passover/Easter week 2017

Mflaherty

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Jan 23, 2013
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Anyone have any experience with disneyworld crowds the week before and after Easter? This is the time my kids and I have off (from school and work) It's hard for me to take off because I work in a school. But not sure if it's awful there at this time?? Any advice? Plus I would have to upgrade my annual pass(gold) now as well to go that week. Thoughts?
 
With Easter being late next year, I would think the crowds would be reasonable. Most of the northern schools (including ours) are off the last week of March or first week of April. I would think the week after Easter would afford you a little bit lower crowds than the week before, as the crowd levels tend to get lower towards the end of the month. It's a great time to be there, with nice weather and the Epcot Flower and Garden festival!
 
Our public school system always has spring break either the week before or after Easter (depending on how early or how late it is). They don't follow a fixed week like some systems do. I think this week before or after Easter is how the majority of the systems do it because those are always the higher premium point weeks on the DVC charts. We went 2x over our spring break in the past. Both times we went for 6 nights and we left to fly down on the evening of our very last night of our school week on the week preceeding Easter. This way we were usually "in and out" before Easter day itself hit and sometimes actually had a couple of days to start the trips that weren't in the higher Premium point season. On both trips we noticed it getting busier & busier with each day as we approached Easter. Go knowing that crowds are going to be at a 10 every day. We always had a couple of days where the MK would hit capacity by like about 10:00 or 10:30 AM. We always hit MK early and got out by say 11:00 as it was wall to wall people. If you're somebody who spends the majority of your time at MK be prepared for 2 hour+ long standby waits for absolutely EVERYTHING. And if you make a lot of ADR's plan them early (like right when your 180 day window opens).

One year we stayed at BLT in a LV studio & one year at AKV Kidani to save points. The BLT trip was definitely nice to be on the monorail and within walking distance of MK due to the crowd levels....

Now that our DS is in college his spring break is not going to coincide with Easter as much (unless Easter falls early) so we don't have to worry about it so much. We've probably done our last spring break trip that will fall the week before or after Easter. Might plan one for his college break in another year tho. For now we're happy just to have him come HOME for a week. :love:
 
We have also read that it is very crowded during Easter week. Our anniversary is in early April and we love to celebrate it at WDW. The last time we did Easter week we were delighted with the low crowds the week before and then on the Thursday before you started noticing the crowds and then by Saturday it was packed. There is a definite increase starting with Good Friday. We didn't stay after Easter so I cannot comment on it.

There is a crowd calendar you can look at on the Undercover Tourist website. Touring Plans has a better and probably more accurate crowd calendar since they have been gathering the data for years, but you have to join to use it.
 

Everywhere I've read, the comments are that the week before and the week of Easter will be very busy. My girls spring break always starts the Monday after Easter Sunday. I was looking to do our very first WDW trip next year during their spring break, but after reading about the crowd levels and the higher points required for a 9-night stay, DH and I made the decision to pull the girls out of school the first week of May for this trip. Less points are needed for our resort stay and I'm assuming airfare will be less as well.
 
Anyone have any experience with disneyworld crowds the week before and after Easter? This is the time my kids and I have off (from school and work) It's hard for me to take off because I work in a school. But not sure if it's awful there at this time?? Any advice? Plus I would have to upgrade my annual pass(gold) now as well to go that week. Thoughts?

We went last year and it was really fun. Epcot was pretty crowded but not unmanageable, at least to us. We are going again 2017!
 
As with any crowds a lot depends on the individual's personal tolerance. You will see some report that crowds are so bad they will never do that time again, and others for the same year report that it is fine. Have done Easter time a dozen times over the years, including when it is in March, late in April, and in between. The two weeks are most crowded when Easter falls latter part of March or early April, when there is a risk of park closure at MK during the day because it has reached capacity, but even when Easter falls other times, the crowds still are the second largest of the year behind only Christmas week. Standby lines for popular rides typically go over 2 hours, some ike Soarin and Test Track can approach 3 hours, and can be that way for much of the day after the first hour or two after opening. Even something like Swiss Family Treehouse can approach an hour line mid-morning to afternoon. Waterparks can fill to capacity by 11 or 11:30, and then open up again a few hours later.

Street crowds can be very heavy at the parks, particularly MK and AK where you need to allow significantly more time for getting from any point A to any point B than you would usually allow for during other times of the year, including the summer months. And that problem will likely be matched at Studios next year with a signifcant portion of the park closed due to construciton of new lands. Guests start seeking ideal spots for the MK parade as early as 1 1/2 hours before the event.

Fastpass's are a necessity for any popular rides except that you may be able to catch one or two with a fairly short line if you arrive first thing in the morning, and be aware that Disney often for that time of year opens all the parks early even to offsite guests. Sometimes standby lines for a popular ride can shrink to under an hour and even to a half hour for a short time during a parade. Likewise during the last hour the park is open when open late (MK typically goes to midnight or even 1 a.m.) As far as planning park visits, we have found AK's and Epcot's lighter crowd days are the day before Easter and Easter, although "lighter" is a relative term meaning it is just not quite as crowded as other days. Easter day is more than extreme at MK because so many go there expecting to see something on that day that they cannot see other days of the week; they are misinformed because nothing goes on at MK on Easter that you cannot do other days of the week. For some reason the day after Easter is also usually close to the same extreme, and of course everyday is very crowded at MK.

Dinner reservations for park restaurants and any character meals need to be made well in advance (as soon as you can start reserving under the 180 day + 10 rule for the more popular restaurants). Another increase to be aware of is that menu prices at the restaurants can go higher during that holiday time.
 
Not only is it Easter week, but also the Dark side marathon weekend. I am there for a conference that week, great planning on their part with that one. Not only are flights higher so are the hotel costs.
 
All but the highest level APs are blocked. They expect it to be a doozy.
 
The last time we were at DW for Easter was 2014. While it was very, very crowded...it wasn't the worst I've been in. Fast Pass is a must, and so are ADR's. I found if one didn't have a FP, chances of getting on the ride without an hour plus wait was low. We had ADR's for all our meals. I was surprised by how many would try to walk up for a table only to be told there is absolutely nothing to be had. I don't know if you will be flying but I do recall our airfare being very expensive. I started trolling on the sites early (like a year early).
 
I do recall our airfare being very expensive

As for airfare - as soon as the SW flights opened up for that week in April I booked. I thought that it was silly to book that far in advance but so glad i did!! I booked a "wanna get away" flight down for $95 (on a Tuesday)-- now the "wanna get away" flights are not available and that same flight is $478. I don't stay on top of airfare, but my guess is for a holiday week i can't see the prices going down too much.
 












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