People just back, how were

[SnowWitch]

the crowds? We have never been this time of year and leave next Fri just curious what the waits look like. We tend to get to the park at opening, we go to the MK's early day to maximize our Fantasyland time, we utilize the AK early day to get an extra hr of lower temps, we then beeline out of that park by noon and hop to another park. We avoid Epcot and MGM early or late days like the plague, I am of the camp that feels these things only draw bigger crowds for that park for the day.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

Crowds beginning next weekend will be MUCH LARGER than they are currently.

The week of Apeil 20 is a big school vacation week in the Northeast.

 

[tawasdave]

Hi,

Crowds beginning next weekend will be MUCH LARGER than they are currently.

The week of Apeil 20 is a big school vacation week in the Northeast.

Not sure how it could be much bigger...the parks were packed last week...I have been maybe 15 times...most people I have ever seen...at one point on Thursday wait for Soarin was 2 1/2 hrs...can you say fastpass?

 

[Sobes]

Not sure how it could be much bigger...the parks were packed last week...I have been maybe 15 times...most people I have ever seen...at one point on Thursday wait for Soarin was 2 1/2 hrs...can you say fastpass?

I just got back April 8th and the crowds were bad! Even with the rain on Sunday that lasted from 1pm until late at night. The parks were full to the max. I thought Monday would be a slower day at MK, boy was I wrong!! I have never seen it that packed before.
But, on Saturday we went to MK got there at rope drop and were able to ride almost every single ride in Fantasyland(excpet pooh and peter pan, fastpass). Befor our breakfast at 10:20 at the CP.

 

[MexiFinn]

Was at parks 4/4 - 4/8. Pretty crowded but expected. We also go a lot so what we miss, we'll just hit next trip.

Also the rain killed us on 4/6. We were at MK and it was non-stop rain from 2 or so on. It was a good day to stay because we were able to knock out some of the big attractions as well as only wait 5 mins for the princesses in toontown.

Hollywood Studios (MGM) wasn't all that bad (crowd wise) when we were there. Neither was Epcot. We did get there later in the day so we missed Soarin fast passes and didn't want to stand in an 80 min line.

AK was slightly crowded but we did get done what we wanted to get done. MK was crazy as usual. Fantasyland was done late at night with no wait (we did it during SpectroMagic parade and Wishes). We had seen them last trip and decided to skip this go around.

Oh the sacrifices one has to make to keep the kids happy!

 

[wendylovesdisney]

Hi,

Crowds beginning next weekend will be MUCH LARGER than they are currently.

The week of Apeil 20 is a big school vacation week in the Northeast.

Is it just for that week? I am arriving on the 28th...

 

[Wendybird55]

My SIL is there now (April 5-12). She called DH yesterday and told him they're having a great time but it's very crowded. They went with another family and there are 4 small girls total. They spent 4 days in MK. My SIL said they waited on Peter Pan was 80 minutes.

This is their first time to DW and I'm sure they may have been able to do a bit better or get mre odne if they were better acquainted. They are there 8 days and aren't even going to DH. But corwded is crowded no matter how you dice it.

 

[mombrontrent]

Hi,

Crowds beginning next weekend will be MUCH LARGER than they are currently.

The week of Apeil 20 is a big school vacation week in the Northeast.

According to the UG the week of the 20th-27th has significantly lower crowds then the past few weeks. I wonder if the UG is completely off or the school holidays that week won't have as big of impact as some people think since many more school districts were off the past few weeks. I don't know but I'll be there so I hope the UG is right

 

[dddisrunner]

I highly doubt that the week of the 20th will be way more crowded then this or next week. Disney put out a public code for a room discount that starts on the 20th. They don't do that to be nice, they do it to sell unsold rooms. That being said as a previous poster mentioned the UG is usually right on with their crowd predictions. It will by no means be slow, but it won't be full to capacity either!

 

[JeremyGNJ]

I highly doubt that the week of the 20th will be way more crowded then this or next week. Disney put out a public code for a room discount that starts on the 20th. They don't do that to be nice, they do it to sell unsold rooms. That being said as a previous poster mentioned the UG is usually right on with their crowd predictions. It will by no means be slow, but it won't be full to capacity either!

