Spring Break at Disney (march) MADHOUSE???

[bradpga]

We are contemplating a March dvc trip to disney and would like to try BLT. I am nervous about the crowds during this time! I have heard the crowds are out of control and the main attractions are impossible to ride. Even heard of parks shutting down early? Who has been during this time? Any truth to this. I called member services today and I have a choice to stay at ANY DVC right now. (rare)

 

[dwelty]

I think it depends on what you are referring to as Spring Break. In 2010 the busiest weeks will be the last week of March and First Week of April. I don't know if those are within your timeframe. Often there is good avalibility during this time because points requirements are so much higer than other parts of the year. The parks will be super crowded these two weeks.

 

[deva]

We went in late March this year which was a few weeks before Easter. Crowds were not large. However, I was waiting for my family to get off of that Toy Story ride at DHS (I get motion sick) and was chatting with the CM about how hot it was. She mentioned that the heat was sooo much worse in August and then added, "but the two times you really don't want to be here are Christmas and Easter".

 

[njmeisje]

We are going the last week of March. Its the kids Spring Break from school - whatcha gonna do - gotta roll with it. We've been Easter week, Christmas week and summer. There is a trade off. The park will be very crowded. Lower your expectations about how many rides you will ride - but the trade off will be fabulous weather. All in all - we have sworn off summer from now on. It was nearly 100 degrees this past July the week we were there. Too much.

Good luck and have fun.
Diane

 

[cogero]

We went Easter Week this year and honestly it was crowded but we just made sure we were up and out for Rope Drop and enjoyed the pool in the Afternoon. One of the joys of owning DVC is you can take your time to see stuff. You knnow you are coming back.

 

[Starr W.]

We are contemplating a March dvc trip to disney and would like to try BLT. I am nervous about the crowds during this time! I have heard the crowds are out of control and the main attractions are impossible to ride. Even heard of parks shutting down early? Who has been during this time? Any truth to this. I called member services today and I have a choice to stay at ANY DVC right now. (rare)

I think if you avoid the 2 weeks around Easter it's doable. We were at VB 4/4-4/11 this year and a DIS'ers college age daughter took off for WDW one day. :scared. DHS's parking lot reached capacity.

There were reports of park closures, but again that's Easter weeks.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

We were there the last week of March last year and it is fairly crowded. There was a cheerleading competition as well as Disney Magic Music days so there are a lot of school groups down there. The same advise as always applies, get to the parks early and you can get a lot done before noon and collect fastpasses for the big rides for use later.

 

[spiceycat]

avoid if you can - easter and palm (week before) weeks. also would add when the locals are off for their spring break

osceola, orange, lake, polk counties

that say would agree - it is a wonderful time to be there - of course now that Disney has moved most of the flower/garden to March - that might add to the crowds.

go early, leave when the parks get too crowded or your patience runs out, then return later - either late afternoon or early evening. remember because the parks are open later - then EMH is even later. So it is definitely doable.

 

[Anthony1971]

We are contemplating a March dvc trip to disney and would like to try BLT. I am nervous about the crowds during this time! I have heard the crowds are out of control and the main attractions are impossible to ride. Even heard of parks shutting down early? Who has been during this time? Any truth to this. I called member services today and I have a choice to stay at ANY DVC right now. (rare) [/QUO

If you list the dates you are thinking of you should get a better response as Spring Break is not the same dates in every state.

 

[dvcbrad]

We are contemplating a March dvc trip to disney and would like to try BLT. I am nervous about the crowds during this time! I have heard the crowds are out of control and the main attractions are impossible to ride. Even heard of parks shutting down early? Who has been during this time? Any truth to this. I called member services today and I have a choice to stay at ANY DVC right now. (rare)

We've been during a couple of spring breaks, and while the crowds are fairly large, I think it's manageable. What we would do is get out early and do some rides, get some fast passes etc. before the crowds get REALLY large, and then head back for a swim or go to one of the water parks if warm enough in the afternoon. We'd then maybe go back to a park in the evening, or just hang out at DTD or BW. Another tip is to NOT go to the parks with extra magic hours, as more people seem to go to the parks that have the EMH, thus leaving some of the others not quite as crowded. I would imagine those people may not have park hoppers, so want to make the most of a day at the park with EMH.

As to parks shutting down early, I never heard of that, but maybe it has happened somewhere along the line ... who knows. Best of luck making your decision.

 

[toniosmom]

We was there in late April 2008 (a whole month after Easter) and it was pretty crowded. However, we noticed that the first part of the week was more crowded than the last part. I'm guessing it was for Passover -- people took long weekends.

