Disney during Easter Break?

[dean]

We wanted to plan a trip and the only time because of school is during Easter Break. Can someone that has been there or knows tell me if its even worth it with the crowds. Are they really to bad to enjoy the trip. Thank you so much for any help.

[TinkerbellT421]

to Intercot!

Well I personally have not been there during April break. However, I do know several people that have been and they have horror stories on how busy it is. Maybe someone can come a long and clarify whether that is true or not from someone that has been there personally. But if it helps this year most of New England areas are forgoing April vacation due to all the snow days the schools are having to make up. So I dont know if that would help with the crowds or not. And at this point its more of a rumor within the school department they are forgoing April break. But it hasn't been determined for sure yet.

Now whether its worth it or not? I really dont know for sure. But in my opinion, I would personally never plan a trip around that time. I have a friend that is a cast memeber and she does say that those times are so busy and hectic. I.E. wait times an average of an hour. So really its up to you I think on whether or not its worth it.

[faline]

If you're going the week leading into or following Easter, I'd expect it to be very busy. If youre spring break falls during a different week, it will be busy but not as bad as the week before and following Easter.

[SBETigg]

If you don't like crowds, Easter is no time to go. I would avoid the week leading to Easter and the week after. Our school break (in Massachusetts) is only occasionally coinciding with Easter, so we are able to enjoy April break without many crowds. This year, our break falls during Easter-- and a surprising number of Northeast school systems are opting to go longer in June rather than lose their April break, so I wouldn't count on that keeping crowds down.

Easter and surrounding weeks rate up there as "busiest times to go." But if you have a good plan, know your way around, and don't mind crowds, it can still be worthwhile and lots of fun.

[dean]

Thank you all so much for taking time to give your advice =)

[TinkerbellT421]

Thank you all so much for taking time to give your advice =)

No problem That what we are here for!

[BrerGnat]

We went last year the week leading up to Easter. It was not that bad, honestly. MK was the worst, and closed due to capacity in the early morning towards the end of the week (Wed-Fri). We had arrived the previous Friday, and the first few days were not bad at all. We spent most of our time at Epcot and at the resort, and it was a very enjoyable vacation.

I actually think the crowds were not that bad, since there were no resort discounts during that time. In addition, Disney really boosts the workforce during that time, so we found that everything ran very smoothly and at very high capacity. It was very efficient. There were plenty of buses, all CS food locations had all registers open, etc.

I wouldn't hesitate to return near Easter. You just have to have a different expectation. You have to be okay with spending either only a few hours in the parks (and leave when it becomes annoyingly crowded), or you have to be up for being in the parks from open to close (so you can have time to do it all).

We chose to have a very laid back vacation, and it was highly enjoyable.

[Buttercup]

Mark my words: Never. Again.
I have been going to Disney for 30+ years, at all times of the year considered "peak" -- summer time, spring break, you name it. I've seen the park empty at times, moderate crowds, and even the summer crowds when people say it's just terrible... but in my eyes it wasn't really that bad.

Until 2007 when we decided to go the week leading up to & including Easter weekend.
Never again. It was so horribly packed, nothing had below an hour (or more) wait time. Fireworks were so crowded that even if you didn't want to watch them & you were just trying to leave the parks, you were stuck because people were elbow-to-elbow, standing still blocking all the ways from INTO Tomorrowland all the way across, filling Main Street, and INTO Adventureland. If anyone had decided to start a riot I imagine people would have been trampled because there was literally nowhere to move. We even saw two women fist fighting because tensions were running so high in the cramped quarters. The parks reached capacity -- even the water parks too...

Well, I could go on and on, but let me assure you, I will never go to WDW at Easter & probably Christmas during "Holiday" season ever, ever again. Lesson learned!

[Disney4us2]

Welcome to Intercot.

We are going to be there right in the thick of it all. April 16-22. I expect the crowds and the waits for the attractions. We are planning a lot of resort time as well as going to the water park one day.

