How is late April/early May?

[karensi]

I believe Grad night is Sat, April 28th (the day we arrive ). Do you think that because of that it will be crowded in MGM on Sunday, April 29th, during the day?? Anyway, I am so pleased to read all the positive posts about going the end of April/beginning of May. We'll be there April 28th, hope to get CM for dinner that night , till May 5th.

 

[Punkin's Mom]

I believe Grad night is Sat, April 28th (the day we arrive ). Do you think that because of that it will be crowded in MGM on Sunday, April 29th, during the day??

I read somewhere that the grad nites are Apr 20 & 21 and Apr 27 & 28. I was kinda thinking that MK might be busy on the Sundays after the parties, since a lot of people will probably wait until the grad nites are over to go. Just a theory.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We went in 2005 in April. It was not near Easter week, just at the start of the Flower festival, and just before the start of the big "Celebration", which started in May. While we did have to pay peak season room rates, otherwise it was a fantastic time to go! The flowers in Epcot were amazing. (I understand that that May the crowds were failrly high last year, as the room rates drop and the big celebration kicked off) I would have like to have seen the talking robotic dinosaur though. Lucky, I think it was called. It sounded really neat.

This past year, we did a flukey thing for us, and took a long weekend trip in early May. Since it was a flukey trip, we stayed at ASMu to check it out and to save money.

The weather was hot, the flowers were less spectacular (due to the severe draught). The crowds were not bad, but the teens were definitley evident. It wasn't a major issue, but sometimes teens on their own don't practice great family etiquette - language, manners, line cutting. I'm guessing the value resorts were one of the more popular places for the teens to stay, as our resort seemed to have quite a few teen groups. No big deal really, but they were at the pool very late each night. Our room was fine, but I wouldn't have wanted to have had a room overlooking the main pool if I was one who goes to bed early (we aren't anyways). The teenagers were also at the pool in the afternoon, but then they were supervised by their chaperones, so they were just like anyone else really.

The weather was also unseasonably hot (even for Florida) so it was a little hotter than I like it to be, but it wasn't too bad. Usually it should be good temps. The weather in April was perfect.
The one nice thing about May was the amazingly low rates - both the airfare and the room were a steal! Overall, we had a lot of fun, and park crowds weren't bad. Still, if I had my choice again, I'd probably pick the end of "peak" season, so long as it doesn't coincide with Easter.

 

[Quinn222]

From what I've read, the kids are bused in on Grad nites, so they don't really affect the days. Can anyone confirm?

It used to be like that and there are still a lot of groups that do it that way but now there are a lot of groups that come from further away and make a weekend of it and stay for a few days.

 

[english rose 47]

Seems several of us will be there for the 2nd weekend of Grad night. Anyone else at POP? We will be there April 26th thru May 4th and are in a window decorating thread. I think after eading these posts I.m asking for Lakeside . We already did not want 1st floor DGS 5 loves the pool to much and the fear of him just jumping in!!!!!!

 

[nhdisnut]

We have gone to WDW several times during the last week of April. The weather is perfect (mid 80's, no humidity, very little rain), and crowds are pretty easily dealt with (especially if you use Fastpass and follow advice from the Unofficial Guide or TGM - they help you zig when others zag). Most schools in the Northeast have vacation just prior to this week, and Easter and college Spring Break is earlier in the month so the truly major crowds have come and gone. All in all, we have been able to see and do everything we want to without waiting more than 20 minutes (10 minutes average wait) for attractions (this assumes using FP, getting to the parks at opening, taking a break from major attractions during midday, and riding more biggies in the evening). Another benefit is that the weather is usually perfect for a water park as well!

The Flower and Garden Festival is beautiful! I don't believe it brings in too many people to Epcot specifically for the Festival, but adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the park.

Other than avoiding MK on Grad Night evenings (usually the last Friday we are in FL), they don't impact our vacation much. We plan our theme park visits for another park on those days. We have taken the monorail from the MK during the time period that the busses are pulling in - what an incredible number of high school kids! They don't seem to tour elsewhere at all on that day....at least not that I've noticed.

All in all, we find it a great time to visit WDW!

 

[sticker231]

We went the last week of April this year. We had great weather and the crowds were manageable. You also get the bonus of the flower festival at Epcot. We are probably going again next April.

 

[Punkin's Mom]

The one nice thing about May was the amazingly low rates - both the airfare and the room were a steal! Overall, we had a lot of fun, and park crowds weren't bad. Still, if I had my choice again, I'd probably pick the end of "peak" season, so long as it doesn't coincide with Easter.

For 2007 peak season ends 4/14 and regular season starts 4/15. I think Easter is 4/8. Would you avoid grad nites all together and go ealier in the month, or avoid the last of the spring breakers and go later in the month?

BTW, how did you get your amazingly low rates?

 

[cheerful chickadee]

that is the time of year we always go and it's always worked for us. This year we went april 29th - may 9th and it was great. Mk closes early on grad nights but we went anyways as the crowds were lower since there are no parades or shows in the evenings on those nights. We were there for the minnie marathon also (may 5th/6th I believe) and I was concerned that it would be a hindrance but it wasn't, if I hadn't read about the marathon on these boards I wouldn't have even known about it! I didn't notice extra crowds or extra commotion at the resorts. The only times I noticed real crowds was on nights that MK had spectro and wishes but then again it's always crowded on those nights.

The weather was great. High was in the low 90's, the average was about 90. low's were in the 70's. I was actually mad that it didn't rain! lol We were there for 11 days and it didn't rain until the day we left and it was only a 5 minute shower in the early morning. I wanted to buy new ponchos since our old ones ripped but since it didn't rain I forgot all about them!

Line waits were not an issue for us either. We waited 10 minutes for space mountain, 5 minutes for the tea cups, 5/10 min waits for the haunted mansion, philharmagic, pirates, etc. We never waited over 10 minutes for anything even when the queue outside the ride said 20 minute wait. I advise to just get fastpasses for the most popular rides just to be safe then if the wait is short you can go on twice! We went on BTMRR 3 times in a row one morning and on splash twice in a row. sorry to ramble! Have fun, it's a great time to go IMO.

 

[CinderellasSister]

In addition to grad nite on the 21, mousesavers is listing that the dance/cheerleading competitions will be there the 20-21! We're arriving on the 21, too!!! ARGH! Someone at disney didn't plan that one too well!!! But, we're going anyway, and just going to make the best of it! After all, I"LL BE IN DISNEY!!!