What to expect on our first ever spring break trip

[Masonmj84]

This is our first time going during the height of spring break (or a peak season in general) and, while we love WDW, two things I can't stand are waiting in long lines and manuevering through massive crowds.

Our strategy for dealing with this is: (1) arriving at RD with a touring plan; (2) FPs for the most popular attractions (subject, of course, to tiering restrictions); (3) having many park days, wherein we plan to divide up MK and EP into pieces (we have 8 day tickets and are planning 3 days for each of MK and EP and 1 day for each of HS and AK); and (4) spending most of our afternoons at our resort.

We also tend to avoid counter service (not because we're food snobs but, rather, because we dislike the chaos of counter service) and opt, instead, for table service ADRs.

This strategy has always worked well for us in the past but, as noted above, we've tended to mostly avoid the busiest of seasons (on our previous trips, most of our park days have been 5 or lower).

For those who have gone over peak and non-peak seasons, even factoring in the above strategy, what differences will we most notice going over the height of spring break (other than just generally more people) relative to our previous trips?

 

[Sweettears]

This is our first time going during the height of spring break (or a peak season in general) and, while we love WDW, two things I can't stand are waiting in long lines and manuevering through massive crowds.

Our strategy for dealing with this is: (1) arriving at RD with a touring plan; (2) FPs for the most popular attractions (subject, of course, to tiering restrictions); (3) having many park days, wherein we plan to divide up MK and EP into pieces (we have 8 day tickets and are planning 3 days for each of MK and EP and 1 day for each of HS and AK); and (4) spending most of our afternoons at our resort.

We also tend to avoid counter service (not because we're food snobs but, rather, because we dislike the chaos of counter service) and opt, instead, for table service ADRs.

This strategy has always worked well for us in the past but, as noted above, we've tended to mostly avoid the busiest of seasons (on our previous trips, most of our park days have been 5 or lower).

For those who have gone over peak and non-peak seasons, even factoring in the above strategy, what differences will we most notice going over the height of spring break (other than just generally more people) relative to our previous trips?

Other than long lines and maneuvering through crowds, you might have a few days that are pretty warm. I'm not sure when you usually go but it can get a bit uncomfortable when its in the 80s.

I think your plan sounds like the best approach. It is what I do when higher crowds are anticipated. You should be prepared to make your FP+ and ADRs as soon as you are able as you will have more competition.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

I have gone 4 times in March, anywhere from the first full week to the 3rd week of the month as our Spring Break has moved around. First off, having a longer trip is going to be beneficial. You will not feel compelled to "rush" and can tour at your own pace. How old are your kids? As my kids got older, the late nights at the parks (especially MK) were priceless. We could go to 1am-2am and have no issues, and we all slept well. Last year, crowds on our 10 day trip were larger on the last 1/3rd of the trip. First 2/3rds of the trip were great with very little waits except for headliners and no FP+. We do a mix of CS and TS meals and have not had many issues. On our 4 March trips, we had 38 days in FL and had cool days on about 4-5, warm days on most, and HOT days on about 7-8 (March 2011 was HOT in FL). Only had rain on 1 morning of 1 day and 1 evening of 1 day out of all 38 days. For the most part, humidity is down and it is comfortable to go as long as you want to. We also break at the resorts mid-day and this is a great way to beat the peak crowds. Good Luck !

 

[lovethattink]

This weekend into next week I expect crowds to increase significantly as 3 local school districts begin their spring break.

 

[BLLB]

We go during Spring Break every year (although I have went during less crowded times as well). Sometimes it is the week before or after Easter. I think your plan is perfect. We RD every day, except our water park day. Leave the parks after lunch, then return for dinner and the shows. I think we are just used to that crowd level, seems normal to us. When I went the first full week of January one year, with my sister and niece, it seemed strange that there were so few people!

 

[BalooFan]

Your strategy is nearly identical to mine. I normally go in early May, but have also gone in February, September, early November, and early December. We went once during spring break, followed our usual strategy, and didn't notice that much of a difference. Of course, there's no guarantee that your experience will be the same, but I think you have a pretty good strategy.

