Week after Easter

[Bon1423]

We planned our kids first trip to Disney for October, since we were told that's a good time to go. It was not. WDW prep says the week after Easter is green, and Easy WDW says it's busy through the 11th. Not sure who to believe but it would be a perfect time for us to go. However DH is adamant that we go at a low crowd time so that's most important.

We've considered February, but cannot go until late February. We have also thought about the 2nd or 3rd week of May. I know November is great but we didn't want to wait a whole year.

 

[uicbear]

I'll be there with my nephew this year, arriving Easter Sunday(March 27). We did this 2 years ago and the crowd levels were very manageable. However, Easter itself was later(April 20), so I don't know if this affected the regular Spring break traffic. This is a surprise trip, so we'll prepare for the worst and make the best of it. If we didn't have to worry about his school schedule, I'd pick May.

 

[SmallWorld71]

The week after Easter is typically one of the busiest weeks of the year. If the moderate October crowds bothered you, I can't even imagine what you would think. That said, one nice things about when it is really crowded is that planning is much easier than it is in October. Those Halloween parties really drive where everyone goes making some areas of WDW packed to the gills while others are pretty empty. Crowds tend to disperse much better when you are in the truly crowded weeks.

May is about the same crowd level as October, but you will probably find it easier to tour and that it will appear less crowded as crowds will be better dispersed due to no MK parties. I would still check out the best days, have a touring plan etc.... to help minimize crowds.

Late Feb. (after Pres. week) may be the least crowded, but the weather is extremely variable this time of year.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I was there for 4 days the week after Easter 2015. Got there Monday morning, left Friday morning. The parks were very crowded. Touring plans listed them at crowd level 10 out of 10 the whole week. I still had a blast! MK opened at 7:00 AM all week. Those few early morning hours were golden. With FP+, rope drop and touring plans, park hoppers and mid day breaks, I got to do everything I wanted to do with very little wait.

 

[vicki_c]

We planned our kids first trip to Disney for October, since we were told that's a good time to go. It was not. WDW prep says the week after Easter is green, and Easy WDW says it's busy through the 11th. Not sure who to believe but it would be a perfect time for us to go. However DH is adamant that we go at a low crowd time so that's most important.

We've considered February, but cannot go until late February. We have also thought about the 2nd or 3rd week of May. I know November is great but we didn't want to wait a whole year.

No way would I classify that week after Easter as any kind of green color, that sounds crazy if crowds are what it's based on. As Smallworld said, it's one of the busiest times of the year.

 

[Bon1423]

The week after Easter is typically one of the busiest weeks of the year. If the moderate October crowds bothered you, I can't even imagine what you would think. That said, one nice things about when it is really crowded is that planning is much easier than it is in October. Those Halloween parties really drive where everyone goes making some areas of WDW packed to the gills while others are pretty empty. Crowds tend to disperse much better when you are in the truly crowded weeks.

May is about the same crowd level as October, but you will probably find it easier to tour and that it will appear less crowded as crowds will be better dispersed due to no MK parties. I would still check out the best days, have a touring plan etc.... to help minimize crowds.

Late Feb. (after Pres. week) may be the least crowded, but the weather is extremely variable this time of year.

I don't believe October is really considered moderate anymore though when we were planning it was. Per touring plans, our Animal Kingdom day saw level 9 crowds and our MK days saw level 10. That's what we would like to avoid. I actually thought Easter was April 3, so I'm stalking about April 4-10 not the week before. So it is two weeks after Easter. It says spring break crowds are done by then.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I don't believe October is really considered moderate anymore though when we were planning it was. Per touring plans, our Animal Kingdom day saw level 9 crowds and our MK days saw level 10. That's what we would like to avoid. I actually thought Easter was April 3, so I'm stalking about April 4-10 not the week before. So it is two weeks after Easter. It says spring break crowds are done by then.

That week would definitely be better than the week before!
Whatever you choose, though, I can't emphasize enough the difference a good touring plan can make. I was there last year from Dec. 23rd to Jan. 1st. Put any other crowds that I've seen in the past (Pres. week, spring break, summer etc...) to shame. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say the crowds were a 20! We still managed to do everything we wanted - ride the headliners multiple times, see characters, take in the holiday activities, etc... The only times I truly felt the crowds were when we were in MK and they had controlled traffic patterns in place in the evening. To get from Main Street to Fantasyland, for example, you had to go through Adventureland.
We used a combo of my two favorite touring sites (easywdw and kennythepirate) to create our own plans that suited our groups needs. You can always veer from them, but it's good to have them.
Outside of some of January and September, I don't know that there are any uncrowded times at WDW anymore. I say pick what works best for you and then plan accordingly.
Have a great trip, whatever week you choose!

 

[Alesia]

Whoever told you that October was slow was using very outdated information.

I like May - the earlier the better. The crowds are low and the weather is gorgeous!

 

[JennyDrake]

No way would I classify that week after Easter as any kind of green color, that sounds crazy if crowds are what it's based on. As Smallworld said, it's one of the busiest times of the year.

DITTO! VERY busy week before and after.