Resort-Only Trip During Peak Time

[M0005]

We tend to visit a few times a year. But, we've never been there during a true peak travel time like Christmas/NYE/Spring Break/4th of July. We are used to the June crowds and consider them to be easily manageable, even in the heat.

If we were to do a resort-only trip over Easter weekend (at a high-traffic resort, like Grand Floridian or Polynesian), and generally planned to stay at our resort, are we going to be greatly impacted by the crowds? If so, can you contrast what we can expect to experience over Easter weekend against what we are used to from summer? Again, no parks, so things like transportation and wait times are not relevant.

I imagine the pool crowds are going to be heavier - will they be noticeably heavier than in June? Should I expect to wait in a line to access the feature pool? I also imagine that dining reservations are going to be harder to get and walk-ups virtually impossible. And, I expect the traffic in the public areas of the resort to be increased. What else?

Where this question is coming from: I am - perhaps naively - telling myself is that the resort rooms are almost always close to capacity during the summer, and dining reservations are mostly all booked up in advance at those high-traffic resorts too, so, from the resort-only perspective, perhaps the difference won't be too much at all. Am I foolish to think that way?

 

[fla4fun]

We tend to visit a few times a year. But, we've never been there during a true peak travel time like Christmas/NYE/Spring Break/4th of July. We are used to the June crowds and consider them to be easily manageable, even in the heat.

If we were to do a resort-only trip over Easter weekend (at a high-traffic resort, like Grand Floridian or Polynesian), and generally planned to stay at our resort, are we going to be greatly impacted by the crowds? If so, can you contrast what we can expect to experience over Easter weekend against what we are used to from summer? Again, no parks, so things like transportation and wait times are not relevant.

I imagine the pool crowds are going to be heavier - will they be noticeably heavier than in June? Should I expect to wait in a line to access the feature pool? I also imagine that dining reservations are going to be harder to get and walk-ups virtually impossible. And, I expect the traffic in the public areas of the resort to be increased. What else?

Where this question is coming from: I am - perhaps naively - telling myself is that the resort rooms are almost always close to capacity during the summer, and dining reservations are mostly all booked up in advance at those high-traffic resorts too, so, from the resort-only perspective, perhaps the difference won't be too much at all. Am I foolish to think that way?

I have done resort only stays for July fourth, Christmas and Thanksgiving. I made sure to have at least one ADR booked each day, so I would be sure to have one more or less hassle free meal, and had snacks and beverages in the room.

As far as the pool goes, swimming early in the day seemed to work well for missing the bulk of the crowds. Most people were hitting the parks first thing to get on rides, and then coming back to the resort to swim when the parks got crowded in the afternoon. I would be done with the pool by then and ready for some resort hopping.

One thing I would suggest is requesting a lower floor room, so that if the elevators are busy you can take the stairs. We did not do this the first time (ended up on 8th floor at CR) and had long waits for elevators several times. After that we requested ground floor or lowest floor and it was much more convenient.

 

[M0005]

I have done resort only stays for July fourth, Christmas and Thanksgiving. I made sure to have at least one ADR booked each day, so I would be sure to have one more or less hassle free meal, and had snacks and beverages in the room.

As far as the pool goes, swimming early in the day seemed to work well for missing the bulk of the crowds. Most people were hitting the parks first thing to get on rides, and then coming back to the resort to swim when the parks got crowded in the afternoon. I would be done with the pool by then and ready for some resort hopping.

One thing I would suggest is requesting a lower floor room, so that if the elevators are busy you can take the stairs. We did not do this the first time (ended up on 8th floor at CR) and had long waits for elevators several times. After that we requested ground floor or lowest floor and it was much more convenient.

Oh - elevator crowds, I did not think about that one. Great call out, thank you! I will certainly request a ground floor.

How (un)bearable was resort hopping at those times? I have been to CR when the line for the monorail was 30+ minutes over the summer.

 

[fla4fun]

Oh - elevator crowds, I did not think about that one. Great call out, thank you! I will certainly request a ground floor.

How (un)bearable was resort hopping at those times? I have been to CR when the line for the monorail was 30+ minutes over the summer.

Well, we would just take the path of least resistance. When at CR, if the monorail was busy, we might take the boat to WL instead, or take the DHS bus and walk to the Epcot resorts, or we would walk to the MK bus depot and hop on whatever bus had the shortest line. If everything looked swamped, we would just stay at the hotel and hang out on the balcony with a nice beverage and some snacks. It was busy, but if you’re willing to be spontaneous and change plans on the fly, it’s fun.

 

[Mle8308]

From all reports, crowds around the 4th of July aren't as bad as they used to be. And if you are staying at some of the monorail resorts, like the Polynesian, they will limit the people who can actually visit certain parts of the resort. The Poly won't allow non guests to go to the beach area to view fireworks on the holidays, and they often geo fence out non guests from making mobile orders. Christmas and NYE are going to be the busiest, the resorts are packed with both guests and non guests looking at the decorations, transportation can be challenging. I don't think Easter will be as crowded with non guests at the resorts as the Christmas holidays, but it will be busy. Weather can be weird depending on when Easter falls, so pools could be busy if it's hot, but it can also stay fairly cool if it's March. ADR's haven't been as difficult for a lot of the restaurants, with the 2 hour cancellation policy I've been lucky getting last minute reservations even at places that are more in demand. If you can be flexible, you may be able to get what you want. If it's a resort only stay, go when you want and enjoy! Don't have too many set plans and then you aren't disappointed. I've found it to be much more enjoyable when we just go with the flow and not stress over where we are going to eat or what we are going to do every minute of the day.