Exactly! Disney doesnt give out discount codes if they are booking heavily.

People keep saying "that week is a big spring break in the northeast"...probably because that is where they are from. But the northeast only contains about 5 or 6 states out of.....50. The vast majority of school systems in the country had their spring break between mid-march and mid-april.

The more important factor is, that is passover week. So that could cause some traffic, but no where near the spring breaks that have been there for the past 4 weeks.

The week after....like 27th - May 4th is supposed to be significantly less crowded.

 

[M2DD's]

The week after....like 27th - May 4th is supposed to be significantly less crowded.

I hope that this is the case because I'll be there
April 30th till May 11th
I also love the UG and do believe that he is on target

 

[slduck]

FYI...many schools in the state of Georgia have been on spring break this week. Huge numbers of people from our area headed down this week. I suspect that this could have contributed to the large crowds.

I hope that things slow down for you next week.

 

[ryrysmom14]

I'll be there on the 18th for the week being that our schools have off. We were there last year and it was crowded and I am expecting this year to be more so. We are in NJ and we never have off the same week as NY, but b/c of Passover, we do this year. I have heard that Mass. has off that week as well as alot of Northeastern states that don't usually have off that week.

As far as the discount on the rooms...yes, it started on 4/20 and 2 families we know tried to get rooms with and without the discount and they were soldout for many days that week! They had to move their vacations a couple of days early and end them on that Tuesday. Trying to move any ADR's that week is impossible- I have been calling daily. This is what really scared me for that week....Disney added extra hours for dining for that week and Easter week only! I don't think they would have done that had they not expected large crowds that week. I hope I am wrong, but expecting pretty large crowds. Here's the link about the dining:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/easter.htm

Lorraine

 

[loveDmouse]

I thought everyone already had their spring breaks. They were around Easter in our area.

 

[jennib5426]

I have been here all week and the crowds are big...
There was a line for the bathroom in adventureland yesterday that stretched out the door.

Next year I will go last week of April, I think things will have calmed down by then.

 

[Fabinva]

Originally posted by Sobes
I just got back April 8th and the crowds were bad! Even with the rain on Sunday that lasted from 1pm until late at night. The parks were full to the max. I thought Monday would be a slower day at MK, boy was I wrong!! I have never seen it that packed before.
But, on Saturday we went to MK got there at rope drop and were able to ride almost every single ride in Fantasyland(excpet pooh and peter pan, fastpass). Befor our breakfast at 10:20 at the CP.

We were there same week and left that rainy Sunday around 11:30am. I was expecting crowds but did not think it would be same level everyday, made me wonder about visiting in April again.
On Sunday I got to the park right after 9am with daughter and was able to ride Pooh (fastpass)and Snow White and the Carousel with no wait, then we saw all the princesses and characters in Toontown Hall, after that we went to meet Ariel at the Groto and that wait was about 25min but was worth it. Even with crowds with some planning and getting there early it is doable

 

[las3888]

We were there 4/6-4/10 (just back yesterday afternoon)

We typically do not go this time of year...DS is not in school yet so we take advantage of going when it's less crowded. However, this trip, we met up with in-laws who are from Seattle area. It was their spring break last week. I believe there is a 6 week spread or so throughout the country for spring breaks. Ours was the last week in March and from what I understand, it sounded like the busiest week for spring break. I believe this past week has been spring break for parts of Florida, Michigan, Washington, Louisiana, Kentucky and a few other states.

At any rate, the crowds were high, but we expected it.

My advice is to really hit the parks right at opening. Beware that it is a madhouse getting in, in particular at MK. The line for the monorail was out of this world and I believe they were ID'ing people to ride the resort monorail...meaning, you couldn't ride that monorail unless you were staying at a monorail resort. I have never seen that before, maybe others have. We waited for the ferry (probably not the best way to go). We waited for 3 to come and go I believe. It really took 1 hour time between arriving at the park and actually getting through monorail/ferry, bag check, the ticket gate and heading towards a ride. Beyond that, early in the AM, you could do the rides fairly well...the lines for something like Peter Pan was 20-30 (again, this was early AM). Fastpass return times around 9:30 or 10:00 were for around 11:00 or 11:30, not too bad. Towards 11AM lines would have been 60-80. The line for Indy Speedway first thing in the morning was about 25 minutes versus 60 at around 11AM.

