What are the crowds like for April?

[EJ08]

I know some schools have Spring break but in general is the crowds terrible in April? We're heading down from the 7th-16th. I believe it's the week before Easter. We have no choice but to do it this week. We may be in for a rude awakening but oh well. Just curious if anybody knows what's it like around this time.

 

[fanofdisney]

My sister went this past April (before spring break hit), and she said the weather was perfect and the crowds were low.

 

[bicker]

TouringPlans.com puts April 7 - 16 as mostly 10 out of 10 for crowds ("Peak waits of 95 minutes or more"), with a couple of 8's and a couple of 9's. The only way you could schedule yourself for more crowds would be to start your vacation a week later... that would end up all 10 out of 10's.

 

[cannp123165]

What dates are the Spring Break in America?

 

[Annette_VA]

We're heading down April 1-6. DH has a conference at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, so we're staying there.

We'll head over to the parks if it's not TOO busy. I'm hoping we'll beat the spring break crowds.

 

[bicker]

What dates are the Spring Break in America?

It varies. For example:

Madison WI: March 13 - 17, 2006
Aldine TX: March 13 - 24, 2006
Enterprise AL: March 23 - April 3, 2006
Kewaunee WI: March 26 - 31, 2006
Pullman WA: April 3 - 7, 2006
St. Johns County FL: April 10 - 14, 2006
Santa Barbara CA: April 14 - 21, 2006
Huntington WV: April 17 - 21, 2006

 

[tjmouse]

The busiest weeks will always be the weeks leading up to and following Easter as that is when the majority of schools (K-12) have off. As the above post indicates though, there is a wide variety all over the country. Not to mention that colleges start as early as the end of Feb. and run through April.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

We went the last week in April this year. It was quite crowded. I was kind of surprised. It wasn't mid-summer crowded but was much more crowded than we would have thought.
And this was not Easter, the week before or the week after.

 

[EJ08]

Oh well, too late now and it's the only week that will work since I'm not going to take the kids out and miss a week of school. We'll make the most of it and be very patient. And who knows, maybe it won't be so bad. Most schools have break in March and I heard the week after Easter is usually the worst week in April.

 

[disneyjunkie]

And who knows, maybe it won't be so bad. Most schools have break in March and I heard the week after Easter is usually the worst week in April.

It's going to be PACKED


Make your ADRs NOW ( I made most of ours back in October)

Take a look at the posted park hours for your dates. There are several days when the MK will be open from 7:00am-3:00am

Start working on a plan. Get to the parks when they open and use fastpass.

Are you staying onsite?

My son and I will be there April 12-23. I know we'll have to deal with huge crowds, but we'll still have a blast.

 

[bicker]

It does pay to go over the strategies for visiting during that time of year. As junkie said, get to the parks early -- before the park opens, and if you're visiting the early EMH park, get there before EMH begins. Plan to leave the parks during the most crowded time of the day, 1pm - 4pm; it just might be too crowded to make touring worthwhile. Plan to take full advantage of the parks extra-late hours. So, in a nutshell, go early and late, and rest in the middle of the day.

Definitely have ADRs for every meal. Even if you end up making other arrangements as may be available, it is better to have someplace to go in case the only other arrangements available are unacceptable to you.

Always use FastPass whenever it is available, and plan on taking in smaller, less popular attractions while waiting for your FastPass time, in case you cannot play leapfrog with your FastPasses.

Others?

 

[drusba]

Have been during the two Easter weeks 13 times. If you have been before and it was not those two weeks, July 4th, or Christmas, just double (if you went other spring break weeks or summer) or tripple (if off-season) the crowds you saw before. At noon at MK, if you stand at the base of Main Street and look down toward the castle, you won't see the street, you won't see the sidewalks, all you will see is a mass of bobbing heads. The theory that maybe it won't be so bad because many schools have spring breaks during weeks other than those two Easter weeks is one that has never come true since WDW opened. Go early or use fastpass (which run out for popular rides for the whole day and night by noon) to avoid two hour lines (three at Test Track). Even low attractions like the Treehouse get over 1 hour lines. At MK, some rides open up during 4 to 8 p.m. as everyone heads to dinner (but the crowd gets huge again after 8). Likewise at Epcot and MGM, you can do a number of things fairly easily after 3 but not the real popular ones and sometimes at AK after 5. If you want to eat at a sit-down restaurant in a park for dinner, you must make a ressie in advance. True story: we once saw a family of four walk up to the CM at Crystal Palace at 5:30 on the Thursday before Easter and ask for "the next available time" and the CM, after perusing the computer for a while, said, "Tuesday at 8:30." Even counter service places get 45 minute lines during prime eating times. Hotel restaurants are often easier to get but you should still make a ressie in advance. Waterparks fill to capacity by 11 and then open up again after 2. If you want chairs at those you need to be there early in the morning because the morning group grabs and holds them. It is near impossible to get into first Fantasmic unless you get the dinner package or get in line 70 minutes or more before starting. However, they usually have two Fantasmics a night during the Easter season and the second one never fills so you can walk in at the last minute. Guests start grabbing the curbside and other good parade viewing places starting 2 hours before the MK afternoon parade. The nighttime parade usually shows twice and like Fantasmic you are much better off going to the late one.

 

[brentalex]

The spring break here in Mass is always the 3rd week in April. Sometimes it is the same as Easter, sometimes not. In 2001 when we went, it was Easter week, in 2004 when we went it was not. I can't really say that there was much difference in the crowds. One thing was that in 2004 when it was not Easter, the parks closed earlier than in 2001. We are going to be there this coming April and it will be Easter week. We plan our days, to a certain extent, will leave the parks when we want, go back to the hotel and come back later. We always buy park hopper passes,so if one park is crowded we can leave and go someplace else. We think the best thing is to get to the park as early as possible and do what you can before it gets too crowded. Then we just go into what ever we feel like, if there is no line we sometimes go into attractions we may not have gone into otherwise. If we are not willing to stand in line for something, then we don't. it will be crowded so you just need to go with the flow if this is when you will be there.