Week of 4/4. Does crowd calendar matter?

[diszfam]

Headed to Disney on 4/4 for spring break with kids age 3 and 6. Do the crowd calendars and recommended parks really matter during this busy time? Both our planned days at MK are not recommended (4/4 afternoon and 4/9 full day). Are we crazy to visit the MK on these days? I'm tempted to switch our plan but we already have ADR'S in place and would have to change those. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[mom2rtk]

I would think it would be far more important to be at rope drop every day you can. The earlier, the better.

Additionally, now more than ever, having realistic expectations will help.

 

[kaetra]

Easter week is one of the busiest of the entire year. You may want to invest in park hoppers if you don't have them already so you can hop to a less busy park if things get crazy.

 

[maxiesmom]

Looking at the calender on EasyWDW not only is MK not recommended on those days, it is also the least recommended of the parks. Saturdays are always busy at MK, and over the holiday it is likely to be packed. Easy also states that the afternoon of the 4th will be the busiest time at MK that week. Doesn't sound promising.

The 9th looks ok as long as you are there at open. By 10 am the park will be starting to experience long wait times.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday are recommended days to be at the Magic Kingdom. If you can, I would move things around.

 

[LaurenT]

I would not go to MK on those dates. I am going to a water park on Easter, AK on the 6th, MK on the 7th and 8th, Epcot on the 9th and DHS on the 10th.
It's going to be crowded in all the parks, the ones that are red on easywdw will be wall to wall people.
All parks except epcot will be opening at 8 am to the general public - be there at 7:15 and you'll be in good shape. If you're doing a 7 am EMH, Be there at 6:15 and expect to want to leave by noon when the rest of the planet pours in.

 

[slaveone]

As of last thing I heard rooms on property are 96% full. Yesterday which tends to normally be heavy but reasonable ADRs were unavailable anywhere for dinner in MK. Ride lines were also heavy with wait times on headliners easily hitting the 120 mark multiple times. If you have ADRs already and the rides you really want fast passed then it can be done. Just be prepared for crowds and waits. Bring something fun to keep everyone occupied in lines and dress comfortably.
On a plus note Aunt Polly's was actually open on Tom Sawyer Island.

 

[AngiTN]

Headed to Disney on 4/4 for spring break with kids age 3 and 6. Do the crowd calendars and recommended parks really matter during this busy time? Both our planned days at MK are not recommended (4/4 afternoon and 4/9 full day). Are we crazy to visit the MK on these days? I'm tempted to switch our plan but we already have ADR'S in place and would have to change those. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I think they matter greatly all the time. If you go to a recommended park on a high crowd level day you would think it was a low crowd level day. Opposite is true too. If you go to a non recommended park on a low crowd level day you'll think you hit peak crowds.

 

[diszfam]

Oh wow. I guess it's gonna be that bad. We are staying 4/4-4/10, 6 nights. We really wanted to fit in a resort break/DTD day. Would any kind person help me plan these days out? We have 5 day park hopper. Thanks so much! Is easy wdw the best calendar to follow?

 

[maxiesmom]

http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/04-april-2015-crowd-calendar/

Josh (the guy who runs Easy) explains why a park is good or not good on each day. I always follow his recommendations. Looking at the calender is a great place to start!

I will say that unless you are arriving fairly early, I wouldn't waste a park ticket on the day you arrive. Head to DTD, or go mini golfing, or just enjoy the pool. Save your passes for when you can get the most out of them.

 

[maxiesmom]

Looking quickly I would do Hollywood Studios on the 5th, Epcot on the 6th, and do MK on either the 7th or the 8th. Make whichever day of those you don't pick a break day. Then Animal Kingdom on the 9th and MK again on the 10th.

 

[DVCcurious]

We'll be at MK on the 4th. MK is least recommended on the 2nd, 4th and the 5th. We're landing on the 1st and flying out on the 6th. So what are we supposed to do? Not go to MK because it's least recommended?

If I went by the "best recommended park" for my 4 park days I'd do EP, HS, AK, then HS again. But who wants to do that? The entire reason for going to WDW is Magic Kingdom. Nobody flies down to FLorida to visit Hollywood Studios.

So, OP, I suggest you be like me. Go to the park you want and enjoy yourself. Will it be crowded? Yes, but you can't control that. You can control your attitude. My attitude is I'm at WDW and I'm going to MK because it has the rides I want. If I have to wait 2 hours to ride Jungle Cruise, then so be it.