 

[ratfam]

We have been several times over spring break, including over or around Easter, and one trip at Christmas (which was waaaay busier than spring break). In fact we have rarely visited at "lower crowd" times since we have typically traveled over school vacation periods. Your plan is a very good one, and going at spring break means that you benefit from longer park hours than during quieter periods and spring break weather is often great, we never had much rain and typically nice warm weather but generally not oppressively hot and not terribly humid. If you set your priorities and set realistic expectations you won't be disappointed, and since you have been before and know how to plan in advance that will serve you well. Differences from the less crowded periods will be that even starting your day at rope drop you will need to start using fastpasses for major attractions fairly early in the day and you will definitely want to have ADRs or you will be waiting for meals or needing to take what you can get rather than choosing. For late morning/early afternoons before you go back to your resort definitely plan theater attractions like Philharmagic/Monsters Inc/Carousel of Progress in MK, Muppets and the shows at DHS (and AK), countries and Pixar shorts at Epcot, to the extent that you and your family enjoy these, we found that these were always fairly easy to get into and that if you were flexible about your seats you could queue up for shows 30 minutes in advance, so you can still be doing things that you want to without getting frustrated with the lines and waits. Since you like TS anyway (we always do one TS a day, occasionally more) consider the packages, since otherwise you will have to arrive very early for Fantasmic and Rivers of Light, the package pricing to us isn't necessarily more than you would pay anyway and it saves a good 30 to 60 minutes of waiting time for these shows (we did the Tiffins RoL dining package a few weeks ago and we definitely paid less for the package than the cost of everything we had, although I don't know that we would all have ordered dessert otherwise). Have fun!

 

[lorileahb]

We were wondering the same thing - we usually go in January when school is in and no park events are happening. Ours is a shorter trip, but we are trying to focus on the things we really want to do and then go back to hotel for break in the afternoon so we can start back up for the evening. FP is a big help at least getting three long waits off the list. Thanks for all of the tips!

 

[thornton0511]

We are here now and this is our first spring break trip ever and we have been going annually since 2011. We have been during mid May, early June, late August, Sept and early Dec. this is by far the most crowded we have ever experienced. It doesn't seem more congested as other trips but I can definitely tell a difference in the FP availability and wait times. We have rope dropped and early morning EMH and by the end of the first hour or so the wait times are a lot higher than we are used to. As far as the weather goes, I watched the forecast like a hawk and it showed highs in the 80's for this week but when we got back Monday from our cruise we found a cold front had moved through and we were not really prepared for that. With the crowd and unpredictable weather I am not sure we will be doing this time of the year again. Just our experience and we are still having a great time, just found for us other times of the year have been more pleasant over all.

 

[AngiTN]

This is our first time going during the height of spring break (or a peak season in general) and, while we love WDW, two things I can't stand are waiting in long lines and manuevering through massive crowds.

Our strategy for dealing with this is: (1) arriving at RD with a touring plan; (2) FPs for the most popular attractions (subject, of course, to tiering restrictions); (3) having many park days, wherein we plan to divide up MK and EP into pieces (we have 8 day tickets and are planning 3 days for each of MK and EP and 1 day for each of HS and AK); and (4) spending most of our afternoons at our resort.

We also tend to avoid counter service (not because we're food snobs but, rather, because we dislike the chaos of counter service) and opt, instead, for table service ADRs.

This strategy has always worked well for us in the past but, as noted above, we've tended to mostly avoid the busiest of seasons (on our previous trips, most of our park days have been 5 or lower).

For those who have gone over peak and non-peak seasons, even factoring in the above strategy, what differences will we most notice going over the height of spring break (other than just generally more people) relative to our previous trips?

That is a great strategy and is likely the best way to get things done easiest
They only thing that stands out to me is you said you use this strategy on trips when it's not crowded. You don't mention how it works out for you in regards to what you want to avoid, lines and crowds. Do they still bother you some even then? Or are they a non issue. You already do the best things you can do to ease touring, you can't improve on your methods, not much.
It will be more crowded and there were be more lines. You may find that you have to maneuver in crowds, likely little you can do to avoid them, despite all your best efforts. And you may find lines, even for FP, at times. There are some rides where things really back up and you get a bit of a wait using a FP. This is even more evident during crowded times.

 

[twodogs]

We just got back tonight from our first (and last) trip over spring break. We typically pull the kids out at a non-holiday time in May but we added a few park days onto a short Disney cruise, so there we were. The crowds were so much worse than I ever expected. I'm sure someone will say "a crowded day at Disney is better than being at work" but I can't agree with that. I don't want to be using time off from work, spending this much money, to be herded and pushed around for 3 days.

