Just Back Easter Weekend Crowds

[horse11]

I have to say I was worried when many people said how crowded the parks are during Easter. Some one even mentioned that Easter weekend is the busiest time of all for WDW. I found it quite the opposite. I usually travel to the parks in mid May and to me those times were more crowded than this past weekend. The weather was perfect!! No rain only sunshine and low humidity!! I visited AK and Epcot and both parks were lower crowds then I have ever experienced. There was hardly a wait for the specialty food booths and most rides were about 35 minutes. We managed to get Sorrin, Na'vi River Journey, and Rivers of Light as FP a week before. I went on FOP right before closing and was in an out of the ride within 55minutes. To me crowds were very manageable. Is this a rare occurrence?

 

[amymgould]

I’ve gone at Easter 3 years in a row. I think it depends on when Easter falls. Last year Easter was early, so many schools’ spring breaks overlapped. I found crowds much more manageable (mostly) this trip! Likely due to a later Easter.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Thats great you did not experience long wait times but sadly for most, that was not the case. Easter again this year yielded the highest wait times so far for 2019. The crowds on Sunday are usually better than Saturday but again this year, Saturday was pretty ridiculous (according to Touring Plans actual wait times).

As always, individual results can vary based on when you arrive and how you tour but the wait times last Friday and Saturday were still pretty strong.

 

[holden]

Not sure if WDW was this way, but we were at Universal last week Thursday-Saturday. Crowds Thursday and Friday were fine. Saturday was crazy busy.

 

[lovethattink]

Glad you had a good experience!

 

[firstwdw]

We were there as well. Biggest disappointment was Disney didn't have their act together to open Magic Kingdom on time for extra magic hours on Friday morning. It was supposed to open at 7am for resort guests. They opened the front gates at 7:20am.....made it back to Tomorrowland shortly before 7:30am to find Space Mountain not open. So, we waited in a long line for Astro Orbiter. I woke a teenager up at 5:30am to ride Astro Orbiter. The Disney perks of staying onsite are becoming less and less. Not explanation, no announcements or apologies from Disney.

 

[mom2febgirls]

I had a similar experience. Maybe it was because I braced myself for horrible crowds but it was great!

Wednesday (4/17) was our first day and we arrived at MK a few minutes before opening and walked through the gates at 8:15. Walked on PotC, HM and would have at Splash except it was down. Then we did 7DMT (FP), Small World, Philharmagic, Peter Pan (FP), Monster's Inc x2 and Space Mountain (FP). Around 10am we were able to get a BOG reservation for 3 at 12:35. Left the park around 2 to rest before returning at 7 for EMH. We only stayed until 1am but we rode everything.

We were able to move FP around very easily (including SDD and FoP). And on Easter my DD decided she wanted to go to Epcot instead of DHS so we switched our FP that morning and got a 10am Test Track. We didn't need a FP to walk on Mission Space.

MK was open until midnight every night so I was up late and early (who needs sleep) every day.

It was the best trip.

 

[Hisgirl]

We were also there and while Magic Kingdom felt very crowded on Saturday, we enjoyed every ride we wanted to ride by stacking FPs. We also visited AK on Sunday and Epcot on Monday. We stacked FPs and rode flight of passage, frozen, soaring, test track...basically anything and everything we wanted at the last minute. It was all about refreshing MDE and catching the ride the second you see it. At this point, we've gone every crowded time except Christmas and I have lost my fear about crowds. It's all about the strategy.

 

[horse11]

We were also there and while Magic Kingdom felt very crowded on Saturday, we enjoyed every ride we wanted to ride by stacking FPs. We also visited AK on Sunday and Epcot on Monday. We stacked FPs and rode flight of passage, frozen, soaring, test track...basically anything and everything we wanted at the last minute. It was all about refreshing MDE and catching the ride the second you see it. At this point, we've gone every crowded time except Christmas and I have lost my fear about crowds. It's all about the strategy.

I think you may be right!! A good part of it is about strategy!! Strategy aside I still think crowds were manageable. We were in Epcot on Saturday and there was a small wait for any of the specialty food booths which really surprised me. We visited Animal Kingdom on Easter as it was almost quite to me lol!! I do think that part of it was the fact that I was expecting the worst and instead was pleasantly surprised!!

