Week before Easter vs. the week after Easter (vs. Christmas?)

[princesslover]

We were planning a trip for our Spring break (New England) for the week of April 15 2019. Easter falls on the following weekend. TP has CL at mostly 9's and 10's with a couple of 8's thrown in for good measure.

We have been during our Spring break twice. Both times have been the week AFTER Easter, including this past April. We found crowd levels moderate, and according to TP, they were. CL were 5-6-7.

It would seem to me from what i am seeing that the week before Easter has far larger crowds, almost Christmas week level. If that is the case, I would rather not go, and go during Christmas break instead, where we can enjoy the decorations and festivities of Christmas. I figure, if I am going to be crammed with people, do something different. We have been in April twice, and while we love the weather and enjoyed the FG festival, it is not worth it to me to go again, to have Christmas week crowds. Does anyone have any thoughts on comparing the crowd levels?

 

[saraheliz]

I imagine that with Easter being so late, that schools that traditionally have spring break surrounding Easter will have break that week (the week before)- in addition to NE April vacation (which often does NOT fall in line with Easter). I think when Easter is earlier there is often more of a split between schools having spring break during the week before/after Easter (and then the NE schools who do not have break at all that week). Unfortunately I think 2019 is going to be a more perfect storm in terms of crowds that week, if that makes sense. Although I don't know if anything compares to Christmas week- I've never been because I'm too afraid!

 

[princesslover]

I imagine that with Easter being so late, that schools that traditionally have spring break surrounding Easter will have break that week (the week before)- in addition to NE April vacation (which often does NOT fall in line with Easter). I think when Easter is earlier there is often more of a split between schools having spring break during the week before/after Easter (and then the NE schools who do not have break at all that week). Unfortunately I think 2019 is going to be a more perfect storm in terms of crowds that week, if that makes sense. Although I don't know if anything compares to Christmas week- I've never been because I'm too afraid!

I imagine that with Easter being so late, that schools that traditionally have spring break surrounding Easter will have break that week (the week before)- in addition to NE April vacation (which often does NOT fall in line with Easter). I think when Easter is earlier there is often more of a split between schools having spring break during the week before/after Easter (and then the NE schools who do not have break at all that week). Unfortunately I think 2019 is going to be a more perfect storm in terms of crowds that week, if that makes sense. Although I don't know if anything compares to Christmas week- I've never been because I'm too afraid!

Thats what I am wondering. If this "perfect storm" equates to Christmas break. I have always been afraid of Christmas break too, but if it is all the same, 2019 might be the year to do it. Does that make sense? We gave been the first week in December twice and loved it, but never during break.

 

[princesslover]

Not sure why I quoted twice...

 

[saraheliz]

Thats what I am wondering. If this "perfect storm" equates to Christmas break. I have always been afraid of Christmas break too, but if it is all the same, 2019 might be the year to do it. Does that make sense? We gave been the first week in December twice and loved it, but never during break.

Yeah, I understand what you mean. If they're equally as bad, might as well give it a shot at Christmas. I don't know the answer to that question, though, although I do know someone posted not that long ago asking about when other's spring breaks are. We had been thinking about doing April vacation next year but once I saw when Easter was we decided to postpone (and then ended up going a couple of weeks ago so it's a moot point now). Anyway, it may be worth searching for that thread!

 

[Barnabas T Bullion]

We were planning a trip for our Spring break (New England) for the week of April 15 2019. Easter falls on the following weekend. TP has CL at mostly 9's and 10's with a couple of 8's thrown in for good measure.

We have been during our Spring break twice. Both times have been the week AFTER Easter, including this past April. We found crowd levels moderate, and according to TP, they were. CL were 5-6-7.

It would seem to me from what i am seeing that the week before Easter has far larger crowds, almost Christmas week level. If that is the case, I would rather not go, and go during Christmas break instead, where we can enjoy the decorations and festivities of Christmas. I figure, if I am going to be crammed with people, do something different. We have been in April twice, and while we love the weather and enjoyed the FG festival, it is not worth it to me to go again, to have Christmas week crowds. Does anyone have any thoughts on comparing the crowd levels?