Yes, we rope dropped, booked FP, tried to book 4th FPs on the app, had dining reservations, had a touring plan, etc. We did all the big rides we could with FP. There was very little 4th FP availability, as expected. Lines were awful (though FP lines moved quickly). I did not ride standby for much, as SB waits were over 150-180 minutes for SM, RNR and other headliners for hours each day. The places we really noticed the lines the most were at the buses at park close. We stayed at AKL, and buses literally came 30 minutes apart at night to the parks. It was made worse by the unpredicted cold snap that left many without clothes for the weather. We waited almost one hour last night for a bus from DHS to AKL. The temps were in the 40s! We had some warm clothes from the cruise, but many others didn't even have a long sleeved shirt or pants. Miserable. We will Uber next time, but I don't like feeling I'm being "forced" to spend money on Uber when transportation is one of the perks of staying onsite. I realize there can't be a bus to each resort every 5 minutes, but at park close, they should put every bus on a route to get people moved in less than one hour.

We still had a good time, but this is our one and only spring break trip. We have been numerous times and never felt like this. I felt buses were being diverted to the upgraded park to park transport service, so there were less buses on the regular routes. Bathrooms in all parks were dirty, and at least 30% of paper towel holders were empty ( this was at all 4 parks and was a noticible change that I had never experienced). I'm used to seeing someone cleaning those bathrooms nearly all day long, and I rarely saw a CM in any bathroom. CMs overall were great, and AKL and their CM were superb. We did a VIP tour day with a plaid, and it was the saving grace of the trip. We met some other great park guests and had some pixie dust from another guest pin trading. We passed on some pixie dust by giving our paper fantasmic FPs from our lunch package to a family that had been in the hotel for the prior 4 days with the stomach flu!

Planning is going to help anyone going at a busy time, but I feel that even with the upmost planning, I do not enjoy this level of crowds. Everyone has their own threshold, and I met mine this week.

 

[twodogs]

As to the original poster, you have an excellent plan. Only thing I'd add is to consider Uber for park closing as the bus lines were just awful.

 

[Sweettears]

As to the original poster, you have an excellent plan. Only thing I'd add is to consider Uber for park closing as the bus lines were just awful.

I was there at the leading edge of spring break. I agree that the crowds were a bit more than I expected. I made liberal use of Uber and that seemed to help. I did well with using FP+ but agree that in the 5 days that I was there I never once was able to get a 4th pass. Fortunately for me I've visited many times and was solo on this trip. If I had been visiting with family it might have been a bit more frustrating.

It's getting hard to find the ideal time to visit.

 

[Sweettears]

That is a great strategy and is likely the best way to get things done easiest
They only thing that stands out to me is you said you use this strategy on trips when it's not crowded. You don't mention how it works out for you in regards to what you want to avoid, lines and crowds. Do they still bother you some even then? Or are they a non issue. You already do the best things you can do to ease touring, you can't improve on your methods, not much.
It will be more crowded and there were be more lines. You may find that you have to maneuver in crowds, likely little you can do to avoid them, despite all your best efforts. And you may find lines, even for FP, at times. There are some rides where things really back up and you get a bit of a wait using a FP. This is even more evident during crowded times.

I agree. Sometimes there isn't much you can do. Planning is the best route but you need to be prepared to be disappointed. I think though that there is a big difference for frequent visitors versus others.

 

[thornton0511]

We just got back tonight from our first (and last) trip over spring break. We typically pull the kids out at a non-holiday time in May but we added a few park days onto a short Disney cruise, so there we were. The crowds were so much worse than I ever expected. I'm sure someone will say "a crowded day at Disney is better than being at work" but I can't agree with that. I don't want to be using time off from work, spending this much money, to be herded and pushed around for 3 days.

Yes, we rope dropped, booked FP, tried to book 4th FPs on the app, had dining reservations, had a touring plan, etc. We did all the big rides we could with FP. There was very little 4th FP availability, as expected. Lines were awful (though FP lines moved quickly). I did not ride standby for much, as SB waits were over 150-180 minutes for SM, RNR and other headliners for hours each day. The places we really noticed the lines the most were at the buses at park close. We stayed at AKL, and buses literally came 30 minutes apart at night to the parks. It was made worse by the unpredicted cold snap that left many without clothes for the weather. We waited almost one hour last night for a bus from DHS to AKL. The temps were in the 40s! We had some warm clothes from the cruise, but many others didn't even have a long sleeved shirt or pants. Miserable. We will Uber next time, but I don't like feeling I'm being "forced" to spend money on Uber when transportation is one of the perks of staying onsite. I realize there can't be a bus to each resort every 5 minutes, but at park close, they should put every bus on a route to get people moved in less than one hour.

