What does a late Easter do to crowds?

[woodys_girl]

I know none of us can predict the future, but I'm curious about what has happened in the past and predictions. In 2022 and 2023 we were able to travel to WDW the week after the week after Easter. Because of when Easter fell, both of these trips were in the back half of April. I thought it was a fantastic time to visit and I'm considering visiting again in 2024 and maybe 2025. 2024 has a delightfully early Easter so the back half of April should still be good crowd-wise. But in 2025 Easter isn't until April 20! I'm thinking early May would be a better time crowd-wise, but if I decide that's too late (hot, close to the end of the school year) what would be the best time in April to go? When do the Easter break crowds pick up? Is the week before Easter as bad as the week after?

 

[Upatnoon]

There are always crowds, but after Easter would be my pick. May even better.

As your planned visit gets closer you will see what Disney is charging for tickets. They charge a premium for "crowded" times. Also, check when Disney is blocking-out the parks for various annual passes. That is a great hint for a times to avoid.

The later you get into May, the hotter it can be, so everything is a balance.

In the end, having a good plan for how you want to tour the parks is always a better strategy that trying to pick some "uncrowded" time.

 

[scrappinginontario]

This year (and each year can differ) crowds dropped after Easter, especially starting a full week after Easter.

Another thing to keep in mind though is that this year Easter wasn’t until April 8th. In 2024 it’s March 31st which means Spring Break crowds will likely extend longer after Easter than they did this year.

We love to visit late April into early May. Beautiful weather and more manageable crowds.

 

[Stormypetrel]

I went over Easter week in 2019 when Easter was April 21st, and Easter this year (in Maryland it is state law that spring break is the week before/after Easter). It’s honestly hard to compare pre and post pandemic. Both weeks felt very crowded, but this one definitely felt worse. Hard to say whether it’s the timing or just the post-pandemic travel binge plus and genie+ being a very objective metric of crowd levels.