Is Express Pass necessary on a non-holiday week?

[TJDisneymama]

I'm in the early preliminary planning stage for a short trip to US next April. We'll also be doing a Disney cruise. I've been to US numerous times and I don't recall ever encountering SUPER LONG lines. 15-20 min. is really our max for waiting in line...anything longer and we will skip it.
Anyways, I've never stayed onsite at US before and am really excited to do so. I am torn between trying the new Cabana Bay because of the suites and because it's new........but I don't want to give up the EP that we'll get by staying in one of the others. I should add that we always stay in suites/condos when we travel, but the suites at the other 3 resorts are way out of our price range, so not an option. It will be a regular room if we stay at one of the 3.

What do the experts say?

 

[RMulieri]

Its not neccessary but incredibly nice.When in April are you going? Depending on when Easter falls APril can be busier than normal

 

[TJDisneymama]

Crap, didnt realize easter was so late... thats the weekend i was thinking......i could do the following weekend tho, after the cruise

 

[Metro West]

Easter Sunday is April 20th next year and that whole week will be very busy. Plus Transformers will be open...Springfield will be open...and the new hotel will be open...bringing lots and lots of newbies to both parks. A one night stay onsite is looking better and better to avoid the high EP costs during that time of year but you'd have to forgo the Cabana Bay Beach Resort.

 

[aubriee]

Easter Sunday is April 20th next year and that whole week will be very busy. Plus Transformers will be open...Springfield will be open...and the new hotel will be open...bringing lots and lots of newbies to both parks. A one night stay onsite is looking better and better to avoid the high EP costs during that time of year but you'd have to forgo the Cabana Bay Beach Resort.

When you say the whole week will be busy, are you talking about the week before Easter or the week after Easter? I just realized that with the way our WDW Annual Passes will be expiring next year (May 10th) that in order to get one last trip out of them that we'll be down there April 25th-May 5th. Will those last few days of April 25th-30th, be that busy? Looks like we'll be arriving the Friday after Easter.

 

[Metro West]

When you say the whole week will be busy, are you talking about the week before Easter or the week after Easter? I just realized that with the way our WDW Annual Passes will be expiring next year (May 10th) that in order to get one last trip out of them that we'll be down there April 25th-May 5th. Will those last few days of April 25th-30th, be that busy? Looks like we'll be arriving the Friday after Easter.

The week after is always busy...mainly because of Spring Break. A lot depends on when schools are out but I would count on big crowds that week...based on this year anyway.

 

[TJDisneymama]

i was always under the impression that it's the week before that was the busiest.....and then it starts to taper off a couple days after easter. At least in the world of WDW crowd estimating.

 

[TJDisneymama]

i was always under the impression that it's the week before that was the busiest.....and then it starts to taper off a couple days after easter. At least in the world of WDW crowd estimating.

quick peek at TP shows the week leading up to easter is straight out 10s. The week after starts at 10 for easter sunday and monday and sloooooowly starts to taper down....9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4......

for WDW anyways, not sure if US is any different with crowd patterns.

 

[conniehar90]

We visited this year the week before Easter. It was unbelievably crowded. I have never seen such crowds. 200 minute waits. I heard they closed off the HP area and people were waiting an hour just to get a ticket to enter the HP area.

That said, we visited US on two separate days. We stayed offsite and did not purchase Express Pass. We had no issues either day and never waited more than 20 minutes for anything.

We arrived super early (hit the parking lot about 45 minutes before park opening and knew which attractions to hit first. No issues whatsoever.

 

[RMulieri]

quick peek at TP shows the week leading up to easter is straight out 10s. The week after starts at 10 for easter sunday and monday and sloooooowly starts to taper down....9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4......

for WDW anyways, not sure if US is any different with crowd patterns.

Universal crowd patterns regarding holidays are nearly identical to Disneys