We still had a good time, but this is our one and only spring break trip. We have been numerous times and never felt like this. I felt buses were being diverted to the upgraded park to park transport service, so there were less buses on the regular routes. Bathrooms in all parks were dirty, and at least 30% of paper towel holders were empty ( this was at all 4 parks and was a noticible change that I had never experienced). I'm used to seeing someone cleaning those bathrooms nearly all day long, and I rarely saw a CM in any bathroom. CMs overall were great, and AKL and their CM were superb. We did a VIP tour day with a plaid, and it was the saving grace of the trip. We met some other great park guests and had some pixie dust from another guest pin trading. We passed on some pixie dust by giving our paper fantasmic FPs from our lunch package to a family that had been in the hotel for the prior 4 days with the stomach flu!

Planning is going to help anyone going at a busy time, but I feel that even with the upmost planning, I do not enjoy this level of crowds. Everyone has their own threshold, and I met mine this week.

I could not agree more with you. We are going home tomorrow from our post cruise stay at AKL as well and the bus service here is ridiculous. We have stayed at numerous other resorts and have never seen the wait times for buses from resort to parks as bad as they are here.

 

[dprincessmom]

I will add - I have always been able to get multiple FP+ after the initial 3. My strategy is simple. Book the initial 3 for musts and have them running out around 1. Rope drop and do what you can. Use FP+ 1 anywher in the window; do another ride or two; FP+ 2 at the end of the window and FP+3 at the very beginning of the window. Once you use that FP+ immediately check to see what is available (if possible near where you are in the park) and then grab it for earliest possible time (literally I have booked for ones 5 minutes out), use it and repeat.

Now are you going to get the premier FP+ probably not, but are you going to get a FP that will save you time absolutely. During last Spring Break (mid March), using this strategy we were able to do everything we wanted and on MK day pick up a total of 11 FP+.

Go into the trip with your eyes open, be willing to be flexible, use the FP+ system to your advantage and have a great trip

 

[Sweettears]

I will add - I have always been able to get multiple FP+ after the initial 3. My strategy is simple. Book the initial 3 for musts and have them running out around 1. Rope drop and do what you can. Use FP+ 1 anywher in the window; do another ride or two; FP+ 2 at the end of the window and FP+3 at the very beginning of the window. Once you use that FP+ immediately check to see what is available (if possible near where you are in the park) and then grab it for earliest possible time (literally I have booked for ones 5 minutes out), use it and repeat.

Now are you going to get the premier FP+ probably not, but are you going to get a FP that will save you time absolutely. During last Spring Break (mid March), using this strategy we were able to do everything we wanted and on MK day pick up a total of 11 FP+.

Go into the trip with your eyes open, be willing to be flexible, use the FP+ system to your advantage and have a great trip

Tried this. There was nothing available.

 

[twodogs]

Tried this. There was nothing available.

Agreed. We were a party of 6, and best we could do for a 4th FP at DHS Wednesday was Great Movie Ride or Muppets, at 6pm or later. I even tried just putting in ONE guest, and trying to get a 4th FP for ONE person. NOTHING came up other than Muppets and Great Movie ride for the remainder of the night at DHS (I was searching at about 3-4pm). So same day FP was not really happening for us. There were just too, too many people and not enough places to put them!

 

[Sweettears]

Agreed. We were a party of 6, and best we could do for a 4th FP at DHS Wednesday was Great Movie Ride or Muppets, at 6pm or later. I even tried just putting in ONE guest, and trying to get a 4th FP for ONE person. NOTHING came up other than Muppets and Great Movie ride for the remainder of the night at DHS (I was searching at about 3-4pm). So same day FP was not really happening for us. There were just too, too many people and not enough places to put them!

I was solo so every attempt I made was for 1. Still nothing.

 

[4GoofyCrew]

Augh. About to head out on our first Sprig Break trip. Everyone said 'if you plans it out and get your FPs and dining reservations you'll be fine'. Now I have read so many negative comments about this past week. Almost has me wishing we hadn't decided on WDW at all.