WDW the week of Easter, how bad is it?

[LuvsDisney4ever]

I will be there with my family March 24th -April 3rd so that will have us leaving to come home the Tuesday before Easter what do you all think the crowed levels will be the last week in March we are not worried about crowds because being in Disney is great no matter what but I would like to know what to expect we have never used fastpass before because we have always went in slower months but if need be we will this time def..?????

 

[punkin]

Yuck. We will be there at peak times (3/20-4/7)...and we are staying off-site so no early entry for us. I seriously have to start planning our visit. It's been years since we did the parks commando style, but maybe this trip we will have to do that just so we can do all the "required" rides.

 

[momimouse27]

Now I'm rethinking my not-so-brilliant, off the cuff choice to hop down to Disney during Spring Break for a couple of days this year. We will only go few a couple of days, and go into one park then spend another day meandering around DTD and possibly enjoying Fantasia minigolf.

So now my thought is, what park should i visit? The first thing that comes into my head is Epcot. Since it's so big it sometimes isn't as horrific as some of the other parks are during busy times as its so spread out. But there's the Flower/Garden show and I'm wondering how that will affect it.

Ughh. Don't know, but I think I'd rather be in Disney during a crowded time than not in Disney at all....right??

 

[magicbob]

Many on site guests will attend whatever the EMH park is that day, but a vast majority of them will still not get there till 10 am! Crazy, I know.

This is one of the reasons Touring Plans recommends avoiding parks with morning EMH. They pretty much assume you will not get there early and going to that park will just mean you're part of the larger crowd that arrives at 11am or so.

That's why I ignore Touring Plans advice on this one point and GO to morning EMH. We arrive early enough (sometimes as early as 7 am) to take full advantage of that extra low-crowd time in the morning. We leave and go swimming when the crowds start to get insane. Then, we come back that evening once it has died down a little. Most days, we have seen a majority of the park before the throngs have even gotten out of bed.

 

[KandyM]

I am by no means an expert but we were there for two weeks last year with Easter weekend right in the middle. It was crowded but we still had a fabulous time! We had touring plans, used fast passes, stayed away from the EMH parks and it was just fine. Never waited in a line more than 30 min. Not like WWoHP, do not get me started on that horrific day!

Disney was great though. They know how to manage crowds. We had three table meals and never waited for seating. Otherwise we ate qs at off hours, and they gave out %off coupons for doing that! Super! We also stayed off site, did rope drop and never left the park for breaks. Our rental car was usually the only loney one in our parking section at the end of our park days. Our kids were 14, 10 & 6.

I would absolutely go back at Easter. Sure less crowded times would be great but With one teacher and three students in our family we don't have much choice.

 

[crazyboutdisny]

All these posts make me nervous We will be there March 28- April 5th. And like so many have commented....we had no choice to go then due to having one in high school. It is definetly better than being at work but we are spending alot of money for this trip. I worry most about the parks being closed due to capacity. We do have ADR at a few parks and so leaving midday for a break may not be an option!
We were there Columbus Day weekend in 2010 and I didnt think it was bad at all.

 

[danceteachermom]

We will be there 3/29-4/4 and I am not worried. We will get to rope drop do what is mostn important then enjoy time at the CSR by the pool. If we make it back at night...if not fine. The only thing we want to do during the busier times of the day is the Pixar Parade and we will figure it out. Disney is what you make of it. I am a teacher and our family can either go when it is crowded or go when it is too hot in the summer.

All that being said, I would not want to be a first time guest during Easter week. I also would not want to think we should see and do everything to get our monies worth. We are fine just hitting our favorite attractions and relaxing the rest of the time. We will be back so if we miss something that is OK.

 

[crazyboutdisny]

We will be there 3/29-4/4 and I am not worried. We will get to rope drop do what is mostn important then enjoy time at the CSR by the pool. If we make it back at night...if not fine. The only thing we want to do during the busier times of the day is the Pixar Parade and we will figure it out. Disney is what you make of it. I am a teacher and our family can either go when it is crowded or go when it is too hot in the summer.