We were there again the last week in March 2009. It was definitely less crowded than our trip the year before. We were about two weeks before Easter and a little more than a week before Passover. Regardless of the crowds (or lack of them), we had no trouble getting fast passes for every attraction. The longest FP wait was for TSM in HS -- we were there at 10:30 and had to wait until almost 6pm. All other FPs were within an hour or two. We also spent only up to around 1pm or 2pm at the parks (except for the day we went to HS). Maybe that helped -- not sure.

However, I just need to say that March weather is beautiful!!! We had great weather. High 70's/Low 80's during the day and low 60's at night. It was wonderful.

In 2010, we are going the first week of March which is my niece's college spring break.

I say go ahead and book your March trip!

 

[bradpga]

Thanks for all the advise! Our Spring Break is actually march 14-19 so maybe it wont be sooooo crowded. Either way, we are in! Now to decide where to stay.... deciding between BLT,AKL,BCV, or BWV. Can't go wrong there, right?!?!

 

[TinkGirl]

We did visit WDW during spring break this year, which was the same time as yours. That week is always spring break for Texas schools. The weather was absolutely perfect. Really--just a little cool in the mornings and evenings and low 80s every day with no rain. Not so great: Crowds! From the moment we got to the ME red carpet, we found lots and lots of people waiting just like us. I think it took about 2 1/2 hours+ just to get to the hotel. We've been to the parks at crowded times, but this time seemed worse. We usually get to the parks around opening and can hit lots of attractions and have kind of low crowds for at least an hour, but not this time. Lines for the main things were 30 min. or more within 5 minutes of a park opening. We were thinking it was because the parks still closed early compared with the summer. That said, we still had fun--we just spent more time at our resort. The kids all said they'd rather go in the summer than spring break, so that's what we're doing this year. Just be prepared for crowds, and you'll be fine.

 

[drusba]

Thanks for all the advise! Our Spring Break is actually march 14-19 so maybe it wont be sooooo crowded. Either way, we are in! Now to decide where to stay.... deciding between BLT,AKL,BCV, or BWV. Can't go wrong there, right?!?!

That week will be very crowded but much less than either of the two Easter weeks. Simple comparison: Soarin' is currently the ride that has the longest stand-by line of any ride in any of the parks. During the two Easter weeks its average stand-by line will be 3 to 3 1/2 hours; during the week you are going it will be closer to 2.

 

[ccmystic16]

We were there last year for Spring Break (Middle March) and the lines were LONG but as often as we go now since we joined the DVC we get a fast pass for our favorite ride and enjoy the rest of the day doing other things. The weather was perfect so not being able to ride all our favorites wasn't a factor. We'll be there the same week in March 2010... WooHoo!

 

[janni518]

We've done it. Yes, it's very crowded and if you go in with a "park warrior" mentality you are going to get frustrated.

We picked one or two "had to do" things and just relaxed about the rest. We also used TourGuideMiKE http://www.tourguidemike.com/ which I can't say enough good things about.

 

[mickeys girl 52]

We did visit WDW during spring break this year, which was the same time as yours. That week is always spring break for Texas schools. The weather was absolutely perfect. Really--just a little cool in the mornings and evenings and low 80s every day with no rain. Not so great: Crowds! From the moment we got to the ME red carpet, we found lots and lots of people waiting just like us. I think it took about 2 1/2 hours+ just to get to the hotel. We've been to the parks at crowded times, but this time seemed worse. We usually get to the parks around opening and can hit lots of attractions and have kind of low crowds for at least an hour, but not this time. Lines for the main things were 30 min. or more within 5 minutes of a park opening. We were thinking it was because the parks still closed early compared with the summer. That said, we still had fun--we just spent more time at our resort. The kids all said they'd rather go in the summer than spring break, so that's what we're doing this year. Just be prepared for crowds, and you'll be fine.

We are from Texas too so this is also our Spring break. We are going on the Disney Wonder the 14th of March followed by 4 days in WDW.I only called last week and was amazed how many choices I had to pick from including BLT and AKV value. and I needed 2 studios. My grandkids wanted Beach Club and since my son had never stayed there that is where I booked. we may only do one park so I am not too worried about the crowds. I am looking forward to enjoy the resort.

 

[charming]

We are going March 7th to the 12th then off site for the weekend then back for the 14th to the 16th. Im worried about the crowds but im so excited i cant stand it I'm far worse then the kids.

 

[thepops]

We did the week before Easter last year, and while it was crowded, it was not as crazy as I thought it would be. We did hear that MK did close (to offsite guests I think) one or two of the days. We did hit things early, then back to the resort and out again later.

 

[thepops]

Also be sure to get your fastpass strategy worked out, like get fastpasses for Big thunder mountain railroad and then go ride splash mountain (since they are close). If thiings work well, you'll be able to go from one to the other in a (hopefulyl) short time.