I'm getting nervous/concerned about our April trip (re: crowd)

[SallyDuck]

Our trip will start Apr 11 and run through the 15. So, smack on Easter, and obviously a peak, peak time. We booked for that time b/c my daughter's 4th birthday actually falls on Easter this year, and we thought it would be a neat time for her first Dis trip. We knew there would be crowds.

The more I read on here, though - the more I get nervous about how the crowds will affect the trip. We have ADR for most of our meals, so I'm not too concerned about long lines for meals. We've narrowed down attractions and don't plan on "seeing it all." (though we'd certainly like to see a good bit...ha ha)

Is it possible for it to still be magical and enjoyable?

 

[Bob P]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!

It sounds like you are already prepared for what you will see at the parks. Yes, it will be crowded. In fact, it will be one of the three or four most crowded weeks of the year at WDW.

But yes, it will also be very magical. The weather should be great; you have your ADRs made. Just make sure you arrive at the park when it opens and use FastPasses wisely, and you will have one of the greatest weeks of your life.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Faldred]

As someone who's been on Memorial Day weekend, let me say that you shouldn't be too worried.

Follow the general advice on the boards and you'll be fine -- get there early, have a (general) plan, know how to use fast pass and/or rider swap to your advantage.

It sounds like you're well on your way with a plan, and that alone probably puts you ahead of almost everyone else who will be there.

It will be crowded, and you will have to wait at times, but you should have no problem getting your "must-do" attractions in.

 

[HeatherC]

You'll have a great time. Not sure where you are staying, but I can't stress enough how much difference it makes if you arrive at the parks EARLY....I'm talking before opening.

If you are onsite, take advantage of EMH. If you are offsite, make sure you are at the gate before opening time. You will be able to see half the parks before the crowds get bad. This is particularly true at MK and AK.

Once you notice it getting busy, start using those fast passes. Remember, you can get one every two hours even if your first fast pass says to come back at a later ride.

And...if you want to do Soarin at Epcot...which is amazing, immediately go there since the fast passes will all be gone in an hour or so. We just did this a week ago and our time to come back was 5:30pm! And we picked the pass up at 9:48 am!!!

Have an awesome trip!

PS. One other piece of advice is on the days you don't have ADR's, try to eat off peak. You will wait in less lines and save a lot of time.

 

[katie111]

We went last week for President's day & it was very busy. I agree with the other posters the best thing you can do is there early. Have a plan of what you want to see first & head directly to that. Do not get distracted. My kids would often see a character or something else & want to stop but I always just said we'd come back later. Sometimes they'd get upset but once we were actually on a ride they were happy. Our usual strategy was to get a fastpass for one attraction (we did this for Soarin, Toy Story, Test Track, the safari and Big Thunder Mountain) & then head to another attraction to ride. Always head for the attractions that you know get really long lines, not necessarily the ones that the kids most want to ride. Make sure you have a plan, we saw lots of people go in the parks at rope drop and then just be standing there with a map trying to figure out what they wanted to ride first. The first hour or two when the park first opens really are critical to having a "magical" day. We didn't wait more than 20 minutes for any of the rides. By around 3 we'd usually either head to an ADR or back to the hotel for some pool time. The parks were packed by that point and we were usually exhausted. I agree with another poster, get there before the parks open, One day we got to HS a 45 minutes after it opened & it was our worst day. We had no fastpasses and the lines were already getting long. By noon we had only been on 2 rides.

As for ADR's we made our for off times, mostly between 2 and 5 and it worked out great. We were almost always seated immediately and had great service every where we went. One day we had an ADR for CP at 12 and it was awful. We didn't get seated for almost an hour and the place was crazy busy when we finally got in. Waited almost 20 minutes just to order a drink.

 

[Tinkerbell220]

We went in 2007 during Thanksgiving week which is also a very crowded time. Our daughters were 3 and 17 months. I found that we did not do a lot of the popular rides and opted for the less crowded attractions, like Storytime with Belle, etc., because that is what our kids wanted. Although it was crowded, we didnt feel the affects of it. Have a great trip!

 

[SallyDuck]

Thanks, everyone.
As for getting there early, that could be a problem. We have ADR's at BBB one day at 9:55 (so we can get there early, but i don't know the likliehood of getting much out of the way before that). Also have ADR's at Chef Mickey's at 8:45 on another day, so - not going to make it to a park early that day.
Shucks. Guess I should have asked this question a while ago!

thanks again.

 

[snoopy5386]

We have gone at easter and it has been fine. Get up early, take a mid day break and go back at night. I highly reccommend Tour Guide Mike. That program is a good investment if you are traveling at busy times. I just looked at the park hours and they are still opening at 9 am. The year we were there, they changed opening time at MK to 8 am and had EMH every day so the park opened at 7 am! Yikes, we never made it that early but we got there as early as we could. For you BBB day, get as much done in fantasyland as you can before your ressie and then send DH out to get fastpasses while you head to BBB. 1-2 hours in the park is a lot of time if you get there 1st thing. Same thing for Chef Mickeys depending on when the park opens that day. If you can, go into MK, send 1 person to get fastpasses and then leave, you can walk to CM from the MK in 10-15 mins. The other folks can check out the Main St shops while you wait. We frequently were leaving the parks by 11 am, having done tons in those few hours.

 

[HeatherC]

SallyDuck - Forgot to mention, one thing you may find helpful is to go to www.touringplans.com. As you get closer to your trip, they will list the best park to go to each day based on the crowds they anticipate. This has worked very well for us in the past.

For example, the day you are doing Chef Mickey's it may be a better day to go to Epcot after instead of MK depending on what touringplans says.

Hope this is helpful!