Spring Break, 4 days, Express Passes....are we good?

[michellej47]

So we are Disney regulars. I've been to Universal twice (the last time being 4 years ago). I have always said I would NEVER do a Florida theme park over Spring Break. Originally, my daughter's dance studio was going there to dance during their Spring Break, so we decided to go. That has since been cancelled, but we have still decided to make the trip. We are staying at Portofino Bay so we get the express passes. We have 4 total park days (not doing Volcano Bay). Do you think we'll be able to do/see everything and still have some chill time at our resort? I have no idea what crowds will be like.

 

[macraven]

If you go early as onsite hotel guests are allowed early entry to the parks, you will stay ahead of the crowds for a decent time period

Do your food breaks at off times and avoid the normal lunch time periods

Check the app for wait times for specific rides
Decide which rides are a must do no matter how long the ride wait time will be

Make a list of the “must do rides and shows in advance and be flexible to change those plans if you see shorter ride waits

 

[Kit Jackson]

I would say you are good. You will have time to see and do almost everything and have some time at the hotel.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You should be good.
You probably want to make a few reservations for sit down meals, especially if you plan to eat during traditional dinner hours or right around park close. You can make reservations closer to your dates and often even same day, but more popular places may start getting booked up a few weeks out (Toothsome, Bigfire), especially for ideal dinner times.

 

[cfoxga]

We just go back from a trip over President's Day, and would guess that the parks will be very crowded over Spring Break. As long as you know what to expect, you should be good with EPs from PBH.

The parks to start getting crowded by around 10:00-10:30 am. While EPs do not work during EE, it is still worth going in early to do rides like Velocicoaster or Hagrids (which do not take EPs). Once EE is over, we tend to hit all of the rides in one park. Some popular rides like Kong can get very long EP lines (45+ minutes), so we try to avoid rides in the mid afternoon.

We usually finish by 1:00 pm and then head back to the hotel for a nap or pool time. If we're on the US side, we'll do Bourne or the Horror Make-Up shows before we leave. Then we grab an early dinner and head back to the parks.

I recommend picking up at least one Mardi Gras Lanyard/Gift Card when you first get to the US side. At $120 for a $150 card, which works at almost all food/drink locations, it is a great deal...

 

[Heckah]

We found two days at each park was enough to do everything we wanted to do with EP. My family wanted to sleep in one morning so I walked from RP and rope dropped IOA and rode everything by 2 pm (including VelociCoaster twice). We accomplished everything at Studios in two days without much of a plan.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

With 4 days and Express Passes you will be easily able to see and do everything and spend plenty of time at the pool.

 

[susienut1]

We just go back from a trip over President's Day, and would guess that the parks will be very crowded over Spring Break. As long as you know what to expect, you should be good with EPs from PBH.

The parks to start getting crowded by around 10:00-10:30 am. While EPs do not work during EE, it is still worth going in early to do rides like Velocicoaster or Hagrids (which do not take EPs). Once EE is over, we tend to hit all of the rides in one park. Some popular rides like Kong can get very long EP lines (45+ minutes), so we try to avoid rides in the mid afternoon.

We usually finish by 1:00 pm and then head back to the hotel for a nap or pool time. If we're on the US side, we'll do Bourne or the Horror Make-Up shows before we leave. Then we grab an early dinner and head back to the parks.

I recommend picking up at least one Mardi Gras Lanyard/Gift Card when you first get to the US side. At $120 for a $150 card, which works at almost all food/drink locations, it is a great deal...

Where do you buy the Mardi Gras Lanyard/Gift card? Does it work at Citywalk restaurants?
Thanks!

 

[Gentry2004]

The main issue we have during busy periods (with express pass) is finding somewhere to sit when eating counter service food. There just aren’t enough seats. We started reserving sit down meals just to have somewhere to sit.

 

[cfoxga]

Where do you buy the Mardi Gras Lanyard/Gift card? Does it work at Citywalk restaurants?
Thanks!

At any food booth in the US side (not in IOA). We didn't try in CityWalk, but it sounds like it works there if they run it as a gift card...

 

[thevolcanogod]

You’ll be Gouda. US isn’t like Disney - more chill and less walking if you don’t want to. Done spring break several times and you’ll do everything you want in 4 days with a few re-rides of the E tickets. Can chill out during the afternoon and eat a sit down lunch in city walk or go to the pool and then go back in for the evening. It’s so much more laid back even during spring break. I love Disney but I love US too.