All that being said, I would not want to be a first time guest during Easter week. I also would not want to think we should see and do everything to get our monies worth. We are fine just hitting our favorite attractions and relaxing the rest of the time. We will be back so if we miss something that is OK.[/QUOTE

Our first 2 visits were late May and early June and that was too hot for me!! I really prefer October but we wont be going then again for a long time. Really trying to be relaxed about it...but I am a planner and my planner self gets anxious

 

[ccgirl]

All these posts make me nervous We will be there March 28- April 5th. And like so many have commented....we had no choice to go then due to having one in high school. It is definetly better than being at work but we are spending alot of money for this trip. I worry most about the parks being closed due to capacity. We do have ADR at a few parks and so leaving midday for a break may not be an option!
We were there Columbus Day weekend in 2010 and I didnt think it was bad at all.

IMHO, Columbus Day weekend and Easter weekend are nowhere near each other as far as crowds.

 

[Balt ravens fan]

We have been going the week before Easter for the past 3 years now. We love it! For the following reasons:

1) We don't have to take the kids out of school, and my wife works in a school. So that leaves Christmas Week (Too cold and more crowded), Easter week and the Summer (Too hot).

2) The weather has been fantastic on our trips over Easter week. Love the weather in March/Arpil in Disney.

3) The Hours! For gosh sakes they have the parks open from 8 am til 1 am and with extra magic hours it is 7 am until 3 am.

4) Ride closures at a minium for maintenance. You can see this in the target date for Dumbo - March 31st - this is not a coincidence, they know they need stuff open. And then Test Track will not be closed until after Easter. They are no dummies - they have to keep as much open as possible - COP (which my family loves), HOP, boats, etc... etc...

5) Have a plan! If you can plan, or know the parks well you can use all this to your advantage.

6) Enjoy the resort and the pool!!! You get so much done in the mornings and then late at night, that you can rest and enjoy the resort. There are no "short hours" like in January or September.

7) Did I mention the weather?

Sure it gets crowded. But I lovvvveeee leaving the park around 12 / 1 and seeing all these people still streaming in and thinking "you should have gone on the disboards" ... poor people .. lol

 

[wild4dis]

We have been going the week before Easter for the past 3 years now. We love it! For the following reasons:

1) We don't have to take the kids out of school, and my wife works in a school. So that leaves Christmas Week (Too cold and more crowded), Easter week and the Summer (Too hot).

2) The weather has been fantastic on our trips over Easter week. Love the weather in March/Arpil in Disney.

3) The Hours! For gosh sakes they have the parks open from 8 am til 1 am and with extra magic hours it is 7 am until 3 am.

4) Ride closures at a minium for maintenance. You can see this in the target date for Dumbo - March 31st - this is not a coincidence, they know they need stuff open. And then Test Track will not be closed until after Easter. They are no dummies - they have to keep as much open as possible - COP (which my family loves), HOP, boats, etc... etc...

5) Have a plan! If you can plan, or know the parks well you can use all this to your advantage.

6) Enjoy the resort and the pool!!! You get so much done in the mornings and then late at night, that you can rest and enjoy the resort. There are no "short hours" like in January or September.

7) Did I mention the weather?

Sure it gets crowded. But I lovvvveeee leaving the park around 12 / 1 and seeing all these people still streaming in and thinking "you should have gone on the disboards" ... poor people .. lol

All good info...we have had our last few trips go from thurs before Easter to the following Saturady. As long as you set your expectations you will be fine... Here is our plans for that week...

• ADRS are a must
• use EMH to your advantage
• up early to the parks...you can sleep at the office when you get home !! ; )
• at parks early, out before lunch, back to resort for some great pool time and then back again at night
• understand yo "may" not do every attraction you want. As long time DVC memebrs, we have seen it all, so if we skip one ride because its a crazy line, we know we can come back later in the week or another trip
• have a good FP strategy..plan ahead for "big" rides
• week after Easter is busy, but not as bad as week before
• HAVE FUN and RELAX...your at Disney !!

 

[Deffenm]

We will be there for Easter as well. We are going April 6-14th. I can not wait. We know it will be busy but it is better then being at work. We bought the waterpass and more option for the first time and my kids are just as excited to hangout at the water parks as they are the theme parks. We will hit the parks as early as allowed, do the things they really want, eat lunch, head back to resort and hang out at pool, enjoy nice sit down dinner and then head back to park if they want.

