One Day- Easter Saturday or Easter Sunday?

[Tammylynn]

Long story short-

Booked the HoJo Entertainment Rate a few months back, not realizing this weekend was Easter weekend.

Cancellation on the Entertainment rate costs one night, so I'm thinking since I'll have to eat the one night cost either way, we'll use our one-day pass this weekend and make a day out of it.

I expect this weekend to be crazy ('forget about it' says IsItPacked.com), but does anyone have a forecast if either Saturday or Sunday would be any less hectic than the other?

If they're equally nuts, we'll go Saturday, but perhaps Sunday might be better, with people doing Easter brunch or something elsewhere? Wishful thinking?

Thanks in advance to any 'Easter veterans'!

 

[iheartdisney]

if i had to gamble, i would bet on saturday being the lighter day, mostly because it is blacked out to all the APs except Premium.
I only know this because we were planning on going Saturday since our APs expire on Monday, but the kids can't. So we'll go on Monday.

 

[Dizneydaz]

See I was going to say go on Sunday and get there before it opens. When we have been there on Sunday I notice that about 11 a.m.-noon the guests really start streaming in but before that it's not too bad. Just grab all the FP you can to use later. What with church, Easter stuff, etc. it should be the same this Easter.

Tourist will go both days. And maybe some of them will be busy with holiday plans on Saturday.

FYI-This week and next week, only Deluxe and Premium APH can go the whole 2 weeks. Neither of the So. Cal AP can go again until Sunday the 1st or Monday the 2nd. I believe the majority of local residents have the 2 cheaper AP ( I would except for DD's school calendar being unknown until Feb.) On Friday (today) and Sat.(tomorrow) only Premiums can go. Then on Sunday only Deluxe and Premiums can go. I don't think the addition of Deluxe APH will make that big of a difference.

I do think either day will get bad as the day goes on, so grab those FP early and plan smart.

We are actually thinking of going today (tonight) after DD11 gets out of school. Everybody is blocked today except for Premiums so I'm hoping it won't be too bad.

 

[Tammylynn]

Thanks for the well-thought out posts. Both of you have great logic!

I'm thinking we'll do Saturday and if we don't get enough of the crowds with the one-day I got through work, we can just pay for another day and go on Sunday as well.

I'm pretty good at maximizing fast passes and I know my way around the parks pretty well so once the crowds hit I should have a pretty good plan about what else I want to do.

I just haven't been on a crowded day in a really long time, so I don't want it to 'ruin' the experience. But I'm going in knowing it'll be busy so I think I'll be ok.

Again, I appreciate the input!

 

[shockpirate]

I would say Saturday too. All three Annual Passes are blacked out.
It is still gonna be busy, but I doubt Christmas thru New Years busy. I have been during that week 4 times I think. IT IS NUTS! You got to know exactly what you are doing or else you will get left behind. But it is worth it for the lights.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

That's tough but I see more locals going on Sat. Don't most people in S CA spend Easter Sunday at church and then a nice lunch/dinner with family afterwards ???

 

[shockpirate]

That's tough but I see more locals going on Sat. Don't most people in S CA spend Easter Sunday at church and then a nice lunch/dinner with family afterwards ???

True but Deluxe is not blacked out Sunday so it might create more crowds. SoCal residents can finance a Deluxe AP too so many might have it cause of the lack of massive black out periods.

Bottom line that weekend is gonna be busy no matter what day you go. It is like choosing moldy grapes or moldy apples. Both taste bad but you can at least pick your favorite fruit.

 

[scamper45]

We were there last Easter Sunday and it was light until about 1. Go first thing in the morning. Hopefully there will not be a earthquake on Easter like there was last year....We were just about to get on the Tower or Terror when the it truly became the tower of terror and the building began to sway...

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

just throwing this out but superbowl weekend sun was more busy then sat

 

[Tammylynn]

Tried to post yesterday from my Smartphone but was having connection issues at the park.

Ended up going Saturday and it was FANTASTIC! The lines at the gates were minimal, and I ended up getting fast passes for everything before noon.

The crowds started showing up late afternoon, but it was nothing like I expected.

I'm forgoing the parks today, but hopefully those of you who are there today are getting the light crowds as well!

 

[the donut]

The crowds were pretty light today, but probably because of the rain. We showed up around 11am (unusual for us not to be there at open, but we kind of made a last minute decision to go). Lines were minimal, but several things were closed because of the rain including Alice, Teacups, and Gadget Go Coaster. Wait was 15 minutes for Buzz around noon, then it went down. After lunch, wait for Jungle Cruise was 5 minutes, and BTMRR was 5-7 minutes, but it went down too after we rode it. Someone said that Space Mountain was down all day. Overall, we got a surprising number of rides done considering how late we got there on a holiday Sunday. By late afternoon, the sun came out, and it was getting warm and crowded - (Alice was at 30 minutes and there was a pretty good crowd at the tea cups). We went on GRR with only a 5 minute wait and skedaddled home.

 

[Armadillo4]

I'm forgoing the parks today, but hopefully those of you who are there today are getting the light crowds as well!

The crowds were pretty light today, but probably because of the rain.

For the few hours that I was there, it seemed light this Easter Sunday. With church and brunch in the morning, I didn't get to the park until 3pm. By then the rain had stopped and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Made a beeline for Tomorrowland and picked up a Fastpass for Space Mountain which was for 4:25pm (posted standby time was only 35 minutes). I was surprised the FP return window was still in the afternoon and not for later in the evening, but it kind of makes sense if the ride was down earlier in the day. Finding Nemo was only 20 minutes. The wait time display for BLAB was not working, but the line was really short outside the building. I'm guessing 10 minutes. Indy was only 25 minutes, but I did single rider. POTC and HM were both 5 minutes.

I hopped over to DCA wanting to see the updated Disney Junior show. The only ride I wandered by was Soaring and the standby time was posted at 25 minutes. Had dinner at the House of Blues then went home. It seemed like a great day to visit the park, especially if you didn't mind a little rain in the morning.