New Englander here. Had my trip this April shut down due to a destination wedding of a family member in St. Lucia ($$$$$). Given that Easter is bordering our April vacation in 2019, we're pushing to April 2020 to be clear of it. I won't do WDW during Xmas/Easter/crazy level time. Just won't do it.

I really do love Florida in April. So April 2020 for us.

 

[kniquy]

For some reason the week leading up to Easter seems to be worse and the week after not so bad. I'm not sure if other areas of the county arrange their break with easter. I was there last year 2017 the week after easter. It was busy but not insane. I agree with your thought process, if you have to go when it is crazy i would do something different and go during christmas. It really is magical. I am not sure if you are doing this for your work schedule or for kids, but usually around christmas there isn't a whole lot going on for kids in school. You could look at missing a few days of school to possibly get a few days at the parks when it isn't mobbed. Anything is manageable if you manage your expectations. Have a good plan, RD and leave for the afternoon definitely helps to combat the crowds. Book those TS meals to get a break from the madness. We did NYE and it was very busy but with our plan we managed to accomplish a lot.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Our school district used to have the following policy:

If Easter is in March, break will be the week after.
If Easter is in April, break will be the week before.

My kiddos are both out of HS now, so I don't look at their schedule anymore. I do know they don't use that policy anymore. It appears they use the drunken monkey dartboard policy to determine breaks.

 

[princesslover]

For some reason the week leading up to Easter seems to be worse and the week after not so bad. I'm not sure if other areas of the county arrange their break with easter. I was there last year 2017 the week after easter. It was busy but not insane. I agree with your thought process, if you have to go when it is crazy i would do something different and go during christmas. It really is magical. I am not sure if you are doing this for your work schedule or for kids, but usually around christmas there isn't a whole lot going on for kids in school. You could look at missing a few days of school to possibly get a few days at the parks when it isn't mobbed. Anything is manageable if you manage your expectations. Have a good plan, RD and leave for the afternoon definitely helps to combat the crowds. Book those TS meals to get a break from the madness. We did NYE and it was very busy but with our plan we managed to accomplish a lot.

We were there the same week as you last year. We arrived on Good Friday, Sunday was Easter, and we were there the following week. I thought the crowds were very manageable. We went again this past April and it was pretty much the same. Predictions were 5's and 6's with even some 3-4's for some parks and that is what it was. Magic Kingdom was actually a 3 on one of our days!! You can imagine my shock when I looked at April 2019. What a difference!!

Despite all of this, we have decided we are going to bite the bullet and do it. We are new DVC members, and we need to use points before the end of 2019. Christmas this year is too soon financially and for other reasons. Christmas 2019 is too far out...we want a vacation during the school year next year. February break does not appeal to me and the crowd levels are not really much better during Presidents week. Summer is just out for me. I can't deal with the heat, and well the crowds won't be good either.

I figure, we will just make good use of rope drop, leave the parks right after lunch, enjoy the resort (We will be at the new Copper Creek), go resort hopping, explore Disney Springs, the Boardwalk etc. Do some things we don't always spend time doing, because we are in the parks. And we'll get hoppers so we can hop to a different park at night. Also, with crowd predictions like this, Disney will probably have a lot of late hours, so we can do that too. It will just be different but with a good plan and attitude, I think we can make it fun. This is not our first rodeo, so we know what to expect.

Thank you all for your comments!

 

[blackpearl77]

I'm wondering the same thing. I'm in New England too - checking the calendar for April vacation. Our school vacation 2019 is April 15th week thats the week leading up to Easter. 2020 if school gives the same week it's the week right after Easter Sunday. So two years in a row april vacation is covering easter! Arg! 2021 Easter is the beginning of April so that will be good to go but I don't want to wait until 2021!