Another piece of advice is if you are eating breakfast early, hopefully you will be hungry early. We tried to get to a counter service restaurant before 11:30, usually around 11:15 or 11:20 otherwise the lines were pretty long too. It worked out okay for us. We would then try to ride a ride using fastpass after lunch, then back to resort for swim/nap.

Evening lines were pretty long too.

All in all, it was a little unpredictable though. We walked right onto Journey into Imagination at around 10am, and then directly after that, saw the line for the EPCOT ball ride at around 60 minutes wait. It was a little strange. Soarin' fastpasses were long gone by afternoon.

Good luck...hopefully it will be lighter than you think. Also, our inlaws found MK was EMPTY Sunday AM. It poured Sunday afternoon, but the AM was reasonably nice and like I said, they thought it was totally empty. Maybe a lot of people were coming and going so no time for parks???

Get there early!!!

 

[Eeyore*]

I'll be there from the 19th-24th, and I'm expecting it to be very crowded. I'm from New Jersey, and I'm going with people from Massachusetts, and we both have break that weeks, so I suppose it is a popular break in the Northeast.

 

[Vivianne]

We were in the area March 31-April 5. We did MK EMH and Epcot EMH (evenings) and P&P Party. The crowds were moderate I asked a CM at the gate and she told me it was slow compared to Easter week . I do know it was springbreak for Georgia.

 

[Shmily1]

Last week went like this...

4/6--arrived around 1 PM at DHS. The rains came, and the crowds... and more crowds. The rain didn't stop until atleast after about 11 PM which is when I finally gave up and went back to the resort. We got a fast pass for RocknRollercoaster when we arrived for 6:05 PM to 7:05 PM. Right before 11 PM, you could walk on and we did. The park was packed out all day until around 10 PM, even with all the monsoon rain!!!

4/7--arrived at AK at 9:05 AM. It was already packed. We ran straight for a fast pass for the safari and got one for 10:35 to 11:35. By the time we got off, the fast pass times were for early evening. We had to wait in line a few times, but mostly used the fast passes for every attraction that had one. We went to Restaurantosaurus for lunch around 11:40 and by noon, it was packed out and the lines were backed up out the door. We left there at5:40, went back to the resort to change into dry clothes (took a trip down the falls last--that may have been stupid!), and got to DTD at 6:50. Our time for dinner at RFC was 9:10. We were on the bus back to the resort at 11. No dining reservations were available except for 50's PT.... we passed on that one.

4/8--arrived at Epcot at 8:45 AM. The lines to get in were already back to the ticket booths. We went straight to TestTrack and the lines were a 45 minute wait. Then we went to Soarin and it was at 40 minutes. We waited for both of these since they were under and hour and we could get them out of the way. Fast pass times for Soarin were already at 1 to 2. CS lunch in Mexico took 40 minutes to get. After Illuminations, we got on the third bus to come by for our resort. We arrived around 10:40.

4/9--arrived at MK at 9:05 AM. We headed for HM and walked right in. There was no line and not enough people to fill up the stretch room. Then, off to do the mountains. 20 minutes for Splash and BTMRR each. We got fast passes for 1:05 -2:05 for SM then walked right on Buzz. We then headed for Fantasyland and Peter Pan was already at 50 minutes. Pooh was at 50 minutes too and the fast pass time was at 4:35-5:35. We passed on those two. Lunch was at Cosmic Rays where the six of us sat at a table for 4, then we headed to Toon Town to see Mickey. The line was out of the tent!! The line for the princesses was longer and was almost out to the street. We passed on that too!

Overall, this time was atleast, if not more, crowded than it was last summer. I really don't see how it could be much more crowded at the end of April. No matter what the crowds are like, we will keep going back and always have a great time!! This was our third time this year (we stopped counting the total when the kids reached their 50th trip and didn't have a driver's license yet )and it was by far the most crowded.