We are mainly there to vacation with our friends, who we haven't seen in 4 years. We will start out at a park in the early am, go back to the resort and then to a park in the pm. We have hoppers so we have the flexibility of going to different parks on the same day.

[TinaAndGlenn]

We have gone a few times over Spring Break/Easter. Once, we experienced body to body gridlock at MK! CONS: crowds, people with no patience, closing parks due to crowd size, imposssible to park hop. PROS: Early Magic Hours & Extra Magic Hours in the evening are quite late.
I would go back at this time again, realizing that you cannot see it all or do it all at this busy time. We have been at the parks from 7am to 1am at this time. Had a blast, but it was exhausting!

[King Triton]

Would I pick Easter week to go? No. But, if thats the only time I could go, would I? Yes.

We've done Easter a couple of times because it was the only opportunity to go, and we did fine. One break this year is that Easter is late, so spring breaks (colleges) will be long over.

There are a lot of people in the parks. A few hints: try to do the bulk of your big park rides in the morning; the crowds really pick up fast late morning. I'm not saying you need to do rope drop, but don't waste time. If you have an off day built in, I'd pick Easter Sunday for that. I'd especially avoid the Magic Kingdom on Easter Sunday. Other than that, use your FastPasses intelligently, be patient and you'll have a good time!

[BrerGnat]

Until 2007 when we decided to go the week leading up to & including Easter weekend.
Never again. It was so horribly packed, nothing had below an hour (or more) wait time. Fireworks were so crowded that even if you didn't want to watch them & you were just trying to leave the parks, you were stuck because people were elbow-to-elbow, standing still blocking all the ways from INTO Tomorrowland all the way across, filling Main Street, and INTO Adventureland. If anyone had decided to start a riot I imagine people would have been trampled because there was literally nowhere to move. We even saw two women fist fighting because tensions were running so high in the cramped quarters. The parks reached capacity -- even the water parks too...

Well, I could go on and on, but let me assure you, I will never go to WDW at Easter & probably Christmas during "Holiday" season ever, ever again. Lesson learned!

I had a friend who also went Easter week of 2007 and I think she still has nightmares about it.

Sounds like that was a particularly bad year!

[Giselle]

I have been during Easter break and IMHO it was a waste of time and money. The crowds were so bad that even walking place to place was a struggle. Everything took so long, even going to the bathroom or getting a drink, that it was just not fun. I vowed never to go in peak season again after that. When the crowds are lighter you can do more in one day than you can in a week at Easter break.

[mdhiggin]

We went Easter break one year, but we knew the crowds would be terrible and opted to go to DD and do activities at our hotel like surrey bike, swimming. We also went the week between Christmas and New Years and did go to the park. I believe this time is comparable to Spring Break. It was miserable, wall to wall people. The best time we had that week was when they had the EMH until 3 AM. We didn't get to the park until about 9 PM and things got a lot better really late. Those last three hours were awesome! Even the busiest time of year, there weren't many out that time of night. We don't like to get up early, so that might have helped some too, but the late night EMH, magical! They only had MK open that late maybe once that week, though. We probably wouldn't go back at those times if we intended to do much park time, but if that's the only time you can go, so be it. If you're worried about missing school, summer is not as crowded as spring break. We're going this year the first week of June. We'll actually be encountering Gay Days, but the crowds were good that week when we went a couple of years ago. I think a lot of people stay away because of it. We just avoided their scheduled park per day and had no problem.

[MarkC]

If you have never been to Disney before, I would really discouarge you from making this your first trip. Like any job, you almost have to learn from your mistakes. The crowds can be overwelming for someone without experience in tackling the parks, and you may be discouraged from going back. Had siome friends try their first trip at Thanksgiving and really regretted it. Had some neighbors try it in August without us and had a horrible time. We caught up with them a day later and showed them how to attack the parks and they were amazed by the diference.

Try another time, and use this board for some advise on when to go and how to manage your time, etc. Good luck.