 

[Timshar2]

We just stayed for 10 days in the begining of March. We used the suggested days from the EasyWDW calendar for every day possible and the crowds were not that bad. However, We did have an ADR for BOG and a Fastpass for Anna and Elsa that made us go to MK two days that were Least recommended days. We went to MK for a only few hours each of these days and used our Fastpass's and ADR's and ignored the parades so it was not too bad but the main hub areas were very crowded. With some planning you can do the busy days you just have to expect big crowds, use your Fastpass's wisely and have an ADR or two if possible.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[bksomody]

I thought I read that on busy days, level 9 & 10, that the recommended park is not as important as on lower crowd levels.

 

[Retro Magic]

As of late what are the wait times, roughly, on Saturday night emh between 12-2am? I'm thinking if I go to MK on on a Saturday it will be between 10pm & 2am.

 

[bksomody]

Right Now many wait times are low: Buzz, HM, Pooh are about 10 min., but SM & BTMR are 30. Level 10, closing at 1:00 w/mornings EMH. It would only get better on days open after 1:00 if you can make it. I'm a night owl but haven't been able to stay past 1:00.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I feel really bad now. My friends are only going for 1 day to WDW (MK) and I talked her into changing from Tuesday (7th) to Thursday (9th) based on Undercover Tourist crowd calendar. The grandparents are going to hop to EPCOT and the best day for both parks (with Undercover Tourist) was Thursday. I will see her tomorrow and may check if they can switch back (they have 7DMT fps) but I doubt it.

 

[OhioMom]

Headed to Disney on 4/4 for spring break with kids age 3 and 6. Do the crowd calendars and recommended parks really matter during this busy time? Both our planned days at MK are not recommended (4/4 afternoon and 4/9 full day). Are we crazy to visit the MK on these days? I'm tempted to switch our plan but we already have ADR'S in place and would have to change those. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Not sure what time your ADR's are for, but just know that if you leave MK to take the children back to the room for a rest you may not be able to get back in if the park is at capacity. So if you have dinner ADR's plan on staying the whole day. If you are doing breakfast or lunch then you could leave after and hop to a different park for the evening.

I've been in MK when it is closed for capacity. Is it wall to wall people? Yes. Can you still have a magical day? Yes! As someone else mentioned above, it is all in your attitude. Get to the park at rope drop, use your FP+'s, and don't stress.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

As of late what are the wait times, roughly, on Saturday night emh between 12-2am? I'm thinking if I go to MK on on a Saturday it will be between 10pm & 2am.

I'm interesed in this as well. Our plan is to go to DHS from 8-9:30p on Saturday (we have FPs for ToT & RnRC) and then head to MK from 10p-3a if the kids can make it-- chances are one of us will head back to Ft. Wilderness with the little girls and the other will stay with my 9 yr old.

 

[Moms]

For what it is worth ... we took a Christmas week trip in 2012 and somehow managed to miss the information about which days were recommended and which were not for each park. We made our ADR's and by the time we realized our "mistake" we had essentially scheduled ourselves to be in each of the parks on a day that was considered one to avoid. Rather than try to rearrange things at the last minute we decided to "live dangerously". We had a wonderful trip, did everything we wanted to do (okay ... except manage to stay awake to see the new year in!). We found that arriving at RD was what made it work. We managed to get in most of what we wanted to do before noon when the crowds were beginning to get realy heavy. We park hopped and had no problems getting in any of the parks and spent our evenings just strolling and enjoying the atmosphere.

We will be arriving on 4/5 and managed to schedule ourselves into the "wrong" parks once again (some people never learn!) but will employ our RD strategy and this time we have FP+ scheduled for the late mornings, early afternoons so we are expecting things to go well once again.

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[bksomody]

Any park you go to during Easter week is going to be busy, whether recommended or not. Don't stress about that. Like other said: go early & stay late and recommended park won't be such an issue, if an issue at all. I've been watching the crowds this week & will next week because I'm trying to decide if I should go the week before or after Easter next year. Around 4:30 yesterday wait times were crazy for all rides. I checked again at 12:30AM & most rides were 10 minutes, which usually means you can walk right on. Touring Plans predicted MK as a 10/10 = Least Recommended, EP If you can stick it out after 12 AM is a prime time.