Mid to late April.... how is weather & crowds?

[LisaRay]

We have only had one spring time trip and it was the 1st week of March which is barely even Spring. But we felt like we kind of got in/out of Disney just before the BIG spring break crowds hit.

Now we are looking at arriving aprox April 17th and staying for a week and we are wondering if that would mean the spring break crowds would be gone by then?
Also, curious how hot it would be by mid April?

 

[pixiedust2u]

Late April into early May is my favorite time to visit WDW. It’s just after spring break crowds and a lull before summer crowds pick up. You may run into some cheer/band groups but really nothing significant. Weather is superb too, usually low to mid 80s with low humidity and not a lot of rain! Can’t recommend enough! Oh and also Flower and Garden at Epcot!

I’d aim for late April vs mid April. Mid April a lot of northeast states have spring break and flock to WDW and Florida.

 

[auralia]

The timing of Easter this year is shifting spring breaks earlier so late April this year is better than late April in years where Easter lands mid April. I would see that time this year as better than any summer months given that the weather will be more tolerable and no Easter crowds

 

[sponica]

We have only had one spring time trip and it was the 1st week of March which is barely even Spring. But we felt like we kind of got in/out of Disney just before the BIG spring break crowds hit.

Now we are looking at arriving aprox April 17th and staying for a week and we are wondering if that would mean the spring break crowds would be gone by then?
Also, curious how hot it would be by mid April?

It's spring break for some states in the northeast. So it won't be the heavy Easter Spring break crowds, but it will be slightly heavy-ish the beginning of your week.

 

[beccasmom]

We visited for a quick weekend trip in late April 2019 and the weather was absolutely perfect. We only had time to visit Epcot and the F&G Festival was taking place. It was pretty crowded, but we visited on a Sunday. But the weather was so glorious the crowds almost didn’t matter.

We are visiting in early May this year and looking forward to it. Several years back we often visited at that time and always enjoyed it. In our experience the weather can be warm but not overwhelmingly so. I remember waiting for an MK bus once early in the morning and I had goose bumps on my legs from the “chill”. Obviously, the day got warmer, but the temps varied quite a bit. The weather can be a real wildcard sometimes.

 

[rangerxenos]

Crowds shouldn't be too bad, but the weather is a pot shot. I was there two years ago at the end of April, and it was almost 90 and very humid for the second half of my trip.

 

[F&W_CRAVERS]

This may impact crowd levels for late April:
New York City Schools have Spring Recess Saturday April 20th to Tuesday April 30th, returning to school on Wednesday May 1st. Many NYC surrounding districts (in NJ, LI, CT) have no school April 20th to April 29th. Passover begins before sundown on Monday, April 22, 2024, and ends after nightfall on April 30, 2024.
There is also runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend April 18th - 21st.

 

[daf]

I am also looking at a mid to late April Disney vacation, and having a very hard time deciding. According to this, it should be too crowded:
https://wdwprepschool.com/disney-world-crowd-calendar/april-at-disney-world/

But I'm reading contradicting predictions on other websites. Any input would be appreciated!

 

[sponica]

I am also looking at a mid to late April Disney vacation, and having a very hard time deciding. According to this, it should be too crowded:
https://wdwprepschool.com/disney-world-crowd-calendar/april-at-disney-world/

But I'm reading contradicting predictions on other websites. Any input would be appreciated!

The later in April, the better. Patriots Day is early this year, so MA is on break the 3rd week, with NH the following week. I had different sets of friends there last year during the 2 states April breaks. MA April break (week 3) was much more crowded than NH April break (week 4)

 

[SL6827]

I think, well at least in the south, a lot of schools do thier end of year testing the last week in April. I could be wrong.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I just posted to a thread asking about September. April should be a decent time.

My one small caveat though is that if it ends up on the warm side for FL in April, you might not have time to acclimate to warmer temps. (Whereas in September, we all usually have time to get acclimated to summer temps.)
Ninety in April may feel a bit warmer perhaps than 90 in September if you are coming from a northern location.

WDW hotel pricing is also highly variable. I'm not sure where April pricing falls compared to other times of year, but it is probably mid-range. Not as $$$ as Easter, but not as low as January.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Late April into early May was one of my favourite visits for weather and crowds!

 

[Disneytrippin']

Late April into early May was one of my favourite visits for weather and crowds!

We usually go late fall but are trying out May this year. We arrive May 11th for 12 days. we don't know what to expect crowd or heat wise. I see Dvc resorts booked up but, when I went to make dining reservations it was unbelievably easy. There was lots of availability. I thought maybe crowds won't be that bad?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Beautiful time of the year to visit!! Crowds will likely decrease a little as your trip progresses. Late April/early May is our favourite time of the year to visit WDW!!

 

[loves to dive]

Now days it's hard to tell. Spring breaks are all over the place for the entire country. I'll be there the first week in April and I know our local county schools are out that week (I don't have anyone in school but my neighbor told me). UGA was out early March. As far as weather, it's a crap shoot. There is supposed to be one day that is rainy while I'm there and warmish weather (80s and 70s) but it's too early to tell. I was there last year mid-April and it was warm and rained a good bit, a couple of days had pretty good gully washers. It wasn't very crowded though, most days the longest waits I had were around 15 min. with a few exceptions. I've been early May and it's been hotish but not much rain. To be honest, I don't think I've ever been any time of the year that we didn't have some sort of rain.

 

[Hisgirl]

For years we went during this time to celebrate our anniversary.

I have found the crowds to mostly be a 5 or 6 or maybe a 7 but doable.

The weather can be hot. I would bring a small fan and plan to deal with the heat.

You can def plan to lay by the pool. We've moved our trip back a month to early March because of the heat.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Weather wise it can be really nice, 80s and low humidity or you can have really rogue hot/humid days. I'd recommend you just watch the weather and plan accordingly as you get closer to your trip. We've been many different times in April and mid/late April, one day can be sunny, 75 and really nice with cooler mornings needing a hoodie and the next is 90 and humid. You really just have to be ready for both types of weather. Overall this time of year is way better than summer.

 

[TIME2DISNEY]

We will be there the first week in May. Does May 4th bring out the May the force be with you crowds?

 

[scrappinginontario]

We will be there the first week in May. Does May 4th bring out the May the force be with you crowds?

At DHS, yes. A lot of costuming and the park is busier.

 

[Tripscarcare]

End of April into May is usually our go to weeks. We are headed down in 32 days, went around the same time last year. Value resorts had a fare amount of cheer teams on site, which can lead to noise and just a bit of general "kid" chaos. Its expected. This time we are staying at a moderate resort so our littles can get a descent sleep after a long day. Parks were not overly crowded in my opinion, rope dropped every park due to early access of staying on site. Our Epcot day last year we rode Remi three times in a row and Frozen twice first thing in the am. That was it for the day at Epcot. MK was the same situation for Peter Pan, and Haunted Mansion. The weather was good, cool nice and "warm" days especially when coming down from up North. Kids enjoyed swimming in early spring.