We do not plan to visit a park on Easter. We are going to head to DTD and visit DisneyQuest (we have never been) and then my dd has an apt. at Bibbity Bobbity Boutique to get made into a princess. We will do some shopping since I am sure the Easter Bunny will leave them a Giftcard in their Easter baskets, hang out at the resort, we have dinner plans at 1900 Park Fare, and then I booked the Pirate Firework Cruise after dinner. So we will at least be able to watch the firework show from the MK without having to be in the MK. Even though we aren't going into a park we have a full day planned.

I am so excited I can't wait.

 

[edk35]

Add us to the FIRST TIMERS LIST GOING DURING EASTER WEEK. Then add us to the FIRST TIME STAYING OFF SITE LIST TOO. Probably a double whammy!!! However we are seasoned Disney people just having gone twice in Jan. We saw and did it all on both trips in Jan. We are going to see our daughter and visit with my parents.

We are arriving Friday March 30th, driving down from MD. We are departing on Easter Sunday heading back home. My parents are meeting us and we are staying offsite in a HUGE house in Windsor Hills. We have older kids, 21 (daughter is there now doing the college program)18 and 13. Our oldest son is bringing a friend who is also 18. We figured it would be nice to be offsite and away from the crowds. Our rented house has a pool/hot tub/game room and there is a main pool at the club house too. This will be a nice retreat every day with plenty of room.

We plan on getting to the parks at opening (if the teens can get moving) and doing what we can and then getting out around lunch time. We might not even go back at night. My strategy for any Disney trip is to always avoid EMH' parks and go to another one that is not having one. Although MK has them every day I think during high peak times. We are just excited to be GOING SOMEWHERE AT SPRING BREAK. This is the first time since our dd started college (she is a jr.) that we can all be in the same place together. Our oldest son starts college in the fall and his spring break will NOT be when our youngest one has his or our dd has her spring break next year. It is so hard to work around school/college kid schedules. We have been to Disney in the summer four years in a row and although we have fun, it gets soooooooo hot. In a perfect world we would always go off season....but in reality that is just too hard to do with school age kids.

I hope we have a great time. It will be nice to get away and just spend some good quality family time.

 

[Olivesmomlmt]

All of these posts have me freaking out...! We will be at WDW April 18-22. Staying at AKL, with our 2 year old daughter...did we pick a bad time?! I know Easter is April 8th, but I am starting to freak out

 

[MomofKatie]

All of these posts have me freaking out...! We will be at WDW April 18-22. Staying at AKL, with our 2 year old daughter...did we pick a bad time?! I know Easter is April 8th, but I am starting to freak out

You should miss the big Easter crowds- most go for one week, either the week before or week after Easter (this year, 4/1-4/8 or 4/8- 4/15). Not too many schools have Spring Breaks as late as you will be there.

 

[Balt ravens fan]

The point of the Posts was to NOT have you freak out.

Remain Calm. All is well.

By the way last year Easter was later April 24th or something. So we were in Disney those dates that you mentioned - the weather was awesome!

Have a great time!

 

[Olivesmomlmt]

You should miss the big Easter crowds- most go for one week, either the week before or week after Easter (this year, 4/1-4/8 or 4/8- 4/15). Not too many schools have Spring Breaks as late as you will be there.

Ok...I guess it worried me a little more bc when I was trying to make ADR's, we had a hard time getting into restaurants...tried to do CRT, and it was totally booked up, so we settled on 1900 park fare (but it is a 4:40 "dinner" reservation) we had better luck at Chefs de France (for DH and I to have a date night) getting a 6:30 reservation for dinner...with the combination of seeing the dreaded April crowds, and the hard time getting into restaurants we wanted to, I was getting worried! Hopefully we will miss the huge crazy crowds...this is dd's first trip, so we're wanting it to be perfect!

 

[angierae]

We plan on hitting morning EMH, and then we have lunch reservations for between 12-1. At that point we'll check the wait time apps to see what we want to do - go back to the resort, hop to another park, stay where we're at.

Also, we are there for 8 days and we have rope drop planned for the first four days, and then only adrs for the next four - so we can go to parks or not go to parks or whatever we want, other than our ADRs. Play it by ear.

 

[Olivesmomlmt]

The point of the Posts was to NOT have you freak out.

Remain Calm. All is well.

By the way last year Easter was later April 24th or something. So we were in Disney those dates that you mentioned - the weather was awesome!

Have a great time!

. Thanks! We live in central FL but haven't been to Disney in 5 years! That's one reason I wanted Togo in April...I knew the weather would be beautiful! Fingers crossed for easy touring!