

 

[g-dad66]

We will be there along with you. We have gone the second or third week of March for nearly every year during the past 10 years.

Weather has always been ideal.

As everyone else says, crowds are high, but if you set your expectations accordingly, you will be fine. In fact, expect the worst, and you'll come away saying Wow that wasn't bad at all.

 

[only hope]

Unlike Christmas and Thanksgiving breaks, the dates for spring break vary by county so the crowds are a bit more spread out. However, Orange County, Pasco County, and Hillsborough County are all on spring break that week. There could be other local counties out that week too, those are just the ones I checked. Just have a plan and be persistent with refreshing for fp. Be at the parks before rope drop. Don’t backtrack too much as that takes a lot of time, especially when the walkways are crowded.

 

[kathy884]

It's a lot busier than in used to be, even though spring breaks are spread out. We used to go for spring break regularly when tied to the school schedule and really noticed a change in crowds getting heavier. The saving grace of this time of year is that the weather is usually heavenly.

If you enjoy theme parks, I wouldn't hesitate, but I would for park days do rope drop, having a touring plan, and use fastpasses. We skip rides in the MK like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan that are super popular that aren't worth it to us to wait in line for or in the case of Peter Pan get a FP for (and 7DMT as offsite visitors we can never get a FP for that). It is amazing to me how doing that makes a touring plan and day more relaxing (even on a very crowded day we could get our other favorites in pretty easily with FP and stand by lines).

 

[glocon]

My son sent me a picture from last year spring break at MK- or maybe it was the year before. The crowds looked pretty huge He went with his girlfriend and her family who did not have a plan.... he definitely likes going with me better
Agree that having FPs and a plan will make it a better trip. Utilize people eating attractions between FPs, eat at off times, rope drop if possible.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I’ve been during Spring Break 3 or 4 times now. It’s busy, but it is manageable with a good plan. If you are a die hard, must ride every ride person it might not be the best time to go, but we’ve always been able to get a full day in and not feel like we’ve really missed anything important.

 

[3SpoiledPrincesses]

We went last year during the 2nd week of March. We did all 4 parks. It was busy, but we had a blast.

We did rope drop for each park and started FP+ times about an hour after rope drop. Then continued to grab more FP through out the day.

I always do a TS ADR for lunch. I like to have a guaranteed place in the AC to sit and relax. Now that my kids are older, during our TS meal we discuss what they want to do in the evening. Sometimes we go back and swim or hop to another park.

We also took advantage of MK being open til 1am. By 11pm the rides were basically walk on except for PP and SDMT. 11pm-1am was one of the best memories from our trip!

We’re going again this coming spring break. I think if you go knowing that it’s going to be busy and have a plan, then you’ll have a great trip.

 

[TinkSassy]

Crowds are usually pretty bad - but not as bad as the holidays. If it works - go - we've done it many times. Rope drop and then break at the hotel mid-day for rest and then go back to close the park.

 

[Tara8595]

Go to Google, and input "Disney World spring break crowds", then click on "images" below the search field and see if that looks like something you can tolerate. For me, it's a hard no. I have seen reports of total gridlock and the monorail lines backed up all the way to the tram exit. That does not look like fun to me.

 

[Mango7100]

We went last year from March 16-23 (that week also happened to be Orange County spring break as well). It was crowded but very manageable. We RD and had excellent luck with added FP. We also did MK AH event which allowed us to do the whole park with minimal waits— it was a nice extra insurance in case the day crowds were too crazy. Even if crowded, the fact that it wasn’t 105 heat index made it much more pleasant!

 

[Claire82013]

I've been twice over spring break. It's much more crowded than the summer or around holidays (Halloween, I've never done Christmas) in my opinion. I think managing expectations is the best thing you can do. If you rope drop and use fastpass + to your advantage, you can still ride what you think is a priority for your family and have a good time. School groups (which often go over spring break to avoid missing school time) typically aren't there during rope drop and don't use fastpass wisely. As others have said, find things to do in the peak times that don't involve waiting in line for headliners. Because I'm not a huge fan of going back to the resort during the day, the afternoons are great times for shows or table service dining/lounges.

 

[DSLRuser]

Have been every year march 15-21 (give or take) the last 6 years and it is crowded, but not christmas crowded.

Plan your days, ejnoy the parks. you will be fine. the weather is great.