Question for people who have been to DL & DW

[HydroGuy]

Thank you everyone for all of the information. It is very overwhelming. After reading that spring break is one of the busiest times of the year, I am now rethinking it. We do not like large crowds, especailly DH. We are used to DL, which is not very busy in march from our experiance. I looked into a Disney Cruise, but those are nowhere near us so thats out of the question. I am also looking into other places we could possibly go.

Again, thanks for all the help.

FWIW, I went to WDW right in the middle of Spring Break in 2011 and it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting as far as crowds. But it was not a first trip for me (it was my third) and so I knew my way around. I would go during Spring Break again.

 

[Diszona]

FWIW, I went to WDW right in the middle of Spring Break in 2011 and it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting as far as crowds. But it was not a first trip for me (it was my third) and so I knew my way around. I would go during Spring Break again.

I haven't been on extended visit to WDW in a long time so I am curious, does the "Certain parks are busier on certain days" model still apply. For instance, the MK is busiest on Monday because that is where most people want to start their visit and so on...

 

[HydroGuy]

I haven't been on extended visit to WDW in a long time so I am curious, does the "Certain parks are busier on certain days" model still apply. For instance, the MK is busiest on Monday because that is where most people want to start their visit and so on...

The EMH parks dominate everything IMO. I am in the camp that it is best to avoid EMH parks. I did that during Spring Break (on every trip) and I think that makes a difference. In answer to your question, the old rules have been surpassed by the trends.

Sites like touringplans.com and easywdw can help with that.

 

[Maggie7313]

I haven't been on extended visit to WDW in a long time so I am curious, does the "Certain parks are busier on certain days" model still apply. For instance, the MK is busiest on Monday because that is where most people want to start their visit and so on...

It does. Picking your park of the day at WDW is really important and your choice can have a huge impact on your experience. Josh of EasyWDW.com has amazing which park to visit recommendations (and good explanations to go with those recommendations).

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I am also from Oregon. We did 5 days at WDW in December of 2011 and found it to be a very fun trip. No you will not see it all in that amount of time, but it will be worth it in my opinion. I would not do any less than 5 days in the parks and I also do not park hop as it takes so much time out of your trip on shorter trips.

 

[taaren]

Thanks for the idea's. I have heard a lot that DW has many more options for food. That really isn't something I'm concerned about. We are not big foody people. We would rather grab a slice of pizza and go, than a sit down dinner. I was surprised when I was looking at the dining plans and it was a extra $500 for the 5 days. That is just crazy. We usually spend $20-50 a day tops on food. I like the idea of the movie under the stars.


The travel time is what really scares me. It seems like so much wasted time at DW. Thats part of the reason I'm thinking of skipping the hoppers and just getting 1 park per day passes if we go there. I've never taken more than what fits in my pockets at DL, so I'd actually have to carry stuff at DW.

Thank you everyone for all of the information. It is very overwhelming. After reading that spring break is one of the busiest times of the year, I am now rethinking it. We do not like large crowds, especailly DH. We are used to DL, which is not very busy in march from our experiance. I looked into a Disney Cruise, but those are nowhere near us so thats out of the question. I am also looking into other places we could possibly go.

I'm super late to this thread, and you've gotten some great advice ... just based off of what you're saying about not being foodies, and not wanting to spend a lot of time getting places, I'd vote for DLR or DCL or someplace else .... honestly I really enjoyed WDW, and we're planning another trip back this year, but ... as a DLR vet, the time it took to get places really was killer, and the restaurants were a major perk since we are foodies. We started out with a week trip and I ended up adding 2 days because it just felt like there wasn't enough time to make it worth flying all that way when there was more ground to be covered and I know how it'll take awhile to do what we want to.

It sounds like you'd enjoy having a different sort of trip than one that WDW offers, so save WDW for a time when you can take more time and plan and organize for a looong time. There's a ton of special stuff there but it does require a lot of putting together in a way that DLR doesn't ... and also for you to take the time and slow down and not have expectations of getting a ton done while you're there.