 

[amymgould]

We were there as well. Biggest disappointment was Disney didn't have their act together to open Magic Kingdom on time for extra magic hours on Friday morning. It was supposed to open at 7am for resort guests. They opened the front gates at 7:20am.....made it back to Tomorrowland shortly before 7:30am to find Space Mountain not open. So, we waited in a long line for Astro Orbiter. I woke a teenager up at 5:30am to ride Astro Orbiter. The Disney perks of staying onsite are becoming less and less. Not explanation, no announcements or apologies from Disney.

Oh man, I would be so upset! We rely on EMH! Usually we do Friday EMH at MK but changed our parks due to a split stay at boardwalk so we walked to HS instead. Sorry that happened!

 

[Love Tink]

We were there as well. Biggest disappointment was Disney didn't have their act together to open Magic Kingdom on time for extra magic hours on Friday morning. It was supposed to open at 7am for resort guests. They opened the front gates at 7:20am.....made it back to Tomorrowland shortly before 7:30am to find Space Mountain not open. So, we waited in a long line for Astro Orbiter. I woke a teenager up at 5:30am to ride Astro Orbiter. The Disney perks of staying onsite are becoming less and less. Not explanation, no announcements or apologies from Disney.

Oh my gosh this would make me so upset. Ugh.

 

[TammyLynn33]

Yes we found the crowds manageable which was surprising to me I was scared of all the horror stories ..
I too was not thrilled with the EMH the Friday opening late and space being down but we ride a few things max times if perfectly somehow and one of the first groups on space. Small hiccup in the grand scheme of our trip

 

[CMNJ]

The thing I found most frustrating about them opening late for EMH was that I heard the fireworks go off at 7:58 that signal the end of the welcome show. So not only did they let all the onsite guests in over 15 min late but they allowed off site in a couple min early. It was “extra magic 40 min” lol

 

[annemce118]

I was also there over Easter weekend, and the weather was fabulous and the crowds weren’t bad at all! I think I’ll go next Easter too! I had a wonderful time!

 

[LovePug]

I was there, also, and also found the crowds very manageable. I was very pleasantly surprised. I don't know if the park days we toured had anything to do with it, but even POP Century didn't seem crowded to me (they were able to change out room assignment when we arrived, entered our room, and found we were assigned a room without a tub-at around 8PM).

 

[Bellex917]

We are heading home today and found this week to be VERY nice crowd wise. We were there for Easter 2018 also and it was horrible- we couldn’t get around, lines were unreal, etc. This week was so nice!

 

[Alison S]

We are heading home today and found this week to be VERY nice crowd wise. We were there for Easter 2018 also and it was horrible- we couldn’t get around, lines were unreal, etc. This week was so nice!

Seems like it really does matter if Easter is earlier and blends in more with the heavier spring break crowds.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Our first official park day was Easter Sunday but me and my 7 yo went to MK on arrival night. Any way, Easter Sunday for us at MK was very doable crowds. Not the lightest we have seen but really not that busy.

We arrived at 10:45 via Minnie Van. We toured to the right and rode Space, Buzz, Mad Tea party, Goofy barnstormer, Ariel. Ate lunch at CRT. After lunch we hit Regal Carousel, The Adventures of Pooh, 7 Dwarfs, Peter Pan, Haunted mansion, Big thunder, Splash, Tiki room, Jungle cruise and pirates. All before are 8:00 ADR at The Plaza.

Yesterday, 4/27 was way busier than Easter Sunday. We seen quite a few Cheer Squads in MK.

 

[amymgould]

We are heading home today and found this week to be VERY nice crowd wise. We were there for Easter 2018 also and it was horrible- we couldn’t get around, lines were unreal, etc. This week was so nice!

Agree! Our first year was the best when Easter was late and we went the week after. Last year (2018) Easter was April fools day - early! Next year we will be there during the first week of April because Easter is the 12th and our break falls the week before, so I’m anticipating it being more crowded again.

 

[Woody412]

Easter being so late definitely helped I think. NYC spring break is tied to Easter/Passover but many southern states have their spring break in March. It took a lot of convincing to get DW to agree to go during Easter break, she’s heard nothing but horror stories, but we went and we found the crowds to be fairly light. We were there the 22nd to the 25th and it was comparable to last July, which we also felt had fairly light crowds.